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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to drop balls, plugs, or darts used to operate running well tool functions and, in particular, to a bypass sleeve with a dart landing shoulder to variably allow fluid flow past the drop member following tool operation.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Darts, drop balls, or plugs are often used to actuate hydraulic devices within a wellhead or wellbore during well drilling and completion. Typically, a running tool is run to a predetermined location in a wellhead. A drop ball is then dropped into the running string supporting the running tool and pumped down to land at a shoulder within or axially below the running tool. Fluid pressure behind the drop ball is then increased until the fluid pressure reaches a level sufficient to actuate the hydraulic functionality of the running tool. The running tool may then be retrieved from the wellbore. This may be accomplished in a wet retrieval process. In a wet retrieval process, the running tool is pulled without first removing the column of fluid resting on the drop ball. This requires a tremendous expenditure of energy, and due to the significant weight of water being pulled, it is incredibly time consuming. In addition, the amount of water introduced into the deck level of the drilling rig can cause a significant safety problem to operators and workers located on the working deck.
Some devices may be pulled in a dry retrieval process. These devices include fluid ports that allow communication from the central passageway of the running tool to the wellbore. The fluid ports remain open during the operation of the running tool; thus, the fluid ports must be small enough to allow fluid pressure to build up behind the ball or dart despite the open fluid communication between the central passage of the running tool and the wellbore. When the device is retrieved, the fluid behind the dart will flow through the fluid ports into the wellbore. This eliminates the safety risk of the wet retrieval process by allowing the column of fluid blocked by the dart to drain past the dart during retrieval. However, this dry retrieval process is still incredibly time consuming as the process must be conducted slowly enough to allow the fluid to drain through the fluid ports without needlessly introducing fluid onto the platform deck.
One attempt to overcome this problem has been to include a burst disc in the dart to allow for faster draining of the drill string. However, because the burst disc must fit within the dart, it is, by necessity, smaller than the diameter of the fluid column above it. Therefore, while it does provide a faster drainage process than the previously described fluid ports, the burst disc still restricts flow and cannot maintain a large enough flowrate to drain as fast as the drill string can be pulled. Thus, there is a need for an apparatus to allow for a dry retrieval process that will decrease the time to retrieve the running tool, thereby decreasing the rig time needed and the cost associated with operation of the rig.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other problems are generally solved or circumvented, and technical advantages are generally achieved, by preferred embodiments of the present invention that provide a receptacle sub, and a method for using the same.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a well tool is disclosed. The well tool includes a tubular body adapted to be connected to and lowered on a running tool string into a well conduit. The tubular body defines a central bore having an axis. The well tool also includes a sleeve in the central bore that is selectively moveable from an upper position to a lower position. The sleeve has at least one bypass port extending from an exterior to an interior of the sleeve. At least one retainer secures the sleeve in the upper position relative to the tubular body. The well tool includes a seal on the sleeve that seals the exterior of the sleeve to the bore while the sleeve is in the upper position, and a bypass passage in the body having an upper inlet portion and a lower outlet portion in fluid communication with the bypass ports. The well tool includes a drop member adapted to be lowered through the running tool string and to land on the sleeve. The drop member is adapted to be lowered through the running tool string and land on the sleeve. When the drop member is located in the sleeve, and the sleeve is in the upper position, the inlet portion of the bypass passage is blocked from fluid communication with the central bore. The retainer is adapted to selectively release the sleeve so that the sleeve moves downward to the lower position. When the sleeve is in the lower position, the bypass passage is in fluid communication with the bore and allows fluid communication from above the central bore through the bypass passage via the bypass ports of the sleeve.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a well tool assembly is disclosed. The well tool assembly includes a running tool adapted to be coupled to a running string and having at least one hydraulically actuated function. The assembly further includes a receptacle sub coupled to a lower end of the running tool so that when a drop member is landed in the receptacle sub, fluid flow through the receptacle sub is blocked and the hydraulically actuated function will actuate. The receptacle sub has a bypass passage that is opened in response to increased fluid pressure after the function is performed, the bypass passage extends below the drop member and has a cross-sectional flow area that is at least equal to a flow area cross section through a central passage of the running tool.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a running tool is disclosed. The method begins by providing a well tool assembly. The well tool assembly includes a running tool adapted to be coupled to a running string and having at least one hydraulically actuated function, and a receptacle sub coupled to a lower end of the running tool. The method continues by dropping a drop member in the running string to land in the receptacle sub in an upper position, thereby blocking fluid flow through the receptacle sub. The method continues by supplying fluid pressure to the running tool at a first pressure to actuate the running tool to perform a function. Then, the method supplies fluid pressure to the running tool at a second pressure, greater than the first pressure, to drive the receptacle sub to a lower position, thereby opening a fluid flow bypass around the drop member.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, a system for setting an annular seal between a casing hanger and a wellhead is disclosed. The system includes a running tool and a receptacle sub. The running tool is adapted to be coupled to a running string and carries an annular seal for disposal between the casing hanger and the wellhead. The receptacle sub is coupled to a lower end of the running tool so that when a drop member is landed in the receptacle sub, fluid flow through the receptacle sub is blocked. The annular seal will energize in response to a resulting increased fluid pressure caused by the blocked receptacle sub, thereby sealing an annulus between the wellhead and the casing hanger. The receptacle sub includes a bypass passage that is opened in response to increased fluid pressure after the seal is energized. The bypass passage extends below the drop member and has a cross-sectional flow area that is at least equal to a flow area cross section through a central passage of the running tool so that the running tool may be pulled to the surface.
An advantage of a preferred embodiment is that it provides an apparatus for the actuation of a hydraulically actuated running tool with a dart or drop ball. The running tool may then drain the column of fluid blocked by the dart or drop ball at an increased rate to speed the process of running tool retrieval following tool actuation. This reduces the rig time needed to drill and complete the well.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the features, advantages and objects of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, are attained, and can be understood in more detail, more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings that form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only a preferred embodiment of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope as the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
FIG. 1 is sectional view of a receptacle sub in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the receptacle sub of FIG. 1 with a dart in place within the receptacle sub.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the receptacle sub of FIG. 1 during draining of a drill string above the receptacle sub.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a high capacity running tool constructed with a piston cocked, an engagement element retracted, and the receptacle sub of FIG. 1 coupled to a lower end.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the high capacity running tool of FIG. 4 in a running position with the engagement element engaged.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the high capacity running tool of FIG. 4 in a setting position.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the high capacity running tool of FIG. 4 in a seal testing position.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the high capacity running tool of FIG. 4 in an unlocked position with the engagement element disengaged.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the receptacle sub of FIG. 1 being re-cocked for reuse.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and the prime notation, if used, indicates similar elements in alternative embodiments.
In the following discussion, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. Additionally, for the most part, details concerning drilling rig operation, casing hanger landing and setting, and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not considered necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention, and are considered to be within the skills of persons skilled in the relevant art.
Referring to FIG. 1 , a receptacle sub 11 includes a tubular sub body 13 . Tubular sub body 13 defines a central bore 15 for the passage of fluids. Central bore 15 has an axis 17 . Tubular sub body 13 also has an upper end 19 adapted to couple to a running tool ( FIG. 4 ), and a lower end 21 adapted to couple to a tubing string (not shown) such as by a threaded coupling connection. A person skilled in the art will understand that any suitable means may be used to couple lower end 21 to the tubing string. In the illustrated embodiment, upper end 19 has an exterior diameter greater than an exterior diameter of a main body 23 of tubular sub body 13 . A taper 25 transitions the exterior diameter of upper end 19 to the exterior diameter of main body 23 .
Central bore 15 further defines a bypass passage 27 and an upward facing shoulder 29 . In the illustrated embodiment, bypass passage 27 may be an annular recess formed in central bore 15 . A person skilled in the art will understand that bypass passage 27 may be any suitable fluid flow passage or passages and may comprise one or more separate passages. Bypass passage 27 is proximate to upper end 19 within central bore 15 , and upward facing shoulder 29 is proximate to lower end 21 within central bore 15 . Bypass passage 27 includes an upper inlet portion 26 and a lower inlet portion 28 . Main body 23 includes a plurality of windows 31 extending from the exterior surface of main body 23 into central bore 15 .
A bypass sleeve 33 is disposed within central bore 15 . Bypass sleeve 33 has an exterior diameter slightly smaller than central bore 15 such that bypass sleeve 33 may move axially within central bore 15 . Bypass sleeve 33 also defines a sleeve bore 34 . Bypass sleeve 33 includes an annular downward facing shoulder 35 on an exterior diameter portion of bypass sleeve 33 . Downward facing shoulder 35 extends from the exterior diameter surface of bypass sleeve 33 to a cylindrical protrusion 37 . Cylindrical protrusion 37 extends axially downward from a lower portion of bypass sleeve 33 into close engagement with the lower portion of central bore 15 . Bypass sleeve 33 includes upper and lower seals 36 . Upper and lower seals 36 are located axially above and below windows 31 such that bypass sleeve 33 will seal central bore 15 to prevent flow of fluid through windows 31 . As bypass sleeve 33 moves through central bore 15 from an upper position ( FIG. 1 ) to a lower position ( FIG. 3 ), upper and lower seals 36 will maintain sealing engagement with central bore 15 .
In the illustrated embodiment, bypass sleeve 33 includes a plurality of threaded bore holes 39 . At least one threaded bore hole 39 corresponds with each window 31 . A limiter screw 41 , is threaded into each threaded bore hole 39 through window 31 . When fully threaded into bore hole 39 , a head of each limiter screw 41 will protrude into window 31 . As bypass sleeve 33 moves axially within central bore 15 , the heads of each limiter screw 41 will move through window 31 , restraining movement of bypass sleeve 33 as the head of limiter screws 41 contact downward facing shoulder 43 of window 31 as shown in FIG. 1 , and upward facing shoulder 45 of window 31 as shown in FIG. 3 . Limiter screws 41 may also provide a visual indication of the location of bypass sleeve 33 within main body 23 . A person skilled in the art will understand that limiter screws 41 may comprise any suitable object that may provide a reactive force to limit axial movement of bypass sleeve 33 as described in more detail below. The stop limiters may comprise screws, pins, protrusions formed in bypass sleeve 33 , and the like. Similarly, windows 31 may comprise any suitable stop receptacle and have any suitable configuration such that a corresponding stop limiter my interact with the stop receptacle to limit axial movement of bypass sleeve 33 .
A shown in FIG. 1 , cylindrical protrusion 37 has a length such that cylindrical protrusion 37 will extend past upward facing shoulder 29 of main body 23 when bypass sleeve 33 is in a position of maximum upward movement. In this manner, cylindrical protrusion 37 provides a mechanism to prevent landing of drop members, such as drop balls, darts, or plugs, on upward facing shoulder 29 . This will prevent unintentional blockage of central bore 15 and sleeve bore 34 prior to landing of a drop member in bypass sleeve 33 as described in more detail below. Preferably, a wall of cylindrical protrusion 37 is as thin as possible to maintain the maximum size of sleeve bore 34 .
A plurality of retainers, such as shear pins 47 , will extend through bores in the sidewall of main body 23 of tubular sub body 13 . The retainers may comprise any device suitable for preventing movement of bypass sleeve 33 relative to tubular sub body 13 prior to actuation of a corresponding running tool. For example, retainers may be shear pins 47 , shear screws, a split ring retainer, or the like. Shear pins 47 will protrude into corresponding bores in an exterior diameter surface of bypass sleeve 33 , thereby preventing axial movement of bypass sleeve 33 relative to main body 23 prior to shearing of shear pins 47 . In the illustrated embodiment, each shear pin 47 has a shear rating of 1,000 psi, and receptacle sub 11 may include one to twelve shear pins 47 . In this manner, receptacle sub 11 may be configured to operate at relatively low pressures, as little as 1,000 psi, to relatively high pressures, as high as 12,000 psi. A person skilled in the art will understand that shear pins of different strength ratings and of different numbers may be used to adapt receptacle sub 11 to any desired pressure of operation.
Referring to FIG. 1 , an upper end of bypass sleeve 33 defines a plurality of bypass sleeve ports 49 . Bypass sleeve ports 49 extend from a first position on the exterior surface of bypass sleeve 33 to a second position on sleeve bore 34 axially beneath the first position such that bypass sleeve ports 49 extend axially downward at an angle from the exterior of bypass sleeve 33 to sleeve bore 34 . When in the upper position as shown in FIG. 1 , upper surfaces of bypass sleeve ports 49 on the exterior diameter surface of bypass sleeve 33 correspond with an upper inlet portion 26 of bypass passage 27 , blocking flow through bypass passage 27 . When in the lower position as shown in FIG. 3 , a lower surface of each bypass opening 49 will coincide with lower inlet portion 28 of bypass passage 27 such that fluid may flow unobstructed from bypass passage 27 into bypass sleeve ports 49 . A person skilled in the art will understand that bypass sleeve ports 49 may provide alternative flow paths and arrangements, such as horizontal flow paths.
As shown in FIG. 1 , an upper end of bypass sleeve 33 includes a taper 51 from an exterior diameter surface of bypass sleeve 33 to sleeve bore 34 at the upper end of bypass sleeve 33 . Bypass sleeve 33 includes a seal 38 interposed between the exterior diameter surface of bypass sleeve 33 and central bore 15 axially above bypass passages 27 . When bypass sleeve 33 is in the maximum upward axial position shown in FIG. 1 , the upper end of bypass sleeve 33 will block bypass passage 27 , and seal 38 will prevent flow of fluid between bypass sleeve 33 , central bore 15 , and through bypass passage 27 , thereby maintaining all fluid flow through sleeve bore 34 . As shown in FIG. 3 , when bypass sleeve 33 is the maximum downward axial position, seal 38 is within bypass passage 27 . Thus, seal 38 will allow flow from above bypass sleeve 33 into bypass passage 27 , allowing fluid to flow from central bore 15 through bypass passage 27 and into sleeve bore 34 . Taper 51 provides a greater flow area from above bypass sleeve 33 into bypass passage 27 when bypass sleeve 33 is in the lower position of FIG. 3 .
Central bore 34 defines a dart shoulder 53 proximate to the upper end of bypass sleeve 33 . Dart shoulder 53 may be an upward facing shoulder axially above bypass sleeve ports 49 , as shown. Preferably, a drop member (such as a dart 55 of FIG. 2 , a drop ball, a plug, or the like) may land on dart shoulder 53 , blocking sleeve bore 34 while not inhibiting fluid flow through bypass ports 49 .
Referring now to FIG. 2 , dart 55 is shown in place within bypass sleeve 33 after landing on dart shoulder 53 . As illustrated, dart 55 may have a tapered lower end 58 . Tapered lower end 58 will coincide with the angle of the upper surface of bypass ports 49 so as to not obstruct flow from opening 49 into bypass sleeve 33 . After landing of dart 55 , fluid will be pumped down a running string (not shown) axially above receptacle sub 11 . Dart 55 will prevent passage of the fluid down sleeve bore 34 , thus as fluid continues to pump into the tubing string, the pumping will increase the pressure on shear pins 47 maintaining the axial position of bypass sleeve 33 relative to main body 23 . Once a predetermined pressure is reached, shear pins 47 will shear, as shown in FIG. 3 . Bypass sleeve 33 will then move axially downward to the position shown. The heads of limiter screws 41 will contact upward facing shoulders 45 of windows 31 , and downward facing shoulder 35 may land on and abut upward facing shoulder 29 . When bypass sleeve 33 reaches the maximum downward axial position shown in FIG. 3 , fluid axially above dart 55 will then flow through bypass passage 27 and into central bore 34 .
Referring to FIG. 4 , there is generally shown an embodiment for a high capacity running tool 57 that is used to set and internally test a casing hanger packoff. High capacity running tool 57 is comprised of a stem 59 . Stem 59 is a tubular member with an axial passage 61 extending therethrough. Stem 59 connects on its upper end to a string of drill pipe (not shown). Stem 59 has an upper stem port 63 and a lower stem port 65 positioned in and extending therethrough that allow fluid communication between the exterior and axial passage of stem 59 . A lower portion of stem 59 has threads 67 in its outer surface. The outer diameter of an upper portion of stem 59 is greater than the outer diameter of the lower portion of stem 59 containing threads 67 . As such, a downward facing shoulder 69 is positioned adjacent threads 67 . A recessed pocket 71 is positioned in the outer surface of stem 59 at a select distance above downward facing shoulder 69 .
High capacity running tool 57 has a body 73 that surrounds stem 59 , as stem 59 extends axially through body 73 . Body 73 has an upper body portion 75 and a lower body portion 77 . Upper portion 75 of body 73 is a thin sleeve located between an outer sleeve 79 and stem 59 . Outer sleeve 79 is rigidly attached to stem 59 . A latch device (not shown) is housed in a slot 81 located within outer sleeve 79 . Lower body portion 77 of body 73 has threads 83 along its inner surface that are engaged with threads 67 on the outer surface of stem 59 . Body 73 has an upper; body port 85 and a lower body port 87 positioned in and extending therethrough that allow fluid communication between the exterior and interior of the stem body 73 . Lower body portion 77 of body 73 houses an engaging element 89 . In this particular embodiment, engaging element 89 is a set of dogs having a smooth inner surface and a contoured outer surface. The contoured outer surface is adapted to engage a complimentary contoured surface on the inner surface of a casing hanger 91 when engaging element 89 is engaged with casing hanger 91 . Although not shown, a string of casing is attached to the lower end of casing hanger 91 . The inner surface of engaging element 89 is initially in contact with threads 67 on the inner surface of stem 59 .
A piston 93 surrounds stem 59 and substantial portions of body 73 . Referring to FIG. 6 , a piston chamber 95 is formed between upper body portion 75 , outer sleeve 79 , and piston 93 . Piston 93 is initially in an upper or “cocked” position relative to stem 59 , meaning that the area of piston chamber 95 is at its smallest possible value, allowing for piston 93 to be driven downward. A piston locking ring 97 extends around the outer peripheries of the inner surface of piston 93 . Piston locking ring 97 works in conjunction with the latch device (not shown) contained within outer sleeve slot 81 to restrict movement of the piston during certain running tool functions. A casing hanger packoff seal 99 is carried by piston 93 and is positioned along the lower end portion of piston 93 . Casing hanger packoff seal 99 will act to seal casing hanger 91 to the wellbore (not shown) when properly set. While piston 93 is in the upper or “cocked” position, casing hanger packoff seal 99 is spaced above casing hanger 91 .
Receptacle sub 11 is connected to the lower end of stem 59 . Receptacle sub 11 will operate as described above with respect to FIGS. 1-3 . When dart 55 lands within receptacle sub 11 , it will act as a seal, effectively sealing the lower end of stem 59 .
Referring to FIG. 4 , in operation, high capacity running tool 57 is initially positioned such that it extends axially through a casing hanger 91 . Piston 93 is in a “cocked” position, and the stem ports 63 , 65 and body ports 85 , 87 are axially offset from one another. Casing hanger packoff seal 99 is carried by piston 93 . High capacity running tool 57 is lowered into casing hanger 91 until the outer surface of body 73 of high capacity running tool 57 slidingly engages the inner surface of casing hanger 91 .
Referring to FIG. 5 , once high capacity running tool 57 and casing hanger 91 are in abutting contact with one another, stem 59 is rotated four revolutions. As stem 59 is rotated relative to body 73 , stem 59 and piston 93 move longitudinally downward relative to body 73 . As stem 59 moves longitudinally, shoulder 69 on the outer surface of stem 59 makes contact with engaging element 89 , forcing it radially outward and in engaging contact with the inner surface of casing hanger 91 , thereby locking body 73 to casing hanger 91 . As stem 59 moves longitudinally, stem ports 63 , 65 and body ports 85 , 87 also move relative to one another.
Referring to FIG. 6 , once high capacity running tool 57 and casing hanger 91 are locked to one another, high capacity running tool 57 and casing hanger 91 are lowered down the riser into the subsea wellhead housing (not shown) until casing hanger 91 comes to rest. Referring to FIG. 6 , a dart 55 is then dropped or lowered into axial passage 61 of stem 59 . Dart 55 lands in receptacle sub 11 , thereby sealing the lower end of stem 59 . Stem 59 is then rotated four additional revolutions in the same direction. As stem 59 is rotated relative to body 73 , stem 59 and piston 93 move further longitudinally downward relative to body 73 and casing hanger 91 . As stem 59 moves longitudinally, stem ports 63 , 65 and body ports 85 , 87 also move relative to one another. Upper stem port 63 aligns with upper body port 85 , but lower stem port 65 is still positioned above lower body port 87 . This position allows fluid communication from axial passage 61 of stem 59 , through stem 59 , into and through body 73 , and into piston 93 . Fluid pressure is applied down the drill pipe and travels through axial passage 61 of stem 59 before passing through upper stem port 63 , upper body port 85 , and into chamber 95 , driving piston 93 downward relative to stem 59 . As piston 93 moves downward, the movement of piston 93 sets the casing hanger packoff seal 99 between an outer portion of casing hanger 91 and the inner diameter of the subsea wellhead housing.
Referring to FIG. 7 , once piston 93 is driven downward and casing hanger packoff seal 99 is set, stem 59 is then rotated four additional revolutions in the same direction. As stem 59 is rotated relative to body 73 , stem 59 moves further longitudinally downward relative to body 73 and casing hanger 91 . Stem 59 also moves downward at this point relative to piston 93 . As stem 59 moves longitudinally, stem ports 63 , 65 and body ports 85 , 87 also move relative to one another. Lower stem port 65 aligns with lower body port 87 , allowing fluid communication from axial passage 61 of stem 59 , through stem 59 , into and through body 73 , and into an isolated volume above casing hanger packoff seal 99 . Upper stem port 63 is still aligned with upper body port 85 . The latch device located with slot 81 on outer sleeve 79 is activated by the movement of stem 59 and will act in conjunction with piston locking ring 97 to restrict the upward movement of piston 93 beyond the latch device. Pressure is applied down the drill pipe and travels through axial passage 61 of stem 59 before passing through lower stem port 63 , lower body port 85 , and into an isolated volume above casing hanger packoff seal 99 , thereby testing casing hanger packoff seal 99 . The same pressure is applied to piston 93 , creating an upward force, however, movement of piston 93 in an upward direction is restricted by the engagement of piston locking ring 97 and the latch device (not shown) positioned in slot 81 on outer sleeve 79 . In an alternate embodiment, the size of the fluid chambers in piston 93 and seal 99 areas could be sized such that the larger sized fluid chamber in seal 99 area maintains a downward force on piston 93 , thereby eliminating the need for the latch device and piston locking ring 97 . An elastomeric seal 101 is mounted to the exterior of piston 93 for sealing against the inner diameter of the wellhead housing. Seal 101 defines the isolated volume above casing hanger packoff seal 99 . If casing hanger packoff seal 99 is not properly set, a drop in fluid pressure held in the drill pipe will be observed as the fluid passes through the seal area.
Referring to FIG. 8 , once the casing hanger packoff seal 99 has been tested, stem 59 is then rotated four additional revolutions in the same direction. As stem 59 is rotated relative to body 73 , stem 59 moves further longitudinally downward relative to body 73 , casing hanger 91 , and piston 93 . As stem 59 moves longitudinally downward, the engaging element 89 is freed and moves radially inward into recessed pocket 71 on the outer surface of stem 59 , thereby unlocking body 73 from casing hanger 91 . Upper stem port 63 remains aligned with upper body port 85 . Lower stem port 65 may remain aligned with lower body port 87 . Lower stem port 65 and lower body port 87 may partially vent the column of fluid in the drill pipe.
As described above with respect to FIG. 3 , fluid pressure will be increased 15% to 20% more than needed to test casing hanger 91 . In so doing, shear pins 47 will shear, causing bypass sleeve 33 to move axially downward from the upper position shown in FIG. 1 to the lower position shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 8 . Fluid above dart 55 will then flow through bypass passage 27 and bypass sleeve ports 49 . In the illustrated embodiment, bypass ports 49 are of a sufficient size and shape such that the flow through bypass ports 49 is greater than the flow through the cross-sectional area of the drill string. This allows fluid to flow unrestricted past dart 55 for dry retrieval of running tool 57 or pressure access to a stinger or other device axially below receptacle sub 11 .
Referring to FIG. 9 , receptacle sub 11 is shown after actuation and removal from a well. Dart 55 has been removed from its landing location on dart shoulder 53 , clearing sleeve bore 34 . A re-cocking tool 103 may then be coupled to bypass sleeve 33 and used to reposition bypass sleeve 33 into the position of FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 4 , receptacle sub 11 may then be refitted with additional shear pins 47 and reattached to a running tool, such as running tool 57 , for repeated use.
Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments provide numerous advantages. For example, the disclosed embodiments provide an apparatus for the actuation of a hydraulically actuated running tool using a dart or drop ball. The apparatus then allows for a dry retrieval that drains the column of fluid blocked by the dart or ball at an increased rate to speed the process of running tool retrieval. This significantly reduces the rig time needed to pull the running tool following use of the running tool while maintaining or increasing safety at the rig deck.
It is understood that the present invention may take many forms and embodiments. Accordingly, several variations may be made in the foregoing without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Having thus described the present invention by reference to certain of its preferred embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments disclosed are illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that a wide range of variations, modifications, changes, and substitutions are contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and, in some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features. Many such variations and modifications may be considered obvious and desirable by those skilled in the art based upon a review of the foregoing description of preferred embodiments. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention.
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A receptacle sub that increases the venting flowrate during retrieval of a running tool. The sub includes a sleeve with a bypass port in a central bore defined by a tubular body. The sleeve is selectively moveable from an upper position to a lower position. A seal on the sleeve seals the sleeve to the bore while a retainer holds the sleeve in the upper position. A bypass passage in the body is in fluid communication with the bypass port. A drop member lands on the sleeve, blocking downward flow through the sleeve and actuating a hydraulic function. The drop member receives a fluid pressure greater than the hydraulic function fluid pressure, releasing the retainer to move the sleeve to the lower position. This allows fluid communication from above the central bore through the bypass passage and through the bypass ports of the sleeve below the drop member.
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BACKGROUND
[0001] This disclosure relates generally to the field of anonymization of unstructured data.
[0002] Medical records may comprise a structured portion, including charts or tables with fields for specific types of data, and an unstructured portion, which may contain notes regarding any aspect of a patient's condition. The unstructured portion may include textual data, such as dictation transcripts, or typed or freehand notes. While a medical professional, such as a doctor or nurse, may fail to correctly fill in fields on a chart or table, he or she is likely to correctly note the important features of a patient's visit in the unstructured portion of the patient's medical records, as the unstructured portion may be skimmed to remind him or her of the patient's status before subsequent patient visits.
[0003] The unstructured portion of medical records may be an important source of information for compilation of public health statistics. However, such notes are difficult to release, as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) §1171(6) states that, in the interest of protecting patients, no important information relating to a past, present, or future medical or health condition may be released by an entity covered by HIPAA if the information allows identification of a specific patient. Manual review of unstructured medical records to remove information that may be used to identify a specific patient is not an ideal solution, as manual review may be extremely time consuming, due to the sheer volume of medical records.
SUMMARY
[0004] An exemplary embodiment of a method for anonymization of unstructured data comprises determining structured references in the unstructured data; populating a table with the structured references; anonymizing the structured references in the table using ontological analysis; and rewriting the structured references in the unstructured data with the anonymized structured references from the table to produce anonymized data.
[0005] An exemplary embodiment of a computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium containing computer code that, when performed by a computer, implements a method for anonymizing unstructured data, comprises determining structured references in the unstructured data; populating a table with the structured references; anonymizing the structured references in the table using ontological analysis; and rewriting the structured references in the unstructured data with the anonymized structured references from the table to produce anonymized data.
[0006] An exemplary embodiment of a system for anonymizing unstructured data comprises an entity spotting module configured to determine structured references in the unstructured data and populate a table with the determined structured references; an anonymization module configured to anonymizing the structured references in the table using ontological analysis; and a replacement module configured to rewrite the structured references in the unstructured data with the anonymized structured references from the table to produce anonymized data.
[0007] Additional features are realized through the techniques of the present exemplary embodiment. Other embodiments are described in detail herein and are considered a part of what is claimed. For a better understanding of the features of the exemplary embodiment, refer to the description and to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several figures:
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a method for anonymization of unstructured data.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a pre-anonymization table (PAT).
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a taxonomy.
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a system for anonymization of unstructured data.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a computer that may be used in conjunction with systems and methods for anonymization of unstructured data.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] Embodiments of systems and methods for anonymization of unstructured data, which may include but is not limited to unstructured medical records, or census data, are provided, with exemplary embodiments being discussed below in detail. Anonymization allows release of unstructured textual medical data for, for example, compilation of health statistics, while protecting patients. Domain ontology-driven entity extraction and anonymization analysis may be used to sanitize unstructured data to comply with regulations for release.
[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a method for anonymization of unstructured data. In block 101 , text analysis and entity spotting are performed on the unstructured data to determine structured references contained in the unstructured data. The unstructured data may include but is not limited to unstructured medical information. A structured reference may comprise any term that may be of interest, including diseases, conditions, features, or patient demographics. A structured reference may also include a name or nickname of a patient, or a description of life or job conditions. Any information which may be used to determine an identity of a specific patient may be a structured reference, along with HIPAA required strings, which may include information such as, for example, amputee, fracture, or late term pregnancy.
[0016] In block 102 , structured references determined in block 101 are gathered into a table, which may be referred to as a pre-anonymization table (PAT). An example embodiment of a PAT 200 is shown in FIG. 2 . The PAT 200 contains links between each structured reference in the PAT and the location of the structured reference in the unstructured data. The data shown in PAT 200 is for exemplary purposes only; any amount or type of data from the unstructured data may be placed in a PAT.
[0017] In block 103 , the PAT is anonymized to a desired level of anonymization. K-anonymization may be used in some embodiments. In k-anonymization, a threshold, or k-requirement, may be set, defining a minimum number of members of a group that must have a given characteristic. If an insufficient number of members of the group possess a particular characteristic, potentially allowing members of the group to be identified, the characteristic may either be generalized or suppressed. Patient characteristics that cannot be generalized, such as social security number or name, may be suppressed, i.e., removed from consideration for release. A characteristic may be generalized by replacing the term used for the characteristic in the unstructured data with a more general term determined using ontological analysis, which defines relationships between concepts. In some embodiments, ontological analysis may include use of a taxonomy. An embodiment of a taxonomy 300 is shown in FIG. 3 . A taxonomy is a hierarchy of terms that may be used to determine a more general term for a given term. Each level up the taxonomy provides a broader term for a given term, thereby anonymizing the information given by a spotted entity. For example, structured reference 201 in the PAT falls into the category of a torus fracture of the tibia 301 . Structured reference 201 may be generalized using taxonomy 300 to a torus fracture 302 , a tibia and fibula fracture 303 , a fracture 304 , or an injury 305 , depending on the degree of anonymization desired. Structured reference 203 falls into the category torus fracture of the fibula 307 , and may also be generalized to a torus fracture 302 , a tibia and fibula fracture 303 , a fracture 304 , or an injury 305 . Structured reference 202 falls into category 306 (rib fracture) of taxonomy 300 , and may be generalized to fracture 304 or injury 305 . In this example, structured references 201 and 202 may be generalized to a torus fracture 302 to meet a k-requirement of 2, or structured references 201 , 202 , and 203 may all be generalized to fracture 304 to meet a k-requirement of 3. Example medical taxonomies that may be used include but are not limited to the Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED; see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/Snomed/snomed_main.html for more information), ICD9, and ICD10. Suppression and generalization may be performed on the data in the PAT until all groups of characteristics in the PAT satisfy the given k-requirement.
[0018] Some embodiments may use various refined approaches to k-anonymization. Multidimensional k-anonymization (see K. LeFevre, D. J. Dewitt, and R. Ramakrishnan, Mondiran Multidimensional K-anonimity, Proc. Of ICDE, 2006, for more information) is a technique that may be used in some embodiments. Multidimensional k-anonymization looks at value vectors of quasi-identifier attributes to find correlations across the entire data set, allowing fine-grained generalizations while reducing the number of suppressed rows. P-sensitive k-anonimity (see T. M. Truta and B Vinay, Protection: P-sensitive K-anonimity Property, Proc. Of ICDE, 2006, for more information) may be used in other embodiments, adding an additional layer of protection for confidential attributes, such as income or health conditions, which are not part of the quasi-identifier defined by standard k-anonymization. The definition requires a minimum of p unique groupings be represented in the table for confidential attributes, in addition to the k-requirement for quasi-identifier attributes. I-diversity (see A Machanavajjhala, J. Gehrke, and D. Kifer, I-diversity: beyond K-anonimity, Proc. Of ICDE, 2006, for more information) is another approach; in 1-diversity, attacking based on confidential attributes using existing background knowledge is performed. The confidential attribute values are diversified before release.
[0019] Once anonymization is completed in block 103 , flow proceeds to block 104 , where any structured references that have been suppressed are removed from the unstructured data. In block 105 , sentences in the unstructured data that contain generalized structured references are rewritten using the generalized forms determined in block 103 . The unstructured data is now anonymized, and may be released in block 106 .
[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a system for anonymization of unstructured data 401 . Entity spotting module 402 determined structured references contained in unstructured data 401 . Structured references are placed in PAT 403 , along with links between the structured references and their location in the unstructured data 401 . Anonymization module 404 performs anonymization on PAT 403 , using ontological analysis module 405 , which may in some embodiments include a taxonomy. Structured references in PAT 403 may be generalized or, if a structured reference cannot be generalized, the structured reference is suppressed. When anonymization is complete, replacement module 405 removes suppressed structured references and rewrites generalized structured references in unstructured data 401 using the links between the structured references in the PAT 403 and the locations of the structured references in unstructured medical data 401 , resulting in anonymized data 406 . Anonymized data 406 is suitable for release.
[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a computer 500 having capabilities, which may be utilized by exemplary embodiments of systems and methods for anonymization of unstructured data as embodied in software. Various operations discussed above may utilize the capabilities of the computer 500 . One or more of the capabilities of the computer 500 may be incorporated in any element, module, application, and/or component discussed herein.
[0022] The computer 500 includes, but is not limited to, PCs, workstations, laptops, PDAs, palm devices, servers, storages, and the like. Generally, in terms of hardware architecture, the computer 500 may include one or more processors 510 , memory 520 , and one or more input and/or output (I/O) devices 570 that are communicatively coupled via a local interface (not shown). The local interface can be, for example, but not limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wireless connections, as is known in the art. The local interface may have additional elements, such as controllers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications. Further, the local interface may include address, control, and/or data connections to enable appropriate communications among the aforementioned components.
[0023] The processor 510 is a hardware device for executing software that can be stored in the memory 520 . The processor 510 can be virtually any custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a data signal processor (DSP), or an auxiliary processor among several processors associated with the computer 500 , and the processor 510 may be a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip) or a macroprocessor.
[0024] The memory 520 can include any one or combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), etc.) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), tape, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), disk, diskette, cassette or the like, etc.). Moreover, the memory 520 may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory 520 can have a distributed architecture, where various components are situated remote from one another, but can be accessed by the processor 510 .
[0025] The software in the memory 520 may include one or more separate programs, each of which comprises an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions. The software in the memory 520 includes a suitable operating system (O/S) 550 , compiler 540 , source code 530 , and one or more applications 560 in accordance with exemplary embodiments. As illustrated, the application 560 comprises numerous functional components for implementing the features and operations of the exemplary embodiments. The application 560 of the computer 500 may represent various applications, computational units, logic, functional units, processes, operations, virtual entities, and/or modules in accordance with exemplary embodiments, but the application 560 is not meant to be a limitation.
[0026] The operating system 550 controls the performance of other computer programs, and provides scheduling, input-output control, file and data management, memory management, and communication control and related services. It is contemplated by the inventors that the application 560 for implementing exemplary embodiments may be applicable on all commercially available operating systems.
[0027] Application 560 may be a source program, executable program (object code), script, or any other entity comprising a set of instructions to be performed. When a source program, then the program is usually translated via a compiler (such as the compiler 540 ), assembler, interpreter, or the like, which may or may not be included within the memory 520 , so as to operate properly in connection with the O/S 550 . Furthermore, the application 560 can be written as (a) an object oriented programming language, which has classes of data and methods, or (b) a procedure programming language, which has routines, subroutines, and/or functions, for example but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Pascal, BASIC, API calls, HTML, XHTML, XML, ASP scripts, FORTRAN, COBOL, Perl, Java, .NET, and the like.
[0028] The I/O devices 570 may include input devices such as, for example but not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, scanner, microphone, camera, etc. Furthermore, the I/O devices 570 may also include output devices, for example but not limited to a printer, display, etc. Finally, the I/O devices 570 may further include devices that communicate both inputs and outputs, for instance but not limited to, a NIC or modulator/demodulator (for accessing remote devices, other files, devices, systems, or a network), a radio frequency (RF) or other transceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, etc. The I/O devices 570 also include components for communicating over various networks, such as the Internet or intranet.
[0029] If the computer 500 is a PC, workstation, intelligent device or the like, the software in the memory 520 may further include a basic input output system (BIOS) (omitted for simplicity). The BIOS is a set of essential software routines that initialize and test hardware at startup, start the O/S 550 , and support the transfer of data among the hardware devices. The BIOS is stored in some type of read-only-memory, such as ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM or the like, so that the BIOS can be performed when the computer 500 is activated.
[0030] When the computer 500 is in operation, the processor 510 is configured to perform software stored within the memory 520 , to communicate data to and from the memory 520 , and to generally control operations of the computer 500 pursuant to the software. The application 560 and the O/S 550 are read, in whole or in part, by the processor 510 , perhaps buffered within the processor 510 , and then performed.
[0031] When the application 560 is implemented in software it should be noted that the application 560 can be stored on virtually any computer readable medium for use by or in connection with any computer related system or method. In the context of this document, a computer readable medium may be an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or means that can contain or store a computer program for use by or in connection with a computer related system or method.
[0032] The application 560 can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction performance system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction performance system, apparatus, or device and perform the instructions. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction performance system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium.
[0033] More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium may include the following: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic or optical), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disc memory (CDROM, CD R/W) (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium, upon which the program is printed or punched, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.
[0034] In exemplary embodiments, where the application 560 is implemented in hardware, the application 560 can be implemented with any one or a combination of the following technologies, which are each well known in the art: a discrete logic circuit(s) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon data signals, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) having appropriate combinational logic gates, a programmable gate array(s) (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.
[0035] The technical effects and benefits of exemplary embodiments include anonymizing of unstructured medical data for release, so as to conform to laws and policies protecting patients while gathering important public health data.
[0036] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. 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, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
[0037] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
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A method for anonymization of unstructured data comprises determining structured references in the unstructured data; populating a table with the structured references; anonymizing the structured references in the table using ontological analysis; and rewriting the structured references in the unstructured data with the anonymized structured references from the table to produce anonymized data. A system for anonymizing unstructured data comprises an entity spotting module configured to determine structured references in the unstructured data and populate a table with the determined structured references; an anonymization module configured to anonymizing the structured references in the table using ontological analysis; and a replacement module configured to rewrite the structured references in the unstructured data with the anonymized structured references from the table to produce anonymized data.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a two stroke diesel engine, and more specifically the shape of the combustion chamber, the arrangement of fuel injection valves, and the arrangement of intake and exhaust valves in such an engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Combustion chambers and injection systems for direct fuel injection in two stroke diesel engines are for example disclosed in Jikaisho No. 62-57733 and Tokkaihei No. 1-315631 published by the Japanese Patent Office.
In these engines, fuel is injected into the combustion chamber in the latter half of the compression step. This prevents the injection fuel from being blown out from the exhaust valve. However, due to this setting, insufficient conversion of fuel to fine particles and poor dispersion are apt to occur and fuel tends to mix poorly with air. This leads to poor fuel consumption performance and reduced power, and an undesirable composition of exhaust gases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to promote better mixing of fuel and air in a combustion chamber in a two stroke diesel engine.
It is another object of this invention to enhance a gas scavenging effect wherein fresh gases led into a combustion chamber in a two stroke diesel engine assist the expulsion of burnt gases.
It is yet another object of this invention to promote a more efficient combustion in a combustion chamber of a two stroke diesel engine.
This invention, in order to achieve the above objects, provides a two stroke diesel engine having a cylinder with an open end, a cylinder head having a bottom surface to close the open end of the cylinder, a piston accommodated in the cylinder such that it is free to slide in the cylinder between its top dead center and bottom dead center. This piston has a piston head facing the bottom surface of the cylinder head. A combustion chamber is formed in the cylinder by the piston head and the bottom surface of the cylinder head. This combustion chamber has a minimum capacity when the piston is at the top dead center. The engine also comprises a cavity formed in the cylinder head with an opening in the bottom surface, an intake valve fitted to the cylinder head and pointing toward the cavity, a fuel injector fitted to the cylinder head and pointing toward the cavity, an exhaust valve fitted to the cylinder head outside the cavity and pointing toward the combustion chamber, a cavity wall located between the intake valve and the exhaust valve, and a projection formed on the piston head such that it enters the cavity and separates the cavity from the combustion chamber when the piston is in the vicinity of the top dead center.
To achieve the above objects, this invention further provides a two stroke diesel engine having a cylinder with an open end, a cylinder head having a bottom surface to close the open end of the cylinder, a piston accommodated in the cylinder such that it is free to slide in the cylinder between its top dead center and bottom dead center. The piston has a piston head facing the bottom surface of the cylinder head. A combustion chamber is formed in the cylinder by the piston head and the bottom surface of the cylinder head. This combustion chamber has a minimum capacity when the piston is at the top dead center. The engine also comprises a cavity formed in the cylinder head with an opening in the bottom surface, a pair of intake valves fitted to the cylinder head and pointing toward the cavity, a fuel injector fitted to the cylinder head and pointing toward the cavity, a pair of exhaust valves fitted to the cylinder head outside the cavity and pointing toward the combustion chamber, a cavity wall located between the intake valves and exhaust valves, and a projection formed on the piston head such that it enters the cavity to separate the cavity from the combustion chamber when the piston head is in the vicinity of the top dead center. The cavity wall has a complex arc-shaped section being equidistant from the rim of each intake valve and forms an edge between the intake valves,
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 shows a vertical section of a cylinder head and upper part of a cylinder along a center line of the cylinder in a two stroke diesel engine according to this invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cylinder head viewed from a combustion chamber of the engine according to this invention.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing opening and closing periods of intake and exhaust valves, timing of fuel injection, and their relation to a closing period of a cavity of the engine according to this invention.
FIGS. 4a, 4b and 4c are schematic diagrams showing a flow of gases in the combustion chamber of the engine according to this invention.
FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c are schematic diagrams showing a propagation of combustion in the combustion chamber of the engine according to this invention.
FIG. 6 is identical to FIG. 1 except that it shows another embodiment of this invention concerning a shape of a projection on a piston head.
FIG. 7 shows yet another embodiment of this invention which shows a vertical section in outline of the combustion chamber along the central line of the cylinder.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The diesel engine shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a combustion chamber 7 formed in a cylinder 10 by a bottom surface 13 of a cylinder head 4 and a piston head 15 of a piston 6. A water jacket 19 is provided on the outside of the cylinder 10, and an identical water jacket is provided on the cylinder head 4.
A cavity 9 having an opening in the bottom surface 13 is formed in the cylinder head 4 and a pair of intake ports 11 opening downwards is formed in a roof 14 of the cavity 9. Similarly, a pair of exhaust ports 12 opening downwards is formed in the bottom surface 13. An intake valve 1 is fitted to each intake port 11, and an exhaust valve 2 is fitted to each exhaust port 12. The shapes and locations of cavity 9, the surface 13, and the intake valves 1 and exhaust valves 2 are shown in FIG. 2.
These valves 1 and 2 are arranged such that their center axes are parallel to the center axis of the cylinder 10. Each of the intake valves 1 is seated in a seat 21 which forms a part of the roof 14, while each of the exhaust valves 2 is seated in a seat 22 which forms a part of the surface 13.
The cavity 9 is delimited by the roof 14, a wall 17 and a cylinder extension wall 16. The wall 17 is formed between the roof 14 and the surface 13, and comprises two arcs set at a fixed distance from the rim of each intake valves 1 joined by an edge 18 to form a double cylindrical shape. On the bottom edge of the cylindrical wall 17, there is an arc-shaped guide 24 horizontally projection towards the center of the cavity 9.
The extension wall 16 is formed as an extension of the inner wall of the cylinder 10 in apposition to the cylindrical wall 17.
A projection 23 which closes the cavity 9 near the top dead center of the movement of the piston 6 is formed on the piston head 15. This projection 23 has a horizontal cross-section approximately resembling the cavity 9 and when the piston 6 rises, it passes between the extension wall 16 and the guide 24, there being a predetermined clearance between the piston 6 and these elements, and enters the cavity 9.
The top of the piston head 15 has a flat upper surface perpendicular to the central axis of the cylinder 10. The projection 23 also has a flat upper surface.
The roof 14 of the cavity 9 and the bottom surface 13 of the cylinder head 4 are also flat.
The projection 23 is formed at such a height that it closes the cavity 9 within a range of 10-20 degrees on either side of the top dead center of the piston 6. Further, at the top dead center of the piston 6, the volume of the combustion chamnber 7 is set at 30-50% of the total volume of the combustion chamber 7 and the cavity 9.
There are three piston rings 26, 27 and 28 fitted to the piston 6 such that they slide on the cylinder 10. These piston rings 26, 27 and 28 are disposed at a predetermined interval in the direction of the central axis of the cylinder 10, and guides the piston 6 up and down in the cylinder 10. It is preferable that the interval between these piston rings 26, 27 and 28 is made large so as to better maintain the orientation of the piston 6.
A single fuel injector 3 is provided on the extension wall 16 of the cavity 9 with a substantially horizontal orientation and points toward the edge 18 of the cylindrical wall 17. The fuel injector 3 injects fuel towards the edge 18 depending on an aperture of a throttle valve of the engine and an engine speed. The fuel injection time is set slightly in advance of the top dead center (TDC) of the piston 6 as shown in FIG. 3.
The intake ports 11 are connected to a supercharger, not shown, which delivers fresh pressurized air to the engine. The intake valves 1 and exhaust valves 2 are actuated by cams, not shown, which are provided in the top of the cylinder head 4, and operate with the timing shown in FIG. 3 in synchronism with the engine.
The intake valves 1 open during the latter half of the descent of the piston 6, and shut during the first half of the rise of the piston 6 after it has passed bottom dead center (BDC). The exhaust valves 2 open before the intake valves 1, and shut before the intake valves 1. The opening period of the intake valves 1 therefore overlaps with the opening period of the exhaust valves 2 by a predetermined amount.
In this engine, fuel is injected and an explosion takes place each time the piston 6 rises. Air intake, compression, explosion and exhaust take place during one movement cycle of the piston 6 in the cylinder 10.
When the piston 6 descends, the exhaust valves 2 open, burnt gas is expelled from the exhaust ports 12, the intake valves 1 open, and fresh gas pressurized by the supercharger is introduced from the intake valves 1 into the cavity 9 and the combustion chamber 7.
FIG. 4a shows the gas flow in the region of bottom dead center of the piston 6. As the gap between the rim of each intake valve 1 and the wall 17 of the cavity 9 is small, fresh gas flows into the chamber 7 mainly along the extension wall 16 which is continuous with the wall of the cylinder 10. It then collides with the piston head 15, veers to the sides, and veers again towards the exhaust ports 12.
Due to this loop-shaped flow of fresh gas, burnt gas in the chamber 7 is pushed towards the exhaust ports 12 and replacement of burnt gas of fresh gas is promoted. Further, as the fresh gas has a long flow path, its blowout from the exhaust ports 12 is limited. Further, the guide 24 at the bottom end of the circular wall 17 prevents fresh gas from flowing along this wall into the combustion chamber 7, so the loop-shaped flow is enhanced.
FIG. 4b shows the gas flow in the compression step. When the piston 6 approaches top dead center the volume of the combustion chamber 7 is effectively zero, air is blown strongly into the cavity 9, and symmetrical swirl flows are set up by the fresh gas led in by the wall 17 beneath the intake valves 1.
Fuel is then injected by the fuel injection valve 3 into the compressed air which has been pushed into the cavity 9 by the piston 6, as shown in FIG. 4c.
The flow of fuel mist produced by the injection and air is divided by the edge 18 which projects in a V-shape into the cavity 9, and swirls along the wall 17. This promotes better mixing of fuel and air, and allows compression ignition to take place when the fuel is in a suitable state of dispersion as shown in FIG. 5a.
The combustion which begins in the cavity 9 first spreads through the cavity as shown in FIG. 5b, then as the piston 6 descends and the projection 23 leaves the cavity 9, the flame and unburnt fuel spread out into the combustion chamber 7 due to the energy of the combustion as shown in FIG. 5c, and the combustion continues to spread through the combustion chamber 7.
As the combustion gases are enclosed in the cavity 9 by the piston projection 23 within the crank angle range of 10-20 degrees when the piston 6 is descending from top dead center, the pressure and temperature in the cavity 9 rise, and the energy of combustion increases.
When the projection 23 leaves the cavity 9, therefore, fuel is ejected into the combustion chamber 7 with a great deal of force, and air is utilized more efficiently from the medium to the latter stage of combustion in the cylinder 10 so that less smoke is generated. Also, the guide 24 leads the fuel mixture along the extension wall 16 so that air utilization efficiency is further increased.
If a piston without the projection 23 is used, however, the cavity 9 is connected with the combustion chamber 7 each other as soon as the piston descends from its top dead center position. In this case, the fuel gases are enclosed in the cavity 9 for only a short period, and as the flow of gases from the cavity 9 to the combustion chamber 7 is completed in the vicinity of top dead center of the piston, the aforesaid dispersion of combustion are inadequate.
Further, since the volume of the combustion chamber 7 when the piston 6 is at top dead center, is set at 30-50% of the volume of the total combustion volume including the cavity 9, the combustion in the cavity 9 takes place with the theoretical or a richer air-fuel mixing ratio, and generation of NOx which tends to occur easily in the initial stage of combustion is suppressed.
If the piston head 15 is provided with a band-shaped projection 30 as shown in FIG. 6, the same desirable effects can be obtained as in the aforesaid embodiment. In this case, it is also possible to improve the balance of the piston 6 and reduce its weight.
As shown in FIG. 7, without modifying the projection 23, a band-shaped projection 37 may be provided projecting downwards at the interface between the flat surface 13 and the cavity 9 instead of the guide 24. In this case a groove 38 may be formed in the piston head 15 to accommodate the projection 37.
This improves the balance of the piston 6, and also improves the sealtightness of the cavity 9 in the vicinity of the top dead center of the piston 6.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments for the purpose of illustrating this invention is not to be considered as limiting or restricting the invention, since many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.
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A two stroke diesel engine having a cavity in the cylinder head facing the combustion chamber, an intake valve and exhaust valve, a fuel injector, and a projection formed on the piston head. The intake valves and fuel injector are pointing toward the cavity while the exhaust valve is pointing toward the combustion chamber. The projection enters the cavity in the vicinity of the top dead center of the piston movement and separates it from the combustion chamber. Due to the loop effect of fresh gas flowing from the intake valve into the combustion chamber via the cavity, burnt gas is swept out of the chamber effectively, and due to the energy of combustion of fuel and air which ignited in the closed cavity, combustion rapidly spreads throughout the combustion chamber as the piston descends so that air is utilized efficiently.
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This is a continuation of Application Ser. No. 07/318,914, filed Mar. 3, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,699, patented Mar. 13, 1990.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to techniques for sorting and arranging items randomly placed on a conveyor and, more particularly, relates to methods and apparatus for efficiently sorting and arranging garments on a sorting conveyor onto a plurality of unloading conveyors in a selected order determined prior to initiating the sorting process. The techniques of the present invention are well suited for applications in the commercial laundry and industrial uniform rental industry wherein commingled identifiable garments are washed and dried, then must be arranged in a selected order for pickup or delivery to customers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various material handling techniques are widely used for removing devices from a conveyor system in a selected order. U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,250 discloses a recirculating conveyor system for distributing address coded packages to marshalling areas. U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,000 discloses a system for removing poultry within certain weight ranges from a conveyor line, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,298 discloses an endless loop conveyor with tiltable article carrying trays. Special material handling problems are encountered, however, for the efficient sorting and arranging of items randomly placed on a conveyor system for distribution in a preselected order at multiple output stations along the conveyor. The commercial laundry industry has long experienced this problem, since garments which are bulk cleaned and dried must be sorted and arranged in a selected order for pickup or delivery to customers. Significant problems are encountered in satisfying the requirements of this industry, as noted below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,217,988 discloses one early prior art technique for sorting washed laundry. Laundry is tagged and placed on a conveyor which passes a plurality of collecting stations, and a particular garment is dropped from the conveyor to a selected station in response to a trip device. Other sorting and assembling apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,808,405, 1,808,406 and 2,362,638, although each of these systems is not practical since a collection station is required for each customer's items. U S. Pat. No. 4,114,538 discloses a power and free conveyor system for sorting garments, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,365 discloses a conveyor system wherein garments are identified then dropped at a station.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,435 is a more recent attempt to satisfy the requirements of the commercial laundry industry for sorting and arranging garments. According to the '435 Patent, garments randomly placed on a conveyor are releasably supported thereon as the conveyor moves along its closed loop path past a plurality of receiving stations. Each receiving station identifies each garment passing thereby, and a particular garment is released from the conveyor at a particular receiving station by a special releasing device, which is controlled by a rotary solenoid responsive to the garment identifying device. The apparatus used according to this patent is complex and expensive, and the technique disclosed in this patent has found little acceptance in the commercial laundry or the industrial uniform rental industry.
Most commercially cleaned garments include a conventional identification marking affixed thereon, or can be easily identified by such an identification tag temporarily secured to the garment. These garments are, however, almost universally sorted by a manual operation. Typically, garments are first manually sorted and placed on a selected conveyor from a group of conveyors which represents a particular route which serves various customers. Once garments have been sorted by route, the garments are then similarly manually sorted and placed on a particular conveyor from a second group of conveyors representing a particular customer's account. A third manual sorting operation is required to then manually sort all garments for that particular customer, so that garments for a particular employee will be arranged together, and preferably will be in a selected sequence with respect to garments for other employees of that customer. Finally, some customers wish to have the garments for each employee arranged in a preselected sequence, i.e., shirts first, slacks second, jackets third, so that additional manually sorting operations are required.
Although almost universally used, manual garment sorting as described above has a number of significant drawbacks. First, the accuracy of any manual sorting procedure is a function of human frailties, which in turn means that sorting accuracy is influenced by considerations outside of the control of the commercial laundry employer. Extremely high sorting accuracy is required, since the cost of replacing one cleaned garment improperly sorted and delivered to the wrong customer can practically offset the profits otherwise realized by the commercial laundry for cleaning and properly sorting one hundred other garments. Apart from garment replacement costs, the goodwill of the laundry is directly connected to returning the proper garments to each customer or its employee. Second, manual sorting of garments is labor intensive and thus expensive. Moreover, in view of the number of repeated sorting operations and the multiplicity of conveyors required for each sorting operation, a good deal of floor space is required to perform the manual sorting operation. Manual sorting of garments, by its very nature, does not allow for a high level of control by the commercial laundry establishment, does not provide the laundry or its customers with desired data useful for various management reports, and is both expensive and unreliable.
Another problem with automated sorting of laundered garments concerns the reliability of retrieving the selected garment from a conveyor system at a desired time and location. Individual garments are commonly placed on individual metal wire hangers which are supported on the conveyor, and particular hangers are thus removed from the conveyor system to release the garment. According to the techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,435, each hanger is releasably supported on the conveyor system, and a carrier assembly with a swingable latch member releases a hanger to allow the hanger and garment to fall by gravity onto a guide bar. One of the primary reasons that this technique has not been widely accepted in the industrial uniform rental industry relates to the system's mechanically complex technique for removing garments from the conveyor. Other prior art devices for selectively gripping an object are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,425,732, 4,537,557, and 4,595,333. The systems disclosed in these patents are not, however, well-suited for gripping a metal wire hanger supporting a garment.
Reliance upon frictional engagement of a metal wire hanger with a gripper member used to remove a hanger and garment from a conveyor is not preferred, because the hanger may slip out of the gripper due to insufficient holding force. The required frictional holding force is a function of varying inertia forces resulting from starting and stopping movements of the garment, and varying loads caused by different garment weights. Moreover, increasing the frictional gripping force on a garment hanger increases maintenance due to increased stress forces, and can damage or break the hanger.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and improved methods and apparatus are hereinafter disclosed for efficiently sorting and arranging items, and particularly clothing garments supported by hangers, carried by and randomly positioned on a conveyor system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The techniques of the present invention are well suited for the industrial garment cleaning or uniform rental industry. Garments assigned to various employees of various companies are commonly commingled for efficient cleaning and drying. Each garment includes an identification tag, which may be permanently sewn therein or temporarily affixed thereto by the cleaner. Garments are placed on hangers and randomly input onto a feeding conveyor, where the garments pass a garment identification station. An operator identifies the garment by passing a laser scanner by the identification tag. Identification information of the sequentially scanned garments is input to a temporary data storage device, and each garment is sequentially loaded onto a sorting conveyor having a multiplicity of carriers. Accordingly, the temporary data storage device records the identification of each garment assigned to a respective carrier.
Data from the temporary data storage device is transferred to a computer once a group of garments are input into the sorting conveyor, such that a new group of garments may be scanned while the first group is sorted. The garment identification numbers are arranged by the computer into a proper sequential order so that each carrier (or slot number representing a carrier) is arranged in its preselected sequence. The computer then divides the number of garments in the group based on the number of available pick-off mechanisms which are situated along the sorting conveyor, so that a plurality of specific garments, or slot numbers, in a specific and desired order, are assigned to each pick-off mechanism. The sorting conveyor is driven by a stepping motor responsive to the computer, and is homed so that a specific slot is in a preselected starting location. The computer then calculates the shortest move between the starting position of the conveyor and its position so that one of the pick-off members can sequentially retrieve the garment corresponding to its first rearranged identification number from the conveyor. The conveyor is driven by the stepping motor in a bi-directional mode. When the selected garment is in its proper position with respect to its assigned pick-off mechanism, the mechanism is activated to retrieve the garment from the conveyor and place the garment on an unloading conveyor associated with that pick-off mechanism. The calculation of the shortest conveyor movement from the first position to the second position, and the activation of one of the pick-off mechanisms of the second position, is then performed. The process is repeated until the sorting conveyor is emptied of garments.
Each fluid-powered pick-off mechanism comprises a first cylinder for moving a gripper assembly toward and away from the sorting conveyor, and a second cylinder for pivotably closing a pair of biased open latch jaws. In their closed position, the latch jaws encircle a hook portion of the hanger, so that the hanger is positively retained by the gripper assembly until the latch jaws open to release the hanger and garment onto the unloading conveyor.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for efficiently sorting randomly arranged items on a conveyor, each item having been identified and sequentially input into the conveyor. A plurality of pick-off mechanisms are activated in response to the ordered sequential rearrangement of the garments by a computer, so that garments will be retrieved from the conveyor in a sorted sequence and placed on the plurality of associated unloading conveyors. The bi-directional conveyor is driven in response to the computer, which calculates conveyor movement so that the conveyor is driven to position the next garment by its associated pick-off mechanism to minimize overall conveyor movement and increase sorting efficiency.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide improved techniques for sorting garments identified by a marking or code affixed to each garment. Randomly arranged garments are identified as they are input into the conveyor, so that each sequentially input garment is assigned a specific carrier or slot number on the conveyor. Each garment is supported on a hanger, and the hanger and garment are removed from the conveyor by one of a plurality of pick-off mechanisms associated with each unloading conveyor.
It is an advantage of the present invention that each of the pick-off mechanisms are fluid-powered, and comprise a first cylinder for moving a gripping assembly toward and away from the conveyor, and a second cylinder for pivotably closing a pair of latch jaws. In the closed position, the latch jaws encircle the upper portion of the hanger, and are moved to the opened position to release the hanger onto the unloading conveyor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable yet relatively low-cost technique utilizing a computer for sorting randomly arranged garments on a conveyor in a commercial laundry facility, wherein the output of the computer provides valuable data for various types of management reports.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention become apparent from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the figures in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified pictorial view of the garment sorting apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of one of the pick-off mechanisms generally shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the gripper assembly generally shown in FIG. 2 in its closed position about a hanger.
FIG. 4 is a top view of a portion of the gripper assembly generally shown in FIG. 3 in its open position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 generally depicts the garment sorting assembly according to the present invention for use in a commercial laundry facility. For explanation purposes, it will be presumed that garments of various types from numerous customers or accounts are commingled for efficient cleaning, drying, pressing, etc. Thus slacks, shirts, and/or coats assigned to various employees of each customer are randomly arranged on individual hangers, i.e., in an unordered sequence, and are sorted and arranged in a preselected sequence by the techniques of the present invention. Each garment typically will be supported on its own hanger, and will include a bar code identification marking or tag permanently sewn, heat sealed, or otherwise secured to the garment at a suitable location, i.e., the neck band of shirts and coats, and the waist band of slacks. It should be understood that the term "identification tag" as used herein includes both a physical tag with an identification marking thereon, or an identification marking fixed on the material of the garment itself. Garments not provided with a permanently affixed tag may have a suitable tag temporarily affixed thereto by the laundry facility. For purposes of this discussion, it will be presumed that the garment is identified by both a twelve digit bar code and a corresponding numeric code, such that the bar code can be automatically read by a scanner, and the numerical code can be manually read by an operator.
Each of the garments 10 shown in FIG. 1 is placed on a corresponding metal hanger 12 subsequent to cleaning, drying, pressing, etc., and each garment remains on that hanger during the sorting process and until the garment is removed by the employee to which that garment is assigned. The assembly as shown in FIG. 1 includes a garment identification conveyor 14, a closed-loop sorting conveyor 16, and a plurality of unloading conveyors 18. Both the identification conveyor 14 and the unloading conveyors 18 need not be powered, and may be slick rail conveyors wherein the garments move along the fixed conveyor rail by gravity.
The garments 10 will thus be in an unordered sequence on the conveyor 14. Each garment is identified at identification station 20, where a garment identification tag may be automatically or manually read. Preferably, the garment is automatically identified by a portable helium-neon laser scanner 22 of the type commonly used to identify bar-coded objects, with the operator merely aiming the scanner sequentially at the garment identification tags as they move along the conveyor 14. The coded signal from the scanner 22 may be decoded at 24, and is input as an electronic identification signal to a conventional temporary data storage device 26. Alternatively, an operator may visually read the numeric code on the identification tag, and type the identifying information into terminal 28, which then transmits the identification signal to storage device 26. Once the identification information is input to device 26, it may simultaneously be displayed on screen 30 so that the operator can verify the input information. The device 26 thus sequentially receives a series of electronic signals corresponding to the identification tag numbers, i.e., 596384691207, 861458396180, 304581329457, etc. The garments then continue along the conveyor 14 in the sequence in which they were identified, and are transported to either a manual unloading conveyor 32 or an automatic unloading conveyor 34, as a function of the position of switch 36.
For illustration purposes and with reference to the first identified garment, it will be presumed that the first two digits, 59, represent a specific distribution route, i.e., the assigned route number for subsequently delivering that garment and other garments to customers in the same general area. The next four digits, 6384, designate by number a specific customer or account within that route. The next three digits, 691, represent a specific employee of the identified account, i.e., Robin Jones. The next digit, 2, represents a selected sort order, e.g. indicates that all of Mr. Jones's shirts should be arranged sequentially first, followed by all of his slacks and then his coats. The last two digits, 07, serialize individual garments, i.e., this particular garment is the seventh garment issued to Mr. Jones. These identification codes allow the techniques of the present invention to generate a great deal of information useful to management for both the customer and the laundry facility, as explained hereafter.
Once the garments 10 have been sequentially identified and positioned on the loading conveyor 32, the garments may be sequentially manually loaded onto the sorting conveyor 16, which has a series of numbered or otherwise visually identifiable carriers 38 thereon. Before loading the sorting conveyor, however, a specific carrier is assigned to each sequentially input garment. In other words, the operator would typically place the first garment previously identified as 596384691207 on carrier No. 1, the second garment on carrier No. 2, etc. Since the carrier number for any carrier on the conveyor 16 remains the same as the conveyor moves, the garment can then be identified by the carrier number on which it is placed and the information in the temporary data storage device 26.
As the garments are loaded onto the sorting conveyor 16, data from the storage device 26 may be dumped to computer 40. This feature allows one group of garments, typically approximately 1,200 garments, to be loaded onto the sorting conveyor 16 and unloaded therefrom (as explained hereafter), while a second group of garments is identified and data from these garments sequentially retained in device 26. The computer 40 associates a particular identification number with a specific carrier, since it is preprogrammed that the first garment is on carrier No. 1, the second garment on carrier No. 2, etc., as previously noted. Alternatively, the operator may input to the computer the designated carrier number for the first garment and the movement of the conveyor 16 as it is loaded. In either event, the computer 40 continually associates a particular garment identification number with a particular carrier, and that association remains fixed for each batch of garments sorted.
The computer 40 performs a plurality of operations. At terminal 41, the operator inputs a selected sorting sequence, i.e., instructs the computer 40 to sort all garments in a decending route number order, then an ascending account number order, etc. The computer 40 then effectively rearranges the identification garment numbers in the desired sequence order, so that the associated carrier numbers will be rearranged in an order corresponding to the desired sorting sequence for the garments, i.e., carrier numbers rearranged as 238, 054, 306, etc. The computer then divides the rearranged garment identification numbers (or carrier numbers) between the available pick-off mechanisms. Accordingly, the first 250 garments in the rearranged order corresponding to designated carrier numbers may be assigned to pick-off mechanism 48A, the second 250 garment identification numbers may be assigned to pick-off mechanism 48B, etc. In making this division, the computer can be easily instructed so that a specific route number, account number, or employee number will not be split between two pick-off mechanisms.
A process controller 42 may then actuate a sorting conveyor drive 44 to "home" the conveyor, i.e., place a designated carrier (carrier No. 1) at a designated starting position. The computer then calculates the required conveyor movement, in both directions, necessary to position the carrier representing the first identification number in each sorted sequence for removal by its respective pick-off mechanism. For the assembly as shown in FIG. 1 having four pick-off mechanisms, the computer 40 may thus make eight calculations of the distance the conveyor must move to properly position the next carrier for garment pick-off according to the rearranged order by each of the four pick-off mechanisms. According to one embodiment, the computer then selects the shortest conveyor movement distance and direction, and the process controller in response thereto causes the conveyor drive 44 to move the conveyor 16 the selected distance in the selected direction. Once the conveyor has moved to its selected position, the sorting conveyor is stopped, and the garment is picked off the conveyor. The above process is then repeated, and eight new conveyor movement calculations are then made by the computer 40, each based on the starting point resulting from the previous conveyor movement, so that the next carrier will be properly positioned for garment pick-off according to the rearranged order. If a particular pick-off mechanism was not activated, its next garment identification number remains unchanged. Once a pick-off mechanism is activated to remove a specific garment representing the first identification number in the rearranged order assigned to that mechanism, the computer will then calculate the required bidirectional conveyor movement to pick-off the garment corresponding to the second rearranged identification number assigned to that mechanism. In this manner, all of the garments may be efficiently removed from the sorting conveyor and arranged in their desired sequence on a selected one of the unloading conveyors 18.
Still referring to FIG. 1, various modifications of the techniques described above are within the scope of the present invention. Instead of being manually loaded, the garments may be automatically placed sequentially from the loading conveyor 34 onto the sorting conveyor 16 by fluid-powered automatic loading device 54. Loading device 54 includes four pick-off mechanisms 56 each substantially similar to pick-off mechanisms 48 associated with unloading of the conveyor 16. Each of the mechanisms 56 are circumferentially arranged about a carousel which, as shown in FIG. 1, rotates in a counterclockwise direction. Mechanism 56A thus picks off the last garment on the conveyor 34, while mechanism 56C automatically inputs a garment onto the sorting conveyor 16. At the location of mechanism 56B the garment may optionally be identified, and accordingly the station 20 previously discussed may be positioned between the loading conveyor 34 and the sorting conveyor 56. Rotational movement of the automatic loader 54 may trigger switch 35, thereby allowing one garment in a series of sequential garments on the slick rail conveyor 34 to be positioned for pick-off by the mechanism 56.
As indicated in FIG. 1, the process controller 42 may be used to activate rotation of the automatic loader, so that the conveyor drive 44 may move the conveyor one slot or carrier forward, and the mechanism 56 then activated to sequentially load another garment onto the sorting conveyor. Alternatively, a timer 58 may be provided for activating both the sorting conveyor and the automatic loader at a selected interval. When the sorting conveyor is moved a selected distance, the conveyor drive 44 will stop, and may transmit a completed conveyor movement signal back to the process controller to verify that the conveyor has, in fact, moved in the desired direction and amount. Alternatively, the conveyor position sensors 46 directly responsive to movement of the carriers on the conveyor may be used for transmitting a similar signal back to the process controller, so that a verified conveyor movement signal may be received prior to initiating any subsequent conveyor movements. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a similar conveyor drive, process controller, timer, and sensor may be used to drive the identifying conveyor 14, so that the incremental movement of the identifying conveyor will be based on the transmission of an identifying signal to the temporary data storage device 26. While various devices may be used to drive the sorting conveyor 16, suitable driving devices are an electrically-powered stepper motor or a hydraulically-powered drive motor.
As previously indicated, the process controller 42 will also activate a selected one of the pick-off mechanisms 48 when the garment associated with the next identification number in the rearranged sequence for that pick-off mechanism is properly positioned along the conveyor. Actuation of any pick-off mechanism will thus allow the computer to calculate the next required conveyor movement to pick-off the garment representing the next identification number in the rearranged sequence for that mechanism. As each garment is picked off the conveyor, it is deposited on the slick rail conveyor 18 associated with that pick-off mechanism.
It is possible that two garments may be simultaneously positioned at one conveyor position for pick-off by their respective pick-off mechanisms, in which case the computer may be programmed to actuate each of the mechanisms 48 simultaneously. Also, the computer 40 need not be responsive to a certain identification number, such as the last two digits of the twelve digit code. Accordingly, three shirts each assigned to Robin Jones may have the same route number, account number, employee number and sorting order number. If these three shirts are on the same sorting conveyor, the computer may calculate the shortest conveyor movement required to pick-off any one of these shirts by its assigned pick-off mechanism. Also, it should be understood that the computer 40 may be programmed to minimize conveyor movement and enhance sorting efficiency by taking into consideration more than one conveyor movement at a time. By way of example, the computer may "look ahead" and recognize that a conveyor movement of twenty spaces in the clockwise direction to unload one garment followed by further clockwise movement of one space to unload two garments may be more efficient than permitting counterclockwise conveyor movement of eighteen spaces to unload one garment followed by further counterclockwise movement of four spaces to unload the next garment and eight spaces to unload the next garment.
According to the present invention, it is significant that data fed into the computer 40 may be used for additional purposes other than for sorting the garments. The computer 40 may alone, or in conjunction with a main computer 50, generate various types of management reports, which may be then output on printer 52. Since the identification number and sorting information is fed into the computer to perform sorting, it may be easily used to generate garment inventory reports, production cleaning reports, sorting efficiency reports, down-time reports, etc. for management of the cleaning establishment. In addition, this data allows management to easily generate reports or analyses based upon various route numbers, particular customers, particular employees, etc. to maximize efficiency and increase profitability. Finally, similar reports may be made available by the laundry facility to the customer, so that the customer can easily discern which employee's garments are being washed at certain times, how many times any particular garment of any particular employee is cleaned, which employees have too few assigned garments, etc.. This is a significant feature of the present invention, since the effort required to input data to sort garments according to the present invention is used to generate these valuable reports.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a suitable pick-off mechanism 48 is shown in greater detail for removing the garment and hanger from the sorting conveyor 16 and depositing the garment and hanger on a unloading conveyor associated therewith. The sorting conveyor 16 includes a fixed tubular rail 82 supported on a structural steel member 80. A plurality of carrier supports 84 are each positioned about the fixed rail 82 by a pair of guide rollers 86, so that intermittently spaced carrier supports carry a plurality of carriers 38 therebetween. The carriers include an upper portion 88 and a lower tubular portion 90, as shown in FIG. 3. The hook end 78 of each garment hanger 12 thus is hooked over tubular portion 90 in a conventional fashion.
The pick-off mechanism includes a fluid-powered cylinder 60 having an axis 61 projecting downward toward the conveyor 16 and inclined at an angle of less than about 60°, and preferably about 45°, with respect to a vertical plane formed by the garments passing by the pick-off mechanism. Cylinder 62 has an outer housing which is structurally fixed, and guide member 64 is secured to a rod member thereof. Cylinder 62 thus reciprocates along a substantially horizontal axis. Cylinder 60 is supported from cylinder 62, and a bracket 66 is effectively connected to a rod end of this cylinder 60, so that actuation of the cylinder 60 moves the bracket 66 toward and away from the conveyor 16 and the hanger thereon. A rotary drive unit 68 is suspended from bracket 66, and block 70, gripper drive unit 74, and gripping assembly 76 rotate about shaft 72 in response to the rotary drive unit 68.
When the pick-off mechanism 48 is activated, the gripper assembly 76 is preferably biased in an open position thereof and rotary drive unit 68 positions the apparatus as shown in FIG. 2. Cylinder 60 may then cause the gripping assembly 76 to move toward the hanger in the direction of the axis 61. Once positioned, unit 74 is activated to cause the gripping assembly to grasp or pick the hanger. Cylinder 60 is then retracted to move vertically up and horizontally away from the sorting conveyor 16, such that the garment and hanger are effectively picked off the conveyor without necessitating any movement of conveyor components.
Once picked off the conveyor, the cylinder 62 may be activated to move the pick-off gripping assembly and garment horizontally a substantial distance, e.g., three to five feet, from the sorting conveyor. Since the picked garment and hanger no longer interfere with the subsequent movement of other garments along the conveyor, the drive 44 may then be activated. Motor 68 may then be activated to rotate shaft 72 90°, and the unit 74 then activated to release the hanger and picked garment onto the slick rail 18 associated with that pick-off mechanism. Once the garment has been released by the pick-off mechanism 48, the cylinder 62 may return to its starting position and the drive unit 68 activated to return the pick-off mechanism to the position shown in FIG. 2.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the gripper mechanism 76 and its associated drive unit 74 are shown in greater detail. The hook end 78 of each hanger is positioned within a numbered slot 94 defined by a pair of spaced vertical bars 92, a hanger supporting tubular portion 90 at a lower end of each bar, and a carrier identification strip 95 on the upper portion 88. A multiplicity of visually identifiable carriers thus move in a conventional fashion between the pick-off mechanisms in response to the conveyor drive unit 44. While it is preferable that each carrier formed by the above components is structurally interconnected, physically separate carriers each interconnected to a common conveyor chain or other flexible drive means may be provided. It is important to the concepts of the present invention, however, that the sorting conveyor include a multiplicity of movable carriers each associated with a particular hanger for supporting a previously identified garment thereon. By associating the carrier and the identification signal for the garment, identification signals may be rearranged as previously explained and each carrier then positioned with respect to its respective pick-off mechanism for sorting and arranging the garments in the preselected order on each of the plurality of unloading conveyors 18.
Referring to FIG. 4, two fingers 76, 77 of the gripper assembly are thus positioned and remain on opposite sides of a centerline 106 of the assembly. A pair of latch jaws 96, 98 are each pivotally connected by respective pins 97, 99 to one of these fingers 76, 77, and are pivotally connected to each other by pin 100. In an open position, as shown in FIG. 4, terminal ends 102, 104 of the jaws define an open throat for receiving the hanger, as previously explained. When the jaws close, however, the terminal ends overlap (see FIG. 3) such that the hanger is positively picked. While the interior surfaces of the latch jaws 96, 98 preferably contact the hanger during this gripping operation, the jaws fully encircle the hanger when in their closed position, so that the hook portion of the hanger prevents the hanger from inadvertently dropping from the pick-off mechanism even if sliding movement of the hanger with respect to the inner surfaces of the jaws occurs. In addition to encircling and thus positively gripping the hanger, a further advantage of the pick-off mechanism with the latch jaws as shown in FIG. 4 is that the jaws 96, 98 close at a faster rate than the fingers 76, 77. Accordingly, the terminal ends 102, 104 of the jaws will close and begin to overlap before both the fingers 76, 77 or the inner surfaces of the jaws grip the hanger.
Various changes and modification of the methods and apparatus as described above may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the temporary data storage device, computer and process controller may be a single stand alone unit, with the data storage device and computer consisting of conventional microchips, and the process controller responding to their output signals to generate control signals to the conveyor drive unit, pick-off mechanism, and automatic loader. A more complex technique for detecting the difference between actual conveyor movement and computer conveyor movement may be used to verify that the sorting conveyor is in its desired position, such as the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,946. Also, devices other than a helium-neon laser may be used for assisting in the identification of garments. A RF frequency scanner or other type of conventional bar code scanner may be used for generating the identification signals for each garment and sequentially passing these signals to the temporary data storage device. Although in the system described above only one garment is supported on one hanger which is then positioned in one slot, a plurality of garments could be positioned on the same hanger and/or a plurality of hangers may be bundled as a group, provided that the identification of one of the garments is sufficient to enable sorting according to the present invention of all the garments grouped together with the one identification tag.
The pick-off mechanism 48 as disclosed herein is similar to prior art pick-off mechanisms, such as the Tom Eracon brand pick-off mechanism. The primary differences relate to the orientation of the cylinder 60 with respect to the garment sorting conveyor 16, and the use of special latch jaws as disclosed herein. It should be understood that the latch jaws may be biased closed and opened by the drive unit associated therewith, or may be both opened and closed by the associated drive unit. The sorting conveyor as described herein is similar to prior art conveyors used in the laundry industry. A suitable conveyor according to the present invention is the Airlift-type conveyor fabricated by Speed Check, Inc. in Atlanta, Ga.
Other alternative forms of the present invention will suggest themselves from the consideration of the apparatus and methods described herein. Accordingly, it should be understood that the methods and apparatus as described herein and as shown in the accompanying drawings are intended as exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and not as limitations thereto.
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Improved methods and apparatus are provided for sorting and arranging garments in a selected order which have been sequentially placed in an unordered sequence. The garments are identified by a marking affixed to each garment, and each garment is arranged in its identified sequence on a sorting conveyor having a multiplicity of movable carriers each for receiving a garment. Identification signals are rearranged in a preselected order, and a plurality of arranged signals are assigned to each one of a corresponding plurality of pick-off mechanisms positioned along the sorting conveyor. A computer calculates bidirectional movement of the sorting conveyor to minimize conveyor movement for positioning a garment for pick-off in its proper sequence by a respective one of the pick-off mechanisms. The conveyor is driven in a bidirectional mode to properly position the garment, and a pick-off mechanism is activated to remove the garment from the sorting conveyor and position the garment on an unloading conveyor. Each conveyor pick-off apparatus includes a fluid-powered cylinder inclined downward toward the sorting conveyor, and a drive unit for closing the gripper mechanism. The method and apparatus of the present invention are particularly well suited for commercial laundry and industrial uniform rental plant industry, wherein commingled garments are arranged in a selected order for pickup or delivery to customers.
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RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application, Ser. No. ______, filed on ______, which is incorporated herein by reference and to which priority is claimed pursuant to 35 USC 119.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates generally to the field of dental endodontics and, more particularly, to an endodontic gutta percha placement tool with a disposable gutta percha cartridge, a disposable injection needle and a motor-driven plunger arrangement.
[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0005] In the field of dentistry, filling an inflamed root canal cavity is quite common. One preferred method involves cleaning out the canals and removing the diseased pulp tissue of the damaged tooth with files, drills, and burrs, all the way to the bottom or apex of the tooth. At that point, the tooth is dead. The damaged tooth, however, can be covered with a so-called crown that approximates the features and characteristics of the original tooth. Before the crown can be applied, however, the empty cavity left behind by the root canal operation must be back-filled to prevent bacteria from entering empty cavity and causing infections and to reduce problems with respect to pressure differentials.
[0006] Endodontists traditionally perform this backfill operation by packing a thermo-plastic material known as gutta percha, or GP, which is the milky juice of Malaysian trees and has a semisolid state at a normal temperature, but becomes a hard rubber-like gum when heated.
[0007] The process of filling the vacated canal traditionally begins by down packing the lower ⅓ of the canal with several long “cones” of gutta percha that are selected in size and taper on the basis of the file, drill or burr used to vacate the canal. This down packing process for the lower ⅓ of the canal is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0008] A gutta percha manual injection gun or many cones of gutta percha is generally used to fill the upper portion of the canal. A conventional gutta percha gun is a manual operated device that heats a slug of gutta percha within a heated barrel and then, using a hand-operated plunger, forces the molten gutta percha out of a needle-like tip. The foregoing device is quite similar to a hot glue gun.
[0009] There are several problems with the just described gutta percha gun. First, the gutta percha slug is in direct contact with the interior of the heated barrel and the face of the plunger that forces the gutta percha out through the needle at the front of the gun. Accordingly, the interior of the gun must be cleaned after each use. Moreover, it is sometimes necessary to replace the plunger periodically because of this direct contact. Second, the hand-operation of the gun interferes with the endodontist's ability to know that the vacated canal is full through tactile feedback while performing the fill. In particular, because the just-described gun requires the endodontist to squeeze the handle of the tool, it makes it relatively difficult to perceive the upward pressure on the needle tip caused by hydraulic back pressure caused by the gutta percha filling within the cavity.
[0010] There remains a need, therefore, for a gutta percha placement tool that improves upon the just-described device.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art and an object of the present invention Is to provide a gutta percha placement tool that solves one or more of these problems. The present invention is a gutta percha placement tool according to one embodiment of the present invention and includes a handheld tool with a heated chamber that receives a gutta percha cartridge formed from a disposable high temperature plastic cartridge containing gutta percha. For that purpose, the preferred chamber includes a side-loading port through which the gutta percha cartridge may be inserted. The preferred gutta percha cartridge includes a sealing ring (e.g. an o-ring) that engages an interior lumen leading to disposable needle tip to prevent any leakage of gutta percha into the heat chamber. A back end of the gutta percha cartridge is opened to receive a plunger that forces the molten gutta percha out of the gutta percha cartridge and into and through the needle.
[0012] As a result of the use of a gutta percha cartridge according to this embodiment of the invention, there is a significantly reduced need to clean the gutta percha placement tool, if ever.
[0013] Moreover, the preferred gutta percha placement tool of the present invention uses a lead screw that forces the melting gutta percha from the cartridge into the needle tip of the tool. As a result of this unique use of a motor-driven lead screw, the endodontist does not need to squeeze the device and, therefore, is allowed much more ability to sense the back pressure, i.e. to have the tactual feedback described above while placing the gutta percha in the canal.
[0014] The hollow needle used with the gutta percha tool is preferably made of a metal having high thermal conductivity such as a silver alloy or a copper alloy. That way, the hollow needle is sufficiently hot so that the melting gutta percha does not solidify as it is pushed through and nears the far end of the hollow needle. The preferred needle has a continuous taper, free of joints. In the preferred embodiment, a foot pedal would be used to allow the endodontist to conveniently operate the motor that drives the lead screw.
[0015] While the apparatus and method has or will be described for the sake of grammatical fluidity with functional explanations, it is to be expressly understood that the claims, unless expressly formulated under 35 USC 112, are not to be construed as necessarily limited in any way by the construction of “means” or “steps” limitations, but are to be accorded the full scope of the meaning and equivalents of the definition provided by the claims under the judicial doctrine of equivalents, and in the case where the claims are expressly formulated under 35 USC 112 are to be accorded full statutory equivalents under 35 USC 112. The invention can be better visualized by turning now to the following drawings wherein like elements are referenced by like numerals.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a partially see through view of a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a side view of the injector element of a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIGS. 2 a - 2 d show a more detailed view of a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a partially see through view of the distal end of a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a side view of the cartridge element of a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 5 is an exploded side view of a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a see through view of a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a side view of a second embodiment of the cartridge element of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 8 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of a needle.
[0025] The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which are presented as illustrated examples of the invention defined in the claims. It is expressly understood that the invention as defined by the claims may be broader than the illustrated embodiments described below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] Referring initially to FIG. 1 , a first preferred embodiment of an endodontic injection apparatus 10 for injecting material in to a prepared root canal according to the present invention is shown. The injection apparatus 10 comprises a handpiece 11 that is directly connected to a power control box 14 . The handpiece defines a longitudinal axis L 1 that extends there through from a proximal end 12 to a distal end 13 thereof. A chamber 16 is defined within the handpiece 11 and defines a hollow cavity 28 therein. In a preferred embodiment the handpiece 11 is a pen-like injector.
[0027] The proximal end 12 of the handpiece 10 includes a lead screw 22 that is axially aligned with the longitudinal axis L 1 . The lead screw 22 travels on the longitudinal axis L 1 when it is actuated. In a preferred embodiment, an electrical power control box electronically actuates the lead screw 22 . In another embodiment, the lead screw 22 is electronically actuated by a foot pedal. As shown best in FIGS. 1 and 2 , a pre-filled cartridge 26 is loaded into the handpiece 11 via a side loading port 24 that the cartridge 26 drops into. The side loading port 24 leads to the chamber 16 within the handpiece 11 and the chamber receives the cartridge 16 when it is dropped into the side loading port 24 . When the cartridge 26 is loaded into the chamber 16 , and the lead screw 22 is actuated, the electrical control box 14 provides power to a heating element 29 that is disposed around the chamber 16 . The chamber 16 heats up and the cartridge 26 is thereby indirectly heated causing the thermoplastic material within the cavity 44 to become pliable. This allows the thermoplastic material to travel through the needle 20 when the lead screw 22 is actuated and forces the thermoplastic material out of the cartridge opening 46 . In a preferred embodiment, the cartridge is disposable and the thermoplastic material is gutta percha. FIG. 2 a shows the lead screw 22 retracted so that the cartridge 26 may be loaded into the side loading port 24 . FIG. 2 b shows the cartridge 26 within the chamber 16 .
[0028] In a preferred embodiment, an insulating sleeve 36 is removably inserted over the chamber 16 after the cartridge 26 is inserted into the side loading port 24 .
[0029] As shown best in FIG. 3 , the distal end 13 of the needle nut 52 has mating threads 32 that thread into the chamber 16 and comprises a central passageway 30 that extends from the cartridge 26 to a needle 20 . The needle extends through a plastic flange 38 that is connected to the needle nut 52 with threading 32 or any other fastening device that connects the needle 20 directly to the needle nut 52 . In a preferred embodiment the needle is jointless and made of a high thermal conductive material i.e. a silver or copper alloy.
[0030] As is best seen in FIG. 2 , the needle 20 and nut 52 assembly is separate from the cartridge 26 , and therefore the needle 20 and nut 52 assembly, at the discretion of the operating endodontist, does not need to be replaced every time the cartridge 26 is emptied. This gives the endodontist the option of reusing the needle 20 and nut 52 assembly with multiple cartridges 26 . The option of the needle 20 and nut 52 assembly being reusable saves the user money because otherwise he would have to constantly replace the needle 20 and nut 52 assembly and order more, and he would have to spend the time properly disposing of it and changing them.
[0031] As seen in FIG. 4 , the pre-filled cartridge 26 comprises a proximal end 41 and a distal end 42 and defines a cavity 44 within. The distal end 42 of the cartridge 26 comprises grooves 47 for an O-ring to be placed in order to assure that when the thermoplastic material is discharged from the cartridge 26 , it does not leak into the chamber 16 . In a preferred embodiment, the thermoplastic material is gutta percha. The distal end 42 of the pre-filled cartridge 26 comprises an opening 46 for discharging the thermoplastic material that is held within the cavity 44 .
[0032] In a first embodiment, the pre-filled cartridge 26 comprises at least one stop 40 that abuts against the chamber 16 , and prevents the cartridge 26 from moving within the chamber 16 . In a preferred emodiment, there are two adjacent stops 40 that create a space between them and allows the heated cartridge 26 to be pulled out of the chamber 16 with a tool after use. During activation, a lead screw 22 travels on the longitudinal axis L 1 towards the distal end of the injection apparatus 10 and contacts a plunger 45 located within the cavity 44 causing the plunger 45 to move towards the distal end 13 of the handpiece 11 . The thermoplastic material is then forced to the distal end 42 of the cartridge 26 , through the opening 46 of the cartridge 26 and into a central passageway 30 that leads to the needle 20 . The thermoplastic material is smoothly pushed out of the cartridge 26 in a continuous and uniform motion, causing very little movement of the injection apparatus while in the root canal. This makes it relatively easy to perceive the upward pressure on the needle tip within the cavity. In a preferred embodiment, the plunger 45 has two sealing rings that contact the walls of the cavity 44 . This ensures that the gutta percha will not leak out of the cartridge 26 when the plunger 45 is sliding within the cavity 44 .
[0033] In a second embodiment, shown in FIG. 5 , the pre-filled cartridge 26 is loaded into a front aperture 56 on the chamber 16 and abuts against a lead screw (not shown) that is in a fixed position. Having the lead screw be in a fixed position eliminates the loading and waiting time. Once the cartridge 26 is inserted into the front aperture 56 , a needle hub 50 fits onto the nozzle 58 of the cartridge and puts the needle 20 in fluid communication with the cartridge 26 via a central passageway 30 . A nut 52 is then strattled over the needle 20 and has mating threads 32 that thread onto the mating threads 27 of the chamber 16 . In a preferred embodiment, the nut 52 is made out of copper, so that the heat from the heating element 29 transfers through the nut 52 and to the needle 20 . In a preferred embodiment, the nut 52 is hexagonal so that a wrench can be used to tighten the nut 52 onto the chamber 16 .
[0034] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the invention assembled, wherein the cartridge 26 is front loaded into the chamber 16 .
[0035] In a second embodiment, best shown in FIG. 7 , the distal end 42 of the cartridge 26 comprises at least one stop 54 i.e. O-ring, that sealingly engages the interior lumen of the cartridge. In the second preferred embodiment, there are two stops 54 located on the distal end 42 of the cartridge 26 . On the nozzle 58 of the cartridge 26 , is a groove 47 adapted to hold a sealing ring (not shown). The proximal end 41 of the cartridge 26 is open to receive a lead screw 22 .
[0036] FIG. 8 shows a preferred embodiment of the needle 20 being joint free and tapered from a proximal end 81 to a distal end 82 . In the preferred embodiment the needle 20 is made from a silver or copper alloy.
[0037] A root canal is back filled with a thermoplastic material by providing an endodontic injection apparatus 10 having a handpiece 11 , a cylindrical chamber 16 defined within the handpiece 11 , a side-loading port 24 adapted to receive a disposable cartridge 26 , wherein the cartridge 26 defines a cavity 28 within, has a proximal end 41 and a distal end 42 and is pre-filled with gutta percha. A lead screw 22 aligned on a longitudinal axis L 1 ; and a reusable needle 20 coupled to the handpiece 11 , wherein the needle 20 can be reused with multiple cartridges 26 . A heating element 29 directly connected to a electrical power control box 24 is supplied to heat the chamber 16 . The proximal end of the cartridge 26 comprises at least one stop 40 and is open to receive a lead screw 22 , and the distal end comprises a discharge aperture 46 . The lead screw 22 is electronically actuated by a foot control peddle 18 and smoothly and uniformly pushes a plunger 45 located within the cavity 44 towards the distal end 13 of the handpiece 11 .
[0038] Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example,
[0039] Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different elements, which are disclosed in above even when not initially claimed in such combinations.
[0040] The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word itself.
[0041] The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
[0042] Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
[0043] The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptionally equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
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An electrically heated endodontic syringe for injecting thermoplastic material, such as gutta percha, into a root canal cavity including a handpiece, control box, receiver for receiving a pre-filled cartridge of a thermoplastic material, tapered needle and a foot control peddle. The cartridge is made out of a high temperature plastic material and is indirectly heated by the control box, causing the thermoplastic material inside, preferably gutta percha, to become pliable. The handpiece includes a lead screw that, when activated, slides along the length of the hand piece and contacts a cartridge plunger at an open end of the cartridge, causing the thermoplastic material to travel along a central pathway, through the needle and into the cavity. The plunger is operated by a foot peddle.
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CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/755,746, filed Dec. 29, 2005, and is fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to cooling fans, and in particular to a fan configured to cool the stator windings of a motor component of the cooling fan.
[0003] FIG. 7 shows an exploded cross-sectional view of components comprising a conventional cooling fan. The figure shows a base 702 that is part of the cooling fan housing (not shown) onto which a stator is mounted. Typically, the base 702 includes a small printed circuit board for the electronics which control motor operation. Power and control wires (not shown) run from the printed circuit board for connection to an external power source and to a computer. The stator assembly comprises a coil subassembly 704 comprising some number of individually activated coils wound about a bearing liner 706 . A rotor assembly is positioned around the stator coil 704 . The rotor assembly includes a yoke 708 which is shaped like a cup that fits around the stator coil 704 . An axle 710 is axially connected to the interior of the yoke 708 . A number of permanent magnets 712 are fixedly mounted about the interior periphery of the yoke 708 . When the yoke 708 is assembled with the stator assembly, the axle 708 is received within the bearing liner 706 and the permanent magnets 712 are disposed around the coil subassembly 704 . The axle 710 rests on a bearing surface neat the bottom of the bearing liner 706 . An impeller 714 , comprising a hub 716 and some number of fan blades 718 attached to the hub, fits over the yoke 708 and is connected to the yoke.
[0004] Rotation of the rotor assembly results in suitably timed activation and deactivation of the coils in the coil subassembly 704 . The fan blades 718 are typically configured so that the resulting flow of air is toward the rotor assembly (inlet airflow) and away from the stator assembly (outlet airflow).
[0005] The motor essentially comprises the coil subassembly 704 and the permanent magnets 712 . Due to the constant flow of current in the stator windings of the motor, the stator windings of a cooling fan motor can get quite hot.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Embodiments of the present invention include secondary blades disposed in the interior of the hub of a fan, in addition to the primary blades of the fan. The secondary blades blow air through openings provided in the yoke of the stator. The air flow through the stator provides significant cooling of the stator windings, thus allowing for the motor to run at higher speeds and higher torque levels. The secondary blades can be configured to achieve desired levels of cooling. Lab results have shown substantial temperature reductions, ranging from 5° C. to 40° C.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of an impeller according to the present invention.
[0008] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a hub embodiment according to the present invention.
[0009] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a fan assembly embodied according to the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 5 is perspective view of a fan embodied in accordance with the present invention, showing openings formed in the yoke of the fan.
[0011] FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate various configurations of openings in a yoke in accordance with the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 7 shows an exploded view of components comprising a conventional cooling fan.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the basic components of an impeller 114 according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The impeller 114 comprises a hub 116 to which fan blades 118 are attached. For purposes of identification, these blades 118 are referred to as primary blades. The direction of inlet air flow is toward an inlet facing surface 120 of the hub 116 when the impeller 114 is operated. The primary blades 118 are configured to capture a portion of the inlet air flow to create a primary flow 1 A in the axial direction, which flows around the hub 116 . Consequently, the primary blades 118 can also be referred to as axial blades.
[0014] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , an opening 122 is provided through the inlet facing surface of the hub 116 . As a result of having a hub opening 122 , a secondary flow component 1 B of the inlet air flow is created. The interior of the hub 116 includes a set of secondary blades 218 . In this particular illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the secondary blades 218 are disposed about an interior surface 320 opposite the inlet facing surface 120 . As will be explained in more detail, the secondary flow 1 B is captured by the secondary blades 218 and is radially distributed in the volume of space in the interior of the hub 116 . For this reason, the secondary blades 218 can also be referred to as radial blades. The secondary blades 218 depicted in the figures are schematic in nature. The actual shape of the secondary blades 218 , their size, numbers, and so on can be optimized for specific dimensions of the fan components. In addition, any suitable material can be used for the secondary blades 218 and can be the same or different material as used to make the primary blades 118 .
[0015] FIG. 4 shows an assembly in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, comprising the impeller 114 and a motor sub-assembly. Though the illustrated embodiment shows a brushless DC motor, it will be appreciated that other motor configurations can be used. The motor sub-assembly comprises a rotor component comprising a yoke 408 and an annular-shaped magnet 412 that is fixedly disposed in an interior of the yoke. The motor sub-assembly further comprises a stator component comprising stator coils 404 which are maintained in a fixed position. Typically the stator coils 404 are affixed to a portion of the housing of the fan.
[0016] The rotor component is fixed within the interior volume of the hub 116 of the impeller 114 . This assemblage of impeller and rotor component can be referred to variously as the fan rotor, rotor assembly, or simply the rotor. The yoke 408 includes a shaft 410 (or axle) which rotatably supports the fan rotor assembly. The shaft 410 serves as an axis of rotation about which the rotor assembly rotates during operation of the fan.
[0017] As mentioned above, the resulting air flow during fan operation includes a secondary flow component 1 B through opening 122 . As can be seen in FIG. 4 , the secondary blades 218 rotate as the hub 116 spins during operation of the fan. The secondary flow 1 B is captured by the rotating secondary blades 218 and is radially directed into the interior volume of the hub 116 . Openings 428 formed in the yoke 408 permit the radially directed air flow (indicated the by the arrows) to pass into the interior volume of the yoke within which is contained the stator coils 404 . The resulting flow of air across the stator coils 404 carries away heat produced by the current flowing through the coils during fan operation. So long as the fan is operating, the secondary blades 218 will continue to capture a portion of the inlet airflow and direct through the openings in the yoke 408 to provide a continuous cooling effect.
[0018] Although the stator coils are a main source of heat, it is noted that the printed circuit board that is usually provided at the base of the fan (e.g., 702 , FIG. 7 ) typically include heat generating electronic components. It will be appreciated that the flow of air passing across the stator coils will also pass over and around the printed circuit board, and thus carry away some of the heat generated by the printed circuit board. Generally, the heat that accumulates within the yoke 408 , regardless of its sources, will be carried away in large part by the airflow created by the secondary blades 218 of the present invention.
[0019] Conventional cooling techniques simply provide an opening in the hub and openings in the yoke. Air flow across the stator coils results from the flow created by the primary blades. However, the flow created by the primary blades is directed largely across the primary blades. The flow component through the hub and yoke openings is relatively minor. By comparison, the secondary blades provided according to the present invention create a significantly greater flow of air across the stator coils and thus significantly increases the cooling effect. Consequently, the motor can be run at higher speeds and higher torque levels since the additional heat created by the increase in current through the coils can be dissipated.
[0020] It might be desirable to vary the amount of cooling effect that the secondary blades 218 provide. For example, hotter running fan motors of course would require more cooling, while cooler fan motor applications may require lesser cooling. The amount of cooling is varied by varying the amount of airflow across the motor and electronics. A primary design parameters include blade camber angle, blade stagger angle, blade chord, and number of blades.
[0021] An example of a fan constructed according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 5 . This type of fan is typically found in computer equipment such as desktop personal computers, network switching equipment, and so on, and other electronic equipment such as copying machines, overhead projection devices, and such. It can be appreciated that most fans can be adapted according to the present invention can be readily adapted for use generally with electronic devices where adequate heat dissipation is important.
[0022] Referring now to FIG. 5 , a housing 502 serves to contain the components of the fan. Though not shown the stator coils 404 shown in FIG. 4 are typically mounted to the struts extending from the housing, which in FIG. 5 would be found at the bottom of the housing 502 . The hub 116 (and its fan blades 118 ) fit within the housing 502 . FIG. 5 shows the opening 122 formed through the inlet facing surface of the hub 116 . A portion of the yoke 408 is shown exposed through the opening 122 . Shown in dashed lines are openings 428 formed through the yoke 408 to provide a path for the flow of air into the interior of the yoke. FIG. 5 shows the openings 428 in the yoke 408 to be circular in shape. However, it should be appreciated that other shaped openings are possible, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6E , for example. Some of the secondary blades 218 are illustrated (see dashed lines) disposed about the interior of hub 116 in accordance with the present invention.
[0023] FIGS. 6A-6E show various top-view configurations of openings in the yoke. The figure is a top view looking down at the inlet facing surface of the yoke. In addition to circular-shaped openings as shown in FIG. 5 , the openings can be slotted openings ( FIG. 6A ). The slots can overlap as shown in FIG. 6B . The openings can be arcuate slots ( FIG. 6C ), rectangular slots ( FIGS. 6A and 6D ), and so on. FIG. 6D shows radially-directed openings in the yoke. For example, slots may be arranged in a radial manner relative to the center of the yoke. Openings can be large openings such as the pie-shaped openings shown in FIG. 6E . 1241 It is also understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and scope of the appended claims.
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A fan comprises a hub and a stator coil disposed with the hub. A first set of blades is disposed about the hub. Second blades are disposed on an interior of the hub. An opening is provided through the face of the hub. When the fan is operating, a flow of air passes through the opening which is then captured by the second blades and redirected across the stator coils to provide cooling.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a portable on-site refrigerant reclamation system which can be coupled to an operating refrigeration installation to remove undesirable contaminants.
The performance and operating life of a refrigeration system can be adversely affected by the presence of contaminants. The chief contaminants are oil, rust, moisture, acids, sludge, and metal particles.
It has been the general practice up to now to dump the entire refrigerant charge in a contaminated system and to start over again with a new charge. Not only is this practice wasteful of refrigerant, but concern has developed in recent years that certain fully halogenated refrigerants can accumulate in the atmosphere and contribute to the "greenhouse effect" as well as possibly affecting the ozone layer. Efforts are under way to reduce emissions of fully halogenated refrigerants by recycling contaminated refrigerants.
One approach involves placing the contaminated refrigerant in drums and shipping them to a centrally located processing plant where the refrigerant can be reclaimed. The advantage here is that the chemical purity of the reclaimed refrigerant can be better controlled. The disadvantage is in the high labor and shipping costs in handling the refrigerant.
Another approach involves on-site reclamation where the contaminated refrigerant is purified on the job and returned to the system.
The invention disclosed here is directed to an on-site reclamation system hermetically coupled to a refrigeration installation to reclaim the refrigerant without interfering with its normal mode of operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a portable on-site refrigeration reclamation unit which can be readilly attached to a refrigeration system for the purpose of removing contaminants. Batches of the working fluid are periodically removed from the system and caused to flow into a tank. A heater mounted within the tank separates the pure refrigerant from the contaminated solution by a distillation process.
Another object of the invention is to use refrigeration oil as a scavenging agent to trap and hold in solution moisture and metallic particles which enter the reclamation tank.
Another object of the invention is to design a reclamation system which is adaptable to a wide variety of refrigerants and which is provided with a flexible control system including alternate modes of operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the refrigerant reclamation system connected to a typical chiller.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of the lower portion of the reclamation tank showing the positioning of the parts.
FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic of the control system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 of the drawing shows the novel refrigerant reclamation system 10 of the invention connected to a conventional chiller comprising a compressor 11, a condenser 12, and an evaporator 13. The compressor 11 operates in conventional fashion to lower the pressure in evaporator 13 causing the liquid refrigerant therein to boil away, lowering temperature. A heat exchanger, not shown, is mounted within the evaporator and a fluid is circulated therein to be chilled for conditioning air of for some other industrial process.
The refrigerant vapor entering the compressor is discharged at elevated pressure and temperature into the condenser 12 where it condenses upon the surfaces of a heat exchanger, not shown, carrying circulating cooling water. The condensed refrigerant collects at the bottom of condenser 12 and is returned to evaporator 13 through a metering device shown at 14 to complete the cycle.
Although shown associated with a conventional chiller using R11 or R113 refrigerant, it should be understood that the refrigerant reclamation system disclosed here is adaptable to most large tonnage refrigeration systems using a wide variety of refrigerants.
Access to the chiller is gained by means of three shutoff valves D2, E2, and L2, mounted closely to the chiller on access ports generally available for servicing and special applications.
Valve D2 is connected to the discharge line from the compressor 11 to the condenser 12 and when opened allows discharge gas to flow to the reclamation unit. Valve E3 is connected to a top portion of the evaporator 13 well above the maximum liquid level and when opened allows the return of processed refrigerant vapor to the evaporator 13 from the reclamation unit. Valve L2 is connected to the bottom of the evaporator and when opened allows liquid refrigerant to flow into the reclamation unit.
Corresponding shutoff valve D1, E1 and L1 are mounted on the reclamation unit. The respective valve sets are interconnected with suitable piping D, E, and L, respectively, which can be disconnected at the valves to facilitate installation and removal.
The reclamation unit 10 comprises a tank 15 designed to withstand the pressure of the particular application and bearing the approval of applicable safety codes. A typical tank will hold some 40 gallons, but tank size can vary with the particular application.
The outlet of shutoff valve L1 feeds a tee fitting 16 having one side connected to a liquid feed pump 17 mounted on the base of the tank. The outlet of pump 17 is connected to a liquid feed line 18 which discharges into an upper portion of tank 15. A feed pump sight glass 19 is mounted in the liquid feed line 18 to give a visual indication of liquid flow. When valves L1 and L2 are opened and the pump is placed in operation, liquid refrigerant will be pumped from evaporator 13 and discharged into tank 15. The feed pump 17 discharges into a top portion of the tank to prevent back syphoning of liquid to the evaporator when the feed pump is stopped.
The other side of tee fitting 16 is connected to the liquid inlet of a jet pump 20. The outlet of pump 20 is connected to a liquid feed line 21 which discharges into an upper portion of tank 15 at about the same level as line 18. A jet pump sight glass 22 is mounted in pipe 21 to monitor liquid flow. Pressurized gas to operate the jet pump 21 is supplied to the jet pump gas inlet by discharge line D. An electrically operated solenoid valve 23 is placed in discharge line D between shutoff valve D1 and the jet pump. With valves D2, D1, L2, L1 and solenoid valve 23 in the open position, discharge gas from the operating chiller will be conducted to the inlet of the jet pump where it will asperate liquid refrigerant from line L and blow it into tank 15.
As shown in FIG. 2, resistance heater 24 is mounted in a bottom portion of the tank 15 by means of a mounting housing 25. The electrical resistance heater 24 is energized by means of a single pole-double throw thermostatically controlled switch 26 mounted on the tank and having its sensing bulb 27 inserted into a well extending into the tank at a location slightly above the resistance heater.
A drain valve 28 is connected to the bottom of the tank 15 and when opened allows the liquid contents to drain out. Another level determining drain valve 29 is mounted above the drain valve 28 at a height to define a predetermined minimum liquid level in tank 15. This minimum liquid level is necessary to ensure that the electric heater 24 is always submerged in liquid when energized. The sensing bulb 27 for thermostat 26 is also mounted below the minimum liquid level so as to be always submerged in liquid.
A tank sight glass 30 is mounted on the side of the tank 15 extending from the bottom to a portion near the top. The purpose of the sight glass is to monitor the liquid level in the tank and to yield a color indication indicative of the quality of the mixture in the tank. A liquid level control switch 31 is mounted on tank 15 at a level below the discharge outlets of pipes 18 and 21. The liquid level control switch 31 is of a conventional type and controls the liquid level between two spaced ports 32 tapped into tank 15.
A pressure and vacuum gauge 33 is mounted on the tank to give a constant reading of tank pressure during operation. Also mounted on the tank top is a tap 34 with 2 ports. A pressure relief valve 35 is mounted on one side port. This relief valve protects the system from any excessive increase in pressure. A ball valve 36 is mounted on the top port of tap 34. The ball valve 36 can be used to draw a vacuum on the tank or for any other desirable servicing function. A plug 37 is mounted in the top port above ball valve 36 to seal the opening when not in use.
A filter-drier 38 is mounted in line E between shutoff valve E1 and the outlet of tank 15. The filter-drier aids in removing volatile and particulate contaminants which may have gotten by the distillation and scavenging processes in the reclamation tank. A pressure operated bypass valve 39 is mounted in parallel with the filter-drier 38 for the purpose of providing a path around the filter-drier in case it becomes clogged. Vapor flow can be monitored by means of bypass sightglass 40 and main line sight glass 41.
The electrical control circuit for the reclamation tank 15 is shown in FIG. 3. It is preferred to treat the disclosed system as a portable appliance and provide a flexible cable with a three prong plug 42 insertable into a standard 120 volt wall outlet. However, the system can be designed to operate on most commercially available voltages. The energized or "hot" line 43 from the pin plug 42 is connected to switch terminal 44 of liquid level control 31 which includes a double pole single throw switch operated by float 45. In a low liquid level position float 45 falls and moves switches 46 and 47 into a circuit closing position with contacts 48 and 49. In a high liquid level position the float moves swutches 46 and 47 into an upper contact off position. The float switch operator is an insulated rod with a settable lost motion differential as known in the art to control the rise and fall of the liquid in the tank.
A 3-position manual liquid pump control switch 50 is in circuit between liquid level control switch 31 and liquid feed pump 17. In an "off" position, switch 50 opens the circuit between the pump 17 and switch 31 causing pump 17 to be inoperative. In an "auto" position a circuit is completed between terminal 48 and pump 17 to place the pump under control of the liquid level control switch 31. In a "manual" position the switch 31 is effectively bypassed and a circuit is completed between terminal 44 and the pump to place pump operation under manual control. In this position the liquid level in tank 15 is then controlled by manual operation of switch 50.
When pump control switch 50 is in the "off" position the liquid feed pump is inoperative and liquid transfer is under control of thermostat 26 and solenoid valve 23 which activates jet pump 20. Thermostat 26 connected to "hot" line 43 is of the adjustable type and make one contact 51 on a rise in temperature and another contact 52 on a drop in temperature. In the position shown in FIG. 3 thermostat 26 has made contact with terminal 51 to energize solenoid 23.
Switch 47 in liquid level control 31 is in series circuit relationship between thermostat 26 and solenoid 23. It serves the purpose of preventing overfilling of the tank 15 by the action of solenoid valve 23. Energization of solenoid 23 activates the jet pump 20 to asperate liquid refrigerant into tank 15. The relatively cool liquid refrigerant lowers the temperature in tank 15 as sensed by sensing bulb 27 to cause thermostat 26 to make contact 52. This action opens the circuit to solenoid 23 terminating operation of the jet pump and placing the resistance heater across hot line 43 and neutral 53 to place the system on a heating cycle.
Purge switch 54 in parallel with thermostat 26 is for the purpose of energizing solenoid 23 to allow entry of discharge gas above the liquid in tank 15 for purging purposes as explained below.
OPERATIONAL DESCRIPTION
The refrigeration reclamation unit is placed near the evaporator and condenser of the centrifugal chiller and suitably piped between valves D1, E1, and L1 of the reclamation unit and corresponding valves D2, E2, and L2 of the chiller.
With valves D2, E2, L2, 28 and 29 closed plug 37 is removed, ball valve 36 opened, and refrigerant grade oil is poured into the tank unitl it reaches the level of drain valve 29. The initial charge of oil is necessary to ensure that the heater 24 is immersed in liquid so that it does not overheat and cause a breakdown of refrigerant and entrained oil. The oil also acts as a scavenger and absorbs and traps moisture and other pollutants in the system.
A vacuum pump is then connected to the outlet of ball valve 36. Valves D2, E2, L2, 28 and 29 remain closed while valves D1, E1, and L1 are opened. Switch 50 is placed in the "off⃡ position to prevent the liquid feed pump 17 from operating. Purge switch 54 is closed to energize solenoid 23 to place line D in the vacuum circuit. Electric plug 42 is inserted in a wall outlet and the solenoid 23 opens. Depending upon the temperature of the oil, the heater may go on but with an oil charge in place the heat will be safely absorbed. The vacuum pump is started and the entire system evacuated to a deep vacuum to remove all air and noncondensables. The vacuum pump is then removed and the ball valve 36 closed and capped.
Valve D1 is closed and valves D2, E2, and L2 are now opened to connect the chiller to the reclamation unit. Switch 50 is placed in the "auto" position to energize liquid pump 17. When pump 17 is used the chiller is not in operation as discharge gas is not needed to transfer the liquid. As relatively cool liquid pumped into tank 15 the temperature at the sensing bulb 27 drops and thermostat 26 makes contact 52 to energize the heater 24. The pump 17 continues to run until the liquid level rises to the upper port 32 of liquid level control 31 when pumping operation is terminated. Liquid entering the tank can be observed in sight glass 19 and tank sight glass 30.
The heat generated by heater 24 raises the temperature of the oil-refrigerant solution and the lower boiling point refrigerant is driven out of solution and leaves the tank at top outlet line E. Higher boiling point pollutants such as oil and water are left behind. Any liquid water present will settle out to the bottom of the tank and be covered with a layer of oil. Further purification is effected when the distilled refrigerant passes through filter-drier 38 which has a core tailored to absorb acids and some other trace pollutants. The purified refrigerant is returned to the relatively colder evaporator where it condenses as a liquid. The refrigerant is miscible with oil and as the refrigerant is distilled out of solution the level drops until the bottom port 32 is exposed and the pump 17 is again energized to fill the tank up to the upper port 32. The cycle is repeated every few hours as one charge of refrigerant after another is distilled and returned to the evaporator.
Every time a batch of refrigerant is distilled, some pollutants, mostly oil, are left behind, gradually raising the oil level in the tank. The number of refrigerant batches distilled before tank 15 becomes oil logged will depend upon the amount of pollutants in the evaporator. The onset of an oil logged condition will be indicated by an increase of tank temperature due to a lack of refrigerant to carry away the heat generated by heater 24. The temperature will rise to be about 50 degrees F above evaporator temperature, high enough to actuate thermostat 26 and make contact 51. Solenoid valve 23 will be energized along with indicating lamp 55. Inasmuch as valve D1 is closed, no discharge gas will flow through the solenoid valve.
Another indication of an oil logged condition is the color of the liquid in sight glass 30. With experience, the gradual change in color as the tank 15 fills with oil will be recognized.
When the tank 15 becomes oil logged, it must be drained. On R11 systems this is accomplished by closing valves L1 and E1 and opening valve D1. If solenoid 23 is not open as indicated by signal lamp 55, purge switch 54 is closed to energize solenoid 23. Discharge gas now fills the top of tank 15 raising the pressure above atmospheric. Valve 28 is first opened to drain any water and sludge which may have accumulated on the bottom of tank 15. The purging process is completed by opening valve 29 to drain the tank to the predetermined minimum oil level as set by the height of valve 29. This completes the basic purging operation and the reclamation system is reset to its normal distillation cycle.
If the chiller is not in operation on R11 systems, valves D1, E1 and L1 are closed and the temperatures and pressure are allowed to build up in the tank as observed on gauge 33. Whe sufficient pressure is developed, purging is accomplished by opening valves 28 and 29 as explained above.
On R113 systems it may not be possible to generate enough pressure to purge the oil logged tank. In this case, valves D1, E1, and L1 are closed and air is admitted through the ball valve 36. After the pollutants are drained, a vacuum is drawn on the tank to remove the air.
On systems employing such refrigerants as R12 and R22 with positive pressure characteristics at ambient temperatures, the pressure for purging is always available.
In R11 and R113 systems, if in doubt that enough refrigerant has been removed from solution during the distillation cycle, heat a measured sample of the pulluted solution to approximately 120 F and check to see if it decreases in volume. If the test sample does not decrease in volume, the polluted solution in the tank is ready to be removed and disposed of. If it does decrease in volume, permit the distillation process to run for another few hours.
In the jet pump mode of operation the chiller must be working and switch 50 placed in the off position to disable motor 17. Valves D1, E1, and L1 are in the open position and solenoid valve 23 is under control of thermostat 26. With the thermostat set at about 95 F to make contact 51, when that temperature is reached solenoid valve 23 is opened to permit discharge gas to activate the jet pump 20. Cool liquid from the evaporator is asperated into tank 15 where it mixes with the warm oil. When the solution temperature drops about 15 degrees F thermostat 26 makes contact 52 to energize heater 24. This cycle is repeated over and over again until the tank 15 becomes oil logged as indicated by a rising tank temperature and the color of the solution in sight glass 30. Once the tank becomes oil logged further continuation of the cycle is prevented through high limit contact 49 of the liquid level control 31 which breaks the circuit to solenoid valve 23.
After the refrigerant in the chiller has been restored to its proper level of purity, the reclamation unit may be left in place as a permanent filtering fixture, or else, may be removed and installed on another chiller where the refrigerant is known to be contaminated.
Although the invention has been described in connection with a chiller employing R11 and R113 refrigerant, it should be understood that it could be used on most refrigerants and all types of refrigeration and air conditioning installations including systems with a flooded evaporator or a low side liquid receiver.
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An on-site refrigerant reclamation system connectable to an operating refrigeration or air conditioning installation periodically removes small batches of the contaminated refrigerant to separate out the contaminants. A storage tank provided with an electric heater receives the contaminated refrigerant and through a distillation process drives off the refrigerant in a pure state and returns it to the installation. A control system is provided to enable automatic operation.
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RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
This application is a Continuation in Part, based upon U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/998,612 filed Nov. 30, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,964,688. Applicant claims the priority of the above referenced parent patent application.
RULE 1.78 (F) (1) DISCLOSURE
The Applicant has not submitted a related pending or patented non-provisional application within two months of the filing date of this present application. The invention is made by a single inventor, so there are no other inventors to be disclosed. This application is not under assignment to any other person or entity at this time.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Poly(2-Octadecyl Butanedioic acid) and the salts and esters thereof, and more particularly pertains to the uses of Poly(2-Octadecyl Butanedioate) and Poly(2-Octadecyl Butanedioic Acid) as polycarbonate organic polymers. This application pertains to the uses of the herein described compound in ways heretofore not disclosed or taught.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Organic polymers (plastics) are amorphous solids that characteristically become brittle on cooling and soft on heating. The temperature at which this structural transition takes place is known as the glass transition temperature. More specifically, the IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology defines the glass transition temperature as a pseudo second order phase transition in which a super-cooled melt yields a glassy structure with properties similar to those of crystalline materials upon cooling (The IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 66, 83 (1997)). Above this temperature, these materials become soft and capable of deformation without fracture due to the weakening of the secondary, non-covalent bonds between the polymer chains. This characteristic enhances the usefulness of a subset of plastic materials known as thermoplastics. Those schooled in the art know that the transition temperature for a polymer can be influenced by the addition of plasticizers, other polymeric substances, the cooling-ratio, and its molecular weight distribution. The mean glass transition temperature for polycarbonate is reported to be 145° C. (Engineered Materials Handbook-Desk edition (1995) ASM International, ISBN 0871702835. p. 369).
Many polymers, including polycarbonates, can be used for several molding processes including, injection, extrusion, and extrusion/injection blow molding. In injection molding, these thermoplastics are heated and then pressed into a mold to form different shape plastics. In extrusion molding, the polymer is melted into a liquid and forced through a die forming a long continuous piece of plastic with the shape of the die. When the extruded material cools, it forms a solid with the desired shape. Blow molding is a process by which hollow plastic parts are formed either by injection or extrusion. Those schooled in the art know that the optimum polymer melt temperature, die and mold temperature, and annealing conditions must be empirically determined for each plastic material and mold/die configuration. Polycarbonate resins are tough thermoplastics with very high visual clarity and exceptionally high levels of impact strength and ductility. Polycarbonate resins, or “Polycarbonates” also possess inherent fire resistance, relatively good resistance to UV light, good resistance to aqueous solutions of organic and inorganic acids and good resistance salts and oxidizing agents, but offer limited resistance to organic solvents. Typical properties of polycarbonates include exceptional machine-ability, low water absorption, good impact resistance, non-toxic formulations, good thermal properties, superior dimensional stability, heat resistance, and transparency with thicknesses up to 2″.
Currently, major markets for polycarbonate resins include the electrical/electronic sectors, such as computer and business equipment and optical disks, sheet and glazing products, and the automotive industry. Other products include safety helmets, safety shields, housing components, household appliances, sporting goods, and aircraft and missile components. Specific product applications include doors, equipment enclosures, greenhouses, high voltage switches, high temperature windows, instrument gauge covers, automotive instrument panels, light bezels, pumps and valves, connectors, gears, internal mechanical parts, relays, rollers, lenses, sight glasses, light shields, machine guards, patio roofs, photo lens covers, replacement for metal components of safety equipment, guards, helmets, shields, signs, solar rods, thermal insulation, thermometer housings, and window glazing. Polycarbonates have also received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in medical instruments, medical implants, and tubing.
Polycarbonate, while broadly used, is limited in specific instances. As previously mentioned, polycarbonate typically shows good resistance (at room temperature) to water, dilute organic and inorganic acids, neutral and acid salts, and aliphatic and cyclic hydrocarbons. It does not resist attacks from alkalines, amines, ketones, esters, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Several US retailers have begun to remove polycarbonate food and beverage containers from their shelves due to concerns that small amounts of bisphenol-A (BPA), a component of polycarbonates, can be released from the polymer over time. The US government's National Toxicology Program has indicated that there is limited evidence that low doses of BPA can cause health problems and reproductive defects in humans.
Polycarbonates can generally be classified into two major categories: aromatic and aliphatic. Aromatic polycarbonates are prepared by the reaction of an aromatic diol with phosgene gas (COCl 2 ). (See FIG. 3; Howdeshell, K. L., et. al. “Bisphenol A is Released from Used Polycarbonate Animal Cages into Water at Room Temperature.” Environ. Health Perspect. 111(9):1180-1187 (2003). Bisphenol-A is typically used as the aromatic diol and has been the subject of health concerns associated with its release from the polymer. It is currently not known if the source of bisphenol-A is through leaching of the monomer due to incomplete polymerization or hydrolysis of the polymer induced by heating and/or contact with acidic or basic materials.
Aliphatic polycarbonates are frequently used as bioresorbable materials for biomedical applications, such as medical implants and drug delivery carriers (see; Raigorodskii, I. M., et. al. Soedin., Ser. A. 37(3):445 (1995); Acemoglu, M. PCT Int. Appl., WO 9320126 (1993); Katz, A. R., et. al., Surg. Gynecol. Obstet. 161:312 (1985); Rodeheaver G. T., et. al., Am. J. Surg. 154:544 (1987) Kawaguchi, T., et. al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 31, 1400:4157 (1983); Kojima, T., et. al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 32:2795 (1984). These materials generally show good biocompatibility, low toxicity, and biodegradability (Zhu, K. J., et. al., Macromolecules. 24:1736 (1991)). Poly alkylene carbonates have been synthesized by the reaction of aliphatic diols with phosgene (Schnell, H. Chemistry and Physics of Polycarbonates, Wiley, N.Y., 1964, p 9), the copolymerization of epoxides with carbon dioxide in the presence of organometallic catalysts (Inoue, S., Koinuma, H., Tsuruta, T. Makromol. Chem. 120:210 (1969)), the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic carbonate monomers (Hocker, H. Macromol. Rep., A31 (Suppls. 6&7), 685 (1994)), carbonate interchange reactions between aliphatic diols and dialkyl carbonates (Pokharkar, V., Sivaram, S. Polymer, 36:4851 (1995)), and the direct condensation of diols with CO 2 or alkali metal carbonates (see; Soga, K. et. al., Makromol. Chem. 178:2747 (1977); Rokicki, G., et. al., J. Polym. Sci., Polym. Chem. Ed., 20:967 (1982); Rokicki, G., et. al., Polym. J. 14:839 (1982); Chen, X., et. al., Macromolecules, 30:3470-3476 (1997)).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Described herein is a novel polycarbonate, poly(2-octadecyl butanedioate), and it related derivates, consisting of a carbon containing backbone containing carboxylate groups directly attached to the backbone. This structure is in stark contrast to existing polycarbonates as all existing polycarbonates are characterized by ester linkages between the monomeric units. Thus, the “carbonate” moiety of both aromatic and aliphatic polycarbonates exist in the linear chain or backbone of the polymer. This carbonate linkage has been removed from the backbone of poly(2-octadecyl butanedioate).
In summary, the characteristics of this polymer are not predicted by the literature and, as such, the use of the polymer to be used as a polycarbonate organic polymer in the manner described, is unexpected, and constitutes a new and unexpected use for the polymer. Contrary to the literature that teaches that this polymer should not work in the manner shown empirically, it has been demonstrated that the polymer, as herein described, functions in a new, unanticipated manner, and therefore comprises a new use for Polycarbonate.
While these compounds disclosed in the prior art fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the prior art does not describe the new and useful improvements in a polycarbonate organic polymer, and the method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof that allows the use of these compounds as a polycarbonate resin. In this respect, the polycarbonate organic polymer, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and compounds described in the prior art, and in doing so provides compounds primarily developed for the purpose of providing these compounds as a polycarbonate resin. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which can be used as a polycarbonate resin. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
Poly(2-octadecyl-butanedioic acid) and the salts and esters thereof, prepared from polyanhydride PA-18 or other preparative means as would be evident to those skilled in the art, possess novel polycarbonate resin characteristics. Essential characteristics/benefits are summarized below.
The novel polycarbonates, poly(2-octadecyl butanedioate) and it related derivates, possess unique properties. In addition to the properties of existing polycarbonates, these compounds have an unexpected increased resistance to organic solvents, an unexpected increased impact strength, and an unexpected increased optical clarity. Further, these polycarbonates are biodegradable, can be extruded into strands, and injection molded.
The polymers, herein described, have several potential uses that are beneficial. These include all existing applications of polycarbonates, waterproof and chemically resistant fabric (exterior fabric, hospital sheets, chemical safety clothing), chemically resistant furniture, fixtures, and containers, and BPA-free food and beverage containers.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of polycarbonate resins now present in the prior art, the present invention provides improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method and use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved polycarbonate organic polymer and method and use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which have all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a polycarbonate resin comprising a polymer backbone. The backbone is a water insoluble, hydrophobic, aliphatic polymer structure. There are two sodium carboxylate groups or carboxylic acid groups per repeating unit that are directly bound to the polymer backbone. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of formulation and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced an carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other formulations, and methods for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent formulations insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide new and improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which have all of the advantages of the prior art polycarbonate resins and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide new and improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide new and improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which are easily reproduced.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide new and improved polycarbonate organic polymers,and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which is accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof economically available to the buying public.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof for the use of a polycarbonate resin for the making of injection and/or extrusion molded plastics.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved polycarbonate organic polymers, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid) and the salts and esters thereof which can be extruded into strands.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operational advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a drawing of the compound Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid), showing the pertinent structure and formula. FIG. 1 is the first configuration of the compound and illustrates two potential carboxylic acid environments. In this figure, R1, R3, and R5 represent either substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, and aryl groups. The labile hydrogen atoms of the carboxylic acid groups can be replaced with a mono, di, tri, tetra, or other valent cation to form the corresponding carboxylate salts. Additionally, these carboxylic acid groups can be esterified to form the substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl and aryl ester derivatives.
FIG. 2 shows an alternate synthesis of 2-Octadecyl-Butanedioic Acid Analogs. FIG. 2 is the second configuration of the compound. In this figure, R′, R″, and R′″ represent either substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, and aryl groups. Additionally, the R group of the carboxylic acid represents hydrogen (to form the corresponding carboxylic acid), a mono, di, tri, tetra, or other valent cation (to form the corresponding carboxylate salts), or substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, and aryl groups (to form the corresponding esters).
FIG. 3 is an aromatic Polycarbonate synthesized from Bisphenol-A (BPA) and Phosgene, showing the structure of BPA and partial structure of the copolymers polycarbonate and polysulfone shown by monomeric chain units (n) within brackets. Both the rigidity of the aromatic rings and the inherent flexibility of the C—O, C—S, and C—C single bonds are depicted. Polycarbonate is joined by ester linkages (O—C═O—O) whereas Polysulfone has ether linkages (C—O). For images of three-dimensional structures, refer to Edge et all (1994).
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Use of Poly(2-Octadecyl Butanedioate) and its corresponding acid and derivatives, as Polycarbonate resins, is herein described. As previously described, polycarbonate resins are generally tough thermoplastics with very high visual clarity and exceptionally high levels of impact strength and ductility. They also possess inherent fire resistance, relatively good resistance to UV light, good resistance to aqueous solutions of organic and inorganic acids and good resistance salts and oxidizing agents, but offer limited resistance to organic solvents. Typical properties include exceptional machinability, low water absorption, good impact resistance, non-toxic formulations, good thermal properties, superior dimensional stability, heat resistance, and transparency with thicknesses up to 2 inches.
Polycarbonate, while broadly used, is limited in specific instances and applications. As previously mentioned, polycarbonate typically shows good resistance (at room temperature) to water, dilute organic and inorganic acids, neutral and acid salts, and aliphatic and cyclic hydrocarbons. Polycarbonate does not resist attacks from alkalines, amines, ketones, esters, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
The polymer as herein described does not exhibit these limitations and may be used to make a strand, which can then be woven into a fabric or spun to make a yarn. The fabric may be used to make articles of clothing, or other such objects, such as bedsheets. The polymer may also be formed as a solid sheet, or solid object. Such sheets may be molded to form containers, or may be used as sheeting, such as in window replacement or protective shielding. Sheets of polymer may be used to form surfaces, such as protective surfaces for furniture. The forms in which the polycarbonate herein described may be used, such as strands, sheets, moldable sheets, containers, and solid objects, are collectively referred to as “constructs”. The use of the word “constructs” therefore refers to such configurations of the polymer.
Described herein is a novel polycarbonate, poly(2-octadecyl-butanedioate), and it related derivates, consisting of a carbon containing backbone containing carboxylate groups directly attached to the backbone. This structure is in stark contrast to existing polycarbonates, as all existing polycarbonates are characterized by ester linkages between the monomeric units. Thus, the “carbonate” moiety of both aromatic and aliphatic polycarbonates exist in the linear chain, or “backbone”, of the polymer. This carbonate linkage has been removed from the backbone of poly(2-octadecyl butanedioate).
The novel polycarbonates, poly(2-octadecyl butane-dioate) and its related derivates, possess unique properties. In addition to the properties of existing polycarbonates, these compounds have increased resistance to organic solvents, increased impact strength, and increased optical clarity. These enhanced characteristics are unexpected. Further, these polycarbonates can be extruded into strands and injection molded. As such, the herein described Polycarbonate presents the user with the unexpected properties, and unexpected results.
Potential applications include, but are not limited to, all existing applications of polycarbonates, the production of waterproof and chemically resistant fabric (exterior fabric, hospital sheets, chemical safety clothing), chemically resistant furniture, fixtures, and containers, and BPA-free food and beverage containers.
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 2 thereof, the preferred embodiment of the new and improved polycarbonate organic polymer, and method of use of Poly(2-Octadecyl-Butanedioate, sodium) embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention will be described. Simplistically stated, the polymer herein described comprises a plurality of reactive groups, being carboxylates or carboxylic acid groups. The reactive group is directly bonded to the carbon backbone. In the preferred embodiment a reactive group is bound-to a separate carbon atom. In other words, where there are two reactive groups, each reactive group is coupled to one of two carbon atoms, with (in the case of more than one reactive groups) the reactive groups not being coupled to the same carbon atom. The initial, or primary component, for the synthesis, is a commonly available, previously described component. The primary component may be prepared as follows:
1. The polycarboxylate is produced from the corresponding polyanhydride. The polyanhydride is produced by a process that is described and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,456, issued to S. M. Hazen and W. J. Heilman, entitled “Process of forming copolymers of maleic anhydride and an aliphatic olefin having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms.” The description of the process as described in the '456 patent is incorporated herein by reference.
2. The polycarboxylate is produced from the polyanhydride by the following procedure: 10 grams of the polyanhydride PA-18 are dissolved in 200 ml of 4M NaOH and stirred at 85 degrees Centigrade for 2 hours. The reaction mixture is cooled, the pH adjusted to 6 to 6.5, and vacuum filtered. The solid polymer is washed with cold analytical grade methanol and dried under vacuum.
3. There are other methods to produce the polycarboxylate. One method is to produce the polyester. Subsequent hydrolysis of the polyester would produce the polycarboxylate. These reaction schemes would be obvious to someone skilled in the art of organic synthesis or polymer synthesis.
In the reaction sequence shown in FIG. 2 , R in both the reactants and products may be a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, or aryl group, such as methyl or ethyl, making both the reactants and products esters. The product above, in other embodiments, may be further modified by hydrolysis of the ester in either basic or acidic media to produce the polycarboxylate or polycarboxylic acid, respectively.
In the case of hydrolysis in a basic media, if sodium hydroxide is used, the sodium salt of the polycarboxylate ion is formed (designated as R═Na + ). Likewise, if potassium hydroxide is used, the potassium salt of the polycarboxylate ion results (designated R═K + ). If one carries out an acid catalyzed ester hydrolysis (acid is used in the second reaction above), then the polycarboxylic acid is produced (designated R═H).
In these polymers, the carboxylates or carboxylic acid groups are separated by 0 to 8 carbon atoms. In other embodiments, the number of carbon atoms between the carboxylates or carboxylic acid groups may be up to 20 carbon atoms.
In describing and claiming the uses, reference is made to a carboxylate group, or to a carboxylic acid group. In describing the carbon atoms which are chemically bound to such groups (carboxylic acid, or carboxylate) the carbon is referred to as the “bound-to” carbon atom. Reactive groups includes groups other than carboxylate groups or carboxylic acid groups. The term “reactive groups” is intended to include any reactive group which may attach to a carbon atom. Where reference is made to a carboxylate group, or carboxylic acid group, as being “bound-to” a carbon atom, the language is limited to only carboxylate groups and carboxylic acid groups.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that one skilled in the art would be cognizant of equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, and such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact formulation and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
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A polymer comprising a polymer backbone. The polymer backbone has a plurality of carbon atoms. There are two lipophobic carboxylate groups or carboxylic acid groups per repeating unit being coupled to separate carbon atoms of the backbone.
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BACKGROUND
[0001] This invention relates to downhole separators used in oil and gas wells, and in particular, to an orbital downhole separator driven by an internal motor and having a flow conditioner to improve fluid separation and control systems for such separators.
[0002] Oil and/or gas wells quite often pass through a productive strata the yield of which includes oil, gas and other valuable products but also includes undesirable and unwanted constituents such as salt water. In oil well production operations, relatively large quantities of water are frequently produced along with the valuable petroleum products. This is particularly true during the latter stages of the producing life of a well. Bringing this water to the surface and handling it there represents a significant expense in lifting, separation and disposal.
[0003] Various methods have been employed for extracting the valuable petroleum yield from the unwanted constituents. Some have involved the pumping of the total yield of the well to the surface and then using various methods for separating the valuable products from the unwanted portion. In addition, the unwanted portion of the yield, after having been pumped to the well surface and separated, often has been pumped downwardly again through a remote wellbore into a disposal layer. This, of course, also increases expenses.
[0004] In some oil wells, the unwanted constituents can amount to as much as 80% to 90% of the total formation yield. Accordingly, to obtain a given volume of valuable petroleum from the well fluid, eight or nine times the volume of the petroleum must first be pumped to the surface and then separated from the unwanted portion. As already noted, this process can be very slow and expensive. Although the problem of producing substantially water-free oil from the well reservoir may occur at any stage in the life of an oil well, the proportion of water to valuable yield generally increases with time as the oil reserves decline. Ultimately, when the lifting cost of the combined petroleum and water constituents exceeds the value of the recovered oil, abandonment of the well becomes the only reasonable alternative.
[0005] Many procedures have been tried for producing water-free oil from a formation that has a large quantity of water. For example, the oil and water produced are pumped or otherwise flowed together to the surface where they are treated to separate the petroleum from the water. Since the volume of water is usually much greater than that of the oil, the separator must handle large volumes of fluid and therefore is correspondingly large and expensive. Moreover, the water produced contains mineral salts which are extremely corrosive, particularly in the presence of air. Also, flowing the oil and water together upwardly through the well sometimes forms emulsions that are difficult to break. Such emulsions frequently must be heated in order to separate them even when in the presence of emulsion-treating chemicals. The heating of the large amount of water, as well as the small amount of oil requires an expenditure of large amounts of energy, reducing the net equivalent energy production from the well.
[0006] Water produced from deep formations within the earth frequently contains large amounts of natural salts. For this reason, the salt water brought to the surface cannot be disposed of by allowing it to flow into surface drains or waterways. Relatively small amounts of salt water can sometimes be disposed of by draining into a slush pit or evaporation tank. The normally required disposal method for large volumes of salt water, however, is to introduce the water into a subsurface formation. This requires a disposal well for receiving the produced salt water.
[0007] By returning the water to the same formation in this manner, the water is disposed of and also acts as a re-pressurizing medium or drive to aid in maintaining the bottomhole pressure for driving the well fluids toward the producing well. But, in those areas where producing wells are widely separated, the cost of drilling disposal wells for each producing well is often prohibitive. In such instances, it is necessary to lay a costly pipeline-gathering network to bring all of the produced water to a central location, or alternatively, to transport the produced water by trucks or similar vehicles. Regardless of the method for transporting the waste salt water from a producing well to a disposal well, the cost of the disposal can be, and usually is, prohibitive. Furthermore, fluids from subterranean reservoirs can have undesirable characteristics such as creating excessive pressure and super-heating of the fluids. If excessive pressure is present, then surface equipment, such as a choke manifold, must be installed to choke the flow pressure down to about 2,000 psi, a manageable pressure. If a highly pressurized fluid depressurizes within a short period of time, then a large portion of the gas is “flashed”. This reaction adversely affects the desirable petroleum from the formation yield. In general, both well seals and surface equipment suffer in the presence of excessive fluid pressure and heat. This equipment is expensive in terms of maintenance and capital costs. Thus, it is highly desirable to minimize these undesirable characteristics of the well flow before being brought to the surface.
[0008] Downhole separation of water from oil in a well is a desirable approach for disposal of formation water in the well. It eliminates or reduces the excessive costs discussed above required to pump the water to the surface and dispose of it. Furthermore, the greatly reduced environmental impact of the produced water is another factor in making this approach attractive.
[0009] Earlier downhole separators are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,156,586; 5,484,383; and 6,367,547.
[0010] The use of downhole separators eliminates or reduces the excessive costs discussed above to pump the water and dispose of it. Furthermore, the greatly reduced environmental impact of the produced water is another factor in making this approach attractive.
[0011] Improvements of prior art separators are desirable to further improve efficiency. The present invention includes a separator with a rotating cylinder and a variety of flow conditioners to increase the efficiency of the separator. One embodiment of the present invention adds an impeller to pump the fluid into an annulus to increase tangential fluid velocities. In another, a stator is used to orient the fluid to enter the impeller with a minimum of shearing action. In still another, baffles are positioned in an annular space in the rotor to force the fluid to rotate at the shaft velocity which will improve the separation efficiency.
[0012] In another embodiment, a multi-lip cup designed to facilitate multi-density substances so that they are separated into different conduits is used.
[0013] In another embodiment, a smart controller is used to control the speed of the motor to modulate the oil concentration in the outlet water. This control function is achieved without the use of a sensor for oil-concentration feedback by measuring the voltage and the current of the motor. The voltage is a measure of the rotor speed, and the current is a function of the applied torque. The torque in turn varies with the water-cut (the ratio of water to oil). By establishing the relationship between the torque and the water-cut and the speed, the motor speed can be adjusted to operate at the desired set point.
[0014] A further embodiment utilizes a speed control which has an oil-in-water concentration sensor feedback in conjunction with a conventional PID controller or an adaptive controller for the control function. The motor speed is adjusted to achieve the oil concentration in the out fluid stream on the water side. One way of doing this includes using a valve on the downstream side of the water side which is modulated to achieve the quality of the water to be re-injected. A conventional controller is used to regulate the valve in response to the operating conditions to obtain a desired set-point of the oil content in the re-injection water. An adaptive controller can also be used to control the speed of the motor or the position of the valve using an adaptive algorithm for the controller to drive the concentration of the oil to the desired value.
SUMMARY
[0015] The present invention is a downhole separator designed to separate components of well fluids within the well without the necessity of pumping the fluids to the surface first. The separator may be said to comprise a housing adapted for connection to a tool string for use in a well, a cylinder rotatably disposed in the housing and defining a flow passage therein, and a motor disposed in the housing for rotating the cylinder, whereby fluid flowing through the housing enters the flow passage and is subjected to centrifugal force such that the fluid is separated into different components having different specific gravities. The separator may further comprise a flow conditioner for facilitating the separation of the fluids. The invention includes several different flow conditioners.
[0016] One version of the flow conditioner comprises an impeller adjacent to the inlet of the cylinder for pumping fluid into the flow passage. The impeller is preferably attached to the cylinder.
[0017] In another embodiment, the flow conditioner comprises a baffle disposed in the flow passage in the cylinder to reduce slippage of fluid in the rotating cylinder. Preferably, the baffle is one of a plurality of angularly spaced baffles which extend longitudinally through the cylinder.
[0018] In another embodiment, the cylinder defines an oil port and a sand port therein, and the flow conditioner comprises a cup disposed adjacent to an end of the cylinder. The cup has a first lip adjacent to the oil port and a second lip adjacent to the sand port. The first and second lips define an annular water passage therebetween, wherein the first lip directs separated oil through the oil port, the second lip directs separated sand and water mixture through the sand port, and water is directed through the water passage. The first and second lips are preferably substantially concentric.
[0019] In another embodiment, the motor is a variable speed motor, and the flow conditioner comprises an oil-in-water sensor in communication with separated water discharged from the cylinder, the sensor generating an oil concentration signal in response to a concentration of oil in the discharged water, and a controller connected to the motor for varying the speed of the motor in response to the oil concentration signal compared to a predetermined desired oil concentration in the discharged water. The controller may be, for example, an adaptive controller or a PID controller.
[0020] In an additional embodiment where the motor is a variable speed motor, the flow conditioner comprises a valve in communication with oil discharged from the cylinder to control the flow of the oil, an actuator adapted for opening and closing the valve, an oil-in-water sensor in communication with separated water discharged from the cylinder wherein the sensor generates an oil concentration signal in response to a concentration of oil in the discharged water, and a controller connected to the actuator whereby the valve is actuated in response to the oil concentration signal compared to a predetermined desired oil concentration in the discharged water, such that the flow of oil from the cylinder is controlled to vary the time the fluid is in the cylinder and thereby correspondingly varying the amount of oil separated from the water.
[0021] In still another embodiment, the motor is again a variable speed motor, and the flow conditioner comprises a smart controller connected to the motor for varying the speed of the motor in response to a function of voltage and current signals from the motor compared to a predetermined desired value of a function corresponding to the water-cut.
[0022] Another version of the flow conditioner comprises a stator adjacent to an inlet end of the cylinder. The stator preferably comprises a plurality of vanes for starting rotation of the fluid as it enters the cylinder.
[0023] In one more embodiment, the cylinder defines a first port and a second port therein, and the flow conditioner comprises a cup disposed adjacent to a discharge end of the cylinder. The cup has a first lip adjacent to the first port, a second lip adjacent to the second port, the first and second lips defining an annular passage therebetween. This flow conditioner also comprises a sensor disposed adjacent to the cup for measuring the capacitance of fluid flowing thereby such that an operator can determine the separation of the components of the fluid. Preferably, the sensor is a capacitance-type sensor disposed adjacent to the first lip and first port. One example of the sensor is a MEMS sensor embedded in a surface of the cup facing the annular passage. Capacitance data from the sensor may be transmitted wirelessly to the surface or downhole controller, using telemetry, such as EM telemetry.
[0024] Stated in another way, the orbital downhole separator comprises a housing adapted for connection to a tool string for use in a well, a rotating member disposed in the housing, a motor disposed adjacent to the housing and connected to the rotating member whereby fluid flowing through the rotating member is subjected to centrifugal force such that the fluid is separated into heavier and lighter components, and a flow conditioner for facilitating the separation of the fluid in the rotating member.
[0025] Numerous objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by those skilled in the art when the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments is read in conjunction with the drawings illustrating such embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] FIGS. 1A and 1B show a longitudinal cross section of an orbital downhole separator of the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an orbital downhole separator with a rotating cylinder having baffles therein.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3 - 3 in FIG. 2 .
[0029] FIG. 4 illustrates the use of a multi-lip cup with the orbital downhole separator.
[0030] FIG. 5 schematically shows how a feedback controller can be used to control the speed of a motor in the separator.
[0031] FIG. 6 is a schematic of a valve-based speed control for the motor.
[0032] FIG. 7 shows a schematic of a smart sensor system.
[0033] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment having a stator to increase rotation of the fluid at the inlet of an impeller.
[0034] FIG. 9 illustrates a sensor for determining oil-in-water concentration of the fluid.
[0035] FIG. 10 is a cross section taken along lines 10 - 10 in FIG. 1A .
DESCRIPTION
[0036] Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1A and 1B , an orbital downhole separator of the present invention is shown and generally designated by the numeral 10 . Separator 10 generally comprises a housing 12 with a rotor 14 rotatably disposed therein. Rotor 14 is driven by an electric motor 16 .
[0037] Housing 12 comprises an upper adapter 18 with a central opening 20 therethrough. Upper adapter 18 has an external thread 22 adapted for connection to an upper tool string portion 24 . Upper adapter 18 is attached to a tubular member 26 by a threaded connection 28 . A seal 30 provides sealing engagement between upper adapter 18 and tubular member 26 .
[0038] Housing 12 further comprises a lower adapter 32 attached to tubular member 26 by a threaded connection 34 . A seal 36 provides sealing engagement between tubular member 26 and lower adapter 32 . Lower adapter 32 has an external thread 38 adapted for engagement with a lower tool string portion 40 if desired. Lower adapter 32 further defines a central opening 42 therethrough.
[0039] Tubular member 26 defines a central opening 44 therethrough which is in communication with central opening 20 in upper adapter 18 and central opening 42 in lower adapter 32 .
[0040] A first upper seal housing 46 is disposed in central opening 44 of tubular member 26 adjacent to upper adapter 18 . Below first upper seal housing 46 is a first upper bearing 48 and a second upper bearing 50 therein, and the first upper bearing 48 and second upper bearing 50 are separated by an upper spacer 52 . Below second upper bearing 50 is a second upper seal housing 53 .
[0041] Upper spacer 52 defines an upper flow passage 54 therethrough.
[0042] A lower bearing housing 56 is disposed in central opening 44 of tubular member 26 adjacent to lower adapter 32 . Lower bearing housing 56 has a first lower bearing 58 and a second lower bearing 60 therein, and the first lower bearing 58 and second lower bearing 60 are separated by a lower spacer 62 .
[0043] Lower bearing housing 56 defines a lower flow passage 64 longitudinally therethrough.
[0044] A bearing shaft 66 is disposed through, and supported by, first and second lower bearings 58 and 60 . Bearing shaft 66 defines a central opening 68 in an upper end thereof.
[0045] Rotor 14 comprises a stub shaft 72 , a main shaft 74 and a rotating cylinder 76 positioned around the stub shaft 72 and main shaft 74 . Main shaft 74 and a rotating cylinder 76 form a rotating member within housing 12 .
[0046] An upper end of main shaft 74 extends into, and is supported by, first upper bearing 48 and second upper bearing 50 . Seal 77 provides sealing engagement between main shaft 74 and first upper seal housing 46 above first upper bearing 48 , and seal 79 provides sealing engagement between main shaft 74 and second upper seal housing 53 below second upper bearing 50 .
[0047] Stub shaft 72 extends into central opening 68 in bearing shaft 66 and is connected thereto by a spline 78 . Stub shaft 72 defines a central opening 80 therein into which a lower portion of main shaft 74 extends. Main shaft 74 is attached to stub shaft 72 by a threaded connection 82 . A seal 84 provides sealing engagement between stub shaft 72 and threaded connection 82 .
[0048] Main shaft 74 defines a central opening 86 therethrough. A plurality of radially extending upper ports 88 are in communication with central opening 86 . A plurality of radially extending lower ports 90 are also in communication with central opening 86 .
[0049] Rotating cylinder 76 is attached to stub shaft 72 at press-fit connection 92 . By this connection and others previously described, it will be seen by those skilled in the art that bearing shaft 66 , stub shaft 72 , main shaft 74 and rotating cylinder 76 rotate together. Rotating cylinder 76 and main shaft 74 define an annular flow passage 94 therebetween.
[0050] The present invention comprises a number of different flow conditioners to improve the efficiency of the separations of the fluids flowing therethrough. In FIG. 1A , the flow conditioner is characterized by an impeller 96 at the upper end of rotating cylinder 76 . Impeller 96 is positioned in annular flow passage 94 and facilitates flow through the annular flow passage 94 , as will be further described herein.
[0051] At least one inlet port 100 is defined in tubular member 26 adjacent to impeller 96 . Preferably, but not by way of limitation, inlet ports 100 are substantially tangentially disposed as best seen in FIG. 10 .
[0052] Stub shaft 72 has a plurality of longitudinally extending flow ports 102 therein which provide communication between lower flow passage 64 and annular flow passage 94 . A lower seal 104 provides sealing between rotating stub shaft 72 and stationary tubular member 26 of housing 12 .
[0053] A seal adapter 106 is mounted on main shaft 74 adjacent to a shoulder 108 on the main shaft 74 below second upper seal housing 53 . An upper seal 110 provides sealing engagement between seal adapter 106 and tubular member 26 . Another seal 112 provides sealing engagement between seal adapter 106 and main shaft 74 .
[0054] A channel 114 is formed in seal adapter 106 and is aligned, and in communication, with upper ports 88 in main shaft 74 . Channel 114 is also in communication with upper flow passage 54 in upper spacer 52 .
[0055] Motor 16 is positioned in central opening 20 of upper adapter 18 . Motor 16 is adapted to drive a coupler shaft 120 which is connected to main shaft 74 . In other words, coupler shaft 120 interconnects motor 16 and rotor 14 . Wiring (not shown) connects motor 16 to a source of electrical power (not shown). When motor 16 is energized, coupler shaft 120 is rotated which causes main shaft 74 and the other components of rotor 14 to be rotated within housing 12 .
[0056] A plurality of longitudinally extending holes 122 are defined through motor 16 , and it will be seen that these holes 122 are in communication with upper flow passage 54 in upper spacer 52 .
[0057] In operation, separator 10 is made up on a tool string of which upper tool string portion 24 and lower tool string portion 40 are components. This tool string assembly is lowered to the desired location in the wellbore. When it is desired to start a separation process for fluid in the well, motor 16 is actuated. Well fluid enters separator 10 through inlet port 100 , and the fluid is forced into annular flow passage 94 . The rotation of rotating cylinder 76 applies centrifugal force to the fluid in annular flow passage 94 . This causes the heavier water to be separated from the lighter oil or gas. That is, the water and other higher density materials, such as sand, are forced radially outwardly in annular flow passage 94 , and the oil or gas (lighter components) stays to the inside.
[0058] In the embodiment using impeller 96 as the flow conditioner, the impeller 96 acts to drive the fluid in a tangential direction. The pressure in the well annulus forces the oil or gas through lower ports 90 in main shaft 74 so that it enters central opening 86 in the main shaft 74 . The oil or gas is forced upwardly through central opening 86 , and it exits main shaft 74 through upper ports 88 therein. The oil or gas continues to flow upwardly through central opening 44 in tubular member 26 , upper flow passage 54 , holes 122 , central opening 20 in upper adapter 18 and on up through upper tool string portion 24 to the surface for recovery.
[0059] Water is forced through flow ports 102 , central opening 44 below stub shaft 72 , lower flow passage 64 , central opening 42 in lower adapter 32 and on down through lower tool string portion 40 for disposal in the well.
[0060] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 , a second flow conditioner in the form of an improved rotating cylinder is shown and designated by the numeral 76 ′. Rotating cylinder 76 ′ is similar to rotating cylinder 76 in that it has an outer cylinder 124 and an inner cylinder 126 which define the previously mentioned annular flow passage 94 therebetween. In improved rotating cylinder 76 ′, a plurality of longitudinal baffles 128 are disposed in annular flow passage 94 and extend the length thereof.
[0061] The fluid may slip within rotating cylinder 76 (that is, it may not rotate with the rotating cylinder 76 as much as desired) because of the inertia of the fluid. In improved rotating cylinder 76 ′, the fluid is forced to rotate within the rotating cylinder 76 ′ because the fluid is held between inner cylinder 126 and outer cylinder 124 by baffles 128 , thus reducing the potential for fluid slip, and this improves the separation of the water from the oil or gas.
[0062] Referring now to FIG. 4 , a third flow conditioner is shown which provides for the separation of sand from at least some of the water. Again, most of the components are the same as in separator 10 . However, at the lower end of a modified rotating cylinder 76 ″, a multi-lip cup 130 is disposed in annular flow passage 94 .
[0063] Cup 130 has an inner lip 132 adjacent to lower ports 90 and an outer lip 134 generally concentric with the inner lip 132 . An annular port 136 is defined between inner lip 132 and outer lip 134 . Rotating cylinder 76 ″ defines a plurality of radially disposed ports 138 therein adjacent to outer lip 134 .
[0064] If there is sand in the fluid to be separated, it is sometimes desirable to separate this from the water and oil or gas. Cup 130 facilitates this separation. As the components of the fluid are subjected to the centrifugal force previously discussed, the water and sand are forced outwardly from the lighter oil or gas. Further, the sand will be forced outwardly against the wall of rotating cylinder 76 ″. As the separated fluid components flow downwardly though annular flow passage 94 , it will be seen that the oil or gas will flow inside inner lip 132 and out lower ports 90 as previously discussed. The sand, still mixed with some water, will flow outside of outer lip 134 and out ports 138 in rotating cylinder 76 ″. The bulk of the water, with the sand now separated therefrom, will flow downwardly through annular port 136 . Thus, the second embodiment allows handling of sand as well as water and oil or gas. It will be seen by those skilled in the art that this use of cup 130 could be used to accommodate fluids with other various density components and is not limited to just sand, water and oil or gas.
[0065] Referring now to FIG. 5 a fourth flow conditioner for downhole orbital separator is shown schematically to include a speed control 140 for a variable speed motor 16 ′. Speed control 140 comprises an oil-in-water sensor 142 in communication with the water discharged from separator 10 after separation of the water from the oil or gas. Sensor 142 sends an oil concentration signal to a feedback controller 144 . A conventional PID (proportional integral derivative) controller could also be used.
[0066] The oil concentration signal is compared to a predetermined maximum desired oil concentration level. The speed of motor 16 ′ is adjusted to achieve the desired oil concentration level as necessary even though the mixture of water and oil or gas from the well may vary. The amount of centrifugal force applied to the fluid varies with the speed of motor 16 ′.
[0067] Referring to FIG. 6 , a fifth flow conditioner in the form of a valve-based control 150 for separator 10 is shown schematically. A valve 152 is used on the downstream side of the water side which is modulated to achieve the quality of the water to be re-injected into the well. A conventional controller 154 receives an oil concentration signal from an oil-in-water sensor 156 and compares it to a predetermined desired level. Controller 154 then sends an actuator signal to a valve actuator 158 to regulate valve 152 to vary the flow therethrough. Controlling the rate at which water is discharged from separator 10 affects how long it is subjected to the centrifugal force. Thus, the desired oil content in the water is achieved.
[0068] It will be seen by those skilled in the art that speed control 140 can be combined with valve-based control 150 using an adaptive algorithm to control both the speed of motor 16 ′ and the actuation of valve 152 .
[0069] Now referring to FIG. 7 , a sixth flow conditioner characterized by a smart sensor/controller 160 is illustrated schematically for controlling separator 10 . Like speed control 140 of the third embodiment, smart sensor/controller 160 controls the speed of a variable speed motor 16 ′ in separator 10 to achieve the desired oil concentration level in the water. However, with smart sensor/controller 160 an oil-in-water sensor is not required. The voltage, V, and current, I, of motor 16 ′ are measured. The voltage, V, is a function of the speed of the rotor in the motor 16 ′, and the current, I, is a function of the applied torque on the rotor. The torque in turn varies with the amount of separation of water from the oil or gas (the water-cut). By establishing the relationship between the torque and the water-cut and the speed of motor 16 ′, the speed of the motor 16 ′ can be adjusted to operate at the desired speed.
[0070] Referring now to FIG. 8 , a seventh flow conditioner in a separator 10 ′″ is shown. Separator 10 ′″ is substantially the same as separator 10 except that a stationary stator 164 is used adjacent to a rotating cylinder 76 ′″. Stator 164 has a plurality of vanes 166 which direct flow to rotating cylinder 76 ′″ in a tangential direction to force the fluid to start rotating before it actually enters the rotating cylinder 76 ′″ which enhances fluid separation. In other words, stator 164 starts the fluid rotating before it enters rotating cylinder 76 ′″. Stator 164 could be used in conjunction with impeller 96 .
[0071] Referring now to FIG. 9 an eighth flow conditioner is shown using a sensor 170 to measure the capacitance of the fluid to determine the quality of the separation of the water from the oil or gas. Sensor 170 is used in conjunction with previously described cup 130 . Sensor 170 may be a capacitance-type sensor to measure the capacitance of the fluids in annular space 172 in cup 130 . Alternatively, a MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) sensor 174 may be embedded in surface 176 of cup 130 to measure the local capacitance of an oil film that forms there. The capacitance data may be transmitted wirelessly using EM telemetry or through some commutation scheme.
[0072] Those skilled in the art will see that the different flow conditioners of the present invention can be combined in various ways to provide even more controlled separation.
[0073] It will be seen, therefore, that the separator 10 of the present invention and the various flow conditioners thereof are well adapted to carry out the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown for the purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement and construction is well adapted to carry out the ends and advantages of parts may be made by those skilled in the art. All such changes are encompassed within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.
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An orbital downhole separator for separating well fluids into constituents of different specific gravities. Specifically, it is designed to separate water from oil or gas. The apparatus comprises a housing with a rotating member therein driven by a motor in the housing. Well fluid flows through the rotating member and is subjected to centrifugal force to separate the components. A flow conditioner is used to facilitate separation. The invention includes several different versions of the flow conditioner including an impeller, a stator and controllers for controlling the speed of the motor in response to signals related to the amount of petroleum in the water.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/865,129, filed Apr. 8, 1992 now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to certain aryl fused pyrrolopyrimidines which selectively bind to GABAa receptors. This invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds. It further relates to the use of such compounds in treating anxiety, sleep and seizure disorders, and overdoses of benzodiazepine-type drugs, and enhancing alertness. The interaction of aryl fused imidazopyrimidines of the invention with a GABA binding site, the benzodiazepines (BDZ) receptor, is described. This interaction results in the pharmacological activities of these compounds.
2. Description of the Related Art
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is regarded as one of the major inhibitory amino acid transmitters in the mammalian brain. Over 30 years have elapsed since its presence in the brain was demonstrated (Roberts & Frankel, J. Biol. Chem. 187: 55-63, 1950; Udenfriend, J. Biol. Chem. 187: 65-69, 1950). Since that time, an enormous amount of effort has been devoted to implicating GABA in the etiology of seizure disorders, sleep, anxiety and cognition (Tallman and Gallager, Ann. Rev. Neuroscience 8: 21-44, 1985). Widely, although unequally, distributed through the mammalian brain, GABA is said to be a transmitter at approximately 30% of the synapses in the brain. In most regions of the brain, GABA is associated with local inhibitory neurons and only in two regions is GABA associated with longer projections. GABA mediates many of its actions through a complex of proteins localized both on cell bodies and nerve endings; these are called GABAa receptors. Postsynaptic responses to GABA are mediated through alterations in chloride conductance that generally, although not invariably, lead to hyperpolarization of the cell. Recent investigations have indicated that the complex of proteins associated with postsynaptic GABA responses is a major site of action for a number of structurally unrelated compounds capable of modifying postsynaptic responses to GABA. Depending on the mode of interaction, these compounds are capable of producing a spectrum of activities (either sedative, anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant, or wakefulness, seizures, and anxiety).
1,4-Benzodiazepines continue to be among the most widely used drugs in the world. Principal among the benzodiazepines marketed are chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, flurazepam, and triazolam. These compounds are widely used as anxiolytics, sedative-hypnotics, muscle relaxants, and anticonvulsants. A number of these compounds are extremely potent drugs; such potency indicates a site of action with a high affinity and specificity for individual receptors. Early electrophysiological studies indicated that a major action of benzodiazepines was enhancement of GABAergic inhibition. The benzodiazepines were capable of enhancing presynaptic inhibition of a monosynaptic ventral root reflex, a GABA-mediated event (Schmidt et al., 1967, Arch. Exp. Path. Pharmakol. 258: 69-82). All subsequent electrophysiological studies (reviewed in Tallman et al. 1980, Science 207: 274-81, Haefley et al., 1981, Handb. Exptl. Pharmacol. 33: 95-102) have generally confirmed this finding, and by the mid-1970s, there was a general consensus among electrophysiologists that the benzodiazepines could enhance the actions of GABA.
With the discovery of the "receptor" for the benzodiazepines and the subsequent definition of the nature of the interaction between GABA and the benzodiazepines, it appears that the behaviorally important interactions of the benzodiazepines with different neurotransmitter systems are due in a large part to the enhanced ability of GABA itself to modify these systems. Each modified system, in turn, may be associated with the expression of a behavior.
Studies on the mechanistic nature of these interactions depended on the demonstration of a high-affinity benzodiazepine binding site (receptor). Such a receptor is present in the CNS of all vertebrates phylogenetically newer than the boney fishes (Squires & Braestrup 1977, Nature 166: 732-34, Mohler & Okada, 1977, Science 198: 854-51, Mohler & Okada, 1977, Br. J. Psychiatry 133: 261-68). By using tritiated diazepam, and a variety of other compounds, it has been demonstrated that these benzodiazepine binding sites fulfill many of the criteria of pharmacological receptors; binding to these sites in vitro is rapid, reversible, stereospecific, and saturable. More importantly, highly significant correlations have been shown between the ability of benzodiazepines to displace diazepam from its binding site and activity in a number of animal behavioral tests predictive of benzodiazepine potency (Braestrup & Squires 1978, Br. J. Psychiatry 133: 249-60, Mohler & Okada, 1977, Science 198: 854-51, Mohler & Okada, 1977, Br. J. Psychiatry 133: 261-68). The average therapeutic doses of these drugs in man also correlate with receptor potency (Tallman et al. 1980, Science 207: 274-281).
In 1978, it became clear that GABA and related analogs could interact at the low affinity (1 mM) GABA binding site to enhance the binding of benzodiazepines to the clonazepam-sensitive site (Tallman et al. 1978, Nature, 274: 383-85). This enhancement was caused by an increase in the affinity of the benzodiazepine binding site due to occupancy of the GABA site. The data were interpreted to mean that both GABA and benzodiazepine sites were allosterically linked in the membrane as part of a complex of proteins. For a number of GABA analogs, the ability to enhance diazepam binding by 50% of maximum and the ability to inhibit the binding of GABA to brain membranes by 50% could be directly correlated. Enhancement of benzodiazepine binding by GABA agonists is blocked by the GABA receptor antagonist (+) bicuculline; the stereoisomer (-) bicuculline is much less active (Tallman et al., 1978, Nature, 274: 383-85).
Soon after the discovery of high affinity binding sites for the benzodiazepines, it was discovered that a triazolopyridazine could interact with benzodiazepine receptors in a number of regions of the brain in a manner consistent with receptor heterogeneity or negative cooperativity. In these studies, Hill coefficients significantly less than one were observed in a number of brain regions, including cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. In cerebellum, triazolopyridazine interacted with benzodiazepine sites with a Hill coefficient of 1 (Squires et al., 1979, Pharma. Biochem. Behav. 10: 825-30, Klepner et al. 1979, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 11: 457-62). Thus, multiple benzodiazepine receptors were predicted in the cortex, hippocampus, striatum, but not in the cerebellum.
Based on these studies, extensive receptor autoradiographic localization studies were carried out at a light microscopic level. Although receptor heterogeneity has been demonstrated (Young & Kuhar 1980, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 212: 337-46, Young et al., 1981 J. Pharmacol Exp. ther 216: 425-430, Niehoff et al. 1982, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 221: 670-75), no simple correlation between localization of receptor subtypes and the behaviors associated with the region has emerged from the early studies. In addition, in the cerebellum, where one receptor was predicted from binding studies, autoradiography revealed heterogeneity of receptors (Niehoff et al., 1982, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 221: 670-75).
A physical basis for the differences in drug specificity for the two apparent subtypes of benzodiazepine sites has been demonstrated by Sieghart & Karobath, 1980, Nature 286: 285-87. Using gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, the presence of several molecular weight receptors for the benzodiazepines has been reported. The receptors were identified by the covalent incorporation of radioactive flunitrazepam, a benzodiazepine which can covalently label all receptor types. The major labeled bands have molecular weights of 50,000 to 53,000, 55,000, and 57,000 and the triazolopyridazines inhibit labeling of the slightly higher molecular weight forms (53,000, 55,000, 57,000) (Seighart et al. 1983, Eur. J. Pharmacol. 88: 291-99).
At that time, the possibility was raised that the multiple forms of the receptor represent "isoreceptors" or multiple allelic forms of the receptor (Tallman & Gallager 1985, Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 8, 21-44). Although common for enzymes, genetically distinct forms of receptors have not generally been described. As we begin to study receptors using specific radioactive probes and electrophoretic techniques, it is almost certain that isoreceptors will emerge as important in investigations of the etiology of psychiatric disorders in people.
The GABAa receptor subunits have been cloned from bovine and human cDNA libraries (Schoenfield et al., 1988; Duman et al., 1989). A number of distinct cDNAs were identified as subunits of the GABAa receptor complex by cloning and expression. These are categorized into α, β, γ, δ, ε, and provide a molecular basis for the GABAa receptor heterogeneity and distinctive regional pharmacology (Shivvers et al., 1980; Levitan et al., 1989). The γ subunit appears to enable drugs like benzodiazepines to modify the GABA responses (Pritchett et al., 1989). The presence of low Hill coefficients in the binding of ligands to the GABAa receptor indicates unique profiles of subtype specific pharmacological action.
Drugs that interact at the GABAa receptor can possess a spectrum of pharmacological activities depending on their abilities to modify the actions of GABA. For example, the beta-carbolines were first isolated based upon their ability to inhibit competitively the binding of diazepam to its binding site (Nielsen et al., 1979, Life Sci. 25: 679-86). The receptor binding assay is not totally predictive about the biological activity of such compounds; agonists, partial agonists, inverse agonists, and antagonists can inhibit binding. When the beta-carboline structure was determined, it was possible to synthesize a number of analogs and test these compounds behaviorally. It was immediately realized that the beta-carbolines could antagonize the actions of diazepam behaviorally (Tenen & Hirsch, 1980, Nature 288: 609-10). In addition to this antagonism, beta-carbolines possess intrinsic activity of their own opposite to that of the benzodiazepines; they become known as inverse agonists.
In addition, a number of other specific antagonists of the benzodiazepine receptor were developed based on their ability to inhibit the binding of benzodiazepines. The best studied of these compounds is an imidazodiazepine (Hunkeler et al., 1981, Nature 290: 514-516). This compound is a high affinity competitive inhibitor of benzodiazepine and beta-carboline binding and is capable of blocking the pharmacological actions of both these classes of compounds. By itself, it possesses little intrinsic pharmacological activity in animals and humans (Hunkeler et al., 1981, Nature 290: 514-16; Darragh et al., 1983, Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 14: 569-70). When a radiolabeled form of this compound was studied (Mohler & Richards, 1981, Nature 294: 763-65), it was demonstrated that this compound would interact with the same number of sites as the benzodiazepines and beta-carbolines, and that the interactions of these compounds were purely competitive. This compound is the ligand of choice for binding to GABAa receptors because it does not possess receptor subtype specificity and measures each state of the receptor.
The study of the interactions of a wide variety of compounds similar to the above has led to the categorizing of these compounds. Presently, those compounds possessing activity similar to the benzodiazepines are called agonists. Compounds possessing activity opposite to benzodiazepines are called inverse agonists, and the compound blocking both types of activity have been termed antagonists. This categorization has been developed to emphasize the fact that a wide variety of compounds can produce a spectrum of pharmacological effects, to indicate that compounds can interact at the same receptor to produce opposite effects, and to indicate that beta-carbolines and antagonists with intrinsic anxiogenic effects are not synonymous.
A biochemical test for the pharmacological and behavioral properties of compounds that interact with the benzodiazepine receptor continues to emphasize the interaction with the GABAergic system. In contrast to the benzodiazepines, which show an increase in their affinity due to GABA (Tallman et al., 1978, Nature 274: 383-85, Tallman et al., 1980, Science 207: 274-81), compounds with antagonist properties show little GABA shift (i.e., change in receptor affinity due to GABA) (Mohler & Richards 1981, Nature 294: 763-65), and the inverse agonists actually show a decrease in affinity due to GABA (Braestrup & Nielson 1981, Nature 294: 472-474). Thus, the GABA shift predicts generally the expected behavioral properties of the compounds.
Various compounds have been prepared as benzodiazepine agonists and antagonists. "For Example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,455,943, 4,435,403, 4,596,808, 4,623,649, and 4,719,210, German Patent No. DE 3,246,932, and Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1986, 1749 teach assorted benzodiazepine agonists and antagonists and related anti-depressant and central nervous system active compounds. U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,943 discloses compounds of the formula: ##STR3## wherein R 1 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkoxy; R 2 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkoxy; R 3 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkyl; and X is a divalent radical selected from the group consisting of ##STR4## and the non-toxic acid addition salts thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,403 teaches compounds of the formula: ##STR5## wherein
R C is hydrogen, lower alkyl, alkoxyalkyl of up to 6 C-atoms, cycloalkyl of 3-6 C-atoms, arylalkyl of up to 8 C-atoms, or (CH 2 ) n OR 2 wherein R 20 is alkyl of up to 6 C-atoms, cycloalkyl of 3-6 C-atoms or arylalkyl of up to 8 C-atoms and n is an integer of 1 to 3; Y is oxygen, two hydrogen atoms or NOR 1 , wherein R 1 is hydrogen, lower alkyl, aryl or arylalkyl of up to 6 C-atoms, COR 2 , wherein R 2 is lower alkyl of up to 6 C-atoms, or Y is CHCOOR 3 , wherein R 3 is hydrogen or lower alkyl or Y is NNR 4 R 5 , wherein R 4 and R 5 can be the same or different and each is hydrogen, lower alkyl, C 6-10 -aryl, C 7-10 -arylalkyl or CONR 6 R 7 , wherein R 6 and R 7 can be the same or different and each is hydrogen or lower alkyl or R 4 and R 5 together with the connecting N-atom, form a 5- or 6-membered heterocyclic ring which optionally may also contain an O-atom or up to 3 N-atoms and which optionally may be substituted by a lower alkyl group; Z is hydrogen, or alkoxy or aralkoxy each of up to 10 C-atoms and each optionally substituted by hydroxy, or Z is alkyl of up to 6 C-atoms, C 6-10 -aryl or C 7-10 -arylalkyl each of which may optionally be substituted by a COOR 8 or a CONR 9 R 10 group, wherein R 8 is alkyl of up to 6 C-atoms, and R 9 and R 10 can be the same or different and each is hydrogen or alkyl of up to 6 C-atoms; or Z is NR 9 R 10 , wherein R 9 and R 10 are as defined above; or Z is NR 11 CHR 12 R 13 , wherein R 11 and R 12 each is hydrogen or together form a N═C double bond, wherein R 13 is C 1-10 -alkyl or NR 14 R 15 , wherein R 14 and R 15 are the same or different and each is hydrogen, OH or alkyl or alkoxy each of up to 6 C-atoms, or wherein R 12 and R 13 together are oxygen, in which case, R 11 is hydrogen; or Z is COOR 2 wherein R 2 is as defined above; or Y and Z, together with the connecting C-atom, may form a 5- or 6-membered heterocyclic ring which contains an O-atom, adjoining O- and N-atoms or up to 4N atoms and which optionally may be substituted by a lower alkyl group, hydroxy or oxo.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,808 discloses compounds of the formula: ##STR6## wherein R A is H, F, Cl, Br, I, NO 2 , CN, CH 3 , CF 3 , SCH 3 , NR 16 R 17 or NHCOR 16 , wherein R 16 of R 17 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or alkyl, alkenyl or alkynyl each of up to 6 C-atoms, arylalkyl or cycloalkyl each of up to 10 C-atoms, or wherein R 16 and R 17 together form a saturated or unsaturated 3-7 membered heterocyclic ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,649 teaches compounds of the formula: ##STR7## wherein
R 3 is an oxadiazolyl residue of the formula ##STR8## wherein R 5 stands for lower alkyl of up to 3 carbon atoms or an ester --CO 2 R 6 with R 6 being hydrogen or lower alkyl of up to 3 carbon atoms, R 4 is hydrogen, lower alkyl of up to 3 carbon atoms, or CH 2 OR 9 wherein R 9 is lower alkyl of up to 3 carbon atoms, R A is phenyl or a hydrocarbon residue containing 2-10 carbon atoms which can be cyclic or acyclic, saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, and which can optionally be substituted by oxo, formyl OH, O-alkyl of up to 3 carbon atoms or phenyl, and wherein in a cyclic hydrocarbon residue, a CH 2 -group can be replaced by oxygen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,210 discloses compounds of the formula: ##STR9## wherein R 1 is hydrogen or a protecting group, R 2 is --CH═CR 4 or --C═CR 4 , R 4 is hydrogen or halogen, R 3 is hydrogen, lower alkyl or lower alkoxyalkyl, R A is, inter alia, hydrogen, OR 7 , lower alkyl, which optionally is substituted with aryl, lower alkoxy or NR 5 R 6 , R 5 and R 6 can be the same or different and in each case is hydrogen, lower alkyl or together with the nitrogen atom a 5-6 member ring, which can contain another heteroatom. R 7 is lower alkyl, optionally substituted aryl or arylalkyl, and each compound can contain one or more R A radicals which are not hydrogen.
These compounds differ from the compounds of the present invention. These U.S. Patents teach carbocyclic compounds having pyridine or piperidine rings but lacking the pyrimidine ring present in the compounds of the present invention.
German Patent No. DE 3,246,932 discloses compounds of the formula: ##STR10## wherein
R=halogen, NO 2 , CO 2 H, modified CO 2 H, R 2 O, R 2 S(O) n ; n=0-2; and R 1 =H, alkyl, cycloalkyl, arylalkyl, aryl, CO 2 H, amino R 2 0, R 2 S(0) n .
However no examples were exemplified in this patent with R 1 =aryl.
Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1986, 1749-1764 teaches compounds of the formula: ##STR11## where R X is hydrogen, methyl, benzyloxy, or methoxy, and R 3 is carboethoxy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides novel compounds of Formula I which interact with a GABAa binding site, the benzodiazepine receptor.
The invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds of Formula I. The invention also provides compounds useful in enhancing alertness, treatment of seizure, anxiety, and sleep disorders, and treatment of benzodiazepine overdoses. Accordingly, a broad embodiment of the invention is directed to compounds of Formula I: ##STR12## and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts thereof wherein:
X is hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxy;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms; ##STR13## wherein: A represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
B represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both A and B are nitrogen;
C represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
D represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both C and D are nitrogen;
E represents oxygen, sulfur or N--R 5 ;
R 1 and R 4 are the same or different and represent hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
R 2 is
hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, or lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms;
--OR 6 , --COR 6 , --CO 2 R 6 , OCOR 6 , or --R 6 , where
R 6 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms;
--CONR 7 R 8 or --(CH 2 ) n NR 7 R 8 ,
where n is 0, 1, or 2;
R 7 represents hydrogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 8 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
NR 6 R 7 forms a heterocyclic group which is morpholyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidyl, or N-alkyl piperazyl; or
--C(OH)R 9 R 10 where
R 9 and R 10 are the same or different and represent straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 3 and R 5 are the same or different and represent hydrogen or straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms.
These compounds are highly selective agonists, antagonists or inverse agonists for GABAa brain receptors or prodrugs of agonists, antagonists or inverse agonists for GABAa brain receptors. These compounds are useful in the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety, sleep, and seizure disorders, overdose with benzodiazepine drugs, and enhancement of memory.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIGS. 1A-C show representative aryl fused pyrrolopyrimidines of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The novel compounds encompassed by the instant invention can be described by the following general formula I: ##STR14## and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts thereof wherein: X is hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxy;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms; ##STR15## wherein: A represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
B represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both A and B are nitrogen;
C represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
D represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both C and D are nitrogen;
E represents oxygen, sulfur or N--R 5 ;
R 1 and R 4 are the same or different and represent
hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
R 2 is
hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, or lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms;
--OR 6 , --COR 6 , --CO 2 R 6 , --OCOR 6 , or --R 6 , where
R 6 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms;
--CONR 7 R 8 or --(CH 2 ) n NR 7 R 8 ,
where n is 0, 1, or 2;
R 7 represents hydrogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 8 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
NR 6 R 7 forms a heterocyclic group which is morpholyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidyl, or N-alkyl piperazyl; or
--C(OH)R 9 R 10 where
R 9 and R 10 are the same or different and represent straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 3 and R 5 are the same or different and represent hydrogen or straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms.
In addition, the present invention encompasses compounds of Formula II. ##STR16## wherein: X is hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxy;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
A represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
B represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both A and B are nitrogen;
R 1 and R 4 are the same or different and represent
hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
R 2 is
hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
--OR 6 , --COR 6 , --CO 2 R 6 , --OCOR 6 , or --R 6 ,
where R 6 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
--CONR 7 R 8 or --(CH 2 ) n NR 7 R 8 ,
where n is 0, 1, or 2;
R 7 represents hydrogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 8 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
NR 6 R 7 forms a heterocyclic group which is morpholyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidyl, or N-alkyl piperazyl; or
--C(OH)R 9 R 10 where
R 9 and R 10 are the same or different and represent straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 3 represents
hydrogen or straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms.
The present invention also encompasses compounds of Formula III: ##STR17## wherein: X is hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxyl;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
E represents oxygen, sulfur, NH, or NMe;
R 1 is
hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 2 is
hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
--OR 6 , --COR 6 , --CO 2 R 6 , --OCOR 6 , or --R 6 , where
R 6 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
--CONR 7 R 8 or --(CH 2 ) n NR 7 R 8 , where
n is 0, 1, or 2;
R 7 represents hydrogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 8 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
NR 6 R 7 forms a heterocyclic group which is morpholyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidyl, or N-alkyl piperazyl; or
--C(OH)R 9 R 10 where
R 9 and R 10 are the same or different and represent straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms.
The present invention also encompasses compounds of Formula IV: ##STR18## wherein: X is hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxyl;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
E represents oxygen, sulfur, NH or NMe; and
R 1 and R 4 are the same or different and represent
hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms.
The present invention also encompasses compounds of Formula V: ##STR19## wherein: X is hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxyl;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
E represents oxygen, sulfur, NH or NMe;
R 4 is
hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 2 is
hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
--OR 6 , --COR 6 , --CO 2 R 6 , --OCOR 6 , or --R 6 , where
R 6 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
--CONR 7 R 8 or --(CH 2 ) n NR 7 R 8 , where
n is 0, 1, or 2;
R 7 represents hydrogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 8 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
NR 6 R 7 forms a heterocyclic group which is morpholyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidyl, or N-alkyl piperazyl; or
--C(OH)R 9 R 10 where
R 9 and R 10 are the same or different and represent straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms.
Non-toxic pharmaceutical salts include salts of acids such as hydrochloric, phosphoric, hydrobromic, sulfuric, sulfinic, formic, toluene sulfonic, hydroiodic, acetic and the like. Those skilled in the art will recognize a wide variety of non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts.
Representative compounds of the present invention, which are encompassed by Formula I, include, but are not limited to the compounds in FIG. I and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts. The present invention also encompasses the acylated prodrugs of the compounds of Formula I. Those skilled in the art will recognize various synthetic methodologies which may be employed to prepare non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts and acylated prodrugs of the compounds encompassed by Formula I.
By lower alkyl in the present invention is meant straight or branched chain alkyl groups having 1-6 carbon atoms, such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, 2-pentyl, isopentyl, neopentyl, hexyl, 2-hexyl, 3-hexyl, and 3-methylpentyl.
By lower alkoxy in the present invention is meant straight or branched chain alkoxy groups having 1-6 carbon atoms, such as, for example, methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, sec-butoxy, tert-butoxy, pentoxy, 2-pentyl, isopentoxy, neopentoxy, hexoxy, 2-hexoxy, 3-hexoxy, and 3-methylpentoxy.
By halogen in the present invention is meant fluorine, bromine, chlorine, and iodine.
By N-alkylpiperazyl in the invention is meant radicals of the formula: ##STR20## where R is a straight or branched chain lower alkyl as defined above.
The pharmaceutical utility of compounds of this invention are indicated by the following assay for GABAa receptor activity.
Assays are carried out as described in Thomas and Tallman (J. Bio. Chem. 156: 9838-9842, J. Neurosci. 3: 433-440, 1983). Rat cortical tissue is dissected and homogenized in 25 volumes (w/v) of 0.05M Tris HCl buffer (pH 7.4 at 4° C.). The tissue homogenate is centrifuged in the cold (4°) at 20,000×g for 20'. The supernatant is decanted and the pellet is rehomogenized in the same volume of buffer and again centrifuged at 20,000×g. The supernatant is decanted and the pellet is frozen at -20° C. overnight. The pellet is then thawed and rehomogenized in 25 volume (original wt/vol) of buffer and the procedure is carried out twice. The pellet is finally resuspended in 50 volumes (w/vol of 0.05M Tris HCl buffer (pH 7.4 at 40° C.).
Incubations contain 100 ml of tissue homogenate, 100 ml of radioligand 0.5 nM ( 3 H-RO15-1788 [ 3 H-Flumazenil] specific activity 80 Ci/mmol), drug or blocker and buffer to a total volume of 500 ml. Incubations are carried for 30 min at 4° C. then are rapidly filtered through GFB filters to separate free and bound ligand. Filters are washed twice with fresh 0.05M Tris HCl buffer (pH 7.4° at 4° C.) and counted in a liquid scintillation counter. 1.0 mM diazepam is added to some tubes to determine nonspecific binding. Data are collected in triplicate determinations, averaged and % inhibition of total specific binding is calculated. Total Specific Binding=Total - Nonspecific. In some cases, the amounts of unlabeled drugs is varied and total displacement curves of binding are carried out. Data are converted to a form for the calculation of IC 50 and Hill Coefficient (nH). Data for the compounds of this invention are listed in Table I.
TABLE I______________________________________Compound Number.sup.1 IC.sub.50 (uM)______________________________________1 0.00252 0.1004 0.020______________________________________ .sup.1 Compound numbers relate to compounds shown in FIGS. 1A-C.
The compounds of general formula I may be administered orally, topically, parenterally, by inhalation or spray or rectally in dosage unit formulations containing conventional non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, adjuvants and vehicles. The term parenteral as used herein includes subcutaneous injections, intravenous, intramuscular, intrasternal injection or infusion techniques. In addition, there is provided a pharmaceutical formulation comprising a compound of general formula I and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. One or more compounds of general formula I may be present in association with one or more non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable carriers and/or diluents and/or adjuvants and if desired other active ingredients. The pharmaceutical compositions containing compounds of general formula I may be in a form suitable for oral use, for example, as tablets, troches, lozenges, aqueous or oily suspensions, dispersible powders or granules, emulsion, hard or soft capsules, or syrups or elixirs.
Compositions intended for oral use may be prepared according to any method known to the art for the manufacture of pharmaceutical compositions and such compositions may contain one or more agents selected from the group consisting of sweetening agents, flavoring agents, coloring agents and preserving agents in order to provide pharmaceutically elegant and palatable preparations. Tablets contain the active ingredient in admixture with non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable excipients which are suitable for the manufacture of tablets. These excipients may be for example, inert diluents, such as calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, lactose, calcium phosphate or sodium phosphate; granulating and disintegrating agents, for example, corn starch, or alginic acid; binding agents, for example starch, gelatin or acacia, and lubricating agents, for example magnesium stearate, stearic acid or talc. The tablets may be uncoated or they may be coated by known techniques to delay disintegration and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and thereby provide a sustained action over a longer period. For example, a time delay material such as glyceryl monosterate or glyceryl distearate may be employed.
Formulations for oral use may also be presented as hard gelatin capsules wherein the active ingredient is mixed with an inert solid diluent, for example, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate or kaolin, or as soft gelatin capsules wherein the active ingredient is mixed with water or an oil medium, for example peanut oil, liquid paraffin or olive oil.
Aqueous suspensions contain the active materials in admixture with excipients suitable for the manufacture of aqueous suspensions. Such excipients are suspending agents, for example sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose, hydropropylmethylcellulose, sodium alginate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, gum tragacanth and gum acacia; dispersing or wetting agents may be a naturally-occurring phosphatide, for example, lecithin, or condensation products of an alkylene oxide with fatty acids, for example polyoxyethylene stearate, or condensation products of ethylene oxide with long chain aliphatic alcohols, for example heptadecaethyleneoxycetanol, or condensation products of ethylene oxide with partial esters derived from fatty acids and a hexitol such as polyoxyethylene sorbitol monooleate, or condensation products of ethylene oxide with partial esters derived from fatty acids and hexitol anhydrides, for example polyethylene sorbitan monooleate. The aqueous suspensions may also contain one or more preservatives, for example ethyl, or n-propyl p-hydroxybenzoate, one or more coloring agents, one or more flavoring agents, and one or more sweetening agents, such as sucrose or saccharin.
Oily suspensions may be formulated by suspending the active ingredients in a vegetable oil, for example arachis oil, olive oil, sesame oil or coconut oil, or in a mineral oil such as liquid paraffin. The oily suspensions may contain a thickening agent, for example beeswax, hard paraffin or cetyl alcohol. Sweetening agents such as those set forth above, and flavoring agents may be added to provide palatable oral preparations. These compositions may be preserved by the addition of an anti-oxidant such as ascorbic acid.
Dispersible powders and granules suitable for preparation of an aqueous suspension by the addition of water provide the active ingredient in admixture with a dispersing or wetting agent, suspending agent and one or more preservatives. Suitable dispersing or wetting agents and suspending agents are exemplified by those already mentioned above. Additional excipients, for example sweetening, flavoring and coloring agents, may also be present.
Pharmaceutical compositions of the invention may also be in the form of oil-in-water emulsions. The oily phase may be a vegetable oil, for example olive oil or arachis oil, or a mineral oil, for example liquid paraffin or mixtures of these. Suitable emulsifying agents may be naturally-occurring gums, for example gum acacia or gum tragacanth, naturally-occurring phosphatides, for example soy bean, lecithin, and esters or partial esters derived from fatty acids and hexitol, anhydrides, for example sorbitan monoleate, and condensation products of the said partial esters with ethylene oxide, for example polyoxyethylene sorbitan monoleate. The emulsions may also contain sweetening and flavoring agents.
Syrups and elixirs may be formulated with sweetening agents, for example glycerol, propylene glycol, sorbitor or sucrose. Such formulations may also contain a demulcent, a preservative and flavoring and coloring agents. The pharmaceutical compositions may be in the form of a sterile injectable aqueous or oleaginous suspension. This suspension may be formulated according to the known art using those suitable dispersing or wetting agents and suspending agents which have been mentioned above. The sterile injectable preparation may also be sterile injectable solution or suspension in a non-toxic parentally acceptable diluent or solvent, for example as a solution in 1,3-butanediol. Among the acceptable vehicles and solvents that may be employed are water, Ringer's solution and isotonic sodium chloride solution. In addition, sterile, fixed oils are conventionally employed as a solvent or suspending medium. For this purpose any bland fixed oil may be employed including synthetic mono- or diglycerides. In addition, fatty acids such as oleic acid find use in the preparation of injectables.
The compounds of general formula I may also be administered in the form of suppositories for rectal administration of the drug. These compositions can be prepared by mixing the drug with a suitable non-irritating excipient which is solid at ordinary temperatures but liquid at the rectal temperature and will therefore melt in the rectum to release the drug. Such materials are cocoa butter and polyethylene glycols.
Compounds of general formula I may be administered parenterally in a sterile medium. The drug, depending on the vehicle and concentration used, can either be suspended or dissolved in the vehicle. Advantageously, adjuvants such as local anaesthetics, preservatives and buffering agents can be dissolved in the vehicle.
Dosage levels of the order of from about 0.1 mg to about 140 mg per kilogram of body weight per day are useful in the treatment of the above-indicated conditions (about 0.5 mg to about 7 g per patient per day). The amount of active ingredient that may be combined with the carrier materials to produce a single dosage form will vary depending upon the host treated and the particular mode of administration. Dosage unit forms will generally contain between from about 1 mg to about 500 mg of an active ingredient.
It will be understood, however, that the specific dose level for any particular patient will depend upon a variety of factors including the activity of the specific compound employed, the age, body weight, general health, sex, diet, time of administration, route of administration, and rate of excretion, drug combination and the severity of the particular disease undergoing therapy.
An illustration of the preparation of compounds of the present invention is given in Schemes I and II. ##STR21## where Y is CHR 2 or NCOPh;
W is
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl;
phenyl, thienyl, or pyridyl, each of which may be mono or disubstituted with halogen, hydroxy, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, amino, mono or dialkylamino where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms; ##STR22## wherein: A represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
B represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both A and B are nitrogen;
C represents nitrogen or C--R 1 ;
D represents nitrogen or C--R 2 with the proviso that not both C and D are nitrogen;
E represents oxygen, sulfur or N--R 5 ;
R 1 and R 4 are the same or different and represent
hydrogen, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or straight or branched chain lower alkoxy having 1-6 carbon atoms;
R 2 is
hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, or lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms;
--OR 6 , --COR 6 , --CO 2 R 6 , --OCOR 6 , or --R 6 , where
R 6 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms;
--CONR 7 R 8 or --(CH 2 ) n NR 7 R 8 ,
where n is 0, 1, or 2;
R 7 represents hydrogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 8 is hydrogen, phenyl, pyridyl, straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, or phenylalkyl or
pyridylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; or
NR 6 R 7 forms a heterocyclic group which is morpholyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidyl, or N-alkyl piperazyl; or
--C(OH)R 9 R 10 where
R 9 and R 10 are the same or different and represent straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenylalkyl where each alkyl is straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms; and
R 3 and R 5 are the same or different and represent hydrogen or straight or branched chain lower alkyl having 1-6 carbon atoms.
Those having skill in the art will recognize that the starting materials may be varied and additional steps employed to produce compounds encompassed by the present invention, as demonstrated by the following examples. In some cases protection of certain reactive functionalities may be necessary to achieve some of the above transformations. In general the need for such protecting groups will be apparent to those skilled in the art of organic synthesis as well as the conditions necessary to attach and remove such groups.
The invention is illustrated further by the following examples which are not to be construed as limiting the invention in scope or spirit to the specific procedures described in them.
EXAMPLE I ##STR23##
A mixture of benzamidine (7.42 g) and dimethyl malonate (8.09 g) in dry dimethyl sulfoxide (7 mL) was allowed to stand at room temperature for 24 h. The precipitated product was collected and washed with water and ether to afford 2-Phenyl-4,6-dihydroxy-pyrimidine as a white solid.
EXAMPLE II ##STR24##
To a suspension of 2-Phenyl-4,6-dihydroxypyrimidine (12 g) in 35 mL of acetic acid is added 12 mL of 90% nitric acid and the mixture is heated at 50° C. for 45 min. The reaction mixture is diluted with 150 mL of water and the product is collected, washed with water and ethanol and oven dried to afford 2-Phenyl-5-nitro-4,6-dihydroxypyrimidine as a pink solid.
EXAMPLE III ##STR25##
A mixture of 2-Phenyl-5-nitro-4,6-dihydroxypyrimidine (10 g), diethylaniline (6 g) and phosphorous oxychloride (100 mL) was heated at reflux for 40 min. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was partitioned between 50% ether in ethyl acetate and water. The organic layer was dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residue was filtered through silica gel with ether/methylene chloride as the eluent to afford 2-Phenyl-5-nitro-4,6-dichloropyrimine as a yellow solid.
EXAMPLE IV ##STR26##
A mixture of cyclohexanone (98 mg) and pyrrolidine (71 mg) and 4A molecular sieves (500 mg) in 1 mL of benzene was allowed to stand at room temperature until enamine formation was complete (ca. 16 h). The resulting solution of enamine was cannulated into a solution of 2-Phenyl-5-nitro-4,6-dichloro-pyrimidine (270 mg) and diisopropylethylamine (129 mg) in 5 mL of methylene chloride. After 30 min at room temperature the reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and treated with 3 mL of 3N HCl and 3 mL of ethanol. The reaction mixture was concentated again and the residue was subjected to flash chromatography on silica gel with 20% ethyl acetate/hexane as the eluent to afford 2-[4-(2-Phenyl-5-nitro-6-chloro-pyrimidinyl)]cyclohexan-1-one as a white solid.
EXAMPLE V ##STR27##
A mixture of 2-[4-(2-Phenyl-5-nitro-6-chloro-pyrimidinyl)]-yclohexan-1-one (280 mg), triethylamine (300 mg) and 10% Pd/C catalyst (25 mg) in 10 mL of ethanol was hydrogenated under 1 atmosphere of hydrogen at room temperature for 16 h. After filtration through celite the solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue was subjected to flash chromatography on silica gel with 50% ethyl acetate/hexane as the eluent to afford 2-Phenyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine melting at 197°-198° C. after trituration with hexane/ether.
EXAMPLE VI ##STR28##
A mixture of 1-Benzoylpiperidin-4-one (244 mg) and pyrrolidine (85 mg) and 4A molecular sieves (500 mg) in 2 mL of benzene was allowed to stand at room temperature until enamine formation was complete (ca. 24 h). The resulting solution of enamine was cannulated into a solution of 2-Phenyl-5-nitro-4,6-dichloropyrimidine(325 mg) and triethylamine (200 mg) in 4 mL of chloroform. After 30 min at room temperature the reaction mixture was treated with 4 mL of 2N HCl and stirring was continued for 20 min. The organic layer was separated and dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residue was subjected to flash chromatography on silica gel with 30% ethyl acetate in hexane as the eluent to afford 1-Benzoyl-3-[4-(2-phenyl-5-nitro-6-chloropyrimidinyl)]piperidin-4-one as a white solid.
EXAMPLE VII ##STR29##
A mixture of 1-Benzoyl-3-[4-(2-phenyl-5-nitro-6-chloro-pyrimidinyl)]piperidin-4-one (100 mg), triethylamine (100 mg) and 10% Pd/C catalyst (100 mg) in 6 mL of ethanol was hydrogenated under 1 atmosphere of hydrogen at room temperature for 5 h. After filtration through celite the solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue was subjected to flash chromatography on silica gel with 30% ethyl acetate in hexane as the eluent to afford 8-Benzoyl-2-phenyl-5,6,7,9-tetrahydro-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]-pyrimidino[4,5-d]pyrrole, m.p. 264°-266° C. after trituration with ether.
EXAMPLE VIII ##STR30##
A mixture of 8-Benzoyl-2-phenyl-5,6,7,9-tetrahydro-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]-pyrimidino[4,5-d]pyrrole (180 mg), 50% sodium hydroxide (1 mL) and ethanol (1 mL) was refluxed with stirring for 4 h. The reaction mixture was neutralized with dilute HCl and the product was extracted into chloroform. After drying over magnesium sulfate the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residue was treated with HCl in isopropanol to afford 2-Phenyl-5,6,7,9-tetrahydro-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimidino[4,5-d]pyrrole monohydrochloride, m.p. 284°-287° C.
EXAMPLE IX ##STR31##
A mixture of 2-(2-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (300 mg) and palladium black (300 mg) in 3 mL of mesityline was stirred at 230° C. in a sealed tube for 1 h. The reaction mixture was filtered and the residue subjected to flash chromatography on silica gel with 30% ethyl acetate/hexane as the eluent. In this manner 2-(2-Fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 1), m.p. 202°-203° C. was obtained as white crystals.
EXAMPLE X ##STR32##
A mixture of 3-Amino-2-chloropyridine (5 g) and cuprous cyanide (5 g) in 10 mL of N-Methylpyrrolidone was heated with stirring at 185° C. for 2 h under an atmosphere of nitrogen. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and concentrated ammonium hydroxide and 10% methanol/methylene chloride were added. The mixture was shaken and filtered, the organic layer separated and the aqueous layer extracted two times with methanol/methylene chloride. The combined organic extracts were dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent removed in vacuo. The residue was recrystallized from ethyl acetate/hexane to afford 3-Amino-2cyanopyridine as a tan solid.
EXAMPLE XI ##STR33##
A mixture of anthranilamide (11.8 g), potassium carbonate (20 g), ethyl bromoacetate (18 g) and dimethylformamide (50 mL) was heated at reflux for 40 min. The reaction mixture was diluted with water and the product was extracted with ether. The organic layer was washed with water and brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residue was recrystallized from ethanol to afford N-(2-Cyanophenyl)glycine ethyl ester as a colorless solid.
EXAMPLE XII ##STR34##
To a solution of N-(2-Cyanophenyl)glycine ethyl ester (8.1 g) in THF (125 mL) was added potassium t-butoxide (4.5 g) in one portion with stirring. After 10 min at room temperature the mixture was diluted with saturated ammonium chloride solution and the product was extracted with ether. After drying over magnesium sulfate the solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue was recrystallized from 80% methanol to afford 3-Amino-2-carboethoxyindole as a tan solid.
EXAMPLE XIII ##STR35##
To a mixture of 3-Amino-2-carboethoxyindole (572 mg) and triethylamine (400 mg) in methylene chloride (100 mL) was added benzoyl chloride (450 mg). After 30 min at room temperature the reaction mixture was washed with 0.1N HCl, dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residue was triturated with ether to afford 3-Benzamido-2-carboethoxyindole as a white solid.
EXAMPLE XIV ##STR36##
A mixture of 3-Benzamido-2-carboethoxyindole (3.0 g) and phosphorous oxychloride (20 mL) was refluxed for 30 min. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was triturated with ether to afford a white solid. This solid was treated with 40 mL of isopropanol which had been previously saturated with ammonia and heated in a sealed tube at 120° C. for 40 min. The reaction mixture was again concentrated in vacuo and the residue was triturated with ether to afford 3-Benzamido-indole-2-carboxamide as a white solid.
EXAMPLE XV ##STR37##
A mixture of 3-Benzamidoindole-2-carboxamide (276 mg), sodium hydride (5 mg) and ethanol (5 mL) was refluxed for 2 h. The reaction mixture was quenched with saturated ammonium carbonate and the product was extracted with methylene chloride. After drying over magnesium sulfate, the solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue was triturated with ether to afford 4-Hydroxy-2-phenyl-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 2) as a white solid.
EXAMPLE XVI ##STR38##
A mixture of 4-Hydroxy-2-phenyl-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (800 mg), phosphorous oxychloride (10 mL), and dioxane (10 mL) was refluxed for 40 min. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was treated with saturated ammonium chloride and methylene chloride. After drying over magnesium sulfate the solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue was triturated with ether/hexane to afford 4-Chloro-2-phenyl-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 3) as a white solid.
EXAMPLE XVII ##STR39##
A mixture of 4-Chloro-2-phenyl-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (650 mg), triethylamine (1.0 g), 10% palladium on carbon catalyst (110 mg) and ethanol (30 mL) was stirred under 1 atm of hydrogen for 1 h. The catalyst was filtered through celite and the ethanol is removed in vacuo. the residue is suspended in saturated ammonium chloride solution and the product was extracted with methylene chloride. After drying over magnesium sulfate the solvent was removed in vacuo to afford 2-Phenyl-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 4) after trituration with ether.
EXAMPLE XVIII
The following compounds were prepared essentially according to the procedures described in Examples I-XVII:
(a) 2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 5), m.p. 189°-190° C.
(b) 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 6), m.p. 202°-203° C.
(c) 2-(2-Fluoro-5-methoxyphenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 7).
(d) 2-(2-Fluorophenyl)-4-hydroxy-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 8), m.p. 251°-255° C.
(e) 2-(2-Fluorophenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 9), m.p. 195°-197° C.
(f) 2-(3-Fluorophenyl)-4-hydroxy-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 10), m.p. >300° C.
(g) 2-(4-Fluorophenyl)-4-hydroxy-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 11), m.p. >300° C.
(h) 2-(4-Fluorophenyl)-4-chloro-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 12), m.p. 204°-205° C.
(i) 2-(3-Fluorophenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]-pyrimidine (Compound 13), m.p. 168°-170° C.
(j) 2-(4-Fluorophenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 14), m.p. 183°-185° C.
(k) 2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-4-hydroxy-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 15), m.p. 1206°-209° C.
(l) 2-(3-Pyridyl)-4-hydroxy-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 16).
(m) 2-(4-Ethoxyphenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 17), m.p. 157°-159° C.
(n) 8-Bromo-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-5H-indolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine (Compound 18), m.p. 240°-242° C.
(o) 2-Phenyl-5H-pyrido[3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 19).
(p) 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 20).
(q) 2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 21).
(r) 2-(2-Fluoro-5-methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 22).
(s) 2-(2-Fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido]3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]-pyrrole (Compound 23).
(t) 2-(2-Fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 24).
(u) 2-(2-Fluorophenyl)-5H-pyrido[3,2-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 25).
EXAMPLE XIX
The following compounds were prepared essentially according to the procedures described in Examples I-XVII:
(a) 2-Phenyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 26).
(b) 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 27).
(c) 2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 28).
(d) 2-(2-Fluoro-5-methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 29).
(e) 2-(2-Fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 30).
(f) 2-(2-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 31).
(g) 2-(2-Fluorophenyl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 32).
(h) 7,8-Dimethyl-2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-5H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyrimido[6,5-d]pyrrole (Compound 33).
(i) 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrimido[5,6-b]thieno[2,3-d]pyrrole (Compound 34).
(j) 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrimido[5,6-b]thieno[3,2-d]pyrrole (Compound 35).
(k) 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5H-pyrimido[5,6-b]thieno[3,4-d]pyrrole (Compound 36).
The invention and the manner and process of making and using it, are now described in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, to make and use the same. It is to be understood that the foregoing describes preferred embodiments of the present invention and that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims. To particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter regarded as invention, the following claims conclude this specification.
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The present invention encompasses structures of the formula: ##STR1## and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts thereof wherein: ##STR2## and X represents hydrogen, halogen, or hydroxy;
W represents an aryl group unsubstituted or substituted with various organic and inorganic substituents;
A, B, C, D, and E represent carbon or nitrogen substituted with hydrogen or various organic and inorganic substituents; and
R 3 , and R 4 are variables representing various organic and inorganic substituents..
These compounds are highly selective agonists, antagonists or inverse agonists for GABAa brain receptors or prodrugs thereof and are useful in the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety, sleep, and seizure disorders, overdose with benzodiazepine drugs, and enhancement of memory.
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TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed to a process for manufacturing foam-filled plastic extruded products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Traditionally, wood products have been a primary source of materials for use in construction. However, wood products are becoming increasingly scarce due to the harvesting of trees at ever faster rates and the rather limited rate at which timber resources can be replenished. Also, environmental concerns and environmental regulations directed to conservation or preservation of forests tend to restrict the availability of wood products. With diminishing availability of timber resources, wood products are becoming increasingly expensive. There is, therefore, a substantial need for long-lasting substitute construction materials that can lessen the need to harvest timber resources.
One approach to addressing the above need is to provide a substitute replacement product made of plastic, rather than wood. However, the replacement or substitute product needs to be stable, rigid, and relatively inexpensive. It also needs to be easily fabricated and used in the field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,458 describes a simulated log made from a cast polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe, selectively filled with a hard cast foam or a bead type foam. Said patent further describes that the cast PVC pipe is first manufactured and then subsequently filled with the foam filler. This type of manufacturing tends to require excessive numbers of manufacturing operations, and at substantial cost.
Accordingly, it can be seen that there is yet a need in the art for a process of manufacturing foam-filled extruded plastic products, such as a replacement for traditional wood products, wherein the process should provide a strong finished product at minimal cost and with a minimal number of manufacturing steps. It is to the provision of such a process that the present invention is primarily directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, in a preferred form the present invention comprises a process for fabricating an article comprised of an inner rigid foam core and an outer resilient plastic shell, with the article having a predetermined size and shape. The method comprises the steps of extruding a thermoplastic material and, during the extrusion, injecting a liquid foam material into the interior of the extruded thermoplastic material so that the extruded plastic shell and the expanded liquid foam core are made together at the same time, thereby minimizing the number of manufacturing steps and the attendant cost. This also tends to promote a very strong bond between the foam core and the extruded plastic shell, thereby increasing the structural rigidity of the resulting foam-filled extruded plastic product. This integrated process for manufacturing the foam-filled extruded product also tends to minimize the cost of manufacturing the product.
In another preferred form the invention comprises a process for fabricating an article comprised of an inner rigid foam core and an outer resilient plastic shell, with the article having a predetermined size and shape. The process includes the steps of extruding a thermoplastic material, initially hardening the thermoplastic material to a certain extent, injecting a liquid foam material into the initially hardened plastic material, further hardening the plastic material to obtain the predetermined size and shape, and cutting the article to a desired length.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing a foam-filled extruded product which is economical in application, reliable, and simple.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing a foam-filled extruded product which results in even distribution of the foam within the interior of the extruded product.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing a foam-filled extruded product which results in a strong bond between the extruded shell and the foam core.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specifications in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for carrying out the process for manufacturing a foam-filled extruded product according to a preferred form of the invention and showing various mechanical and electrical components for use therein in schematic form.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now in detail to the drawing figure, in which like reference numerals represent like parts, FIG. 1 shows a manufacturing system 10 for carrying out the process according to the invention. Manufacturing system 10 includes first and second extrusion lines 11 and 12, with two (2) lines shown for illustration purposes. Of course, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that only one extrusion line could be employed or that more than two extrusion lines could be employed, as desired. The extrusion lines 11 and 12 are each controlled by a common electronic controller 13. The electronic controller can take any of several known forms, such as a programmable logic controller (PLC) or a personal computer adapted for such application.
A common extruder 14 feeds both extrusion lines 11 and 12. The extruder can be of any number of known types, but typically includes an internal auger (not shown) for metering and pumping plastic pellets or powders and a heating element for heating the plastic pellets or powders to melt them to provide a heated thermoplastic discharge suitable for use in the extrusion lines. Moreover, as those skilled in the art will also understand, the extruder 14 typically is fed by known metering or blending equipment for providing a desired controlled quantity of plastic pellets to the extruder and/or for maintaining a preset recipe of plastic pellets or powder to provide a desired composition of the plastic to be extruded. The extruder output is heated thermoplastic which is forced through a "Y-block" or divider 16 for providing equal flows of plastic to first and second crosshead dies 17 and 18. These crosshead dies 17 and 18 are somewhat similar in construction and operation to those used to coat electric wire with an outer plastic insulation sheath. Each of the crosshead dies 17 and 18 includes an internal (unshown) mandrel or core element, which together with the outer (interior) surface of the crosshead die operate to define the shape and wall thickness of the extruded plastic product discharged from the crosshead dies.
Initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22 are positioned to receive the extruded product from the crosshead dies 17 and 18. These initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22 are conventional vacuum units. These initial sizing and cooling sleeves provide a rough initial shape and some initial cooling to stabilize the extruded plastic shell. The extruded plastic shell is indicated at S1 and S1' in FIG. 1. As depicted in the figure, the initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22 are spaced a short distance from the crosshead dies 17 and 18 to expose this section of the outer shell S1 and S1'. This then allows sensors to be positioned adjacent the outer shells S1 and S1' to detect any interruption in the extrusion of the outer shells. Such sensors are depicted at 23 and 24 in FIG. 1 and can take any number of known forms. For example, a photo emitter and a photo detector can be used to detect when there is a break in the extrusion. Alternatively, a motion sensor or proximity sensor can be used.
Another pair of similar sensors 25 and 26 are positioned downstream (after) the initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22. These second sensors 25 and 26 also operate to detect a break in the outer shell of the extrusion.
A pair of foam mixing and metering devices 31 and 32 pump metered quantities of liquid foam at controllable pressures through liquid foam supply conduits 33 and 34, preferably at room temperature. These liquid foam supply conduits 33 and 34 extend through the crosshead dies 17 and 18 and through the initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22. The open (discharge) ends 35 and 36 are positioned downstream of the initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22. Thus, the liquid foam is pumped and metered from the foam mixing and metering devices 31 and 32 through the crosshead dies 17 and 18 and through the initial cooling and sizing sleeves 21 and 22 and into the interior of the initially cooled and sized outer shells S2 and S2'.
Secondary sizing and cooling sleeves or tanks 37 and 38 are positioned downstream from the open discharge ends 35 and 36 of the liquid foam supply conduits 33 and 34. The open ends of liquid foam supply conduits 33 and 34 are positioned approximately 6" to 12" from the secondary sizing and cooling tanks 37 and 38 so that the liquid foam is allowed to drop away from the extrusion lines in the event that a break occurs. In this way, the secondary sizing and cooling sleeves 37 and 38 receive the extruded outer shells S2 and S2' (which have been initially cooled and sized), now filled with expanding or expanded foam. The secondary sizing and cooling tanks provide the foaming and cross-linking reactions and cool the overall article, thereby causing the foam to solidify and the article to take the desired shape. These secondary sizing and cooling sleeves or tanks 37 and 38 further define the exterior dimensions and shape of the outer shell S2 and S2', with the discharge from these sleeves or tanks being a finished extruded product P and P'. The secondary sizing and cooling sleeves or tanks 37 and 38 are rather long in comparison to the initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22 and utilize a water jacket or water film to minimize the friction between the shell S2 and S2' and the secondary sizing and cooling sleeves 37 and 38. The water film or jacket also helps to cool the outer shells S2 and S2' (and the liquid foam contained therein, now rapidly cooling and hardening to form a rigid structure). The water is preferably at a temperature of approximately 60° F. and the foam expands and sets within 30 to 45 seconds. The water also helps tend to avoid marring the external finish of the outer shells of the product P and P'. Furthermore, the secondary sizing and cooling sleeves are preferably coated with chrome or Teflon® to further reduce friction. The initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22 may also be coated with chrome or Teflon® if desired. The use of water jacketed sizing and cooling sleeves is known in the art in connection with very large diameter extrusions, such as 36-inch diameter plastic pipe. However, the use of such a water-jacketed sleeve in connection with small diameter extrusions (on the order of 12 inches or less) has not been known by the applicants heretofore. Nor have the applicants been aware of the use of both an initial sizing and cooling sleeve (21 and 22) together with a secondary sizing and cooling sleeve (37 and 38).
Pullers 41 and 42 operate to pull the extruded product P and P' along the extrusion lines 11 and 12. These pullers are of conventional design and include, for example, endless tracks which engage the outer surface of the extruded product for pulling the extruded product in a downstream direction (indicated by arrow D). Each of these pullers has associated therewith a torque sensor 43, 44 for monitoring the torque of the puller being applied to the product P and P'. If the torque exerted by the pullers 41 or 42 suddenly drops to zero or near zero, this is an indication that a break has occurred in the extrusion.
The product P and P' is further conveyed by the pullers 41 and 42 to a saw or other cut off device 45, 46 for cutting the extruded product P, P' into pieces of a predetermined or desired length.
Electrical cabling 51-58 connects the controller 13 with the foam mixing and metering devices 31 and 32 and with the sensors 23 and 24, 25 and 26, and 43 and 44.
In operation, liquid foam is pumped from the liquid foam mixing and metering devices 31 and 32 through the conduits 33 and 34 through the crosshead dies 17 and 18 and ultimately discharges at the discharge ends 35 and 36 into the interior of the semi-cooled outer shells S2 and S2'. This takes place at the same time as the extrusion of the outer shells by the crosshead dies 17 and 18, the initial sizing and cooling sleeves 21 and 22, and the secondary sizing and cooling sleeves 37 and 38. This simultaneous injection of the liquid foam into the interior of the extruded shell during the extrusion process provides for superior bonding of the foam to the interior wall of the outer shell. This also provides for superior filling (avoiding voids) of the foam in the interior of the outer shell. Another advantage of this simultaneous injection of the liquid foam is that it minimizes the number of manufacturing steps or subsequent steps that have to be taken. This also tends to make the manufacture of the foam-filled extruded product very economical and requires a minimal amount of manufacturing floor space. The result is an economical, extremely strong final product.
The liquid foam is preferably polyurethane, but other materials such as polyesters and epoxies can be used as well. The outer polymer shell is preferably made from polyvinylchloride, but other materials such as acrylic, ABS, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and blends and alloys of two or more of these materials can be used. The polymer shell, once hardened, will preferably have a thickness ranging from 0.005 to 0.250 inches and the foam will preferably have a density ranging from 1 to 30 lbs/ft 3 .
While the invention has been disclosed in preferred forms, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many additions, deletions, and modifications may be made therein without departing within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims:
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A process for fabricating an article having a rigid foam core and a resilient outer plastic shell by extruding heated thermoplastic material to form the shell, partially hardening the extruded a plastic shell, injecting a liquid foam material into the interior of the partially hardened plastic shell, and cooling the shell and the liquid foam material to fully harden the plastic shell and the foam under conditions which cause the article to have a predetermined shape and size.
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RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/553,499 filed Apr. 20, 2000 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,391,909), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/250,698 filed Feb. 16, 1999 (now abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/967,847 filed Nov. 12, 1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,459), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/658,949 filed May 31, 1996 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,825), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
This invention was made with Government support under Contrast Nos. DA 3801 awarded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
BACKGROUND
Δ 9 -Tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive marijuana derived cannabinoid, binds to the CB1 receptor in the brain and to the CB2 receptor in the spleen. Compounds which stimulate the CB1 receptor have been shown to induce analgesia and sedation, to cause mood elevation, to control nausea and appetite and to lower intraocular pressure (Mechoulam, Cannabinoids as Therapeutic Agents , CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. (1986), Fride and Mechoulam, Eur. J. Pharmacol. 231:313 (1993), Crawley et al., Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 46:967 (1993) and Smith et al., J. Pharm. Exp. Therap. 270:219 (1994)). Cannabinoids have also been shown to suppress the immune system (Mechoulam, Cannabinoids as Therapeutic Agents , CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. (1986). Thus, compounds which stimulate the CB1 or CB2 receptor, directly or indirectly, are potentially useful in treating glaucoma, preventing tissue rejection in organ transplant patients, controlling nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy, controlling pain and enhancing the appetite and controlling pain in individuals with AIDS Wasting Syndrome.
Arachidonyl ethanolamide (anandamide) is a naturally-occurring brain constituent that acts as a CB1 and CB2 agonist and exhibits pharmacological activity in mice comparable to cannabinoids (Fride and Mechoulam (1993), Crawley et al. (1993) and Smith et al. (1994)). Anandamide is cleaved in vivo by anandamide amidase. Thus, inhibitors of anandamide amidase have the effect of indirectly stimulating the CB1 and CB2 receptors by increasing in vivo levels of anandamide.
In addition to acting at the CB1 and CB2 receptors, cannabinoids also affect cellular membranes, thereby producing undesirable side effects such as drowsiness, impairment of monoamide oxidase function and impairment of non-receptor mediated brain function. The addictive and psychotropic properties of cannabinoids also limit their therapeutic value. Inhibitors of anandamide amidase are not expected to have the undesired membrane-related side-effects produced by cannabinoids. By providing an alternate mechanism for stimulating the CB1 and CB2 receptor, anandamide inhibitors might not have the addictive and psychotropic properties of cannabinoids. However, present inhibitors of anandamide amidase have disadvantages. For example, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) is toxic to cells. Thus, there is a need for new and more potent inhibitors of anandamide amidase which have reduced toxicity towards cells and which do not significantly interact with the CB1 or CB2 receptor at inhibitory concentrations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has now been found that long chain fatty acids and aromatic acid analogs of long chain fatty acids with head groups capable of irreversibly binding to a nucleophilic group at an enzyme active site are potent inhibitors of anandamide amidase. For example, palmitylsulfonyl fluoride was found to increase the level of undegraded anandamide 55-fold at 10 nM in intact neuroblastoma cells (Example 1) and is therefore more than 100 fold more potent than phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride at inhibiting anandamide amidase. At the same time, the inhibitors disclosed herein have a low affinity for the CB1 receptor (Example 3). For example, the binding affinity of palmitylsulfonyl fluoride for the CB1 receptor is about 10 times lower than anandamide. In addition, it has been found that palmitylsulfonyl fluoride causes some of the same pharmacological effects in rats as do compounds which stimulate the CB1 receptor directly, such as Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol. For example, palmitylsulfonyl fluoride is shown herein to induce analgesia in rats (Example 4). Based on these results, methods of inhibiting anandamide amidase, thereby stimulating the CB1 and CB2 receptors, in an individual or animal are disclosed. Also disclosed are novel compounds which inhibit anandamide amidase.
The present invention is a method of inhibiting anandamide amidase in an individual or animal. The method comprises administering to the individual or animal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound represented by Structural Formula I:
R—X—Y (I)
and physiologically acceptable salts thereof.
R is selected from the group consisting of a methyl group, an aryl group, a substituted aryl group, a heteroaryl group, a substituted heteroaryl group, a heterocyclic group and a substituted heterocyclic group.
X is a straight chain hydrocarbyl group or a substituted straight chain hydrocarbyl group containing from about 4 to about 18 carbon atoms if R is an aryl group, a substituted aryl group, a heteroaryl group, a substituted heteroaryl group, a heterocyclic group or a substituted heterocyclic group.
X is a hydrocarbyl group or a substituted hydrocarbyl group containing from about 10 to about 24 carbon atoms if R is a methyl group.
Y is a moiety capable of irreversibly binding with a nucleophilic group at the active site of an amidase enzyme.
The method and the novel compounds disclosed herein have therapeutic uses. For example, the compounds and methods of the present invention, like cannabinoids, can relieve the pain caused by cancer and the nausea resulting from cancer chemotherapy. They are not expected to have the undesirable membrane-related side-effects associated with cannabinoids. In addition, the methods and compounds disclosed herein are expected to be immunosuppressive and can therefore be used to prevent organ rejection in an individual undergoing an organ transplant. Because the compounds and methods of the present invention enhance the appetite of an individual, they can be used treat patients with AIDS Wasting Syndrome, who are often suffering from malnourishment as a result of appetite loss.
To novel inhibitors of anandamide amidase disclosed herein also have research uses. For example, they can be used to maintain the level of anandamide in vitro to study the effect of ananamide on cells and to maintain the level of anandamide in vivo to study the effect of anandamide on individuals and animals. They can be used to characterize cells, for example to determine if a cell type has cannabimetic or amidase activity. For example, the inhibitors can be used to determine if a cell population expresses anandamide amidase by contacting the cells with an inhibitor and then determining if there is an increase in the concentration of anandamide. The anandamide inhibitors disclosed herein can also be used as in aid in drug design, for example as a control in assays for testing other compounds for their ability to inhibit anandamide amidase and to determine the structure activity requirements of anandamide amidase inhibitors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a graph showing the effect of palmitylsulfonyl fluoride and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride on anandamide levels in neuroblastoma cells (N18TG2).
FIGS. 2A-2E are graphs showing the IC 50 values for the inhibition of anandamide amidase by (A) laurylsulfonyl fluoride; (B) myristylsulfonyl fluoride; (C) palmitylsulfonyl fluoride; (D) stearylsulfonyl fluoride; and (E) arachidylsulfonyl fluoride.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the log dose-response curves for palmitylsulfonyl fluoride (K i is 350.4), arachidonyl trifluoromethyl (K i is 1325) ketone and arachidonoyl ethanolamide (K i is 70.03) in competition with [H 3 ] CP-55940 binding to CB1.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the effect in rats of anandamide, palmitylsulfonyl fluoride and anandamide co-administration of palmitylsulfonyl fluoride on the time taken for a lightly restrained mouse to flick its tail away from radiant heat stimulus (“rat flick” test), measured by the percent maximum possible effect.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of inhibiting anandamide amidase in an individual or animal. The inhibition of anandamide amidase results in increased levels of anandamide in the individual or animal, thereby causing increased stimulation of cannabinoid receptors in the individual or animal, e.g., the CB1 receptor in the brain and the CB2 receptor in the spleen. Thus, the present invention is also a method of stimulating cannabinoid receptors in an individual or animal. It is to be understood that the present invention can also be used to stimulate receptors not yet discovered for which anandamide and/or a cannabinoid acts as an agonist.
“Y” in Structural Formula I is a moiety capable of irreversibly binding with a nucleophilic group at the active site of an amidase enzyme. Thus, Y is capable of forming a stable covalent bond with the nucleophilic group at the active site of an amidase enzyme. Suitable structures for Y therefore do not encompass moieties, such as trifluoromethyl ketones, which are capable of acting as a transition state analog of an amidase enzyme and which bind reversibly to these enzymes. As used herein, an “amidase” is an enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of an amide bond.
A nucleophilic group at the active site of an amidase enzyme is a heteroatom-containing functional group on the side chain of an amino acid found at the enzyme active site and includes the hydroxyl group of serine or threonine, the thiol group of cysteine, the phenol group of tyrosine and the amino group of lysine, ornithine or arginine or the imidazole group of histidine.
Examples of suitable structures for Y include:
R1 is selected from the group consisting of —F and —O(C1 to C4 straight or branched chain alkyl group). R2 is a C1 to C4 straight or branched chain alkyl group.
As used herein, “a straight chain hydrocarbyl group” includes a polyalkylene, i.e., —(CH 2 ) n —. “n” is a positive integer from about 10 to about 24, when R is methyl, and from about 4 to about 18, when R is aryl, substituted aryl, heteroaryl, substituted heteroaryl, heterocyclic or substituted heterocyclic. A straight chain hydrocarbyl group also includes two or more polyalkylene groups connected by one or more ether, thioether ether, cis-alkenyl, trans-alkenyl or alkynyl linkage such that the total number of methylene carbon atoms is from about 10 to about 24 when R is methyl and from about 4 to 18 when R is aryl, substituted aryl, heteroaryl, substituted heteroaryl, heterocyclic or substituted heterocyclic. Examples include —(CH 2 ) m —O—(CH 2 ) o —, —(CH 2 ) m —S—(CH 2 ) o —, —(CH 2 ) m —CH═CH—(CH 2 ) o —, —(CH 2 ) m —C═C—(CH 2 ) o —, wherein m and o are each a positive integer such that the sum of m and o is equal to n.
Specific examples include where X is —(CH 2 ) 4 —(cis—CH═CHCH 2 —) 4 —CH 2 CH 2 —, —(CH 2 ) 4 —(cis—CH═CHCH 2 ) 3 —(CH 2 ) 5 — and where R—X— is a docosatetraenyl or a homo-γ-linolenyl moiety.
In one aspect of the present invention, R in the compound being administered to inhibit anandamide amidase is methyl and Y is sulfonyl fluoride or a C1 to C4 straight or branched chain sulfonyl ester. Preferably, Y is a sulfonyl fluoride. Specific examples of sulfonyl fluorides and sulfonyl esters include where R—X— is archidyl, Δ 8 , Δ 11 , Δ 14 -eicosatrienyl, docosatetraenyl, homo-γ-linolenyl and CH 3 —(CH 2 ) n —, wherein n is 10 (lauryl), 11, 12 (myristyl), 13, 14 (palmityl), 15 or 16 (stearyl).
As used herein, an “aryl” group is a carbocyclic aromatic ring system such as phenyl, 1-naphthyl or 2-naphthyl. A “heteroaryl” group is an aromatic ring system containing one or more heteroatoms such as nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur. Examples of heteroaryl groups include 2-furanyl, 3-furanyl, 2-thienyl, 3-thienyl, 2-pyridinyl, 3-pyridinyl, 4-pyridinyl, 2-pyrimidinyl, 4-pyrimidinyl, 5-pyrimidinyl, 3-pyrazolyl, 4-pyrazolyl, 5-pyrazolyl, 2-pyrazinyl, 2-imidazolyl, 4-imidazolyl, 1-pyrrolyl, 2-pyrrolyl, 2-oxazolyl, 4-oxazolyl, 5-oxazolyl, 2-thiazolyl, 4-thiazolyl and 5-thiazolyl. “Heteroaryl” groups also include fused polycyclic systems in which one or more monocylic aryl or monocyclic heteroaryl group is fused to another heteroaryl group. Examples include 2-benzothienyl, 3-benzothienyl, 2-benzofuranyl, 3-benzofuranyl, 2-indolyl, 2-quinolinyl and 3-quinolinyl.
As used herein, a “heterocyclic” group is a C5-C8 non-aromatic ring system containing one or more heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur. Examples include 2-tetrahydrofuranyl, 3-tetrahydrofuranyl, 2-tetrahydrothiophenyl, 3-tetrahydrothiophenyl, 2-morpholino, 3-morpholino, 4-morpholino, 2-thiomorpholino, 3-thiomorpholino, 4-thiomorpholino, 1-pyrrolidinyl, 2-pyrrolidinyl, 3-pyrrolidinyl, 1-piperazinyl, 2-piperazinyl, 1-piperidinyl, 2-piperidinyl, 3-piperidinyl, 4-piperidinyl and 4-thiazolidinyl.
Suitable substituents on a straight chain hydrocarbyl group include methyl, ethyl, hydroxy, hydroxymethyl, thiol, methoxy, ethoxy and hydroxy. Suitable substituents on an aryl, heteroaryl or heterocyclic group include groups such as lower alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, (lower alkoxy) —O—, (aryl or substituted aryl)—O—, halo, —CO—O(lower alkyl), —CHO, —CO—(lower alkyl), —CO—NH(lower alkyl), —CO—N(lower alkyl) 2 , —NO 2 , —CF 3 , —CN, and (lower alkyl)—S—. A lower alkyl group is a C1 to about C5 straight or branched chain alkyl group.
The present invention also refers to novel compounds which can be used to inhibit anandamide amidase. In one embodiment, the compound has a structure represented by Structural Formula (II):
and physiologically acceptable salts thereof. R1 is —F or (C1 to C4 alkyl)O—. R and X are as defined above for Structural Formula (I).
In another embodiment, the novel compound of the present invention has a structure represented by Structural Formula (III):
and physiologically acceptable salts thereof.
R′ is selected from the group consisting of an aryl group, a substituted aryl group, a heteroaryl group, a substituted heteroaryl group, a heterocyclic group and a substituted heterocyclic group.
R2 is a C1 to C4 straight or branched chain alkyl group.
p is an integer from about 6 to about 18. In another aspect, p is an integer from about 10 to about 18.
A “therapeutically effective amount” of a compound, as used herein, is the quantity of a compound which, when administered to an individual or animal, results in a sufficiently high level of anandamide in the individual or animal to cause a discernable increase or decrease in a cellular activity affected or controlled by cannabinoid receptors. For example, anandamide can stimulate receptor-mediated signal transduction that leads to the inhibition of forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase (Vogel, et al., J. Neurochem. 61:352 (1993). Anandamide also causes partial inhibition of N-type calcium currents via a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein pathway, independently of cAMP metabolism (Mackie et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 47:711 (1993)).
A “therapeutically effective amount” of an anandamide amidase inhibitor can also be an amount which results in a sufficiently high level of anandamide in an individual or animal to cause a physiological effect resulting from stimulation of cannabinoid receptors. Physiological effects which result from cannabinoid receptor stimulation include analgesia, decreased nausea resulting from chemotherapy, sedation and increased appetite. Other physiological functions include relieving intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients and suppression of the immune system. Typically, a “therapeutically effective amount” of the compound ranges from about 10 mg/day to about 1000 mg/day.
As used herein, an “individual” refers to a human. An “animal” refers to veterinary animals, such as dogs, cats, horses, and the like, and farm animals, such as cows, pigs, guinea pigs and the like.
The compounds of the present invention can be administered by a variety of known methods, including orally, rectally, or by parenteral routes (e.g., intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneous, nasal or topical). The form in which the compounds are administered will be determined by the route of administration. Such forms include, but are not limited to capsular and tablet formulations (for oral and rectal administration), liquid formulations (for oral, intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous administration) and slow releasing microcarriers (for rectal, intramuscular or intravenous administration). The formulations can also contain a physiologically acceptable vehicle and optional adjuvants, flavorings, colorants and preservatives. Suitable physiologically acceptable vehicles may include saline, sterile water, Ringer's solution, and isotonic sodium chloride solutions. The specific dosage level of active ingredient will depend upon a number of factors, including, for example, biological activity of the particular preparation, age, body weight, sex and general health of the individual being treated.
General methods of preparing the sulfonyl fluorides, the N-[(alkyl-sulfonyl)oxy] succinimides and the N—O—diacylhydroxylamines of the present invention are provided in Example 5, Example 6 and Example 7, respectively.
The invention will now be further and specifically described by the following examples.
EXEMPLIFICATION
Example 1
Increased [ 3 H]Anandamide Levels in Neuroblastoma Cells in the Presence of Palmityl Sulfonyl Fluoride
The assay of the anandamide amidase in intact neuroblastoma cells was performed as described previously (Deutsch, D. G. and S. A. Chin, Biochem. Pharmacol. 46:791-796 (1993)). The experiments were performed with 4×10 6 neuroblastoma cells (N18TG2)/6-cm dish. Experimental cells were incubated in 2 ml of media, consisting of Ham's F-12/Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Life Technologies, Inc.) with penicillin, streptomycin, and gentamicin plus 10% bovine calf serum (HyClone, Logan, Utah), plus the indicated concentration of inhibitor for 20 minutes. All cells were grown at 37° in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO 2 in air. [ 3 H]Anandamide (0.2 μCi of 221 Ci/mmol of [ 3 H]anandamide) was added and the incubation continued for 1 hour. Control cells contained no inhibitor. At the end of the incubation, the cells were washed once with cell culture media and removed from the plates, after a brief incubation with 2 ml of 0.05% trypsin in 0.53 mM EDTA solution at 37° C. The amounts of [ 3 H]anandamide, [ 3 H]phospholipids, and [ 3 H]arachidonate in the cells and media were quantified by liquid scintillation counting of the silica scraped from the appropriate areas of the plate after quenching the reaction with chloroform methanol (1:1), extraction of the sample from the organic phase, and TLC analysis on channeled silica gel-coated plates, with a solvent system consisting of the organic layer of an ethyl acetate:hexane:acetic acid:water (100:50:20:100) mixture.
The level of [ 3 H] anandamide found in the neuroblastoma cells incubated with palmitylsulfonyl fluoride, with phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and in control cells is shown in FIG. 1 . Nanomolar amounts of palmitylsulfonyl fluoride were sufficient so that over 50% of the radioactivity was found in anandamide, rather than in anandamide cleavage products such as arachidonate. This result indicates that palmitylsulfonyl fluoride is highly effective at inhibiting anandamide amidase. Concentrations greater than 10 micromolar of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride were required to achieve comparable levels of anandamide amidase inhibition. Almost complete degradation of [ 3 H] anandamide was observed in control cells.
Example 2
Determination of IC 50 Values for Sulfonyl Fluoride Inhibitors of Anandamide Amidase
The assay of the anandamide amidase in vitro was performed as described previously (Deutsch, D. G. and S. A. Chin, Biochem. Pharmacol. 46:791-796 (1993)). The indicated amount of each compound was preincubated in a buffer consisting of 300 μg of crude rat brain homogenate protein, 500 μg/ml fatty acid-free bovine serum albumin, in phosphate-buffered saline in a final volume of 1.0 ml, for 10 minutes at 37° C. Crude rat brain homogenate was obtained by decapitating female adult Sprague-Dawley rats, dissecting the desired tissue and homogenizing in five volumes of ice-cold TE (10 mM Tris-HCl, 1 mM EDTA, pH 7.6). Substrate (27.7 μM anandamide+0.2 μCi of 221 Ci/mmol [ 3 H]anandamide ([arachidonyl-5,6,8,9,11,12,14,15- 3 H]ethanolamide)) (obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse) was then added and the samples incubated for 10 minutes. The reaction was quenched by the addition of chloroform:methanol (1:1) and enzyme activity was analyzed by TLC as described in Example 1.
The results for laurylsulfonyl fluoride, myristylsulfonyl fluoride, palmitylsulfonyl fluoride, stearylsulfonyl fluoride and arachidylsulfonyl fluoride are shown in FIG. 2 . All compounds were effective inhibitors of anandamide amidase. All compounds except arachidylsulfonyl fluoride had an IC 50 of less than 10 nM. Arachidylsulfonyl fluoride was an effective inhibitor of anandamide amidase at concentrations less than 100 nM.
Example 3
Palmitylsulfonyl Fluoride Binds Less Efficiently to the CB1 Receptor than Anandamide
For the CBR1 ligand binding determinations, brain membranes were prepared from frozen rat brains according to the procedure published by Devane et al. (Devane, W. A., et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 34:605-613 (1988)). Quantitation of the binding of the fatty acid analogs to CB1 was performed by incubating the analogs at the indicated concentration with 30 μg of membrane protein in a buffer containing 500 pm of the bicyclic cannabinoid analog [ 3 H]CP-55940, 20 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.4, 3 mM MgCl 2 , 1 mM Tris-EDTA, and 0.135 mg/ml fatty acid-deficient bovine serum albumin in a final volume of 200 μl in Regisil-treated glass tubes. Specific binding was defined as that which could be displayed by 100 nM desacetyllevonantradol. After 60 minutes at 30° C., the incubation was terminated by the addition of 250 μl of 50 mg/ml bovine serum albumin and the immediate filtration over GF/B filters and washing with ice cold buffer (20 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.4, 2 mM MgCl 2 ). The filters were treated with 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate prior to addition of scintillation mixture and counting in a liquid scintillation counter.
The log dose-response curve for palmitylsulfonyl fluoride, arachidonyl trifluoromethyl ketone and arachidonoyl ethanolamide in competition with [ 3 H]CP-55940 binding CB1 is shown in FIG. 3 . This figure shows that palmitylsulfonyl fluoride binds to the CB1 receptor with less than 10% the efficiency of arachidonoyl ethanolamide.
Example 4
Palmitylsulfonyl Fluoride Induces Analgesia in Rats
Drug mixture were prepared by mixing with two parts Tween 80 by weight and dispersing into 0.9% w/v aqueous NaCl solution (saline) as described previously for Δ 9 -THC (Pertwee et al., Br. J. Pharmacol. 105:980 (1992)).
Drug mixtures were injected intravenously into male MF1 mice weighing 23-29 grams. Analgesia was measured by means of a “rat flick test” in which the time taken for a lightly restrained mouse to flick it tail away from a radiant heat stimulus was noted. The methods is based on the test described by D'Amour and Smith (D'Amour, F. E., Smith D. L., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 72:74-79 (1941)). Mice were subjected to the tail flick at −30 minutes (control latency) and at 12 minutes (test latency). The maximum possible tail flick latency was 10 s as mice that did not respond within this time were removed from the apparatus to prevent tissue damage. Analgesia was calculated as percent maximum possible effect by expressing the ratio (test latency-control latency)/(10-s control latency) as a percentage (Compton, D. R., et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 260:201-209 (1992)). Ambient temperature was kept between 20 and 22° C. Values have been expressed as means and limits of error as standard errors. Dunnett's test has been used to calculate the significance of differences between the mean effect of each drug treatment and the mean effect of the vehicle, Tween 80.
The results are shown in FIG. 4 . Palmitylsulfonyl fluoride and anandamide co-administered with palmitylsulfonyl fluoride were about 3× more effective at producing analgesia in the mice than anandamide alone and about 13× more effective than the vehicle.
Example 5
Alkylsulfonyl Fluorides
Alkylmagnesium bromide in dry ether was added to a stirred solution of sulfuryl chloride (2-fold excess) in hexane at 0° C. The reaction mixture was stirred for 1 hour at 0° C. and then the ice bath was removed and stirring was continued overnight at room temperature. The solvent was evaporated in vacuo and the product was purified with column chromatography on silica gel to afford the corresponding alkylsulfonyl chloride as white solid.
Alkylsulfonyl chloride was dissolved in acetone and a 10-fold excess of ammonium fluoride was added while stirring at room temperature. The reaction mixture was refluxed for 3 hours. Then it was filtered to remove the insoluble salt, the solvent was evaporated and the product was dried in vacuo. Water was added to hydrolyze any unreacted alkylsulfonyl chloride and the aqueous mixture was extracted with ether. The ethereal extracts were combined, dried, filtered and the solvent was removed in vacuo. The product was purified with column chromatography on silica gel to afford the corresponding alkylsulfonyl fluoride.
Example 6
Alkyl-N-[alkyl-sulfonyl)oxy] Succinimides
Stobbe condensation of aldehydes with diethylsuccinate affords the corresponding alkenylsuccinic acid monoethyl esters which are catalytically hydrogenated and subsequently hydrolyzed to give the corresponding alkylsuccinic acids. The acids are mixed with excess of acetic anhydride and refluxed for 1 hour. The excess of acetic anhydride is removed in vacuo. Vacuum distillation affords the pure alkylsuccinic anhydrides.
The pure products are dissolved in dry toluene and brought to reflux. An equimolar amount of (benzyloxy)amine in toluene is added and the mixtures are refluxed for 30 minutes. The hot solutions are filtered through anhydrous sodium sulfate and the solvent is removed on a rotary evaporator. The residues are dissolved in ethyl acetate and washed with 10% sodium bicarbonate twice and then purified with column chromatography on silica gel.
The resulting 3-alkenyl-N-(benzyloxy)succinimides are hydrogenolyzed with 10% Pd-C for 3 hours. The reaction mixtures are then filtered through a Celite pad and the solvent removed in vacuo. The produced 3-alkyl-N-hydroxysuccinimides are then dissolved in dry toluene and treated with dry pyridine and various alkylsulfonyl chlorides. The reactions are stirred overnight at room temperature under nitrogen and then quenched with the addition of 2N HCl. The products are extracted with ethyl acetate (twice), dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 and purified with column chromatography.
Example 7
N-O-diacylhydroxylamines
Methyl esters of various carboxylic acids are treated with excess of hydroxylamine in methanol. Equimolar amounts of KOH and various acid chlorides dissolved in THF are added to aqueous solutions of the hydroxamic acids at 0-5° C. in order to afford the corresponding N,O-diacylhydroxylamines.
Equivalents
Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to specific embodiments of the invention described specifically herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed in the scope of the following claims.
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Disclosed is a method of inhibiting anandamide amidase in an individual or animal and novel inhibitors of anandamide amidase. The disclosed method and novel compounds can be used to reduce pain in an individual or animal suffering from pain, reducing nausea in an individual undergoing chemotherapy, for example cancer chemotherapy, suppressing appetite in an individual, reducing intraocular pressure in the eye of an individual or animal suffering from glaucoma and suppressing the immune system in an individual with an organ transplant.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field Of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes for making fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites, and more particularly relates to processes for making stabilized fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aqueous methods of making fiber reinforced composite materials from an aqueous slurry of, solid polymer and reinforcing material are known. See Published European Patent Applications 0,148,760 and 0,148,761, Wessling et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,470 issued Jan. 17, 1984 and Gatward et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,449 issued Feb. 13, 1973, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. In general these reinforced polymer composites have a uniform mixture of fiber, polymer and optionally binder and are prepared by performing dilute aqueous slurries of a solid heat-fusible organic polymer, a reinforcing material and optionally a latex binder. Wessling et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,470 issued Jan. 17, 1984 discloses on column 4, lines 18-21 that various chemical additives such as antioxidants, UV stabilizers, thickeners, foaming agents, antifoaming agents, bactericides, electromagnetic radiation absorption agents, etc., may also be used in the composites comprising a heat-fusible polymer and reinforcing material.
While it has been recognized, that certain additives can be employed in fiber reinforced composites, there is a continuing need to improve the efficiency of the addition of such materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a process for making stabilized reinforced thermoplastic composites which comprise steps of (a) forming a dilute aqueous slurry of (i) particulates of a solid, water insoluble, heat-fusible organic polymer and (ii) reinforcing fibers preferably having lengths of 0.1 to 2.0 inches, (b) collecting the particulates and fibers in the form of a continuous sheet or mat, dewatering, applying a stabilizer composition to a surface of the mat and stamping the mat at an elevated temperature and pressure to consolidate the organic polymer particulates.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The process of this invention involves (1) an aqueous medium, preferably (2) a binder, usually at least partially in the form of a latex which contains either anionic or cationic bound charges, (3) a heat-fusible organic polymer which is in particulate form, (4) reinforcing fibers having fiber lengths of between 0.1 inches and 2.0 inches, and (5) optionally a flocculent.
In the process, a dilute aqueous slurry is prepared containing the heat fusible organic polymer particulates and the reinforcing fibers. The slurry is agitated and then uniformly distributed onto a porous support and is allowed to drain to form a wet mat, and a stabilizer composition is then applied to a surface of the mat. The wet mat is optionally passed through press rolls and then dried, such as passing the wet mat through a series of heated dryer rolls to obtain a stabilized dried mat which optionally is rolled onto a cylinder or collected as a flat sheet stock. The dried mat may then be subjected to various kinds of treatment for the intended use such as compression molding the dried mat into articles. Optionally, a binder material is employed in the dilute aqueous slurry and the solids are flocculated during agitation with a polymeric flocculent having an opposite charge to that of the latex binder. Suitable binders and flocculents are set forth in Wessling et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,470 issued Jan. 17, 1984 which is incorporated herein by reference. Suitable latexes which can be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,501, issued Nov. 1, 1977, to Gibbs et al., incorporated herein by reference.
The invention requires a normally solid, heat fusible organic polymer. By "heat fusible" is meant that the polymer particles are capable of deformation under heat to join into an unitary structure. The heat fusible polymers may be either thermoplastic or thermoset resins. The heat fusible organic polymer component of the present invention is desirably a hydrophobic, water insoluble addition polymer. These polymers are in particulate form and may be in the form of a powder or a dispersion. Suitable heat fusible organic polymers include addition and condensation polymers such as, for example, polyethylene; ultra high molecular weight polyethylene; chlorinated polyethylene; bipolymers of ethylene and acrylic acid; polypropylene; polyamides; phenylene oxide resins; phenylene sulfide resins; polyoxymethylenes; polyesters; terpolymers of acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene; polyvinylchloride; bipolymers of a major proportion of vinylidene chloride and a minor proportion of at least one other alpha,beta-ethylenically unsaturated monomer copolymerizable therewith; and styrene homopolymers or copolymers. The polymer particulates generally and advantageously have a particle size in the range of 1 to 400 microns. The polymers are generally employed in an amount of from about 20 to 80 percent by weight of the solids, dry weight basis of the combined weight of fibers and particulates. A particularly preferred organic polymer is a polyolefin powder when such polymer has been prepared by the process of U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,531. Of course, blends of polymers may be used.
The reinforcement fibers include materials organic and inorganic materials such as graphite, metal fibers, aromatic polyamides, cellulose and polyolefin fibers, but preferably and advantageously comprises glass fibers such as chopped glass strands having a length of 1/8 to 1 inch (about 3.2 to 25.4 mm), milled glass fibers which generally have a length of about 1/32 to 1/8 inch (about 0.79 to 3.2 mm) and mixtures thereof. The glass fibers are advantageously heat cleaned and, to improve impact properties, such fibers may be compatibilized by having a thin coating of, for example a polyolefin resin or starch thereon. The fibers are preferably surface treated with chemical sizing or coupling agents which are well known in the art. The reinforcing material generally comprises from about 10 to about 80 weight percent of the composite.
The reinforcing fiber used in the process and composites of the present invention preferably have a distribution wherein at least 95% of said fibers have lengths of less than 2 inches, more preferably less than 1.5 inches, and even more preferably less than 1.1 inch.
The process for making the final composite formed article involves first forming a web or mat as defined above, followed by heating the mat to a temperature sufficient to melt the thermoplastic material and stamping the consolidated sheet into a final article.
The composites are formed by blending the heat-fusible polymer particulates, the reinforcing material, and the water, agitating to form a slurry, dewatering to form a continuous mat, drying, applying a stabilizer composition to a surface of the mat, the stabilizer composition comprising a stabilizer component selected from the group consisting of ultraviolet light stabilizers, primary antioxidants, secondary antioxidants and ultraviolet light absorbers, and compression molding of the mat by applying heat and pressure to the mat to melt the thermoplastic resin and form the stabilized sheet-like composite structure which can then be stamped to form the final article.
This method is conveniently and preferably carried out by first stirring the reinforcing material in water until it is uniformly disbursed, then slowly adding the heat-fusible polymer, and stirring the materials throughout this portion of the process. This slurry of water, heat-fusible polymer, reinforcing material and optionally latex binder and flocculent preferably has a total solids content of 0.01 to 5% solids by weight, and more preferably 0.02 to 0.5% solids by weight based on the total weight of the slurry.
The sheet-forming and dewatering process may be accomplished by any conventional paper making apparatus such as a sheet mold or a Fourdrinier or cylinder machines. Water based stabilizers are preferably applied after the dewatering step and before the drying step. Non-aqueous based stabilizer systems are preferably applied after the drying step.
After the mat is formed into a dewatered sheet, it may be desirable to densify the sheet by pressing it with a flat press or by sending it through calendering rolls. Densification after drying of the mat is particularly useful for increasing the tensile and tear strength of the mat. Drying of the mat may be either air drying at ambient temperatures or oven drying.
Suitable stabilizer compounds include hindered amines, hindered phenolics and organic phosphorous compounds, and are set out in Moore, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,369 which is incorporated herein by reference. A hindered phenolic component selected from the group consisting of 1,3,5-tris(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxy-benzyl)-s-triazine, tetrakis[methylene (3-3', 5'-di-t-butyl-4'-hydroxyphenyl)propionate] methane, 1,3,5-tris-(4-t-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylbenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6(1H, 3H, 5H)trione, and 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid triester with 1,3,5-tris-(2-hydroxethyl)-s-double bond-triazine-2,4,6(1H, 3H, 5H)trione, and a phosphorus containing component selected from the group consisting of tetrakis(2,4-di-t-butyl-phenyl)4,-4'-biphenylylene disphosphonite, tris(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)-phosphite, trisnonylphenyl phosphite, bis(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)pentaerythritol diphosphite, bis(distearyl)pentaerythritol diphosphite and bis(distearyl)pentaerythritol diphosphite with one percent (1%) triethanolamine. Suitable hindered amine components include benzotriazoles, benzophenones and hindered piperidinyl compounds.
The stabilizer composition may be in the form of either a composition consisting of the stabilizer compound or may be in the form of a solution, emulsion or suspension. The stabilizer composition may be sprayed onto the mat. Preferably the stabilizer composition has the stabilizer compounds present at a high level, preferably the stabilizer compound is present at a level of at least 50% by weight based on the total weight of the stabilizer composition, more preferably a level of at least 80% by weight thereof, and most preferably at a level of at least 90% by weight thereof. By applying the stabilizer in its concentrated form as a separate step following formation of the mat, the stabilizer is efficiently incorporated into the mat rather than being carried out with the water of the slurry during the dewatering process, and in the case of ultraviolet stabilizers and absorbers, applying the stabilizer composition to the surface of the mat results in the ultraviolet light stabilizers and/or absorbers being present on the portion of the mat where they are most needed (i.e. the surface). Preferably the stabilizer composition consists of stabilizer compounds, and is applied to the mat after the drying step so as to reduce volatilization of the stabilizer composition. In the case of where the stabilizers are added in the forms of emulsions or suspensions, the drying step will need to follow the step of applying the stabilizer composition to the surface of the mat so that residual moisture will be removed from the mat prior to stamping thereof.
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A process is provided for producing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic sheet. The process involves the steps of forming a dilute aqueous slurry of organic polymer particulates and reinforcing fibers, collecting the particulates and fibers in the form of a continuous mat by dewatering the slurry over a porous substrate, applying a stabilizer composition to a surface of the solid mat, stamping of the mat at an elevated pressure and temperature to consolidate the organic polymer particulates and yield a solid sheet-like structure. The process provides for efficient application of the stabilizer composition by applying it to the mat separately from the formation of the slurry, and in the case of ultraviolet light stabilizers and absorbers, the process applies the stabilizers to the surface of the mat where they are most needed.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is a well recognized fact that many elderly or impaired people require a walking aid for rehabilitation or locomotion purposes. The standard "walker" is a device having four legs, which are lifted and advanced by the user, with the user advancing one or more steps prior to the cycle being repeated.
Some of the deficiencies inherent in the standard "walker" are the fact that the lift-move-set-step operation places an unnatural strain on the users legs, back and arms, and in particular produces a bending movement on the spinal column. The speed of the "walker" is also a problem in that the pace permissible with such a device is usually one-fourth to one-third the normal walking pace. In addition most walkers are notoriously unstable and cannot be used by persons subject to vertigo or having deteriorated joints. During the operation of the walker, it must be lifted and set down a number of times, which requires excellent balance and coordination, since any unusual forces applied to the walker will cause it to tip over thereby toppling the user. Furthermore, the standard walker is not particularly rehabilitative, since it does not encourage normal walking due to the slow speeds and unusual manipulations, which the user is forced to endure while operating the device.
Because of the disadvantages of a standard walker listed supra, an attempt was made to develop an improved device. It was obvious that such an improved device should incorporate the following list of desirable performance features and properties:
It should have a low center of mass and a high resistance to tipping in any direction.
It should have sufficient stability so that it can be relied on 100 percent of the time during walking. Hand grips would provide a smooth, perdictable trajectory, and these grips would be relied upon in case the user trips, stumbles, or loses balance.
The mass of the device would be small enough to make stopping easy, and a braking system would be incorporated as a stopping aid.
It should allow the user to attain normal walking speeds, or any speed less than normal walking speed at which the user is comfortable.
No lifting forces of any kind should be required.
The device should have minimum protrusions around the user so that it is maneuverable, and the periphery of the device would be padded so that the effect of a collision would be minimized.
Finally, the device should encourage and promote rehabilitation.
Examples of prior art devices which unsuccessfully attempted to meet the above stated criteria can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,116,464; 3,165,314; 2,872,967; 1,448,783 and 1,307,058.
The present invention is based around the idea of modifying a standard wheelchair in such a manner that the wheelchair in effect becomes a walking device.
To this end a wheelchair was purchased, analyzed, and then modified. The modifications were such that the flexing chassis of the wheelchair, which allows it to maintain all four wheels on uneven floors, was not comprised. The modifications comprised: the addition of mass at the base toward the front wheels, to lower the overall center of mass and reduce the possibility of tipping; the addition of an "equal-force" braking system to aid the user in stopping the system, with a straight trajectory; the removal of the footrests to reduce protrusions on the forward end of the wheelchair; and the addition of padding at the front of the wheelchair to reduce the probability and consequences of a collision.
With these modifications, the wheelchair possessed the desirable properties that the improved walker should have.
In addition there were several unforeseen benefits to the user that result from using the modified wheelchair as a walker since the seating capability and the normal function of the wheelchair are not lost, the user may use the seat; to transport items; to rest between walking sessions; to move the chair from a seated position between walking sessions; to sit in the chair at a destination; or to give aid to another person by having that person ride the chair while it is being pushed. Because wheelchairs are familiar to most of the population, learning time and acceptance problems should be minimized.
The steering and handling capabilities of wheelchairs are well-developed and predictable. Also, the large rear wheels tend to reduce problems associated with floor or pavement irregularities. Advantage could also be taken of the existing mass-production capability for wheelchairs, to minimize cost to each user. Finally since current building codes now require ramp entrances and elevators in public buildings, these codes favor the use of a wheelchair as a walker.
Some of the potential applications of the instant invention are: as a relatively permanent walking aid for the elderly, replacing the poorly designed standard walker; as a temporary or permanent walking aid for persons with dizziness and other equilibrium problems; as a rehabilitation and therapy device for many types of leg and hip injuries, including muscle and joint problems as well as fractures, strains and sprains; and a rehabilitation device for a variety of post-operative conditions in which the patient must get up and walk as soon as possible, to avoid complications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the instant invention is the conversion of a standard piece of hospital equipment having a singular utility into a dual purpose device.
Another object of the instant invention is the provision of a device, which will perform in two modes, thereby eliminating the need for two separate pieces of equipment and subsequently reducing hospital equipment expenses.
Yet another object of the instant invention is the provision of a conversion kit, which will be adapted to fit on all types of wheelchair, so that they may be utilized as walking aids.
Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of a device which enhances the structural stability of the wheelchair to facilitate its operation as a walking aid.
A further object of the instant invention is the provision of a walking aid, which the user will have become accustomed to, familiar with, and gained confidence in, by initially using the device in the wheelchair mode.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide means which can be quickly, easily and inexpensively installed on a wheelchair to convert it into a walking aid, but will in no way interfere with its operation as a wheelchair.
These and other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent when considered in light of the detailed description to follow, particularly when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a patient using the modified wheelchair as a walking aid.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the modified wheelchair showing in greater detail how the modifying structure is disposed on a standard wheelchair.
FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the brake actuator and brake support mechanism, showing how they cooperate, and how the support mechanism is mounted on the wheelchair frame.
FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the brake cable and braking mechanism as they would appear when the brake engages the rear wheels.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 5--5 of FIG. 4, and illustrates the disposition of the respective elements prior to the brake being engaged.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 6--6 of FIG. 5, which illustrates the cable support mechanism, and how the cable actuator cooperates with the brake mechanism.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In FIG. 1, a patient designated as 1 can be seen utilizing the modified wheelchair of the instant invention in the walking aid mode. The wheelchair is designated generally as 10 and comprises a tubular frame element 100 which is provided with a wheel assembly 200.
As can best be seen by reference to FIG. 2, the tubular frame element 100 is of standard design and comprises a main frame assembly 101 which is provided with a seat element 102, side panels 103, 104 and back support 105, which would surround and support a patient sitting in the wheelchair during its operation in that mode.
The upper portion of the frame assembly 101 is provided with a pair of rearwardly extending handle elements 106, and a pair of padded arm rests 107. The lower portion of the frame assembly is provided with rear wheel axle assemblies 108 and front wheel axle assemblies 109 which are operatively connected to one another via the base portion 110 of the frame assembly 101.
The large rear wheels 201 and the smaller front wheels 202 are connected to their respective axle assemblies in a well known manner. Each of the rear wheels 201 are further provided with independently actuated brake elements 111, which are operatively connected to, and disposed on, the frame assembly 101, in such a manner that they are readily accessable to a patient sitting in the wheelchair.
The description so far, could be describing any wheelchair currently being employed in any health care facility in the world, and therein lies the appeal of the invention which is about to be disclosed. A discerning observer will have already noticed that the collapsible footrests, which are normally found on a wheelchair, are conspicously absent from the wheelchair illustrated in FIG. 2, and furthermore obvious modifications have been made to the front of the wheelchair 10.
First of all the footrests have been removed, not only for ease of illustrating the preferred embodiment, but also due to the fact that they protrude beyond the front of the frame assembly 101, and would defeat the purpose of the modifications which form the basis of the invention. The wheelchair sans footrests is provided on its forwardmost surfaces, with padded members 112 which project substantially beyond the frame assembly 101, and act to cushion any impact transmitted to the front of the wheelchair by contact with an obstacle as it is being pushed from behind.
While the padded members 112 serve a very important function and purpose, they are ancillary to the conversion equipment, designated generally as 300 in FIG. 3, which forms the heart of this invention, and which allows the wheelchair to serve in a dual role as a walking aid or "walker."
As can best be seen in FIGS. 2 thru 5, a weighted mass element 301 is disposed on the base portion 110 of the frame assembly 101 intermediate the forward and rearward wheels and extending across the width of frame assembly. Placing this weighted mass below the normal center of gravity of the wheelchair, and towards the front wheels, equally distributes the added weight and greatly enhances the stability of the device.
For a wheelchair having the same general configuration as that illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and weighing 35 lbs. The rearward tipping force was calculated to be 56 lbs. When a weighted mass 301 equal to 27 lbs. was disposed on the wheelchair, at the approximate location indicated, the rearward tipping force was recalculated and found to be 131.6 lbs. or the resistance to tipping was increased by a factor of 2.35. Likewise the lateral tipping forces were found to be 24.3 lbs. without the weighted mass, and 57.1 lbs. with the mass, thus increasing the resistance to tipping of the wheelchair in the lateral plane by a factor of 1.77.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 6, it can be seen that the weighted mass 301, besides vastly improving the stability of the overall device, forms an integral part of the modifying structure. The weighted mass 301, rests on, extends across, and is secured to, both sides of the base portion 110 of the framework via suitable securing means 302 which extend through both the weighted mass and the tubular framework. The securing bolts 302 are not drawn up tight against the frame 110. They are instead set to eliminate any lifting of the mass 301 off the frame 110, thereby preserving the frame flexing characteristics of the usual wheelchair chassis. A generally elongated U-shaped support bracket 301 is pivotally attached to the base portion framework adjacent to the weighted mass 301. The base portion 304, of the support bracket is suspended beneath the weighted mass and extends beyond the sides of the framework 101. The arms 305 of the support bracket extend above the weighted mass and terminate in curved flattened end portions 302 which receive the brake member 307.
The brake member 307 comprises an elongated element in the form of a bar 308, which extends beyond both of the rear wheels, and which is provided with resilient cap members 309 at its respective ends. An apertured brake bracket member 301 is secured to the upper surface of the bracket member 307, and operatively connects the brake actuating mechanism 350 with the weighted mass 301.
The brake actuating mechanism 350 comprises a cable and lever arrangement similar to the type of hand brake actuator commonly found on bicycles. The brake actuating mechanism 350 is secured to at least one of the wheelchair handles 106 via suitable clamping means 351. The lever 352 is pivotally connected to the clamping means 351, and operatively connected to the cable 353 in a well known manner. The cable 353 extends from the lever 352 to the rearward position of the apertured bracket member 310, and is supported intermediate these points by a cable support bracket 360. The cable support bracket 360, is mounted on the wheelchair frame cross members 115, and comprise an L-shaped member 361, whose horizontal leg extends between the frame cross-members, and whose vertical leg has a plurality of apertures disposed at, and above, the juncture of the cross-members. The cable support bracket 360 is mounted for relative horizontal displacement with respect to the cross-members 115, via an adjustable securing mechanism 370. The securing mechanism 370 comprises a threaded bolt 371, which is received within a suitable aperture drilled through the cross-members at their juncture, and a plurality of locking nuts 372 which are used to secure the cable support bracket to the framework and the threaded bolt. By varying the position of the rearwardly disposed locking nut 372, the horizontal disposition of the cable support bracket with respect to the cross members may be varied.
The cable element 353, which comprises a wire cable member 354, disposed within a cable sheath 355, terminates in a sheath cap 356, which is rigidly secured to a hollow threaded bolt 357. Threaded bolt 357 is dimensioned to be received within the upper aperture of the cable support bracket and secured thereto by a pair of standard nuts 358. A portion of the cable 354 extends through the hollow bolt 357 and operatively connects the cable 353 with the apertured brake bracket member 310 via a suitable securing means 311 disposed in one of the apertures. A spring biasing element 390 is attached, on one end to another aperture in the brake bracket member 310, and on the other end to the weighted mass 301, thereby completing and makeing operational the connection between the brake member 307 and the brake actuating mechanism 350.
The operation of the modified device 10 as a walking aid will now be described in detail. The patient as shown in FIG. 1, stands behind the wheelchair grasping the handles 106 and the brake actuating mechanism 350. When the lever 352 is engaged the brake member will assume the position illustrated in FIG. 4, bringing the brake member into uniform engagement with the rear wheels. When the lever 352 is disengaged the brake member will assume the position illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, disengaging the brake member from the rear wheels, and allowing rolling motion of the wheelchair/walker.
Engagement of the lever 352 pulls the cable 354 in the direction of the rear wheels, and since the cable is attached to the brake member 307 via the brake bracket member, the force will overcome the spring biasing element 390. When the lever 352 is disengaged, the spring biasing element has to overcome the frictional forces between the wire cable member 354 and the cable sheath, to release the brake member from engagement with the rear wheels.
It is a simple matter to adjust the force necessary to engage the brake member to suit the degree of infirmity present in a patient utilizing the device as a walking aid. All that is required to vary the force necessary to accomplish brake actuation, is simply to vary the horizontal displacement of the cable support bracket with respect to the cross-members via the adjustable securing mechanism 370 as outlined supra.
Since the same amount of force is applied to the rear wheels, by the single brake member engaging each rear wheel simultaneously, by virtue of the centrally disposed brake bracket on the brake member, the tendency of the device to yaw or turn when an uneven brake force is applied to the respective wheels will be virtually eliminated.
It should be appreciated by now, that the incorporation of the above described modifying structure into a standard wheelchair will result in a very stable device which can be used either in the wheelchair mode or the walking aid mode or in both modes simultaneously if one patient is sitting in the wheelchair and another is walking behind the wheelchair. Furthermore, the disclosed device satisfies all of the criteria, parameters and objectives which were set forth above and which no other device to date has even come close to satisfying.
Having thereby disclosed the subject matter of this invention, it should be obvious that many modifications, substitutions and variations of the invention are possble in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood, that the invention may be practised other than as specifically described and should be limited only by the breadth and scope of the appended claims.
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This invention relates to walking aids in general, and more specifically to a wheelchair structure, which is adapted to be used in the normal manner, but which is modified in such a way that it will serve the dual function of walking aid, by incorporation into the standard wheelchair design, of a braking mechanism mounted on a support surface of the wheelchair, which is normally gripped by someone other than the occupant of the chair, and further by the provision of a weighted element which changes the normal center of gravity of the wheel chair to improve its stability in the walking aid mode.
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This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/114,069, filed Sep. 21, 1993, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of fabric finish compositions, more particularly the present invention relates to the field of compositions used on fabrics to provide a fabric with body or stiffness and a method of providing body or stiffness to a fabric. The composition may be used during ironing as a spray, in the rinse cycle of a washing machine, or in a laundry tub. It is well-known in the related art to use liquid starch containing compositions for application to individual textiles for wrinkle reduction and shape retention. It is also well-known in the related art to use compositions consisting of polyvinyl alcohols, starch or other polymers for the purpose of sizing textile materials. It is also common to use silicones in fabric finish products as lubricants to aid in ironing ease.
Generally, various limitations have been encountered in the related art in formulating a clothing or textile stiffening composition. One of the limitations of related art compositions is that the majority of these compositions, when dried, tend to leave a white, often crystalline, residue on the fabric which may flake off of the fabric either during ironing or at a later time. A further limitation is that the above-mentioned compositions of the relevant related art tend to discolor clothing and textiles due to the opaque white color of their residue when dried on fabrics. Further, due to its nature, starch-containing compositions may also turn yellow or brown when ironed due to excessive iron heat and scorching of the starch.
Relevant related art teaches a soil repellant coating composition comprising silica, polyvinyl alcohol and a wetting agent in an aqueous carrier medium. The anti-soil repellant composition can be applied to textiles, such as fabrics for clothes.
Other relevant related art discloses aqueous solutions of polyvinyl alcohol and silica, such as colloidal silica, which may be employed as coatings.
Another area of related art teaches textile sizing compositions comprising hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol as well as art which discloses starch and polyvinyl alcohol compositions as textile sizes.
An additional area of related art teaches textile treating compositions comprising silicone emulsions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, I have discovered that these and other problems in the art can be solved by providing aqueous compositions containing selected water soluble polymers and silicone ironing aid/lubricants which, when used in combination, have the surprising result of drying on clothes and textiles as a colorless, transparent and flexible film. Heretofore, it has not been known in the art that it was possible to prepare these silicone-containing fabric finishes that dry to clear, colorless and flexible films. This has been due to the use of either stiffening agents that are not capable of drying to clear films (such as starches, modified starches, etc.) and/or to the use of silicones that would corrupt otherwise clear film systems (e.g., common silicone macroemulsions). I have found that by the correct choice of a water soluble, film-forming polymer and a compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant, compositions can be prepared that cast continuous, clear and flexible films (i.e., films which have the property of appearing like a clear plastic sheet, similar to food wrap products). The silicone ironing aid/lubricant can be any silicone composition that acts as a lubricant for an iron and, in combination with a water soluble polymer, dries on clothes or textiles as a colorless and transparent, flexible film. It has been found that certain silicone emulsions, preferably microemulsions with a particle size up to 0.1 micron, and self-emulsifying waxes are preferred. It is of further surprise that a correct combination of a silicone ironing aid/lubricant and a polymer cannot be easily predicted by their properties alone or even the appearance of the liquid composition itself. Many polymers give fairly clear solutions in water but do not yield clear films on drying. Many silicones, on the other hand, are water soluble but turn cloudy in solution when used with polymers in aqueous form or, more surprising yet, can give crystal clear solutions in combination with the polymer but ultimately dry to give cloudy, unacceptable films.
The composition of the present invention is provided as either a ready-to-use fabric finish composition or a fabric finish concentrate composition which can be diluted by the user in ratios such as 1:1, 1:3, 1:5, 1:7 and other ratios as the user may choose for stiffness purposes. The concentrated composition can also be used without dilution if added to a tub of water or during the rinse cycle of a washing machine. In one embodiment, the ready-to-use fabric finish composition of the present invention includes between about 0.1 and about 8% by weight of a water soluble polymer capable of casting a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution, between about 0.001 and about 3% by weight of a film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant (i.e., the silicone is incorporated into the polymer film and upon drying, said film remains clear), between about 0.05 and about 1% by weight of a preservative and the balance of either hard or soft water in a range of between about 99.9% and about 88% by weight. The composition may also include deminimus amounts of various other materials and additives such as fragrances, dyes and anti-corrosive agents.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the composition comprises a fabric finish concentrate which can be diluted by the user to a preferred strength or used as is. The fabric finish concentrate composition includes between about 1 and about 35% by weight of a water soluble polymer which casts a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution, between about 0.2 and about 8% by weight of a select film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant, between about 0.05 and about 1% by weight of a preservative and the balance comprising hard or soft water in the range of between about 98.75% and about 56% by weight. The composition may also include deminimus quantities of various other materials and additives such as fragrances, dyes and anti-corrosive agents.
One of the advantages in either the ready-to-use or concentrated fabric finish embodiments of the composition of the present invention is that combining certain water soluble polymers with a film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant has the surprising result in that the composition dries on clothes and textiles as an almost colorless, transparent and flexible film. The advantage of using the composition of the present invention on clothing or textiles is that because of the clear, water soluble nature of the film end product, the composition does not change the color of the fabric and will not build up over time on the fabric. Also, the film end product of the composition will not flake off of the fabric because it dries as a clear, continuous film as compared to the crystalline-type residue left by many related art compositions. A further advantage to the composition is that the use of the silicone ironing aid/lubricant gives lubricity to the composition so that when used in ironing clothing or textiles, the iron glides easier on the fabric than would be the case if just a stiffening agent such as polyvinyl alcohol was used alone on the fabric. An additional advantage of the present invention is that the composition keeps the iron from sticking to the fabric and, thereafter, potentially burning or scorching the fabric. Further, other compositions which use a water soluble polymer such as polyvinyl alcohol in combination with common silicone ironing aid/lubricants have a tendency to turn any residue of the composition opaque, which defeats the purpose of using a clear stiffening agent such as polyvinyl alcohol. An additional advantage in using the composition of the present invention on clothing is that the typical starch-type product, when applied to clothing which is being ironed or pressed, changes to a yellowish/brownish color when it starts to burn. In contrast, the composition of the present invention does not turn a color because it will not burn or scorch on the fabric. Additionally, the composition of the present invention upon application gives a smooth feel to the fabric.
It is noted that unless otherwise indicated, the percentages as stated in the specification and the appended claims are intended to refer to percentages by weight of the total composition.
The present invention, together with attendant objects and advantages, will be best understood with reference to the detailed description below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As mentioned above, the fabric finish composition of the present invention is an aqueous product comprising a water soluble polymer that casts a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution and a film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant, that in combination dries on clothes or textiles as a colorless and transparent, flexible film. Optionally, a preservative and, in some instances, a fragrance as well as other additives and materials such as dyes and anti-corrosive agents may also be used.
As indicated above, one embodiment of the composition of the present invention comprises a ready-to-use fabric finish composition and another embodiment comprises a fabric finish concentrate composition which can be diluted by the user to the user's preference.
In a preferred embodiment of the ready-to-use fabric finish composition, the composition comprises up to about 8% by weight of a water soluble polymer that casts a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution, preferably in a range of between about 0.1 and about 8% by weight, more preferably in a range of between about 0.5 and about 7% by weight and most preferably in a range of between about 0.75 and about 4% by weight. The composition further comprises a film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant up to about 3% by weight, preferably in a range of between about 0.001 and about 3% by weight, more preferably in a range of between about 0.075 and about 2% by weight and most preferably in a range of between about 0.1 and 1% by weight. The balance of the composition comprises water in the range of between about 99.9 and about 88% by weight, more preferably in the range of between about 99.38 and about 90% by weight and most preferably in the range of between about 99.1 and about 94% by weight. In another preferred embodiment the composition further comprises between about 0.05 and about 1% of a preservative and most preferably 0.10% by weight. The silicone ironing aid/lubricant can be any silicone composition and the water soluble polymer can be any polymer, which when the two ingredients are used in combination, dries on clothes and textiles as a colorless and transparent, flexible film.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the fabric finish concentrate composition, the composition comprises up to 35% by weight of a water soluble polymer that casts a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution, preferably in a range of between about 1 and 35% by weight, more preferably in a range of between about 1.5 and about 25% by weight and most preferably in a range of between about 2 and about 20% by weight. The film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant is contained in the composition up to 8% by weight, preferably in a range of between about 0.2 and about 8% by weight, more preferably in a range of between about 0.35 and about 7% by weight and most preferably in a range of between about 0.5 and about 5% by weight. The balance of the composition comprises water in the range of between about 98.8 and about 56% by weight, more preferably in the range of between about 98.1 and about 67% by weight and most preferably in the range of between about 97.5 and about 74% by weight. In another preferred embodiment the composition further comprises between about 0.05 and about 1% of a preservative and most preferably 0.10% by weight. The silicone ironing aid/lubricant can be any silicone composition and the water soluble polymer can be any polymer, which when the two ingredients are used in combination dries on clothes and textiles as a colorless and transparent, flexible film.
In either the ready-to-use fabric finish embodiment or the concentrate fabric finish embodiment of the composition of the present invention, in order to determine which combinations of water soluble polymers and silicone ironing aid/lubricants can be used to form a transparent and colorless flexible film when dried on clothing and textiles, testing and evaluation are conducted by combining any of a variety of a water soluble polymer and a silicone ironing aid/lubricant in the amounts set forth above, placing 10-20 g of the composition on an aluminum tray and drying the composition on an Ohaus moisture determination balance. The resulting film is visually evaluated for clarity. Alternatively, films can be similarly cast on dark plastic dishes or black glass or ceramic surfaces. Additionally, the same methodology can be used to determine which water soluble polymers cast a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution.
In either of the ready-to-use or concentrate fabric finish embodiments of the composition of the present invention, the silicone ironing aid/lubricant is selected from the group consisting of silicone emulsions, water dispersible silicone waxes and mixtures thereof and preferably comprises a silicone emulsion with a particle size of up to about 0.1 micron, most preferably between about 0.05 and about 0.1 micron. In one preferred embodiment the silicone emulsion comprises an amino-functional polydimethylsiloxane or an emulsion comprising polymerized dimethyl, methyl silicone resin from cyclic siloxanes. A silicone emulsion shown to produce the surprising result of drying to a colorless, flexible film when used in combination with the selected water soluble polymer described below includes an amino-functional polydimethylsiloxane marketed under the trade name SILICONE EMULSION VP-1495 E and produced by Wacker Silicones Corporation. This amino-functional polydimethylsiloxane comprises 3((2 amino ethyl) amino) propylmethyl, dimethyl siloxanes and silicones (CAS #71750-79-3) and fatty alcohol polyglycol ether (CAS #9043-30-5). Another silicone emulsion useful in the present invention includes a silicone emulsion prepared by DOW CORNING® Corporation and sold under the trade name DOW CORNING 1716, which composition comprises 5% C 11-15 ethoxylated secondary alcohol, 3% quaternary ammonium compound, 28% dimethyl, methyl silicone resin and 61% water and is more specifically set forth in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,924 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/532,471, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The silicone ironing aid/lubricant used in either the ready-to-use or concentrate fabric finish embodiments of the composition of the present invention is more preferably a silicone microemulsion with a particle size up to 0.1 micron and most preferably is the silicone microemulsion sold under the trade name DOW CORNING 1716.
In another preferred embodiment of the ready-to-use or concentrate fabric finish composition of the present invention, the silicone ironing aid/lubricant comprises a water dispersible silicone wax. Most preferably the silicone wax used is marketed under the trade name SILWAX WD-IS produced by Siltech Inc. SILWAX WD-IS is a liquid silicone wax comprising dimethicone copolyol isostearate, and is more fully described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,226,923, 5,180,843, 5,136,063 and 5,070,168 which are herein incorporated by reference.
In either the ready-to-use or concentrate fabric finish composition embodiments, it is preferred that the water soluble polymer be selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxyethyl cellulose, polymers and copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates and salts thereof and mixtures thereof, with polyvinyl alcohol being most preferred. The polyvinyl alcohol which is preferred comprises a molecular weight of about 10,000-200,000, more preferably in the range of about 11,000-186,000 and most preferably in the range of about 12,000-150,000. The PVA further comprises a pH of a 4% aqueous solution in the preferred range of between 2-11, more preferably in the range of between 3-9 and most preferably in the range of between 4-8 and the PVA has a viscosity of a 4% aqueous solution in the preferred range of between 2-80 cps, more preferably in the range of between 2-70 cps and most preferably in the range of between 3-65 cps. Additionally, the PVA further comprises a percent hydrolysis in the preferred range of between 30-100%, more preferably in the range of between 86-99% and most preferably in the range of between 86-98%, with any particle size being usable.
In the most preferred embodiment of the ready-to-use fabric finish composition of the present invention, the composition comprises 96.97% by weight of water; 2.5% by weight of polyvinyl alcohol which has a molecular weight of between 31,000-50,000, a pH of a 4% aqueous solution of between 4.5-6.5, a viscosity of a 4% aqueous solution of between 5-6 cps, a percent hydrolysis of between 87-90%; 0.38% by weight of the silicone microemulsion with particle size of between 0.05-0.1 micron which is sold by DOW CORNING® Corporation under the trade name DOW CORNING 1716 and 0.10% by weight of a preservative which is a mixture of two isothiazolinones and is commercially sold by Rohm & Hass Co. under the trade name KATHON CG and 0.05% of a fragrance commercially sold by Givaudan-Roure Corp. under the trade name GIVAUDAN ROURE Y-4234.
In the most preferred embodiment of the fabric finish concentrate composition of the present invention, the composition comprises 88.35% by weight of water; 10% by weight of polyvinyl alcohol with a molecular weight of between 31,000-50,000, a pH of a 4% aqueous solution of between 4.5-6.5, a viscosity of a 4% aqueous solution of between 5-6 cps, a percent hydrolysis of between 87-90%; 1.5% by weight of a silicone microemulsion with a particle size of between 0.05-0.1 micron which is sold by DOW CORNING® Corporation under the trade name DOW CORNING 1716 and 0.10% by weight of a preservative which is a mixture of two isothiazolinones and is commercially sold by Rohm & Hass Co. under the trade name KATHON CG and 0.05% by weight of a fragrance sold by Givaudan-Roure Corp. under the trade name GIVAUDAN ROURE Y-4234.
To provide a better understanding of the invention, Examples A-J on Table I of the ready-to-use fabric finish embodiment of the present invention and Examples K-T on Table II of the fabric finish concentrate embodiment of the present invention are given as an illustration and with no limitative nature whatsoever. Example A represents the most preferred embodiment of the ready-to-use embodiment of the present composition and Example K represents the most preferred embodiment of the fabric finish concentrate embodiment of the present composition. Further, Examples 1-10 on Tables IIIa and IIIb are given of commercial products and combinations of silicone ironing aid/lubricants and water soluble polymers which did not produce the surprising results found by this invention of drying to a clear, transparent and flexible film.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________READY-TO-USE FORM A B C D E F G H I J__________________________________________________________________________Water 96.97 87.85 90.35 94.40 99.799 99.325 99.05 97.02 Balance equal 96.97 to 100%PVA 2.50 8.00 7.00 4.00 0.100 0.500 0.75 2.50 3.00 --Microemulsion 0.38 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.001 0.075 0.10 0.38 0.30 0.38Preservative 0.10 1.00 0.50 0.50 0.050 0.05 0.05 0.10 0.10 0.10Fragrance 0.05 0.15 0.15 0.10 0.050 0.05 0.05 -- 0.05 0.05Hydroxyethyl Cellulose -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.50__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE II__________________________________________________________________________CONCENTRATE FORM K L M N O P Q R S T__________________________________________________________________________Water 88.35 88.40 55.85 67.5 74.50 98.65 98.05 97.40 Balance equal 94.00 to 100%PVA 10.00 10.00 35.00 25.00 20.00 1.00 1.50 2.00 13.00 --Microemulsion 1.50 1.50 8.00 7.00 5.00 0.20 0.35 0.50 1.10 0.85Preservative 0.10 0.10 1.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10Fragrance 0.05 -- 0.15 -- -- 0.10 -- -- 0.05 0.05Hydroxyethyl Cellulose -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5.00__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE IIIa__________________________________________________________________________ Composition of theFormula Present Invention 1 2 3 4 5__________________________________________________________________________Water 88.35 88.35 88.35 88.35 88.35 88.35PVA 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 --Modified Starch (AMAIZO 895) -- -- -- -- -- 10.00Anionic Emulsified Polydimethyl- -- 1.50 -- -- -- --siloxane (DOW CORNINGHV-490)Polymerized Cyclic Siloxane 1.50 -- -- -- -- 1.50(DOW CORNING 1716)Copolymer Surfactant; Nonionic -- -- 1.50 -- -- --Polyalkylene Oxide ModifiedDimethylpolyoloxane (SILWETL-7200)Copolymer Surfactant; Nonionic -- -- -- 1.50 -- --Polyalkylene Oxide ModifiedDimethylpolyoloxane (SILWETL-7622)Emulsion of Polydimethylsiloxane -- -- -- -- 1.50 --(UNION CARBIDE LE-467)Preservative .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10Fragrance .05 .05 .05 .05 .05 .05Appearance of Solution slightly hazy, cloudy clear cloudy cloudy cloudy transparentAppearance of Dried Solids transparent, colorless, cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy, flexible film film film film film crystalline__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE IIIb__________________________________________________________________________ 6 7 8 9 10 Commercial Commercial Commercial Commercial CommercialFormula Starch A Sizing B Starch C Starch D Starch E__________________________________________________________________________WaterPVAModified Starch (AMAIZO 895)Anionic Emulsified Polydimethyl-siloxane (DOW CORNINGHV-490)Polymerized Cyclic Siloxane(DOW CORNING 1716)Copolymer Surfactant; NonionicPolyalkylene Oxide ModifiedDimethylpolyoloxane (SILWETL-7200)Copolymer Surfactant; NonionicPolyalkylene Oxide ModifiedDimethylpolyoloxane (SILWETL-7622)Emulsion of Polydimethylsiloxane(UNION CARBIDE LE-467)PreservativeFragranceAppearance in Solution aerosol aerosol clear aerosol aerosolAppearance of Dried Solids white white whitish film yellowish white crystalline flexible film crystalline broken film__________________________________________________________________________
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A ready-to-use fabric composition and a fabric finish concentrate composition are disclosed as well as a method of providing a stiffness to a fabric. The compositions comprise water, a water soluble polymer that casts a clear, continuous film from aqueous solution and a film-compatible silicone ironing aid/lubricant that in combination dries on clothes or textiles as a colorless and transparent, flexible film. Optionally, a preservative and, in some instances other ingredients such as fragrances and dyes may be added for aesthetic purposes.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a self-propelled surface cutter, preferably in the form of an asphalt cutter, a snow cutter or a surface miner, having working equipment including a rotatingly drivable roller body, and having at least one roller drive unit which is received in the interior of the roller body and forms at least one part of a rotatable support of the roller body at a roller carrier frame, wherein the rotatable support of the roller body includes at least two roller bearing arrangements which support the roller body at two roller carrier frame parts engaging around the roller body at the end side, wherein each of the named two roller bearing arrangements on its own forms a statically determined or overdetermined radial and axial support which includes at least two mutually spaced apart bearing points and supports the roller body at the respective roller carrier frame part in an axially and radially fixed manner and/or at a fixed angle to one another so that the roller body overall is supported with static overdetermination at the roller carrier frame.
[0002] Surface cutters, for example in the form of surface miners, are continuously working open-cast mining plant which comminute the rock or the ground in a cutting manner with the aid of a rotating roller and usually progress continuously with the aid of a crawler track to drive the roller into the rock. The named roller in this respect forms the main piece of working equipment which requires high power and in this respect a suitable drive. In this respect, DE 10 2007 007 996 B4 proposes a diesel-electric drive in which the rotary cutter of the surface miner is driven by means of an electric motor which is supplied with power from a generator which is in turn driven by a diesel plant. Further embodiments of surface miners are also shown in documents WO 03/058031 A1, DE 10 2008 008 260 A1, DE 10 2007 044 090 A1, DE 10 2007 028 812 B4, DE 199 41 800 C2, DE 199 41 799 C2 or DE 20 2007 002 403 U1, wherein, instead of the electric motor drives, hydraulic drives are also used in part which are fed with hydraulic energy by a hydraulic pump driven by the diesel engine.
[0003] A surface miner having an inwardly disposed electric motor drive for the rotary cutter is known from DE 10 2007 007 996 B4. In this respect, two variable squirrel-cage motors are received in the interior of the rotary cutter body in each case with an associated planetary drive so that the rotary cutter drives are well protected against external influences and damage, e.g. by stones. To protect the transmissions and the electric motor from dust in each case, the oppositely disposed end faces of the motor-transmission unit seated in a tubular frame piece are closed by pot-shaped housing parts which are in each case connected to a ring seal at the carrier frame in a dust-tight manner. In this respect, the housing of the motor-transmission unit simultaneously serves the support of the roller body at the said carrier frame. A fixed housing part surrounding the electric motor is rigidly connected to a carrier frame part which engages into the roller body at the end face. A rotating housing part which is connected to the roller body and which surrounds the transmission is rotatably supported at the named fixed housing part by a roller bearing and is sealed by a ring seal.
[0004] With such encapsulated electric drives in the interior of the rotary cutter, however, thermal problems arise since the heat arising at the motor and at the transmission is not sufficiently dissipated.
[0005] Furthermore, the sealing of the housing is critical in such motor-transmission units which support the rotary cutter and which are used for the rotational support of the named rotary cutter. The rotating housing part is namely sensibly not only sealed in a dust-tight manner with respect to the stationary housing part, but also in an oil-tight manner so that the transmission can run in the oil bath. Corresponding seals such as floating-ring seals are sensitive to axial and radial offset as well as to angular offset which can easily occur due to the high forces introduced between the two housing parts when the support in the proximity of the seal does not prevent it.
[0006] A neat sealing of the named housing parts is, however, not only necessary to avoid oil leaks, but also due to the often dusty operating conditions. An introduction of dust into the housing interior and thus into the transmission and into the electric motor would dramatically reduce the service life of the motor-transmission unit so that suitable measures are also necessary against the introduction of dust into the motor.
[0007] A rotary cutter of a surface miner having a roller drive arranged in the interior of the roller body is known from DE 100 59 841 C1, wherein, however, the roller drive does not have an electric motor, but is rather designed hydraulically so that the named cooling problem and the accompanying sealing of the drive unit is not present to the same degree as in electric motors. The hydraulic motors are in this respect arranged in separate motor reception cylinders which are arranged coaxially in the interior of the roller body and are each rotatably supported at the roller body via a fixed-and-floating support, whereas they are suspended in an oscillating manner at a roller carrier frame, on the other hand. The oscillating support may compensate an angular offset which can result on a deflection of the rotary cutter. However, due to tolerances and/or thermal distensions and/or elastic deformations by this fixed-and-floating support at both sides, axial tensions result which cannot be compensated by the oscillating pivotal connection and which can result in an overload of the fixed bearing in the axial direction and thus to its destruction. The hydraulic motors themselves are supported in the interior of the motor reception cylinders open at one side by means of a ring-shaped torque support, but in another respect spaced apart from the reception cylinders so that the motor housing itself is not involved in the support of the rotary cutter body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is therefore the underlying object of the present invention to provide an improved surface cutter of the initially named kind which avoids disadvantages of the prior art and further develops the latter in an advantageous manner. A leak-free and dust-tight seal of the rotary cutter drive should in particular be realized without an axial overload of the fixed bearings despite the dissipation of the roller bearing forces over the drive units without this being done at the cost of an increased adverseness to maintenance and assembly.
[0009] This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by a surface cutter as described herein. Preferred embodiments of the invention are also the subject of the description herein.
[0010] It is therefore proposed to provide each roller drive unit discretely with a radial and axial support between the housing parts which is each discretely statically determined or even over-determined and suppresses both axial/radial displacements and angular displacements of the housing parts relative to one another. In the case of a plurality of drive units in the roller body, it is accepted for this purpose that the roller bearing overall is statically over-determined per se, with unwanted tensions and restrains being countered by a compensation device. So that in particular a sealing apparatus between the drive housing parts rotatable with respect to one another does not undergo any axial, radial and/or angular displacements which would result in leaks and would endanger the dust-tightness, the drive housing parts are not only pivotably supported at one another by a respective bearing, but are also supported by a plurality of bearing points having a large support spacing and thus supported flexurally rigidly at one another and fixed axially to one another. In accordance with the invention, an axial compensation apparatus for setting the axial spacing of the two roller bearing arrangements from the axial spacing of the bearing fastening points of the roller carrier frame parts is provided at the roller carrier frame and/or between the roller carrier frame and one of the roller bearing arrangements. An axial restriction due to tolerances and axial overloads of the roller bearing arrangements are hereby avoided which are themselves tilt-resistant as well as radially fixed and axially fixed and thus axially non-resilient, which in turn suppresses or avoids overload and offset impairing the leak-tightness of the sealing elements for sealing the at least one drive unit. Sealing apparatus such as floating ring seals which are more sensitive to offset, but which seal better, can hereby be used to be able to ensure oil-tightness for the transmission and/or the bearings and to be able to use more dust-resistant and contamination-resistant electric motors. The axial compensation apparatus allows an axial displacement of the bearing fastening points of the roller carrier frame parts relative to one another in the axial direction, advantageously without an accompanying tilt of the named bearing fastening parts to avoid bending restrictions or tilt restrictions on the axial displacement.
[0011] In a further development of the invention, the named bearing adjustment apparatus can include at least one movable frame bearing point by which the at least one of the roller carrier frame parts to which one of the roller bearing arrangements is fastened is axially movably supported to permit axial compensation movements. At least one of the roller carrier frame parts engaging around the roller body at the end face can therefore move in the direction of the longitudinal roller body axis due to the movable frame bearing point so that the axial spacing from one another of the bearing fastening points provided at the named roller carrier frame parts for the roller bearing arrangements can be adapted to the axial spacing of the roller bearing arrangements or deviations in the axial direction from spacing tolerances and/or thermal distensions and/or elastic deformations can be compensated. The movable frame bearing point is in particular displaceably or movably supported in a linear manner parallel to the longitudinal axis or the axis of rotation of the roller body so that the axial movement of the frame bearing point can be carried out substantially without transverse movements or tilt movements.
[0012] The movable frame bearing point can generally have different designs to permit the named axial compensation movement of the roller carrier frame parts with respect to one another. For example, one of the roller carrier frame parts could be suspended in the manner of a parallelogram arm guide to be able to be moved parallel to the longitudinal roller body axis.
[0013] The named movable frame bearing point can, however, in particular have an axial sliding guide with an axial displaceability parallel to the axis of rotation of the roller. The roller carrier frame part to which the respective drive unit and/or roller bearing arrangement is fastened hereby becomes longitudinally displaceable in the longitudinal roller direction.
[0014] The axial movability of the roller carrier frame parts relative to one another is, in an advantageous further development of the invention, also present during the operation of the surface cutter, i.e. the spacing of the roller carrier frame parts engaging laterally around the roller body can also change in cutting operation with a rotating roller and can be adapted to the spacing of the roller bearing arrangements from one another, for example to compensate thermal distensions. Provision can alternatively also be made to associate a braking apparatus with the movable frame part by means of which the degree of freedom of the movable frame bearing point can be blocked for operation. In this case, the free movability on a standstill or in a machining break could be utilized to adapt the axial spacing of the bearing fastening points to the roller carrier frame parts to the axial spacing of the roller bearing arrangements, for example when the rotary cutter has reached operating temperature, whereby excessive axial tensions could likewise be avoided.
[0015] To avoid restrictions and tensions, in a further development of the invention, the axial compensation apparatus can also have a position adjustment apparatus by means of which at least one of the bearing fastening points to which the respective roller bearing arrangement is fastened at the respective roller bearing frame part can be moved, in particular axially displaced, relative to the respective roller carrier frame part. A rigid roller carrier frame can hereby also be used without the previously described movable frame bearing point having to be provided, with a combination of the named bearing adjustment apparatus and of the previously named movable frame bearing point, however, also being able to be provided.
[0016] The named position adjustment apparatus can in this respect in particular include axial adjustment means to mutually adjust the axial span of the bearing fastening points provided at the roller carrier frame parts relative to one another by which the named roller carrier frame parts are connected to the roller bearing arrangements. Such axial adjustment means make it possible to adapt the spacing of the named bearing fastening points at the roller carrier frame parts from one another to the spacing of the drive units or roller bearing arrangements fixed in the roller body and to avoid axial tensions from tolerances.
[0017] In a simple embodiment of the invention, the named axial adjustment means can include adjustment washers which can be provided at at least one flange connection of the roller carrier frame to the machine frame or also at the flange connection between the roller carrier frame and the respective drive unit. The spacing dimension of the roller carrier frame parts or of the bearing fastening parts provided thereat to the spacing dimension of the drive units is adapted by inserting more or fewer adjustment washers.
[0018] It is prevented by the named axial adjustment means in the form of adjustment washers or of the named sliding guide that longitudinal deviations due to tolerances and/or thermal distensions cause too high an axial tension of the roller bearing arrangement between the drive housing parts.
[0019] Alternatively or additionally to the previously named embodiment options of the axial compensation apparatus, an axial movability of the two bearing fastening points of the roller carrier frame parts can also be achieved in an advantageous further development of the invention in that at least one of the carrier arms of the roller carrier frame engaging around the roller body is designed as resilient and deformable, in particular flexible, so that the corresponding carrier arm is displaced in the axial direction, for example on thermal distensions or other axial distensions, and yields to the tension or distension on the build-up of only small axial forces. The named carrier arm is in particular so flexible or deformable that the bearing point fastened to the carrier arm is displaceable in the axial direction without undergoing a tilt or a transverse movement component, which can, for example, be achieved in that the named carrier arm of the roller carrier frame can adopt an S-shaped deformation or a deformation bulging in the opposite direction.
[0020] In an advantageous further development of the invention, the carrier arms of the roller carrier frame engaging around the roller body at an end face can have different designs, preferably such that one of the carrier arms is rigid, in particular axially rigid, to guide the roller body transversely to the cutting direction, while the other carrier arm is designed as flexible in the aforesaid manner.
[0021] Alternatively or additionally, in accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, provision can be made that one of the carrier arms of the roller carrier frame engaging around the roller body at an end face is made considerably thinner in the axial direction than the other carrier arm at the oppositely disposed end of the roller body. Due to such a thin design in the axial direction at one side, the aforesaid flexibility can be achieved, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, an improved side cutting can be achieved since the thin design of the carrier arm requires a smaller spacing from the side edges such as cutting edges.
[0022] In a further development of the invention, the roller bearing arrangement at the drive unit advantageously includes a bearing point directly beneath or indirectly beneath the sealing apparatus as well as a bearing point considerably spaced apart from the sealing apparatus so that overall a large support spacing is achieved and the bearing is flexurally rigid overall. At the same time, radial offset at the sealing apparatus is fully suppressed by the arrangement of a bearing point directly at the sealing apparatus. Angular offset is simultaneously suppressed in interaction with the further bearing point spaced apart therefrom.
[0023] Expediently, a bearing point is provided above the motor, preferably directly at or as close as possible to the frame stem, whereas a further bearing point is arranged at the transmission input. A bearing point can in particular be arranged at the half of the electric motor housing arranged remote from the transmission, whereas a further bearing point can be provided in the transition region between the electric motor and the transmission. By such a spaced-apart arrangement with a large bearing spacing, small radial forces acting on the bearings from the global bending torques in the total construction of roller plus frame are achieved which in turn reduce the required resistance torque of the stems of the frame construction leading upward to the machine and thus allow an inexpensive frame construction.
[0024] In a further development of the invention, at least one of the roller bearing arrangements, which are each made in the aforesaid manner as radially fixed and axially fixed, tilt resistant fixed-and-floating support with at least two spaced apart bearing points, is integrated into one of the roller drive units or into the at least one roller drive unit, with the named roller drive unit including a stationary drive housing part fastened to one of the roller carrier frame parts as well as a rotatable drive housing part connected to the roller body, which are mutually sealed by a sealing apparatus, on the one hand, and which are supported in an axially and radially fixed manner and with a fixed angle to one another by the named integrated roller bearing arrangement, on the other hand. The bearing and support forces of the roller body are, on the one hand, directly dissipated via the drive unit by the integration of the roller bearing arrangement into the drive unit. On the other hand, separate support cylinders such as were known from the prior art can be dispensed with so that additional construction space for the drive units is also achieved in addition to a reduction in the number of parts.
[0025] In a further development of the invention, the stationary drive housing part fixedly connected to the roller carrier frame can be formed by a bell housing which is placed over the motor housing of the electric motor. The named bell housing is therefore drawn over the motor toward the roller carrier frame part. In this case, the named bell housing can also form or receive the bearing shell for the bearing arranged above the electric motor.
[0026] Alternatively or additionally, the motor housing of the electric motor can also form or receive a bearing shell for one of the roller bearings. In this case, the named transmission bell can be fully dispensed with, with the motor housing forming a carrying housing part. This results in a simple and slim solution because the named support bell can be dispensed with. The motor housing of the electric motor therefore at least partly forms the fixed drive housing part.
[0027] The rotatable drive housing part is advantageously formed by an outer transmission housing part.
[0028] The roller bearing arrangement itself can generally have different designs. In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the roller bearing arrangement of at least one drive unit can include a fixed bearing, preferably in the form of a double tapered roller bearing in the X arrangement as well as a radial bearing spaced apart therefrom. The named double tapered roller bearing forms an axial bearing which fixes the axial position of the two drive housing parts relative to one another.
[0029] Alternatively or additionally, the roller bearing arrangement of at least one drive unit or of one further drive unit of two conical roller bearings spaced apart from one another can be provided in an O arrangement or in an “<>” arrangement which can simultaneously transmit high axial and radial forces and absorb tilt moments. On the use of such a tapered roller bearing in an O arrangement, the sealing apparatus can advantageously be arranged close to or above one of the roller body sets. Instead of tapered roller bearings, sloping ball bearings can also be used to achieve—in dependence on the arrangement of the two sloping ball bearings—the previously named X arrangement or O arrangement as well as the corresponding axially fixed support.
[0030] The sealing apparatus between the mutually movable drive housing parts can generally have different designs. In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sealing apparatus can include at least one floating ring seal. A plurality of floating ring seals can advantageously also be provided. Such floating ring seals are admittedly more sensitive with respect to axial and/or radial and/or angular offset of the components to which they are attached; on the other hand, however, they allow a very much better sealing effect, in particular under the effect of dust, than simple radial shaft sealing rings, for example. The named higher sensitivity is, however, taken into account by the tilt-resistant and axially and radially fixed fixed-and-floating support of the drive housing parts relative to one another so that this property of the floating ring seals can be accepted without disadvantages arising therefrom.
[0031] An increased seal tightness is in particular of advantage when the drive unit has at least one electric motor which can be connected to a transmission, in particular to an oil-filled transmission, via which the drive movement of the electric motor shaft is transmitted onto the roller body with a corresponding step-up/step-down. In this respect, the previously described bearing and seal concept is particularly of advantage for rotary cutters driven by an electric motor.
[0032] A sealing apparatus can advantageously be arranged over the outer periphery of the motor housing of the electric motor. Alternatively or additionally, the sealing apparatus can be arranged between the electric motor and the transmission, viewed in the axial direction of the roller drive, between the named drive housing parts, in particular approximately in the region of the transmission input.
[0033] In an advantageous further development of the invention, the drive unit can be of concentric design, i.e. the electric motor and the transmission connected thereto can be arranged on one axis.
[0034] Alternatively, however, an axially offset design of the drive unit can also be provided in which the at least one electric motor is arranged with its motor shaft offset transversely to the transmission shaft. This can in particular be advantageous when a plurality of electric motors are provided which are associated with a common transmission unit. Furthermore, with an axially offset arrangement of the electric motor and of the transmission, a further transmission stage can be provided between the motor shaft and the transmission input shaft. The use of smaller motors can hereby be achieved in interaction with the arrangement of a plurality of electric motors in order again to achieve the required total power. In addition, the motors are in this case higher than a central motor, whereby they can be better protected against damage.
[0035] It is furthermore proposed to associate a cooling apparatus having a closed liquid cooling circuit with the electric motor of the rotary cutter drive arranged in the interior of the rotary cutter body. Due to the high heat capacity of a suitable cooling liquid such as oil or water-glycol mixture, small volume flows in the liquid cooling circuit and thus small line cross-sections are sufficient. On the other hand, all dust entry into the rotary cutter drive and also any dust development through exhaust air can be avoided by the closed design of the liquid cooling circuit.
[0036] The heat dissipation from the cooling liquid can generally take place in different ways. In a preferred further development of the invention, the liquid cooling circuit has a heat exchanger arranged outside the rotary cutter for cooling the cooling liquid which is connected to a section of the liquid coolant circuit associated with the electric motor via cooling liquid lines which are conducted out of the rotary cutter at an end face and which can preferably extend at or in the support frame for supporting the roller body. The named heat exchanger could generally also be arranged in the interior of the rotary cutter, but outside the motor housing, to output the heat from the cooling liquid to the environment. However, with an arrangement outside the rotary cutter, environmental air can flow better toward the oil cooler or heat exchanger for cooling the cooling liquid. The named heat exchanger can advantageously be arranged at a point considerably above the rotary cutter at the machine to avoid a clogging of the heat exchanger by dust. Different positions can generally be considered for the positioning of the heat exchanger.
[0037] The rotating drive housing part of the at least one roller drive unit, which advantageously forms a transmission housing part, is rotationally fixedly connected to the roller body by at least one connection point in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, with the named bearing point generally being able to be different designs, for example being able to include a screw connection between the drive housing part and the roller body or a fastening flange connected thereto, but also being able to have other connection means. To prevent fretting corrosion at the named connection point, in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, a lubricant reservoir can be provided at the interior of the roller body for lubricating the named connection point or for protecting the connection point from fretting corrosion. Lubricant can move from the named lubricant reservoir onto the fit surfaces of the connection point between the drive housing part and the roller body so that the arising of fretting corrosion there can be prevented or at least reduced.
[0038] Advantageously, the named lubricant reservoir can form a lubricant bath whose level lies at least above a lower section of the connection point so that the connection point continuously runs through the lubrication bath over its full periphery on rotation of the roller body.
[0039] The lubricant bath is advantageously designed or is influenced by its level so that at least some of the drive housing part is also wetted. Not only the named connection point can hereby be protected against fretting corrosion, but simultaneously the surface of the roller drive unit, in particular of the transmission, can be cooled. Since lubricants such as oil have a high heat capacity, the cooling effect for the drive housing part and the drive part surrounded by it is relatively high, particularly since the heat introduced into the lubricant via the roller body, which has a very large surface toward the outside, is effectively conducted away. Any required drive cooling or transmission cooling can hereby advantageously be designed smaller or less powerful.
[0040] To improve the lubricant wetting of the drive housing part and hereby to improve the heat dissipation, in a further development of the invention, circulation elements, for example in the form of web plates, can be provided in the interior of the roller body which mix the lubricant over and over again by the rotation of the roller body and take the lubricant upward on rotation of the drum.
[0041] The connection point and/or the inner space of the roller body can advantageously be sealed with respect to the rotating drive housing part 34 and/or toward the outside by a sealing apparatus in a lubricant-tight manner, preferably in a fluid-tight manner, with the named sealing apparatus preferably being able to be integrated into the connection point and being able to be formed in the form of an O ring, for example.
[0042] Further advantageous embodiments of the surface cutter and of its roller drive result from the claims, but also from the following description and the associated Figures, with individual features alone or in combination and sub-combination with one another being able to be the subject of the invention independently of the grouping of the features in the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0043] The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with respect to preferred embodiments and to associated drawings. There are shown in the drawings:
[0044] FIG. 1 : a schematic, perspective representation of a travelable surface cutter which is made in the form of a surface miner, but can also be made as an asphalt cutter, in accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention;
[0045] FIG. 2 : a schematic longitudinal section through the rotary cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 which shows the rotary cutter drives received in the interior of the rotary cutter in each case in the form of an electric motor having a planetary transmission coupled thereto;
[0046] FIG. 3 : a longitudinal section through one of the electric motors of FIG. 2 which shows the closed cooling air circuit in the sealed motor housing, with the cooling air being guided through axial cooling air cut-outs in the rotor in the opposite direction from a winding head space to the oppositely disposed winding head space and back;
[0047] FIG. 4 : a longitudinal section through one of the electric motors of FIG. 2 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention in accordance with which a radial fan is provided on the shaft outside the bearing bracket of the motor;
[0048] FIG. 5 : a longitudinal section through one of the electric motors of FIG. 2 in accordance with a further advantageous embodiment of the invention in accordance with which the electric motor is made as a synchronous motor with a permanent magnet rotor and the cooling air circuit is provided for cooling the winding heads and is guided through cut-outs in the rotor in the opposite direction from the one winding head space to the oppositely disposed winding space and back;
[0049] FIG. 6 : a longitudinal section through a rotary cutter drive in the interior of the rotary cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention in accordance with which an electric motor is arranged axially offset to the transmission shaft and the bearing arrangement between the drive housing parts comprises a spaced apart tapered roller bearing arrangement in O position and the sealing apparatus is arranged in the region of the transmission input;
[0050] FIG. 7 : a longitudinal section through the rotary cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention in accordance with which a drive unit is only provided on one side of the rotary cutter, whereas the oppositely disposed side of the rotary cutter is supported by an additional bearing arrangement;
[0051] FIG. 8 : a longitudinal section through a drive unit in the interior of the rotary utter, similar to the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 2 , wherein the pump and brake of the drive unit, which are arranged at the shaft end of the electric motor opposite the transmission, are shown in section;
[0052] FIG. 9 : a longitudinal section through a drive unit in the inter of the rotary cutter, similar to FIG. 8 , in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, in which the circulating lubrication of the transmission has a lubricant filter with bypass arranged outside the rotary cutter;
[0053] FIG. 10 a longitudinal section through the roller cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 , similar to FIG. 2 , in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, in which the roller carrier frame parts are connected to the machine frame by a position adjustment apparatus in the form of adjustment washers;
[0054] FIG. 11 : a schematic longitudinal section through the rotary cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, in which one of the roller carrier frame parts is displaceably guided at the machine frame via a slide guide in order to compensate tolerances and to prevent axial tensions:
[0055] FIG. 12 : a longitudinal section through a drive unit in the interior of the rotary cutter in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, in which the motor housing of the electric motor forms or accepts a bearing shell for one of the roller supports of the rolling bearing arrangement between the drive housing parts; and
[0056] FIG. 13 : a schematic longitudinal section through the rotary cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 in accordance with a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, in which one of the carrier arms of the roller carrying frame engaging around the roller body at an end face is made as thin and flexible to permit axial compensation movements between the bearing points;
[0057] FIG. 14 : a longitudinal section through a rotary roller drive in the interior of the rotary cutter of the surface cutter of FIG. 1 in accordance with a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, in accordance with which a lubricant bath is provided at the interior of the roller body to prevent fretting corrosion and to cool the transmission.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0058] FIG. 1 shows a self-propelled surface cutter such as a surface miner or asphalt cutter whose main piece of working equipment forms a drivable rotary cuter 2 which is rotatable about a horizontal axis and to whose periphery cutting tools are attached to comminute a ground layer or an asphalt layer. The surface cutter 1 is in this respect moved continuously by means of the crawler tracks 3 so that the named rotary cutter 2 continuously undergoes an advance movement. The machine body 4 , which is supported by the named crawler tracks 4 in a manner movable on the ground and carries the named rotary cutter 2 , furthermore includes conveying means for conveying out the cut material. Coming from the rotary cutter, the cut material is taken over onto a receiving conveyor 5 which transfers the material onto a loading conveyor 6 to load the comminuted material over onto a truck, for example. The named receiving and loading conveyors 5 and 6 can be made as belt systems, for example.
[0059] The aforesaid rotary cutter 2 can be driven in accordance with FIG. 2 by means of electric motors 20 which can be connected to the rotary cutter 2 via a transmission in the form of a planetary gear transmission 8 and can optionally be accommodated in the interior of the rotary cutter. The rotary cutter drives 7 respectively comprising an electric motor 20 and a planetary gear transmission 8 simultaneously serve the support of the roller body 9 . As FIG. 2 shows, the two rotary cutter drives 7 are arranged at the right and at the left in the interior of the roller body 9 so that, where possible, they do not project beyond the end face of the roller body 9 . The electric motor 20 of each rotary cutter drive 7 is in this respect rigidly fastened at its motor housing 21 via a transmission housing part 40 to a carrier frame part 33 which engages into the roller body 9 at an end face and is connected to the machine body 4 of the surface cutter 1 . Alternatively, the motor housing 21 can form a part of the transmission housing. A second transmission housing part 34 is, in contrast, rotatably supported, with advantageously a two-point support being provided which is spaced as far as possible apart from one another and which is overall formed in an axially and radially fixed manner and with a fixed angle. In the drawn embodiment in accordance with FIG. 2 , a tapered fixed bearing 35 and a radial bearing 36 spaced apart therefrom is provided, cf. FIG. 2 .
[0060] The named transmission 8 is advantageously formed in the form of a planetary transmission which can be designed in multiple stages to be able to realize a correspondingly large transmission ratio in a small construction space.
[0061] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , the transmission 8 and the electric motor 20 are arranged coaxially to one another. The motor shaft 19 is connected to the transmission input shaft or forms the transmission input shaft which drives the first planetary gear stage 8 A at its free end via corresponding pinions. The further planetary gear stages 8 B and 8 C are successively driven via the planetary carrier until the last planetary transmission stage finally drives the previously named second drive housing part 34 which forms the outer transmission house part and is rigidly connected to the roller body 9 .
[0062] This rotatable housing part 34 is supported via a roller bearing arrangement 39 on the stationary housing part 40 which is formed by a bell housing which surrounds the transmission or motor shaft 19 at the transmission input and which is seated at a part expanded in diameter above the motor housing 21 . Together with the named motor housing 21 , the named bell housing, which forms the fixed housing part 40 , is rigidly connected to a fastening flange 41 which is part of the roller carrier frame part 33 or is rigidly connected thereto.
[0063] As FIGS. 2 and 8 show, the named roller bearing arrangement 39 in the drawn embodiment includes in the region of the transmission input the previously named fixed bearing 35 which is formed in the embodiments in accordance with FIGS. 2 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 and 12 in the form of a double tapered roller bearing in an X arrangement. The named fixed bearing 35 takes up radial forces and axial forces so that the roller body 9 is fixed in an axially fixed manner to the roller carrier frame part 33 via the drive unit and its housing parts 34 and 40 .
[0064] The exact angular alignment of the two housing parts 34 and 40 is, however, defined by the second bearing point which is arranged with a large support spacing from the named fixed bearing 35 and is formed by the named radial bearing 36 . The named radial bearing 36 can advantageously be arranged over the periphery of the electric motor 20 preferably in the half of the electric motor spaced apart from the transmission 8 , preferably as close as possible to the frame stem or to the previously named fastening flange 41 . The named radial bearing 36 is, just like the fixed bearing 35 , arranged between the previously named bell housing 40 and the outer transmission housing part 34 .
[0065] As FIG. 8 shows, a sealing apparatus 42 is provided between the two mutually rotatable housing parts 34 and 40 , with the named sealing apparatus 42 advantageously being able to be arranged as close as possible to the named radial bearing 36 over the periphery of the electric motor 20 . The named sealing apparatus 42 can, for example, have simple radial shaft sealing rings. For a secure, leak-free sealing also under occurrence of heavy contamination, the named sealing apparatus 42 can, however, advantageously include floating ring seals which are fit between the two mutually rotatable housing parts 34 and 40 .
[0066] In accordance with the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 6 , the roller bearing arrangement 39 can, however, also comprise two mutually spaced apart tapered roller bearings 43 and 44 or corresponding sloping ball bearings which are advantageously disposed in an O arrangement so that the effective support spacing is widened and an increased flexural stiffness is achieved accordingly. In accordance with the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 6 , the named tapered roller bearings 43 and 44 are arranged in the region of the transmission input of the transmission 8 , and indeed again between an outer transmission housing 34 and the bell housing 40 seated thereunder.
[0067] As FIG. 6 shows, such a design of the roller bearing arrangement 39 is advantageous for an axially offset arrangement of the electric motor 20 with respect to the transmission 8 . The motor shaft 19 is transversely displaced with respect to the transmission input shaft 45 and is connected via a further transmission stage. The axially offset arrangement shown in FIG. 6 in particular also allows a plurality of electric motors 20 to be connected to a common planetary transmission, whereby smaller electric motors 20 can be used which together provide the required drive power.
[0068] In accordance with FIG. 2 , at least two drive units 7 are advantageously provided in the interior of the roller body 9 , with in particular a respective drive unit being provided to the right and to the left at the ends of the roller body 9 , said respective drive unit advantageously being positioned so that it does not project out of the roller body 9 at an end face.
[0069] As FIG. 7 shows, however, only one drive unit 7 can also be provided in the interior of the rotary cutter. The roller drive 7 is here advantageously also arranged to one side—the left side in accordance with FIG. 7 —of the rotary cutter, whereas a drive-free bearing arrangement 46 is provided on the opposite side which has a roller bearing arrangement including two spaced apart bearing points. A modular design of the rotary cutter can hereby be achieved which, depending on the power classification, allows the installation using the modular principle of one or two drive units, which can in this respect each be different, without having to modify the roller body.
[0070] As FIG. 7 shows, the bearing arrangement 46 includes two mutually rotatable housing parts which are mutually supported by a roller bearing arrangement. One of the housing parts is fastened to the roller body 9 , while the other housing part is fastened to the roller bearing carrier frame part 33 , cf. FIG. 7 . The two housing parts of the bearing arrangement 46 can likewise be sealed by a sealing apparatus 42 of the aforesaid kind. The bearing arrangement 46 can then likewise be designed overall, for the same reasons as the bearing 39 on the drive side, in an axially and radially fixed manner and at a fixed angle, that is, can comprise a fixed bearing and a radial bearing spaced apart therefrom.
[0071] As FIG. 8 shows, a pump 27 is advantageously seated at the end of the drive shaft 19 of the electric motor 20 which faces the outer side of the roller body 9 of the rotary cutter 2 , said pump being able to serve the circulation of the cooling liquid of the liquid cooling circuit 23 of the electric motor and/or the circulation of the lubricant of the planetary transmission 8 connected to the electric motor 20 . If oil is used as the cooling liquid, the oil can optionally be pumped through the electric motor for cooling there and through the transmission for the lubrication and cooling there. Alternatively, the pump can, however, also include two separate pump stages of which the one circulates the cooling liquid and the other the lubricant of the transmission.
[0072] The named pump 27 is advantageously driven by the drive shaft 19 of the electric motor 20 .
[0073] As FIG. 2 shows, a brake 28 can also be arranged at the named shaft end in addition to the pump 27 . Optionally, even further additional elements such as a speed of revolution sensor can also be installed there. By the arrangement of the pump 27 and of the brake 28 outside the motor housing 21 on the shaft end of the electric motor 20 at the outer side of the rotary cutter, the named assemblies are easily accessible, whereby the availability of the machine can be further increased. This maintenance-friendly construction further provides the advantage that the brake 28 can nevertheless be utilized for an emergency stop even if it is only designed as a parking brake and even if it is thermally overloaded in so doing. A fast service is namely possible thanks to the accessibility. Furthermore, due to the attachment of the pump 27 to the shaft end of the electric motor 20 , no further additional energy supply, for example via a cable, is necessary.
[0074] In particular the transmission 8 is supplied with oil via an oil circulation lubrication via the named pump 27 . The pump 27 can in this respect be connected to the interior of the transmission 8 through a channel which extends through the motor shaft 19 of the electric motor 20 , cf. FIG. 8 .
[0075] As FIG. 9 shows, the oil or the lubricant can also be conducted by means of the pump 27 to a heat exchanger 30 which forms an oil cooler and can be arranged outside the roller body 9 on the machine body 4 to be flowed around better by the environmental air. As FIG. 9 shows, in this respect the coil can be conducted via a filter 47 with bypass, which results in improved oil purity and thus longer service life. The named oil cooler in the form of the heat exchanger 30 is arranged downstream of the named filter 47 so that the cooled and filtered oil can be conducted back into the transmission 8 again so that high permanent operation can be achieved without overheating and wear.
[0076] As FIG. 14 shows, the rotating drive housing part 34 , which surrounds the transmission, is rotationally fixedly connected to the roller body 9 by at least one rotationally fixed connection point 80 . As FIG. 14 shows, the roller body 9 can include a connection flange 81 which projects at the inner side and of which a peripheral surface radially supports the drive housing part 34 and/or of which an axial surface axially supports the drive housing part 34 . The named connection parts 80 can in this respect include a screw connection 82 by means of which the named connection flange 81 is rigidly screwed to the drive housing part 34 . As FIG. 14 shows, the drive housing part 34 can be axially clamped with a shoulder toward the named connection flange 81 by the screw connection 82 .
[0077] To achieve a centration and/or tilt-resistant support of the rotating drive housing part 34 , a further connection point can be provided, for example in the form of a centering flange 83 which likewise radially supports the drive housing part 34 axially spaced apart from the aforesaid connection flange 81 .
[0078] To prevent fretting corrosion at the connection points between the roller body 9 and the rotating drive housing part 34 , the roller body 9 is inwardly filled with oil or with another suitable lubricant so that the connection points 80 run in the oil bath at the connection flange 81 and at the centering flange 83 . As FIG. 14 shows the level 91 of the lubricant bath is dimensioned such that at least the lower part of the drive housing part 34 , including the connection points 80 , runs in the oil bath and is wetted.
[0079] To achieve a circulation of the oil as well as an upward taking along of the oil, pusher impellers or web plates or similar circulation elements 100 can be provided in the interior of the roller body 9 which circulate with the roller body 9 . For example, the named circulation elements 100 can be fastened to the roller body 9 at the inner peripheral side.
[0080] To ensure the oil distribution to all connection points with a plurality of connection points 80 , oil openings or oil channels 120 can be provided at a suitable point. For example, a connection point disposed toward the roller center, in particular the centration flange 83 , can be provided with an oil channel 120 for the oil distribution, cf. FIG. 14 .
[0081] The inner space of the roller body is sealed toward the outer side. A sealing apparatus 110 , for example in the form of an O ring, can be integrated into the connection point 80 , cf. FIG. 14 .
[0082] Since the drive units 7 which are used to support the rotary cutter 2 and also the bearing arrangement 46 each have statically determined roller bearing arrangements, the support of the rotary cutter 2 is per se statically overdetermined overall. To avoid restrictions and tensions, in a further development of the invention, the mutual position of the two roller carrier frame parts 33 L, 33 R engaging into the roller body 9 at an end face can be adjusted. The bearing adjustment device 48 provided for this purpose can in particular include axial adjustment means which make it possible change and adjust the mutual spacing of the named roller carrier frame parts 33 L, 33 R. As FIG. 10 shows, the position adjustment apparatus 48 can include simple adjustment washers 49 which can be disposed between the named roller carrier frame parts 33 L, 33 R and the corresponding machine body 4 . A preferably planar interface is advantageously provided at least between one of the roller carrier frames 33 L, 33 R and the connection piece fixed at the machine frame and extends perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotary cutter 2 so that the spacing of the roller carrier frame parts 33 L, 33 R can be adjusted by insertion of the named adjustment washers 49 . It is thereby prevented that longitudinal deviations cause too strong an axial tensioning of the bearings due to tolerances.
[0083] As FIG. 11 shows, at least one of the roller carrier frame parts 33 can also be movably supported at the machine body 4 , in particular axially displaceably supported parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotary cutter 2 by means of a slide guidance 50 . Varying axial displacements can hereby also be compensated, for example by changes in the temperature and/or deformations. The displaceably guided roller carrier frame part 33 R can be fixedly connected to the machine frame, with the exception of the axial degree of freedom.
[0084] In accordance with FIG. 12 , the stationary housing part 40 can also be formed by the motor housing 21 of the electric motor 20 . In this case, the motor housing 21 advantageously forms a bearing shell for the previously described fixed bearing 35 of the roller bearing arrangement 39 or receives this bearing shell. Accordingly, a separate bell housing can be dispensed with, whereby a simple, slim and economically favorable design is obtained.
[0085] As FIG. 13 shows, at least one of the lateral roller carrier frame parts 33 R engaging around the roller body at an end face can also be flexible and yielding in the axial direction so that the bearing point fastened to this roller carrier frame part 33 R can be displaced in the axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotary cutter 2 . The named roller carrier frame part 33 R can in particular, viewed in the axial direction, be made considerably weaker and thinner than the oppositely disposed roller carrier frame part 33 L, with the yielding and/or flexible roller carrier frame part 33 R being formed, for example, in the form of a thin carrier flange which extends substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotary cutter. Optionally, bar-shaped carrier sections can also be used here which permit the desired axial displaceability of the bearing point parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotary cutter 2 .
[0086] An improved side cutting can simultaneously be achieved by the thin, flange-like or web-shaped formation of one of the lateral roller carrier frame parts 33 R since it is possible to drive particularly close to rims or edges at this side since the lateral overhang of the carrier frame parts is considerably reduced at this side.
[0087] A generator is advantageously provided as the electric energy source for the electric motors 20 which is driven by an internal combustion engine, for example in the form of a diesel unit.
[0088] The electric motors 20 can advantageously be fed by the generator selectively via a frequency inverter or directly, i.e. without or with a bridging of the frequency inverter. A jumper so-to-say forms a bypass of the supply line around the frequency inverter, with the named jumper being able to be switched by a switching element, for example in the form of a breaker, so that the motor can selectively be fed via the frequency inverter or while bypassing it.
[0089] Instead of a plurality of electric motors 20 , only one electric motor can also be provided for the drive of the main working unit 2 . In the embodiment shown, two electric motors 20 are provided which are each drive-connected to the rotary cutter 2 .
[0090] The electric motor 20 shown in FIG. 3 includes a shaft 19 with a rotor 12 , said shaft being rotatably supported at bearing brackets which form part of a machine housing 21 and/or close a jacket 22 at an end face which surrounds the stator 13 of the machine 20 . The named jacket 22 has a jacket cooling by which the cooling liquid of a liquid cooling circuit 23 is circulated. The named jacket is in this respect seated in a gap free, flush and/or areal manner on the stator plates to achieve a good heat transfer from the stator 13 into the cooling jacket 22 .
[0091] In addition to the named liquid cooling circuit 23 , the cooling apparatus 24 of the electric machine 20 includes an air cooling 25 for cooling the winding heads 11 which project on both sides of the stator 13 and of the rotor 12 into the winding head spaces 26 bounded by the housing 21 , more precisely by the jacket 22 and by the bearing brackets. As FIG. 3 shows, the stator 13 includes a winding 14 which is partly embedded into the stator plate of the stator 13 and which forms basket-like winding heads 11 from both sides outside the named stator plate.
[0092] To cool the named winding heads 11 , an internal cooling air circulation is effected by means of fan wheels 16 in each of the named winding spaces 26 , i.e. no environmental air is conducted through the machine or over the winding heads 11 , but an internal cooling air circuit is rather produced which cools the named winding heads 11 . To remove the heat from the cooling air, cooling pipe coils 15 through which the cooling liquid is circulated are provided, as FIG. 3 shows, in the winding head spaces 26 . The liquid cooling circuit conducted through the named cooling pipe coils 15 can generally be formed separately from the liquid cooling circuit 23 of the jacket cooling 22 . Advantageously, however, a coupling of the cooling pipe coils 15 can be provided at the liquid cooling circuit 23 of the jacket cooling, with a parallel coupling or also a serial coupling of the cooling pipe coils 15 to the jacket cooling 22 and to the liquid cooling circuit 23 feeding it being able to be provided in dependence on the thermal load of the individual machine parts.
[0093] To achieve a high cooling effect on the circulating cooling air, the named cooling pipe coils 15 are advantageously provided on their outer side with ribbing, for example in the form of a plurality of axial ribs, at each cooling pipe to increase the heat transfer surface of the cooling pipe coils.
[0094] In the embodiment drawn in FIG. 3 , the cooling pipe coils 15 are substantially seated at the end face of the winding heads 11 in a gap provided there between the end face of the named winding heads 11 and the bearing brackets, with the named cooling pipe coils 15 extending substantially in ring shape about the axis of the shaft 19 .
[0095] The fan wheels 16 , which effect the air circulation, are seated directly on the named shaft 19 in the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 3 and are driven by it. The named fan wheels 16 are in this respect advantageously received in the inner space 26 of the basket-shaped winding heads 11 in this respect. The fan wheels 16 are provided in the drawn embodiment with radially acting impeller blades so that they urge the air radially into the ring-shaped intermediate space which is bounded from the inside by the winding heads 11 and from the outside by the jacket 22 , cf. FIG. 3 .
[0096] As FIGS. 3 and 4 show, the winding heads 11 are provided at their neck, i.e. in the transition region to the stator plate, with radial passage cut-outs 37 which allow a passage of the cooling air through the winding heads 11 .
[0097] The named passage cut-outs 37 form a part of channel means and channel conducting means which effect a ring-shaped air circulation around the basket-shaped winding heads 11 , as the flow arrows in FIG. 3 illustrate. The cooling air urged by the fan wheels 16 to the neck of the respective winding head 11 there passes through the named passage cut-outs 37 and is then conducted on the outer side of the winding head 11 , along it, between the winding head 11 and the jacket 22 , to the end face of the respective winding head 11 and around this end face back to the inner side of the winding head 11 . At the end face of the winding head 11 , the cooling air in this respect sweeps over the cooling pipe coils 15 so that the heat is removed from the cooling air which was previously output from the winding of the winding head 11 .
[0098] The cooling air guide furthermore includes air channels 38 through the rotor 12 from the one winding head space 26 to the other winding head space on the oppositely disposed side and back.
[0099] This cooling air guidance is effected by fan wheels 16 which are designed as attachment plates or compression plates and which directly contact the end face of the rotor 12 and are seated on the shaft 19 . The fan wheels essentially comprise a radially projecting flange to which suitable air conveying means are fastened, for example in the form of conveying blades or conveying impellers, and at which air passage holes are formed which are distributed over the periphery and communicate with axial cooling air cut-outs or air channels 38 in the rotor 12 which extend axially in the named rotor 12 and each exit the named rotor 12 at the end face. In this respect, twice as many air channels 38 are provided in the rotor 12 as air passage holes in the attachment plates so that each of the attachment plates with their air passage holes only communicates with every second air channel 38 in the rotor 12 . In this respect, the two attachment plates are rotationally offset from one another so that a first set of air channels 38 in the rotor 12 communicates via the air passage holes with the left hand inner space of the winding head 11 , whereas a second set of air channels 38 of the rotor 12 communicates via the air passage holes in the other attachment plate with the inner space of the winding head 11 on the right hand side so that the cooling air circulation symbolized in FIG. 3 by the flow arrows is achieved.
[0100] The cooling air circulation is designed as follows: The fan part of the fan wheels 16 which works radially urges the cooling air through the passage cut-outs 37 provided at the neck of the winding heads 11 onto the outer side of the winding heads 11 . The cooling air urged through the passage cut-outs 37 then circulates in a similar manner to the air guidance shown in FIG. 3 around the winding heads 11 , with it sweeping on the outer side between the respective winding head 11 and the jacket 22 , then around the end face of the winding head 11 and over the cooling pipe coils 15 from where it moves onto the inner side of the winding heads 11 . The cooling air is urged from there into the air passage holes of the respective attachment plate which in this respect forms inlet passages for the air channels 38 of the rotor 12 . The cooling air then flows through the named cooling air channels 38 through the rotor 12 in order to move on the other rotor side to the fan part of the fan wheel 16 of the attachment plate provided there. The cooling air then circulates there in a corresponding manner through and around the winding head 11 and then in the opposite direction back through the rotor 12 so that an oppositely directed cooling air flow is generated in the rotor 12 by the previously named two fan wheels 16 .
[0101] The electric machine shown in FIG. 4 generally has a similar design to the machine in FIG. 3 , with the difference thereto substantially being that the flow of the inner air flow is generated by a fan wheel 31 which is fastened outside the bearing bracket to the shaft and presses the inner air flow after the cooling pipe coil 15 of the right hand side in FIG. 4 into the air channels 38 of the rotor. The named bearing bracket in this respect has cooling air outlet openings and inlet openings so that the cooling air flow can circulate over the outer side of the named bearing bracket. For this purpose, a cup-shaped housing cap by which a closed cooling air circuit is provided is seated on the named outer side of the bearing bracket. On a standstill or at low revolutions, an intensive cooling of the electric motor 20 by a fan motor can be achieved. In this respect, the fan motor drives an additional fan wheel which is seated on the fan motor which is in turn seated on the outer side of the bearing bracket.
[0102] In the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 5 , the electric motor is designed as a synchronous motor having a permanent magnet rotor which does not have any bars, but rather permanent magnets in the rotor. There are hereby practically no rotor losses so that the motor does not require any intensive motor cooling. As FIG. 5 shows, the liquid cooling circuit 23 can have a jacket cooling section to cool the jacket 22 and furthermore include, in the named manner, the cooling pipe coils 15 in the winding head spaces 26 to cool the cooling air there.
[0103] The permanent magnet motor 20 includes a rotor 12 , which is equipped with permanent magnets 18 and is seated on the shaft 19 , and a stator 13 which is cooled by the named jacket liquid cooling which can be connected in series, in parallel, or mixed, to an external heat exchanger. The fan wheels 16 seated on the motor shaft 19 set the inner air flow in the respective winding head spaces 26 into motion. The air flows in the respective winding head space 26 both over the winding 14 and the cooling pipe coils 15 which preferably comprise ribbed piping and form a closed circuit.
[0104] As FIGS. 3 to 5 show, a pump 27 is advantageously seated at the end of the drive shaft 19 of the electric motor 20 which faces the outer side of the roller body 9 of the rotary cutter 2 , said pump being able to serve the circulation of the cooling liquid of the liquid cooling circuit 23 and/or the circulation of the lubricant of the planetary transmission 8 connected to the electric motor 20 . If oil is used as the cooling liquid, the oil can optionally be pumped through the electric motor for cooling there and through the transmission for the lubrication and cooling there. Alternatively, the pump can, however, also include two separate pump stages of which the one circulates the cooling liquid and the other the lubricant of the transmission.
[0105] The named pump 27 is advantageously driven by the drive shaft 19 of the electric motor 20 .
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The present invention relates to a self-propelled surface cutter, preferably in the form of an asphalt cutter, a snow cutter or a surface miner, having working equipment including a rotatingly drivable roller body, and having at least one roller drive unit which is received in the interior of the roller body and forms at least one part of a rotatable support of the roller body at a roller carrier frame, wherein the rotatable support of the roller body includes at least two roller bearing arrangements which support the roller body at two roller carrier frame parts engaging around the roller body at the end face, wherein each of the named two roller bearing arrangements on its own forms a statically determined or overdetermined radial and axial support which includes at least two mutually spaced apart bearing points and supports the roller body at the respective roller carrier frame part in an axially and radially fixed manner and/or at a fixed angle to one another so that the roller body overall is supported with static overdetermination at the roller carrier frame. In accordance with the invention, an axial compensation apparatus for compensating deviations of the axial spacing of the two roller bearing arrangements from the axial spacing of the bearing fastening points of the roller carrier frame parts is provided at the roller carrier frame and/or between the roller carrier frame and one of the roller bearing arrangements. An axial restriction and axial overloads of the roller bearing arrangements are, hereby avoided which are themselves tilt-resistant as well as radially fixed and axially fixed and thus axially non-resilient, which in turn suppresses or avoids overload and offset impairing the leak-tightness of the sealing elements for sealing the at least one drive unit. Sealing apparatus such as floating ring seals which are more sensitive to offset, but which seal better, can hereby be used.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet printing method and device. The method is of the type in which the ink is kept in contact with a wall having a nozzle for the ejection of droplets of ink.
In the known printing methods and devices, the transducer normally effects a compression of the ink in a container. In particular, in printing devices in which the nozzle is in a tubular container, the transducer is constituted by a piezoelectric sleeve fixed to the container or constituting the container. The action of compression causes the formation of droplets of ink, the regularity of which is influenced by the frequency of driving and of resonance of the container and by the acoustic waves in the ink in the container. These known devices moreover have the drawback that the unavoidable presence of air bubbles or vapour in the mass of compressed ink reduced the effectiveness of the compression.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is to provide a printing method and device in which the presence of bubbles in the ink does not affect the efficacy of the ejection of the droplets.
This problem is solved by the printing method according to the invention, which is characterised in that, for the ejection of each droplet, the wall with the nozzle is moved suddenly towards the ink, whereby the ejection is caused as a reaction to the inertia of the ink in following the movement of the wall.
The device for printing by the method of the invention comprises a container closed at one end by the said wall and having a cross-section normal to the axis of the nozzle substantially larger than the cross-section of the nozzle, and a transducer connected to a fixed structure of the device and adapted to displace the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the printing method according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a median section of an ink jet printing device according to a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 shows the waveform of a driving pulse of the printing device;
FIGS. 4 and 5 are two sections of two further embodiments of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The printing method according to the invention can be illustrated by reference to the diagram of FIG. 1. This shows a vessel 10 in which is disposed a certain amount of liquid 11, such as an ink which is readily dryable and adapted for printing by means of a droplet jet. A wall 12 constituted by a plate which is provided with a capillary hole or nozzle 13 is normally kept in contact with the free surface of the ink 11. The wall 12 is carried by an arm 14 fixed on a cylinder 16. This is connected to one end 17 of a tubular transducer 18, the other end 19 of which is fixed on a fixed structure 21. The transducer 18 is constituted by a sleeve of piezoelectric material adapted to contract when it is subjected to an electric voltage. To this end, the transducer 18 is connected to a pulse generator 22.
Each pulse from the generator 22 produces a sudden contraction of the material of the sleeve 18, the axial component of which causes a shortening of the tube. This then causes the cylinder 16 to move downward suddenly together with the arm 14 and the wall 12. Because of the inertia of the ink 11, this cannot follow the sudden displacement of the wall 12 immediately. Moreover, the section of the nozzle 13 is much smaller than the area of the ink on which the wall 12 acts. Accordingly, a reaction is created which compels a droplet 23 of ink 11 (shown in broken lines in FIG. 1) to squirt through the nozzle 13 at high speed. This droplet 23 can therefore deposit itself at 23' on a printing medium 24.
As is known, the pressure p created by the inertia of the ink on the movement of the wall is given by the formula p=ρ.c.U, where ρ is the specific mass of the liquid, c is the specific speed, that is the speed of sound in the liquid, U is the speed of the wall. This formula indicates that the pressure created in this way is independent of the amount of liquid behind the wall, but depends exclusively on the speed U of the wall and on the characteristic impedance Z∞ of the liquid in the duct, which is given by the formula Z∞=ρ.c.
It is therefore clear that with this method of printing the ejection of the droplets is caused as a reaction to the inertia of the ink 11, which is unable to follow the movement of the wall 12 instantaneously. It is moreover clear that the reaction is independent of the total mass of the ink and is produced on the ink 11 adjacent the wall 12, for which reason possible air bubbles or vapour in the mass of the ink do not affect either the formation or the speed of the droplets 23.
In a first embodiment of the printing device according to the invention, the printing element or head 25 (FIG. 2) comprises a glass capillary tube 26 having an end portion 27 which is tapered and provided with a nozzle 28. This has a diameter between 30 and 100 μ, preferably 60 μ, while the internal diameter of the tube 26 is substantially larger than that of the nozzle and may be of the order of 1 mm. The tube 26 is connected through a feed duct 29 with a reservoir 31 for the ink 11. The duct 29 is of flexible material, such as rubber or other synthetic resin, to allow a certain axial displacement of the tube 26. Moreover, the duct 29 is of a length such as to allow a transverse movement or displacement of the head with respect to the printing support 24, while the reservoir 31 can remain stationary with respect to the support 24. The reservoir 31 for the ink 11 is arranged at a level such as to ensure that the ink 11 will flow into the tube 26 and bring itself into contact with the inner wall of the portion 27, forming a meniscus in the nozzle 28. The surface tension of the ink 11 is such as normally to prevent the exit of the ink.
The head 25 moreover comprises a transducer constituted by a sleeve 32 of piezoelectric material which is coaxial with the tube 26 and has a certain clearance 30 with respect both to the tube and the duct 29, so as not to prevent the relative axial displacements.
The end 33 of the sleeve 32 adjacent the nozzle 28 is bonded to the tube 26, while the other end 34 is partially fitted into a hole 36 in a fixed plate 37 and bonded to the latter.
The printing head 25 moreover comprises a cover 38 for protecting the sleeve 32 and the tube 26. The cover 38 is fixed to the fixed plate 37 and may have, for example a frustoconical shape. It is filled with silicone resin or rubber 39 to hold in position both the portion 27 of the tube 26 and the piezoelectric sleeve 32, while allowing contractions and expansions of the latter. The piezoelectric sleeve 32 is polarized in the radial direction and is connected by means of two conductors 41 and 42 to a driving circuit 43 adapted to generate selectively a driving pulse 44 having a waveform which is shown in FIG. 3. By way of example, the circuit 43 (FIG. 2) may be of the type described in our European Patent Application No. 83303847 filed on 1.7.83. The pulse 44 produces a radial deformation of a predetermined amplitude per unit of length in the sleeve 32. This deformation does not have any effect, however, because of the clearance 30 between the sleeve and the tube 26. The pulse 44 moreover causes an axial deformation in the sleeve 32 which is less per unit of length than the radial deformation, but in an absolute respect proves much greater, so that the tube experiences a larger displacement and therefore a higher speed of displacement than in the radial direction.
Normally, the circuit 43 keeps the piezoelectric sleeve 32 (FIG. 2) slightly energized with a voltage Va (FIG. 3) so as to maintain its polorization. When the circuit 43 emits a pulse 44, this energizes the piezoelectric sleeve 32 (FIG. 2), as a result of which its end 33 shifts axially with respect to the fixed end 34 following the variation in voltage V of the pulse. The end 33 is followed by the tube 26, which then deforms the flexible tube 29 and deforms the elastic material 39 correspondingly. In particular, at first the pulse 44 (FIG. 3) exhibits a relatively slow reduction of voltage down to the value -Va. This reduction of voltage causes a certain lengthening of the sleeve 32 (FIG. 2) and therefore a movement or displacement of the tube 26 which is substantially followed by the ink 11 without producing any separation of the nozzle 28 and the inner wall of the portion 27 from the ink 11. The pulse 44 (FIG. 3) then exhibits a sudden increase of voltage from -Va to 3Va, causing a sudden shortening of the sleeve 32 (FIG. 2) and a corresponding movement of the tube 26 towards the plate 37. The inner wall of the portion 27 thus shifts towards the ink 11 at a speed such that the ink cannot follow the movement because of the inertia of the ink 11. The pressure due to the reaction of the inertia then creates on the portion of ink disposed in the nozzle 28 a force of expulsion which causes the ejection of a droplet of ink towards the paper 24. Finally, the pulse 44 (FIG. 3) falls back relatively slowly to the initial value Va, causing the sleeve 32 (FIG. 2) and the tube 26 to return to the inoperative position, while the ink 11 forms the meniscus afresh in the nozzle 28.
The force of expulsion F of the droplet is given by the formula F=p.A, where p is the pressure seen earlier and A is the projection of the surface of the wall displaced and in contact with the ink, in the plane normal to the direction of displacement, that is the cross-section of the tube 26. From what has been seen before, it is possible to write F=Z∞.U.A.=Z∞.Q, where Q is the capacity of the tube 26, which must be equal to that of the nozzle 28. Therefore, indicating the speed of exit of the droplet by A 1 , we will have V=U.A/A 1 , that is the speed of exit is so much the greater the larger the cross-section of the tube 26 and the smaller the cross-section of the nozzle 28. With the above-indicated values of the diameter of the tube 26 and of the nozzle 28, a theoretical speed of the droplet between 3 and 10 m/sec is obtained, while with the values indicated as preferential a speed of about 5 m/sec is obtained, which is considered optimum for the purpose.
It is to be noted that the length of the tube 26 does not have any effect on the phenomenon, so that the tube may also be shorter than the sleeve 32. By this there is obtained the advantage of the greater speed U achievable in the displacement of the end 33 of the sleeve 32 and therefore of the inner wall of the portion 27.
Moreover, the reduction of the length of the tube 26 reduces the time in which the pressure wave within the tube 26 causes a disturbance in the ink in the tube itself.
In the two embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, the parts similar to those of FIG. 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals as the latter, while the parts which are substantially different are indicated by the same reference numbers provided with primes. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the tube 26' passes through the hole 36' in the plate 37' and can slide in this hole, ensuring the guiding of the tube 26' during printing. Moreover, the cover 37 (for the sleeve 32 is cylindrical and is closed by an elastic diaphragm 45 having a central hole in which the end portion 27' of the tube 26' is rigidly connected. The diaphragm 45 serves to stabilize the axial movements of the tube 26', reducing possible undesirable vibrations.
In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the sleeve 32" is connected to the fixed plate 37" by its end 33" adjacent the nozzle 28", while it is connected to the tube 26" by its opposite end 34". The tapered portion 27" of the tube 26" is guided in an insert 46 of elastic resin disposed in a recess in the plate 37" and having a stabilizing function for the tube 26". The cover 38" of the sleeve 32" has a cylindrical shape and terminates in an end wall 47 having a hole 48 in which the end of the tube 26" can be slidably guided. Because of the connection of the sleeve 32" to the plate 37" and the tube 26", which is inverted with respect to the similar connection of the sleeve 32 of FIGS. 2 and 4, the useful displacement of the portion 27" of the tube 26" is now obtained by commanding the expansion of lengthening of the sleeve 32". Therefore, the connection of the electrodes 41 and 42 to the pulse generator is reversed.
It is understood that various modifications and improvements can be made in the printing method and the printing devices hereinbefore described without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the tube 26' of FIG. 4 may be replaced by a tube having a length smaller than the sleeve 32, as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. The ink container bearing the nozzle may assume any other shape, for example prismatic or spherical, and be integrated in a multi-nozzle structure.
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A droplet of ink 11 is expelled from a nozzle in a wall, so as to strike a printing medium, by suddenly moving the wall towards the ink 11 with which it is in contact. This movement is effected by energizing a piezoelectric sleeve. The ink droplet is expelled by virtue of the inertia of the ink resisting the movement of the wall and creating pressure. Practical embodiments are described in which the wall containing the nozzle is formed by the tapered end of a capillary tube.
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This is a Continuation-in-Part (CIP) of prior application Ser. No. 09/638,402, filed Aug. 15, 2000.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to use of acesulfame in a fragrance formulation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Acesulfame, often referred to as acesulfame K, is a well-known sweetener that has been used to sweeten food products for many years. Acesulfame is relatively water insoluble, so acesulfame is often used in its salt form in food products. The salt forms commonly employed include sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium salts. The most common salt of acesulfame used in foods, is the potassium salt, hence acesulfame K.
While these salts have been used in food products for many years, acesulfame is odorless. Therefore acesulfame was not thought to be suitable for incorporation into fragrances.
In the fragrance industry there is ongoing need to develop new compounds to give perfumers and other persons in the art the ability to create new fragrances for perfumes, air fresheners, candles, colognes and personal care products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method of imparting, enhancing or modifying a fragrance by the addition of an olfactory acceptable amount of insoluble acesulfame. The fragrance can be used to provide a fragrance to various articles such as cologne, toilet water, perfume, air freshener, candles or personal care products.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is based upon the surprising discovery that the incorporation of an olfactory effective amount of insoluble acesulfame in fragrances enhances the fragrance perceived by the user. This is surprising because acesulfame is odorless. The incorporation of insoluble acesulfame has been found to add a heightened awareness of the fragrance to the consumer. This heightened awareness of the fragrance to the consumer is compared to fragrances that did not include the insoluble acesulfame in the fragrance formulation. The inclusion of the insoluble acesulfame creates a fragrance that is more perceptible or recognizable at lower levels to the consumer. In addition, the insoluble acesulfame provides enhanced notes at the same level or modifies the fragrance by providing a sweetness to the fragrance which is not present when the insoluble acesulfame is not present.
As noted above, the food industry commonly employs acesulfame salts as sweeteners in aqueous materials, such as beverages. The present invention employs acesulfame in its insoluble form, the non-salt form, in the fragrance.
The use of the this compound is widely applicable in current perfumery products, including the preparation of perfumes and colognes, the perfuming of personal care products, such as soaps, shower gels, bath and body oils and hair care products as well as air fresheners, candles and cosmetic preparations. The present invention can also be used to perfume cleaning agents, such as, but not limited to detergents, dishwashing materials, scrubbing compositions, window cleaners and the like.
In these preparations, the compound of the present invention can be used alone or in combination with other perfuming compositions, solvents, adjuvants and the like. The nature and variety of the other ingredients are known by those with skill in the art.
Many types of fragrances can be employed in the present invention, the only limitation being the compatibility with the other components being employed. Suitable fragrances include but are not limited to fruits such as almond, apple, cherry, grape, pear, pineapple, orange, strawberry, raspberry; musk, flower scents such as lavender-like, rose-like, iris-like, and carnation-like. Other pleasant scents include herbal scents, such as woodland scents derived from pine, spruce and other forest smells. Fragrances may also be derived from various oils, such as essential oils, or from plant materials such as peppermint, spearmint and the like.
A list of suitable fragrances is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,891, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety. Another source of suitable fragrances is found in Perfumes Cosmetics and Soaps , Second Edition, edited by W. A. Poucher, 1959. Among the fragrances provided in this treatise are acacia, cassie, chypre, cyclamen, fern, gardenia, hawthorn, heliotrope, honeysuckle, hyacinth, jasmine, lilac, lily, magnolia, mimosa, narcissus, freshly-cut hay, orange blossom, orchids, reseda, sweet pea, trefle, tuberose, vanilla, violet, wallflower, and the like.
Olfactory effective amount is understood to mean the amount of compound in perfume compositions the individual component will contribute its particular olfactory characteristics, but the olfactory effect of the perfume composition will be the sum of the effects of each of the perfume or fragrance ingredients. Thus the compounds of the invention can be used to alter the aroma characteristics of the perfume composition, or by modifying the olfactory reaction contributed by another ingredient in the composition. The amount will vary depending on many factors including other ingredients, their relative amounts and the effect that is desired.
The level of insoluble acesulfame used in the invention employed in the perfumed article varies widely from about 0.001 to about 0.5 weight percent. In a preferred embodiment, the level is from 0.05 to about 0.45 and most preferably from about 0.1 to about 0.4 weight percent. In addition to these compounds, other agents can be used in conjunction with the fragrance. Well known materials such as surfactants, emulsifiers, and polymers used to encapsulate the fragrance can also be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Another method of reporting the level of the compounds of the invention in the perfumed composition, i.e., the compounds as a weight percentage of the materials added to impart the desired fragrance. The compounds of the invention can range widely from 0.005 to about 10 weight percent of the perfumed composition, preferably from about 0.1 to about 5 and most preferably from about 0.2 to about 1 weight percent. Those with skill in the art will be able to employ the desired level of the compounds of the invention to provide the desired fragrance and intensity.
The following are provided as specific embodiments of the present invention. Other modifications of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of this invention. As used herein all percentages are weight percent and g is understood to be grams. All of the materials employed in the examples are available from International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., Hazlet, N.J.
EXAMPLE 1
A peach fragrance was made incorporating acesulfame using the formulation set forth below.
Acet C-6 (n-hexyl acetate)
2.5
Benzyl acetate
1.0
Cassis ether
2.5
Gamma decalactone
12.0
Gamma dodecalalactone
2.0
Iso-propyl myristate
973.4
acesulfame (insoluble)
0.5
The fragrance was described as having a peach-like fragrance with fruity notes.
Comparative Example 1
The fragrance of Example 1 was reproduced, however the acesulfame was not included. The fragrance did not have the same intensity as the fragrance that included the acesulfame.
EXAMPLE 2
An apple fragrance was made incorporating saccharin using the formulation set forth below.
Acet C-6 (n-hexyl acetate)
5.0
Damascenone
1.0
Geranyl propionate
1.0
Fragarone
1.0
Iso-propyl myristate
987.6
Manzanate
0.5
acesulfame (insoluble)
0.5
The fragrance was described as having an apple-like fragrance with fruity notes.
Comparative Example 2
The fragrance of Example 2 was reproduced, however, the acesulfame was not included. The fragrance did not have the same intensity as the fragrance that included the acesulfame.
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The present invention is directed to the use of insoluble acesulfame in creating fragrances and scents in such items as perfumes, colognes, toilet waters, cleaning products and personal care products.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 of provisional application Ser. No. 60/013,329, filed Mar. 13, 1996.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to is a modular manifold system which has been developed to mount directly to pressure transmitters of both coplanar and biplanar types.
It is known to provide five valve manifolds with an integral body having the shape of a rectangular prism. They are typically provided with two block valves for selectively blocking or opening the input of the high and low pressure process fluid into the manifold. The high and low pressure process fluid is directed to a transmitter from which the pressure differential is monitored and transmitted. Disposed within the same body is a pair of vent valves used when it is desired to flush the ducts of the manifold with a flushing fluid usually delivered from the high or from the low pressure duct to the transmitter. With the vent valves selectively open or closed, the flow of the flushing liquid is manipulated.
Flushing of the ducts of a manifold system is an important operation in maintaining the system operative and accurate. However, after a period of operation, the length of which depends on the nature of the process fluid and other conditions, flushing is no longer sufficient and rodding (mechanical scraping) of sediments off inside walls of the passageways is required where such sediments may be difficult or impossible to remove by flushing.
An object of the present invention is to advance pressure transmitter manifold systems by producing a manifold system which allows for improved serviceability, a reduction in the number of valves required to operate the manifold system, a reduction in the number of separate components required by existing systems, a reduction in the number of potential leak points, minimizes environmental and safety hazards by allowing for the capture of toxic fluids released either through flushing of the manifold system or venting of the manifold system, improved economy and improved transmitter accuracy and response.
During the operation of differential pressure measuring installations there may be a requirement to service the orifice taps, the manifold, the passages connecting the orifice taps and the manifold or the pressure transmitter.
With respect to the pressure transmitter there may be a requirement to calibrate, test and repair the instrument. In some cases the pressure transmitter is best serviced in the controlled environment of an instrument shop, rather than in field. To accomplish this the transmitter itself, or the transmitter manifold assembly, must be removed from the field installation. The present invention is modular in nature. This permits the process fluid supply manifold to remain in service, while the support block of the manifold system, that portion directly connected to the pressure transmitter, is removed from service. The process fluid can be blocked by the process fluid supply manifold which remains in place, thus eliminating the need to provide additional block valves or to entirely shut down the process fluid flow.
The support block of the manifold system, remains connected to the pressure transmitter. This maintains the seal integrity between the pressure transmitters and the manifold, which, as some transmitter manufacturers recommend, permits precise assembly procedures and rigorous testing for the seal connection and represents a significant advantage. This seal is delicate in nature and not easily remade under field conditions. It is best left undisturbed. In the case of coplanar type transmitters, the support block also protects the delicate process isolator foils while the pressure transmitter is removed from its' installation for calibration or repair. Calibration, testing and repairs to the pressure transmitter can be conveniently carried out under controlled shop conditions, rather than in the field, with the support block attached to the transmitter.
Existing modular manifold systems were all developed for the industry standard pressure sensor spacing of 2.125" and as such could not mount directly to coplanar type transmitters with pressure sensor spacings of 1.3". The existing systems required the use of adapter flanges or plates. The present invention eliminates the need for such adapter components, thereby reducing the number of components and potential leak points.
The connection between the process fluid supply manifold and the support block is made by two couplings. The couplings incorporate an easily remakeable seal, which is shielded and protected by the coupling itself. The couplings can be readily connected and disconnected under field conditions, numerous times, without requiring the sealing gaskets to be replaced. The couplings are robust and rigid to allow the entire manifold system to be self supporting.
Another aspect of the operation of pressure measuring installations is servicing the manifold system and the various connecting passages, especially the passages connecting the orifice taps to the manifold. The nature of certain process fluids is such that the internal passages, particularly at the orifice taps, may become clogged or plugged. The passages from the process fluid source to the pressure transmitter must be open and clear for the process fluid pressures to be accurately monitored. The present invention allows for the internal passages to be kept open and clear.
These passages are maintained by rodding. Rodding is an operational practice which involves pushing an appropriately sized rod through the passages to remove any clogs or debris. The support block, after it is isolated from the process by the block valves, is removed from the connecting couplings to allow access to the manifold passages through the process supply manifold. The connecting couplings have been designed to allow the easy attachment of a pressure retaining rodding tool. The rodding tool is then inserted through the coupling connectors and into the manifold passages. The passages can be rodded through the block valves and back to the orifice taps.
The known manifolds have the disadvantage that they cannot be rodded due to the complex, tortuous passageway of the conduits through the manifold. Prior art known to the present applicant includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,628 (Nimberger) which shows a pressure signal instrument and manifold having a modular structure. Viewed from the standpoint of the present invention, the transmitter is mounted on the manifold so that the rodding of the manifold would probably require removal of the transmitter exposing the inlet face to possible damage. The arrangement does not allow efficient and convenient flushing as it is not adapted to be quickly connected to a source of flushing liquid independent of the process fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,246 (Conley et al.) shows that it is known to provide a rodding tool. U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,985 (Donner) shows that it is known to provide a modular assembly of manifolds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to improve pressure transmitter manifold systems by producing a manifold system which enables convenient servicing, particularly flushing, of the system when required, while at the same time allowing a convenient rodding of the system.
In general terms, the invention provides a valve manifold system comprising, in combination, a support block for supporting a process fluid pressure processing instrument and protecting an inlet section thereof, said block including a process fluid conduit means terminating, at one end portion thereof, at a process fluid inlet means and, at another portion thereof, at process fluid outlet means, said support block being compatible with an associated process fluid pressure processing instrument for fixedly securing the block to the instrument, said process fluid outlet means being adapted to sealingly engage process fluid inlet means of the instrument to conduct process fluid to such instrument. The combination further includes a process fluid supply manifold disposed upstream of said support block and including process fluid inlet port means, process fluid outlet port means and process fluid passageway means connecting said inlet port means with said outlet port means. Coupling conduit means of the system, having an upstream end portion and a downstream end portion, connects the support block to the manifold and defines a process fluid conduit between said manifold and said block. The inlet port means, said passageway means, said process fluid outlet port means and said connecting conduit means are all generally straight and co-axial with one another.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described by way of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic, not-to-scale drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the pressure transmitter manifold system of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view, partly in section, of the system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view, on enlarged scale, along the line III--III of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view, similar to that of FIG. 1 but showing a second embodiment of the transmitter mounting portion of the system;
FIG. 5 is a side view with certain parts omitted of a third embodiment of the invention used in absolute pressure measurements or transmissions; and
FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Shown in FIGS. 1-3 is a first embodiment of a manifold system which is comprised of a 3-valve process fluid supply manifold 10 detachably interconnected with a transmitter support block. In the first embodiment, the support block is designated as a manifold 11.
The transmitter support block 11 includes two vent valves 12, 13. There are two outlet ports 14, 15 which serve the purpose of transmitting the process fluid to an associated device. For convenience, the process ports 14, 15 are hereafter referred to as to as high and low pressure transmitter discharge or outlet ports 14, 15. In the embodiment shown, they are compatible with inlets of a pressure transmitter 84 or other pressure processing apparatus, as is well known in the art. The block 11 further includes a high and low pressure process fluid inlets 16, 17. It should be borne in mind that throughout this specification, the reference to "high" and "low" pressure portions of the system is made strictly for convenience as the two are virtually identical in structure and their roles can easily be reversed. As is known, the pressure differential in the systems of this type is very low. Therefore, the reference to "high" or "low" pressure throughout this specification is to be read in this context and considered as being strictly a convenient distinction between a pair of virtually identical process fluid outlets, inlets or the like. The supply manifold 10 (which is adapted to operate with all three types of support blocks 11, 11a, 11b (described) likewise includes a high and low pressure outlet ports 18, 19 communicating, via a high pressure concentric coupling 20 and a low pressure concentric coupling 21, with the respective process fluid inlet 16 or 17.
Two block valves 22, 23 in the supply manifold 10 are adapted to selectively block or open the supply of a high and low pressure process fluid coming from high and low pressure process fluid inlet ports 24, 25 each of which is coaxial with the high and low pressure process fluid outlet ports 18, 19 at the opposite end of the supply manifold 10, respectively.
The process ports 24, 25 are coupled, via eccentric or concentric high and low pressure couplings 26, 27, with conduits (not shown) bringing the process fluid from the main process fluid pipe line (also not shown) the operative condition of which is being monitored.
The parallel arrangement of high and low pressure passageways 28, 29 extending between the ports 18-24, 19-25 provides sufficient space therebetween for locating on an upper surface 30 (FIG. 2) of a flush/equalizer valve (f/e valve) 31. The reference throughout this disclosure to the "upper" surface is for convenience only and can be reversed to a "lower" or "one side" reference if desired. The f/e valve 31 is a two-way valve which maintains equalizer passageway branches 32, 33 communicating with each other, or interrupting the communication between the two branches. The branches 32, 33 are in permanent communication with the portion of the passageways 28,29 downstream of the block valves 22, 23.
At the "lower" surface 34 of the supply manifold 10, a flushing fluid inlet port 35 is provided with a union for quick connection of the port 35 to a source (not shown) of the flushing fluid. A plug 36 is threaded in the union of port 35. The port 35 is adapted to allow inflow of the flushing fluid into the system and the f/e valve 31 controls the inlet of the fluid into the branches 32, 33 and from there to the downstream ends of passageways 28, 29 and on to 30 the support manifold 11.
A pair of short, convergent conduits 37, 38 bring the high and low pressure process fluid to the high and low pressure inlet ports 14, 15 provided in the "upper" mounting surface 30a of the block 11, compatible with the mounting flange of an associated pressure transmitter (not shown). The term "upper mounting surface" is to be interpreted in the same way as that of the "upper" surface 30, i.e. being used merely for convenience and not indicating a preferred orientation of the surface. The same applies to the "lower" surface 34a which is so designated only because the embodiment shown has the surface generally parallel with and opposed to the "upper" surface 30a.
The vent valves 12, 13 allow venting of the conduits 37, 38 up to an immediate vicinity of the pressure transmitter (not shown), and thus also of passageways 28, 29. The particular exemplary arrangement of the vent valves is apparent from FIG. 2 in conjunction with FIG. 3. The vent valve 12 is provided with a valve member 57 compatible with a valve seat 58 for selective closing of the fluid communication between an extension or vent conduit 59 and the vent discharge port 60 provided in the "lower" surface 34a. The arrangement of the vent valve 13 is generally the same and therefore does not have to be described in detail.
Prior to removing the support block from the manifold system, the support block must be isolated and depressurized. This is effected by utilizing the vent valves located in the support block. The vented process fluid exits the manifold system through 1/4" NPT outlet ports. These ports allow for the capture of process fluids. In certain applications, the process fluids are of such a toxic nature as to pose a danger to operators or the environment. The manifold system includes a controlled access port for the introduction of flushing fluids. These flushing fluids remove or neutralize the toxic process fluids, permitting an operator to safely remove the support block. The valve required to control the flushing fluids has been integrated with the equalizer valve, thereby incorporating two separate functions into a single valve which reduced the number of separate individual valves required, reduces the number and complexity of the internal passages and allows for economic advantages in the manufacture of the manifold system.
The vent valves 12, 13 also allow the manipulation of the flow of pressurized flushing fluid coming from the port 35 via the associated passageways and conduits as described, to allow selective flow (with block valves 22, 23 closed) of the flushing fluid in the desired direction.
The block 11 is provided with four mounting holes 39 for securing the transmitter to the block 11, and at least one mounting hole 40 for fixed securement of the block 11 to a solid support (not shown).
The couplings 20, 21 provide--apart from the function as conduits between the supply manifold 10 and block 11--a support mount holding the supply manifold 10 rigidly in place relative to the solid support (not shown) to which the manifold 11 is secured through the mounting hole 40 as mentioned. To further enhance the serviceability of the manifold system, the block valves and the equalizer/flushing valve incorporate a replaceable seat design. The seats may be either metal seats or soft seats, depending on the application and specific process conditions.
The flushing of the system is thus very convenient. It requires merely the connecting of the port 35 to a source of pressurized flushing fluid. The flow of the flushing liquid is controlled by manipulation of the existing valves. When it is desired to service, for instance, to rod the system, which operation is mainly concerned with the rodding of conduits and passageways all the way from the couplings 20, 21 to and including the couplings 26, 27, the couplings 20, 21 are released and the entire support block 11 removed, thus opening the system from the couplings 20, 21 all the way through the manifold 10 and into the upstream extremes of the couplings 26, 27. It is to be appreciated that in most industrial applications, the rodding is particularly desirable upstream of the branches 32, 33 as these parts do-not benefit from the cleaning effect of the flushing when the system is being flushed. Therefore, they tend to become obstructed by sediments from the process fluid more readily than the flushed downstream end of the system. When the rodding or other maintenance operation is finished, the re-connecting of the support block 11 to the supply manifold 10 is a relatively easy task due to the support mount hole 40 in the support block 11. Thus, the block 11 assumes exactly the same position as it had before, relative to the plane defined by the axes of the ports 16-18 and 17-19. The ease of disassembly and assembly of the components of the system can also be utilized when other maintenance tasks are to be carried out.
The second embodiment of the transmitter support block 11a (FIG. 4) is designed for applications where two pressure transmitters are required, one for the absolute pressure, the other for the relative pressure. The block 11a is fluidly connected to the system previously described, namely to the supply manifold 10, This is signified by using, in FIG. 4, reference numbers 10, 16-19 and 31 for the corresponding parts of the system previously described. Thus, for convenience, reference number 16 designates a "high pressure" inlet and reference number 17 a "low pressure" inlet.
The high pressure inlet 16 is fluidly connected to a first conduit 41 which branches into a first branch 42 and a second branch 43. The first branch 42 extends to a first "high pressures" transmitter discharge or outlet port 44 and then continues, via an extension vent passageway 45 (also referred to as a "vent conduit"), to a first high pressure vent valve 46 which is arranged to selectively open the passageway 42, 45 and thus 41 to the atmosphere.
The second branch 43 similarly extends to a second "high pressure" transmitter discharge or outlet port 47 and then continues, via an extension conduit 48 (also referred to a "vent conduit"), to a second high pressure vent 30 valve 49 which is arranged to selectively open the conduit 43, 48 and 41 to the atmosphere. Of course, either one of the valves 46, 49, when open to the atmosphere, also exposes to the atmosphere the opposed branch 43 or 42 of the conduit 41.
The "low pressure" inlet port 17 communicates with a first branch of a V-shaped conduit 50. The second branch of the conduit 50 communicates with a "low pressure" transmitter discharge or outlet port 51 and --through a short coaxial extension or vent conduit 52--with a "low pressure" vent valve 53 which is arranged to selectively open the conduit 50, 52 and thus the low pressure outlet port 51 to the atmosphere.
The first "high pressure" outlet port 44 is located within a first mounting section 54 which includes four mounting holes 55. The first mounting section 54 and its mounting holes 55 are compatible with the mounting flange of the body of an absolute pressure transmitter (not shown). As is well known, such transmitter only has one process fluid inlet as opposed to a transmitter used in transmitting a relative value obtained from two inlets. The second "high pressure" outlet port 47 and the "low pressure" outlet port 51 are disposed within a second mounting section 54a and four transmitter mounting holes 55a are provided. The arrangement is thus functionally similar to that of the mounting face 30a of the manifold 11 described above.
FIG. 4 further shows two mounting holes 61, 62 which serve the same purpose as the mounting hole 40 mentioned above, namely to secure the block 11a to a solid support (not shown).
As in the first embodiment of the block 11, reference number 16 designates a high pressure inlet and reference number 17 the low pressure inlet. When it is desired to service, for instance, to rod the system, the couplings 20, 21 are released and the entire block 11a removed, thus opening the system from the ports 18, 19 all the way through the manifold 10 and into the upstream extremes of the couplings 26, 27.
When the rodding or other maintenance operation is finished, the reconnecting of the support block 11a is a relatively easy task due to the support mount holes 61, 62 in the block 11a. Thus, the block 11a assumes exactly the same position as it had before, relative to the plane defined by the axes of the ports 16-18 and 17-19.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the valve manifold system including a support block 11b and developed for applications where only a single process fluid inlet is required,
The transmitter support block 63 includes a vent valve 64. An outlet port 65 serves the purpose of transmitting the process fluid to an associated pressure transmitter (not shown). The block 63 further includes a process fluid inlet port 66. The associated supply manifold 67 includes an outlet port 68 communicating, via a concentric coupling 69, with the inlet port 66.
A block valve 70 mounted in a face 73 (FIG. 5) of the body of the supply manifold 67 is adapted to selectively block or open the supply of pressure process fluid coming from a process fluid inlet port 71 which is coaxial with the outlet port 68 at the opposite end of the body of the supply manifold section 67.
The process fluid inlet port 71 is fluidly coupled, via an eccentric or concentric coupling 72, with a pipe line (not shown) the operative condition of which is being monitored.
A flush valve 74 (shown in FIG. 6 but deleted from FIG., 5 for clarity) selectively controls fluid communication between the portion of the passageway 75 downstream of the block valve 70 and a flushing fluid inlet port 76 which is provided with a union for quick connection of the port 76 to a source (not shown) of the flushing fluid. A plug 77 is threaded in the union of the port 76. As in the first and second embodiments, the port 76 is adapted to allow an inflow of the flushing fluid into the system and the flushing valve 74 controls the inlet of the fluid into the part of the passageway 75 downstream of the block valve 70, through the conduit 78 in the coupling 69, then into the conduit 79 and via the vent valve 64 (shown in FIG. 6 but not FIG. 5) to the vent outlet port 80 disposed in the face 81 of the body of the support manifold section 63.
The short vent conduit 79, of course, mainly serves the purpose of bringing the process fluid to the outlet port 66 provided in the "lower" mounting surface (as viewed in FIG. 5) of the block 63. The outlet port 65 is compatible with the mounting flange of an associated pressure transmitter (not shown).
The vent valve 64 allows venting of the passageways and conduits 75, 78, 79 up to an immediate vicinity of the pressure transmitter (not shown). The particular arrangement of the vent valve 64 is similar to the arrangement of the vent valve 12 described above in conjunction with FIG. 3.
The block 11b is provided with four mounting holes 83 for securing the transmitter to the block 11b, and at least one mounting hole 82 for fixed securement of the block 11b to a solid support (not shown).
The coupling 69 provides--apart from the function as an extension of the conduits between the manifold 67 and blocks 63--a support mount holding the supply manifold 67 rigidly in place relative to the solid support (not shown) to which the support block 63 is normally secured using the threaded mounting bore 82 (FIG. 6) or some other arrangement as may be required by the conditions on site.
As in the previously described embodiments, the flushing of the system is very convenient. With a source of flushing liquid connected to the unplugged port 76, it requires merely the connecting of the port 76 to the manifold system by manipulation of the valves 74, 64. The blocking valve 70, of course, remains closed during the flushing operation.
When it is desired to service, for instance, to rod the system, the coupling 69 is released and the entire block 63 removed, thus opening the rest of the system from the port 68 all the way through the supply manifold 67 and into the upstream extreme of the coupling 72. As mentioned, in most industrial applications, the rodding is particularly desirable upstream of the point where the flushing valve 74 is active in the passageways of the system.
When the rodding or other maintenance operation is finished, the reconnecting of the block 63 is a relatively easy task due to the support mount hole 82 in the block 63. Thus, the block 63 assumes the same position as it had before. As mentioned above, the ease of disassembly and assembly of the components of the system can also be utilized when other maintenance tasks are to be carried out.
The manifold system is fully rated to 6,000 psi. The replaceable seat, non rotating stem design of the valve are capable of bubble tight shutoff of 3,000 psi of nitrogen gas at 1,000° F.
There are two distinct advantages incorporated into the design of this manifold system to improve transmitter accuracy and response.
Firstly, the manifold has been designed to close couple to orifice plate taps and to be oriented horizontally. This manifold system, as noted above, has been designed to connect directly to coplanar style pressure transmitters, without the need for any intermediate adapters or connection flanges. The combination of the horizontal orientation of the manifold system and the direct connection of the pressure transmitter allows the transmitter process isolator foils to be located in very close proximity, approximately 1/2", to the axis of the horizontal orifice plate taps. This minimal distance between the tap axis and the isolator foils improves the accuracy of the transmitter readings and the response time.
Secondly, the large straight bores allow for an unimpeded straight line path for the process fluids from the orifice taps to the transmitter process isolator foils.
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the gist of the invention is in combining two manifolds into a unit such that when there is need for maintenance or cleaning, the pressure transmitter or transmitters can be removed together with the support block 11, 11a, 11b, the instrument or the manifold system serviced and the support manifold then placed back in operation after rodding of both manifolds, without the need of time consuming realignment of the elements and without the danger or damage to the pressure transmitter upon removal of same from the five valve manifold, as it is required in prior art.
The embodiments of the invention described above can be modified to a greater or lesser degree without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, I wish to protect by Letters Patent which may issue on this application all such embodiments as fairly fall within the scope of my contribution to the art.
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A supply manifold (10) and a transmitter supporting block (11, 11a, 11b) are combined into a pressure transmitter supporting modular unit such that when maintenance or cleaning of the system is to be carried out, the pressure transmitter or transmitters can be removed together with the supporting block (11, 11a, 11b) to keep inlet section of the transmitter(s) protected from mechanical impacts or the like. The supporting block with the transmitter(s) can then be placed back after the servicing, rodding or the like of the system, without the need for time consuming realignment of the elements and without the danger of damaging the pressure transmitter as mentioned above. Three different embodiments of the supporting block (11, 11a, 11b) are described for use in the modular unit of the invention.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present patent application claims the benefits of priority of Canadian Patent Application No. 2,559,471, filed on Aug. 31, 2007, at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and entitled: “Underground communication network system for personal tracking and HVAC control”.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the field of wireless telecommunication networks. The invention more particularly concerns Tracking of and Communication with Mobile Terminals using a Battery-Powered Wireless Network Infrastructure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
With the advent of the Internet and the ever increasing miniaturization and integration of electronic circuits, new possibilities have begun to emerge in the field of data communication networks.
Several applications, such as industrial automation and monitoring, localization of personal and assets, and defense and security management, have specific requirements that cannot be met with wired networks or existing wireless networks.
In order to provide a solution for these types of applications, significant new research has been conducted in the past ten years to develop new and more efficient wireless network systems and protocols.
This research has resulted in the appearance of a plethora of proprietary and non-proprietary wireless networking technologies. Some, such as WLAN (IEEE 802.11), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), ZigBee (IEEE 802.15) and the upcoming SP100 protocol are standard non-proprietary wireless networking protocols. Standard networking technologies generally involve trade-offs between numerous competing issues (scalability, topology, energy consumption, range, frequency, etc.). They are therefore difficult to adequately tailor to the specific needs of particular applications. This invention, in contrast, does not operate on a standard and can be tailored with a high degree of specificity to particular applications. This invention is also different from other proprietary network protocols, such as the TSMP from Dust Networks and the SensiNet® from Sensicast, two other non-standard wireless networking protocols.
Beacon-based networks have been implemented in some cases. While these networks have facilitated some useful advances, they either only operate in star configurations or consume too much energy to be battery-powered. Many applications mandate a mesh network that is highly scalable, in terms of the maximum number of hops and node density for which the network remains reliable. Many applications also require a network connection time in the order of seconds. Mesh network techniques that rely on central synchronization cannot meet these demands.
Ad hoc communication in mesh networks usually implies local allocation of communication resources without a central host. Low energy consumption must prevail in allocating these resources.
Real-time tracking of mobile terminals in underground or confined environments (e.g. underground mines, navy vessels) is challenging because: (1) Mobile terminals cannot receive satellite or cellular signals from Wide Area Networks (WAN) [e.g. GPS does not work]; (2) Deploying Local Area Network (LAN) infrastructure is prohibitively expensive, operationally impractical and/or unreliable because (a) RF signal propagation is non-line-of-sight and confined to tunnels, corridors or rooms with waveguide constraints; (b) Power outlets are scarce and installing additional power wiring, connectors and adapters is a tedious undertaking; (c) Many sites are in remote areas and/or in developing countries where skilled labor for installation and maintenance of telecom networks are in short supply; (d) Wiring is prone to damage.
From the foregoing, it appears that there is a need for a novel wireless network technology which obviates the above-mentioned drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of reducing energy consumption of network infrastructure nodes in a wireless network, the method comprising:
a) turning a transmitter and a receiver of the network infrastructure node to a power-off state;
b) powering-on the transmitter of the network infrastructure node for a limited transmission time frame;
c) during the transmission time frame, transmitting a beacon message comprising an identifier of the network infrastructure node, channel characteristics of the network infrastructure node and a powering-on schedule of the receiver of the network infrastructure node, for allowing mobile terminal nodes in the network to communicate with the network infrastructure node, where the mobile terminal nodes are almost continuously in a power-on state;
d) powering-on the receiver of the network infrastructure node during a limited reception time frame in accordance with the schedule, for enabling the receiver to receive messages transmitted by the mobile terminal nodes in the network if required;
e) repeating steps a) to d) periodically.
As a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a network infrastructure node in a wireless network comprising:
a transmitter;
a receiver;
a processing unit configured to turn a transmitter and a receiver of the network infrastructure node to a power-off state, to power-on the transmitter of the network infrastructure node for a limited transmission time frame, to transmit, during the transmission time frame, a beacon message comprising an identifier of the network infrastructure node, channel characteristics of the network infrastructure node and a powering-on schedule of the receiver of the network infrastructure node for allowing mobile terminal nodes in the network to communicate with the network infrastructure node, and to power-on the receiver of the network infrastructure node during a limited reception time frame in accordance with the schedule for enabling the receiver to receive messages transmitted by mobile terminal nodes in the network if required.
As another aspect of the invention, there is provided a wireless network comprising a plurality of mobile terminal nodes and a plurality of network infrastructure nodes, where network infrastructure nodes are configured to be continuously in a power-off state except during prescheduled reception and transmission time frames, and where mobile terminal nodes are configured to be almost continuously in a power-on state, where the mobile terminal nodes and network infrastructure nodes exchange messages therebetween in order for each mobile terminal node to be connected to one network infrastructure node in the network.
As another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling at least one processor to perform a method of reducing energy consumption in network infrastructure node in a wireless network, the method comprising:
a) turning a transmitter and a receiver of the network infrastructure node to a power-off state;
b) powering-on the transmitter of the network infrastructure node for a limited transmission time frame;
c) during the transmission time frame, transmitting a beacon message comprising an identifier of the network infrastructure node, channel characteristics of the network infrastructure node and a powering-on schedule of the receiver of the network infrastructure node, for allowing mobile terminal nodes in the network to communicate with the network infrastructure node, where the mobile terminal nodes are almost continuously in a power-on state;
d) powering-on the receiver of the network infrastructure node during a limited reception time frame in accordance with the schedule, for enabling the receiver to receive messages transmitted by the mobile terminal nodes in the network if required;
e) repeating steps a) to d) periodically.
Preferably, the wireless network comprises a tracking wireless network.
Preferably, the network infrastructure nodes and the mobile terminal nodes are battery-powered.
Preferably, the wireless network comprises an ad-hoc, multi-node wireless network.
Preferably, the wireless network comprises a wireless sensor network.
As a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of increasing probability of detection of rapidly moving clusters of mobile terminal nodes in a wireless network, the method comprising:
organizing nodes in the wireless network into a hierarchy of tiers comprising:
a first tier comprising a plurality of personal mobile terminal nodes;
a second tier comprising at least one vehicle hybrid infrastructure-mobile node; and
a third tier comprising at least one network infrastructure node;
wherein the plurality of personal mobile terminal nodes connect to a nearest vehicle hybrid infrastructure-mobile node among the at least one vehicle hybrid infrastructure-mobile node, and each one of the at least one vehicle hybrid infrastructure-mobile node connect to a nearest network infrastructure node among the at least one network infrastructure node;
exchanging data messages between the nearest vehicle hybrid infrastructure-mobile node and the nearest network infrastructure node, where the messages comprise data in association with the plurality of personal mobile terminal nodes.
Preferably, the wireless network is a batter-powered mesh network.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the communication protocol between network infrastructure nodes and mobile terminal nodes viewed from the network infrastructure node perspective.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the communication protocol between network infrastructure nodes and mobile terminal nodes viewed from the mobile terminal node perspective.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Novel methods, devices and systems for Tracking of and Communication with Mobile Terminals using a Battery-Powered Wireless Network Infrastructure will be described hereinafter. Although the invention is described in terms of specific illustrative embodiments, it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited thereby.
Being directed to a network technology comprising different aspects, these different aspects shall now be described separately.
The system and method of the present invention are most preferably embodied in a wireless network system and are generally most advantageously applied to networks requiring low energy consumption such as sensor networks. However, the system and method of the present invention may be applied to other fields such as, but not limited to, personal, vehicle and asset tracking and mobile communications in underground mines, navy vessels, and military persistent surveillance field deployments; the present invention is not so limited.
The network system of the present invention generally consists of a plurality of substantially structurally identical wireless network infrastructure nodes and mobile terminal nodes. Identical nodes enable more efficient network deployment because any node can be installed at any location without affecting network functioning. Moreover, malfunctioning or damaged nodes can be replaced easily and on short notice.
In one embodiment of the invention, communication occurs between a network infrastructure node and a mobile terminal node. Each network infrastructure node has its own time and frequency synchronization.
A major distinction of the present invention with respect to the prior art is that a node is not provided with multiple antennas and transceivers. Each node of the present invention is provided with a single antenna and a single transceiver. The ability to be synchronized with more than one clock and with more than one frequency hopping sequence is provided by the proprietary software embedded in each wireless node.
Compared to previous art, all the roles in this embodiment have routing capabilities regardless of how frequently they transmit beacons. The role of each node in the network will adapt according to the local radio-frequency (“RF”) environment, node density, throughput requirements, energy consumption, and required routing. Beacon transmission is globally reduced to a minimum in this embodiment of a beacon-based mesh network.
The process is enabled by the transmission of beacons by the network infrastructure nodes. The mobile terminal nodes receive the different beacons and connect to the closest network infrastructure node.
As a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of energy management of network infrastructure nodes in a wireless network.
According to the preferred embodiment, the wireless network consists of an ad hoc battery-powered mesh network mounted in an underground area such as mines or in a confined area such as navy vessels. Since physical access to such areas is most of the time very difficult and cable installation is sometimes impossible, there is a need for a wireless network that would be battery-powered and that would minimize human intervention. The human intervention is minimized if the network is self healing and if the power battery of the network infrastructure nodes can last the longest time possible.
The first purpose of the conceived wireless network in accordance with the preferred embodiment is to track personnel and machinery inside underground mines.
Network infrastructure nodes are mounted in different zones of the underground mine or navy vessel in order to track presence of personal and machinery. Personal and machinery are tagged with battery-powered or machine-powered mobile terminal nodes which continuously communicate with the nearest network infrastructure node. The process of communication between the mobile terminal node and network infrastructure node is a novel aspect of the present invention, since it is conceived to minimize energy consumption of the network infrastructure node.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the communication protocol between mobile terminal nodes and network infrastructure nodes can be described as follows:
Activities of the Network Infrastructure Node (see FIG. 1 ):
The NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE IS IN DEEP SLEEP MODE (at 102 ) EXCEPT WHEN EXECUTING THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES (at 104 and following):
1-PERIODIC TRANSMISSION OF BEACON (at 106 ):
NODE ID (UNIQUE FOR EACH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE)
CHANNEL PARAMETERS (UNIQUE FOR EACH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE)
NEXT TIME SLOT WHEN THE RECEIVER IS ON FOR RANDOM ACCESS TO INITIATE CONNECTION (UNIQUE FOR EACH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE)
ON-DEMAND ALLOCATION OF TIME SLOTS TO SPECIFIC MOBILE TERMINAL NODES FOR BI-DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS (I.E. CSMA IS NOT USED ONCE A CONNECTION IS ESTABLISHED)
BACKHAUL NETWORKING OPTION ON/OFF
TRACKING CAPABILITY OPTION ON/OFF
SIZE OF TRACKING CELL/ZONE (E.G. SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE)
Example:
A beacon is sent once per frame in a pre-defined time slot. A frame is a collection of 50 pre-defined time slots, each lasting 13 ms. The time the beacon is transmitted defines the time synchronization for that network infrastructure node.
Message is 64 bits:
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (MSG_BEACON =0)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 52 ]: Frequency Hopping Random Seed
Bits [ 53 - 56 ]: Beacon Time Offset
Bits [ 57 - 58 ]: Tracking Node Type (Tracking OFF (0), Tracking ON with small (1), medium (2), large coverage areas (3))
Bits [ 59 ]: Backhaul communication ON/OFF
Bits [ 60 - 63 ]: Reserved for other services
The frequency hopping random seed is unique per network infrastructure node. It defines the channel that will be used for communication for each time slot.
2-PERMANENT CONNECTIONS WITH NEIGHBORING NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODES FOR BACKHAUL COMMUNICATIONS TO CENTRAL SERVER (USING PRIOR ART LOW POWER STAR OR MESH NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES)
3-RECEPTION OF 1) CONNECTION AND 2) REQUEST_FOR_COMMUNICATION_TIMESLOTS MESSAGES(*) FROM MOBILE TERMINAL NODES ON RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL (at 108 and 110 )
Example:
Reception of connection message must be received within 1 ms of beginning of allocated time slot.
The connection message has 64 bits.
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (MSG_CONNECTION =1)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Mobile Terminal Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 36 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 37 - 41 ]: Device Type (MOBILE_WITH_TRACKING (0), MOBILE_WITHOUT_TRACKING(1), LEAF (2), ROUTER (3))
Bits [ 42 - 49 ]: Application bits (for example, engine and ignition state)
Bits [ 50 - 53 ]: Tracking error function for server-level intelligence
Bits [ 54 - 63 ]: Reserved
The Request for communication time slots message has 64 bits:
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (REQUEST_FOR_COMMUNICATION_TIME_SLOTS =2)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Mobile Terminal Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 36 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 37 - 52 ]: Number of requested time slots
The mobile terminal node requests for time slot when it needs to send a message to the network infrastructure node.
4-ON-DEMAND CONNECTION WITH MOBILE TERMINAL NODES FOR TWO-WAY COMMUNICATIONS (E.G. PERIODIC HEARTBEAT, SENSOR DATA, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS)
Example:
When the network infrastructure node receives a connection attempt from a mobile terminal node (at 112 ), it registers the node (at 114 ). If the node is of type MOBILE_WITH_TRACKING (at 116 ), it will guarantee the transmission of the tracking message to the server (at 118 ). From then on, the network infrastructure node will allocate specific time slots for communication as requested by the mobile terminal node or needed by it.
When the mobile terminal node requests for communication time slots (at 120 ), the network infrastructure node sends an allocation message in another pre-defined time slot which defines the communication time slots (at 122 ), in which the mobile terminal node may send information (at 124 ).
When the network infrastructure node wants to send a message, it sends an allocation message which specifies the time slot of communication.
5-EVENT-DRIVEN TRANSMISSION OF MOBILE TERMINAL NODE CONNECT/DISCONNECT MESSAGE(**) (BASED ON PRESENCE/ABSENCE OF PERIODIC MOBILE TERMINAL NODE HEARTBEAT) TO CENTRAL SERVER
Example:
The mobile terminal node sends a heartbeat every minute to the network infrastructure node. If 3 are not received in a row (at 126 and 128 ), it is considered not connected. At that point, a disconnection message is sent to the server (at 130 ) with a time stamp.
Hardware options of the Network Infrastructure Nodes:
Hardware Component options:
Low Power Microcontroller options: Texas Instrument MSP430F1612, Jennic JN5139
Low Power Transceiver options: Semtech XE1203, Chipcon CC2420
Primary Battery options: Tadiran lithium thionyl chloride primary batteries
Energy Harvesting options: Nanosolar solar cells combined with a lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Integrated Hardware Platform Option #1: All processes mentioned hereinabove related to the communications with network infrastructure nodes are implemented using the same microcontroller and transceiver. Power is supplied by a primary battery or an energy harvesting mechanism.
Integrated Hardware Platform Option #2: All processes mentioned hereinabove related to communications with mobile terminal nodes are implemented on one microcontroller/transceiver pair, and all processes related to backhaul communications to a central server are implemented on a 2nd microcontroller/transceiver pair. Communications between processes on two microcontrollers is done via SPI, UART or RS-232. Power is supplied by a primary battery or an energy harvesting mechanism.
Activities of the Mobile Terminal Nodes(see FIG. 2 ):
MOBILE TERMINAL NODE EXECUTES THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES:
1-CONTINUOUSLY LISTENS FOR NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE BEACONS (at 202 and 204 )
Example:
Use 8 different beacon frequencies that are common for all network infrastructure nodes. These frequencies are connection frequencies. The mobile terminal node listens to one of them at a time for a duration that is equal to the period of these connection frequencies. For instance, the period could be is 19 frames with 50 time slots of 13 ms=12.350 seconds.
2-USES THE BEACON TO EVALUATE THE RSSI, TOF OR OTHER RF LINK PARAMETERS WITH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODES WHICH HAVE TRACKING ON
Example:
The mobile terminal node measures the RSSI of the network infrastructure nodes around it. If one of them has not been evaluated recently and its RSSI is stronger than a threshold or is the strongest, it will decide to connection to it for further evaluation.
3-ATTEMPTS TO DETERMINE THE NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE BY CONSIDERING INSTANTANEOUS AND/OR HISTORICAL RF LINK DATA (WHICH HAS TRACKING ON AND WHOSE RF LINK PARAMETERS MEET THE RF SIGNAL STRENGTH OR TIME OF FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED IN ITS BEACON) (at 206 )
Example:
The mobile terminal node will make further evaluation of the network infrastructure node while monitoring the other network infrastructure nodes around it. If the RSSI signature meets the requirements of a network infrastructure node that is the closest, it will decide to connect to it (at 208 , 210 and 212 ).
4-TRANSMITS 1) CONNECTION OR 2) REQUEST_FOR_COMMUNICATION MESSAGES (*) ON THE RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL OF THE SELECTED NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE (PREFERABLY) OR ANY OTHER NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE WITH:
CONNECTION MESSAGE:
MOBILE TERMINAL NODE ID
NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE ID
NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE ESTIMATION ERROR FUNCTION PARAMETERS
SHORT APPLICATION PAYLOAD (OPTIONAL, FOR INSTANCE MESSAGE (**))
REQUEST FOR COMMUNICATION TIME SLOT MESSAGE:
MOBILE TERMINAL NODE ID
NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE ID
NUMBER OF REQUESTED TIME SLOTS
Example:
While it is connected to it, it will monitor its RSSI signature in order to determine if it is going out of range of the coverage area which defined by the Tracking Node Type. If it does, it will attempt to send a disconnection message. Then it will go back to step 1.
The connection message has 64 bits.
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (MSG_CONNECTION =1)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Mobile Terminal Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 36 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 37 - 41 ]: Device Type (MOBILE_WITH_TRACKING (0), MOBILE_WITHOUT_TRACKING (1), LEAF (2), ROUTER (3))
Bits [ 42 - 49 ]: Application bits (for example, engine and ignition state)
Bits [ 50 - 53 ]: Tracking error function for server-level intelligence
Bits [ 54 - 63 ]: Reserved
The Request for communication time slots message has 64 bits:
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (REQUEST_FOR_COMMUNICATION_TIME_SLOTS =2)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Mobile Terminal Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 36 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 37 - 52 ]: Number of requested time slots
5-ESTABLISHES TWO-WAY CONNECTION WITH THE SELECTED NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE (PREFERABLY) (at 216 ) OR ANY OTHER NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE AND EXCHANGES PERIODIC HEARTBEAT (at 220 )
Example:
The connection is done with the connection message as in 4.
Definition of how communication are requested is done in the infrastructure section. Here's a repetition:
The Request for communication time slots message has 64 bits:
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (REQUEST_FOR_COMMUNICATION_TIME_SLOTS =2)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Mobile Terminal Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 36 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 37 - 52 ]: Number of requested time slots
The mobile requests for time slot when it needs to send a message to the network infrastructure node (at 218 ).
When the mobile terminal node requests for communication time slots, the network infrastructure node sends an allocation message in another pre-defined time slot which defines the communication time slots, in which the mobile terminal node may send information.
When the network infrastructure node wants to send a message, it sends an allocation message which specifies the time slot of communication.
6-NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GUARANTEED DELIVERY OF THE MOBILE TERMINAL NODE MESSAGES TO THE CENTRAL SERVER
Example:
The network infrastructure node will send through the backhaul a tracking message of 128 bits.
Bits [ 0 - 4 ]: Msg Type (APPLICATION_PAYLOAD =3)
Bits [ 5 - 20 ]: Network Infrastructure Node ID
Bits [ 21 - 36 ]: Target ID (in this case SERVER_ID)
Bits [ 37 - 47 ]: Reserved
Bits [ 48 - 55 ]: Application Msg Type (TRACKING =0)
Bits [ 56 - 71 ]: Mobile ID
Bits [ 72 - 103 ] Time of Occurrence
Bits [ 104 - 111 ]: Tracking Error function parameters
Bits [ 112 - 127 ]: Reserved
An acknowledgement will be received from the server if it was received.
Hardware options of the Mobile Terminal Nodes:
Hardware components options:
Low Power Microcontroller options: Texas Instrument MSP430F1612, Jennic JN5139
Low Power Transceiver options: Semtech XE1203, Chipcon CC2420
Primary Battery options: Tadiran lithium thionyl chloride primary batteries
Energy Harvesting options: Nanosolar solar cells combined with a lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Rechargeable Battery options: Lithium-ion battery recharged frequently as part of normal operations (e.g. miner cap lamp, first responder mobile terminal)
Line power options: Vehicle or machinery power bus
Hardware Platform Option #1: All processes mentioned hereinabove related to the mobile terminal nodes are implemented using the same microcontroller and transceiver. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery, line power, a primary battery or an energy harvesting mechanism.
From a higher level abstract, the activities of the mobile terminal node and network infrastructure node can be illustrated as follow:
1. Network infrastructure node in deep sleep mode periodically wakes up to send a synchronization message every X seconds;
2. Mobile terminal node is able to determine the nearest network infrastructure node by listening to the synchronization messages of network infrastructure nodes:
a. In the preferred embodiment based on Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), the mobile terminal node measures the Received Signal Strength (RSSI) by listening to the synchronization message.
b. In an alternative embodiment based on Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS), the mobile terminal node measure Round-Trip Time-Of-Flight (RTTOF) by listening to the synchronization message.
3. Mobile terminal node listens until it captures the synchronization message required to initiate bi-directional communications with the network infrastructure node:
a. In the preferred embodiment based on FHSS, the synchronization message has the random seed of the communication channels (i.e. frequencies and time slots). Its time of reception gives the asynchronous time base of the network infrastructure node.
4. In order to maximize its sleep time, the network infrastructure node allocates specific time slots for communications with the mobile terminal node. One time slot is always allocated for tracking messages. This time slot will be referred to as the “random-access time slot”:
a. In the preferred embodiment based on FHSS, the network infrastructure node allocates both frequency channels and time slots for communications
5. After interpreting the RSSI and/or RTTOF measurements, the mobile terminal node decides whether to send a tracking message to the network infrastructure node in the random-access time slot.
a. In the preferred embodiment, the interpretation is made with a log of previous RSSI measurements, which can be made at different frequencies or channels, from surrounding network infrastructure nodes. The tracking message contains the time of occurrence of tracking, the network address of the mobile terminal node and qualitative RSSI information.
6. Network infrastructure node forwards the tracking message to the battery-powered wireless mesh network router for transmission to a central server.
As a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method to increase probability of detection of rapidly moving clusters of mobile terminal nodes in a battery-powered mesh network.
Hybrid infrastructure mobile terminal node on vehicle to track clusters of mobile terminal nodes moving at high speed:
NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE “PART/PORTION” EXECUTES THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES:
1B-PERIODIC TRANSMISSION OF BEACON:
NODE ID (UNIQUE FOR EACH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE)
CHANNEL PARAMETERS (UNIQUE FOR EACH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE)
NEXT TIME SLOT WHEN THE RECEIVER IS ON FOR RANDOM ACCESS TO INITIATE CONNECTION (UNIQUE FOR EACH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE)
ON-DEMAND ALLOCATION OF TIME SLOTS TO SPECIFIC MOBILE TERMINAL NODES FOR BI-DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
BACKHAUL NETWORKING OPTION ON/OFF
TRACKING CAPABILITY OPTION ON/OFF
RF SIGNAL STRENGTH OR TIME OF FLIGHT DEFINING SIZE OF TRACKING CELL/ZONE
2B-RECEPTION OF MESSAGES(*) FROM MOBILE TERMINAL NODES ON RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL
3B-ON-DEMAND CONNECTION WITH MOBILE TERMINAL NODES FOR TWO-WAY COMMUNICATIONS (E.G. PERIODIC HEARTBEAT, SENSOR DATA, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS)
4B-EVENT-DRIVEN TRANSMISSION OF MOBILE TERMINAL NODE CONNECT/DISCONNECT MESSAGE (**) (BASED ON PRESENCE/ABSENCE OF PERIODIC MOBILE TERMINAL NODE HEARTBEAT) TO CENTRAL SERVER VIA WIRED PORT (E.G. SPI. RS-232) TO MOBILE TERMINAL NODE “PART/PORTION” OF HYBRID DEVICE
MOBILE TERMINAL NODE “PART/PORTION” EXECUTES THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES:
1B-CONTINUOUSLY LISTENS FOR NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE BEACONS
2B-USES THE BEACON TO EVALUATE THE RSSI, TOF OR OTHER RF LINK PARAMETERS WITH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODES WHICH HAVE BACKHAUL NETWORKING AND TRACKING ON
3B-SELECTS THE NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE (WHICH HAS BACKHAUL NETWORKING AND TRACKING ON AND WHOSE RF LINK PARAMETERS MEET THE MINIMUM RF THRESHOLDS SPECIFIED IN ITS BEACON)
4B-RECEPTION OF MESSAGES(**) FROM NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE “PART/PORTION” OF HYBRID DEVICE VIA WIRED PORT (E.G. SPI. RS-232)
5B-TRANSMITS MESSAGES(*)+(**) ON THE RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL OF THE SELECTED NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE (PREFERABLY) OR ANY OTHER NODENETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE WITH:
6B-ESTABLISHES TWO-WAY CONNECTION WITH THE SELECTED NEAREST NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE (PREFERABLY) OR ANY OTHER NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE NODE AND EXCHANGES PERIODIC HEARTBEAT;
Hardware options of the Hybrid Infrastructure-Mobile Nodes:
Hardware Platform Option #1: All processes in Flow Chart #3 are implemented using the same microcontroller and transceiver. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery, line power, a primary battery or an energy harvesting mechanism.
Hardware Platform Option #2: All processes related to the mobile terminal node “part/portion” are implemented on the same hardware platform as a normal mobile terminal node, and all processes related to the network infrastructure node “part/portion” are implemented on the same hardware platform as a normal network infrastructure node. Both hardware platforms are inter-connected by a wired SPI, UART or RS-232 port. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery, line power, a primary battery or an energy harvesting mechanism.
While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.
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There is provided a method of reducing energy consumption of network infrastructure nodes in a wireless network, the method comprising: (a) turning a transmitter and a receiver of the network infrastructure node to a power-off state; b) powering-on the transmitter of the network infrastructure node for a limited transmission time frame; c) during the transmission time frame, transmitting a beacon message comprising an identifier of the network infrastructure node, channel characteristics of the network infrastructure node and a powering-on schedule of the receiver of the network infrastructure node, for allowing mobile terminal nodes in the network to communicate with the network infrastructure node, where the mobile terminal nodes are almost continuously in a power-on state; d) powering-on the receiver of the network infrastructure node during a limited reception time frame in accordance with the schedule, for enabling the receiver to receive messages transmitted by the mobile terminal nodes in the network if required; e) repeating steps a) to d) periodically. There is further provided a battery-powered network infrastructure node which reduces energy consumption. There is further provided a battery-powered wireless network with an energy management for network infrastructure node. There is further provided a method of increasing probability of detection of rapidly moving clusters of mobile terminal nodes in a wireless network.
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This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/272,968, filed Jul. 11, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,801, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/959,196, filed Oct. 9, 1992, abandoned, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
This invention relates to polymer film coatings for absorbent articles and more particularly to in situ foamed polymer coatings which give an opaque, soft, dry and clean appearing water-permeable cover to absorbent products such as sanitary napkins, underpads, tampons, diapers and the top sheet construction thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Absorbent products such as sanitary napkins and the like are generally constructed to include an absorbent core located with a top or outer cover of water-permeable material. Many absorbent products contain a garment-facing barrier layer composed of a water impervious film material. The absorbent material usually also contains a body-facing cover made of woven or non-woven fabric which prevents the absorbent core from sloughing off or disintegrating during use. In recent years, many products have contained cover material made of two- or three-dimensional apertured polymeric film. These films permit fluid to flow into the absorbent core material without being absorbed into the cover fabric itself. Should fluid be absorbed in the cover fabric, the cover is aesthetically unpleasing to the wearer. The apertured polymeric film materials give the absorbent a clean and dry appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,449 (Karami) describes a disposable absorbent product having a water impervious lower layer, an absorbent pad and a top hydrophobic sheet containing surfactant to improve fluid penetration. U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,036 (Goodrum) describes an absorbent structure having a top sheet that is a liquid-permeable material formed from particles of non-dissolvable polymeric material partially fused together to form a continuous sheet.
Another example of such a clean, dry cover made with a hydrophobic material is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,457. This patent describes an absorbent facing having "one-way valve" characteristics for aqueous fluid. The one-way valve characteristics are produced by superimposing a thin polymer film and a first web comprising absorbent fibers to form a second web, heating the second web to a temperature such that the polymer is in a formable state, and simultaneously applying shearing and compressive forces to the second web to form the polymer into a coating on the first web. The coating has a fine pattern of continuous areas which lie between and interconnect discontinuous layers.
The use of polymer foams in the manufacture of absorbent products such as sanitary napkins and diapers has been heretofore known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,240 (Hoey) describes a laminate containing a crushed, polymeric foam, bonded to non-woven and absorbent layers of an absorbent article. U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,832 (DesMarais) describes flexible polyurethane foam useful as absorbent materials. U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,276 (DesMarais) describes a stable, resilient, polyester foam useful in catamenial tampons.
Thermoplastic materials such as thermoplastic particles, films or fibers have been used in making absorbent products. U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,141 (Schwaiger et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,345, U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,021 (Stima), U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,114 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,902 (Karami) are exemplary of such absorbent products.
Many women find hydrophobic apertured polymer films to be uncomfortable and irritating in comparison with fabric covers. This invention is directed to improvements in the outer surface coatings which contact the human body and may be applied directly to the absorbent core or to woven or non-woven fabrics covering the absorbent core.
Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/684,629 relates to a process for making a low cost absorbent pad through the use of low cost manufacturing techniques including a continuous production technique in which all necessary raw material components are incorporated in a stepwise fashion and are bound together in a unitary design not employing adhesive. During the course of this method, a polymer cover formulation is applied in a pattern to a nonwoven web.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, absorbent products are made with a patterned film of polymeric material which has been formed on woven or nonwoven fabric material covering a substrate of absorbent material. According to one embodiment of the method of this invention, a polymer material is deposited on the woven or nonwoven web with an etched print roll in a geometric pattern determined by the roll etching. Alternatively, a geometric pattern of polymer may be obtained by using a patterned print screen. Screen printing is especially useful in when a heavy addition of polymer is desired.
Preferably, the polymer contains one or more blowing agents which cause the polymer to expand or foam in situ to approximately 5 to 10 times the original volume of polymer prior to or during curing. The foam is then cured by crosslinking the foamed polymer into an opaque, outwardly extending, mounded, knobby, non-reticulated, repeating pattern of geometric shapes or units which are bonded to one another and to the substrate such that the vertical portion of the geometric shape extending from the substrate surface is about 5 to about 10 times the original polymer height. Curing may be accomplished by any means known to those of skill in the art. For example, radiant energy such as heat, ultraviolet light or electron beam or the like may be used.
The resulting coating has a clean appearance in use, with the upper portion of the vertical geometric shapes remaining clean and dry in a moist environment due to their hydrophobic characteristics. The pattern is designed in such a way that some areas of the substrate are free of polymer or may be coated with thin layers of hydrophilic polymer such that body fluids can pass through the cover into the absorbent core. The resulting cover maintains its clean appearance and dry feeling even after body fluids flow through it because the body fluid will be repelled by the hydrophobic polymer material. Advantageously, however, the substrate on which the hydrophobic polymer is deposited is a fabric material and more acceptable to the touch to many women.
In another embodiment of this invention is a low-cost panty shield-type product with a cover made in accordance with the foregoing process, i.e., forming the cover in situ, as well as forming a barrier layer in situ. A low cost, stabilized fibrous web can be printed with polymer material and cured. The web can then be turned over such that the printed side faces down, away from the side from which the printing roll is located, and an in situ polymer barrier layer can be extruded onto the side opposite that already printed. Prior to extruding the barrier layer, additional active elements such as superabsorbent particles or odor control agents may be incorporated into the web.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roll-over-roll etched printing station used to apply polymer to a substrate moving through the rolls to a curing station which sets or hardens the polymer.
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional plan view of the etched geometric configuration of the roll and the resulting polymer coated substrate.
FIG. 3 is a view taken above the plane 2--2 in FIG. 2 after passing through the curing station.
FIG. 4 is a view of a polymer foam coated on a substrate similar to FIG. 3, using the same printing roll shown in FIG. 2 which polymer foam is allowed to collapse somewhat during curing to fill the valley with polymer foam and completely coat the underlying substrate.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are perspective views of apparatus used in making a panty shield having a printed cover and extruded barrier.
FIG. 6 shows three preferred patterns for the polymer to be printed onto the cover of the products of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the accompanying drawings, in FIG. 1 there is a non-woven fibrous substrate 1 which is continuously passed between an etching roll 2 and support roll 5. Polymer is coated onto the etching roll surface 12 using a die or hopper (not shown) and deposited on substrate 1 as the roll turns and contacts substrate surface 6. The coated substrate surface 1 continues moving in the direction of the arrow to a curing station 4 where the polymer is cured. The curing step may be accomplished by means of radiant or thermal energy, e.g., heat, ultraviolet light, electron-beam or other means known to those of skill in the art. The possible shapes of the set geometric units of polymer at position 14 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
The polymer may, optionally, contain blowing agents, which cause the polymer to expand just before and/or during curing to develop the final foamed geometric shapes 4b and 8 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the cases in which foaming is not employed the cured polymer resembles the solid geometric shape shown in FIG. 3 as 4a. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the surface of print roll 2 at position 3 and also a plan view of a portion of the surface of the polymer 15 applied to surface 6 of substrate 1 at position 13.
Closer inspection of the Figures will indicate that the foamed and set polymer 4b of FIG. 3 and 8 of FIG. 4 has a mounded shape that is somewhat wider at the base of the pattern where the polymer contacts the substrate than at the substrate top surface 7. Top surface 7 and vertically extending side walls 8 of the cured foamed polymer in FIGS. 3 and 4 have a "knobby" surface. The "knobs" are achieved by the formation of small bubbles or foam during the outgassing stage of the curing process. The bubbles are stabilized in the curing process and the "knobby" appearance is thereby achieved. The geometrically formed units 4a, 4b and 8 are firmly adhered to each other as is shown in FIG. 2 and firmly adhered to substrate surface 6 of FIG. 1.
Turning to FIG. 3, there are open areas 9, provided for the transfer of body fluid through the substrate to a core of absorbent material. The polymeric pattern thus gives the appearance of an apertured polymeric "clean, dry" facing. However, the facing-material is a fabric, thus adding to the comfort of the wearer.
Substrate 6 may be a woven fabric or a nonwoven stabilized web of fiber, laid in a random orientation with no preformed apertures. The substrate can be hydrophilic or hydrophobic or have intermediate characteristics produced by mixing hydrophilic and hydrophobic fibers such as rayon and nylon or the like. The characteristics of the fibers may also be modified by the addition of surfactants to render the fibers more hydrophilic. A hydrophobic, apertured, non-woven web having a repeating geometric pattern of openings designed to pass fluid is useful as a substrate in the products of this invention. The substrate can also be a film if desired, or a pad of absorbent material.
The polymer should be applied to the substrate and allowed to partially or totally saturate or coat the substrate to insure a solid bond upon curing.
The polymer can be applied as a plastisol or organosol or otherwise, such as a solid, to the fiber substrate. The polymer may then be cured or foamed prior to curing. The polymer may be foamed by employing a blowing agent. The blowing agent expands and evaporates, leaving a grossly-increased volume of polymer, preferably about 5 to about 10 times the volume of unfoamed polymer.
Prior to foaming, the polymer is placed on a fabric, film or fibrous web substrate in a uniform, repeating, geometric design which on foaming and curing results in a cover material which is flexible, resistant to wear, soft to the skin and mucosa and dry to the touch in moist environments. The polymer may be applied to the substrate of means of printing, coating, etching, silk screening, or any other method known to those of skill in the art.
The polymer can be any hydrophilic or hydrophobic polymer which can be formed into a geometric design, particularly a polymer which can be foamed and solidified to produce a geometric shape having a vertical height between at least about 5 and about 10 times the height of unfoamed polymer. Most preferably, the height should be equal to or greater than the width of the area of the vertical plane 10 in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the geometric foamed polymer taken at a point one-half of the vertical height of the wall of the foamed polymer.
Referring to FIG. 5A, a low cost, stabilized, fibrous web 20, such as Scotts High Loft SPP (available from Scott Paper Company of Philadelphia, Pa.) is brought through a rotary screen printing station 25. At the printing station, the in situ cover is pattern-applied. The rotary screen is used to apply a relatively heavy amount of polymer, between about 0.4 oz./yd. to about 1.2 oz./yd. The pattern should be aesthetically pleasing (FIG. 6A), can aid in pad placement (FIG. 6B), and or can be effective in providing surface channels and reservoirs to aid in fluid management (FIG. 6C). The polymer cover is heat-cured as it passes through an infrared tunnel 30. The cured cover serves to improve the structural integrity of the web. The web is then turned over by inverting bars 35 in order to present the underlying surface, which will become the garment-facing side of the product, to be processed.
Optionally, particulate or other types of materials may be added to the now-exposed side of the web at this point in the process. As depicted in FIG. 5A, particulate material, such as superabsorbent, may be added to the web using a hopper 40 or any other apparatus known to those of skill in the art.
Referring now to FIG. 5B, the in situ barrier may be applied by direct extrusion 45 onto the web. The extruder delivers a hydrophobic barrier such as polyethylene directly to the surface of the web. The barrier material should be compatible with the material in the web in order to insure that the barrier and web are adequately adhered to one another. After extrusion onto the web, the barrier may be "texturized" or imparted with a pattern in order to reduce plastic noise and feel. The barrier may also be cured, if necessary.
A placement adhesive may be placed on the barrier using a roll print process 50 which distributes the adhesive in a controlled pattern. The printed adhesive may then be cross-linked and cured using an ultraviolet curing unit 55. Release paper such as silicone-coated Kraft paper is then applied to the bare adhesive in order to protect the adhesive from dust and dirt. The product can then be die cut at a die cutting station 60.
The polymer used for the printed cover can be a flexible, preferably white, polyurethane foam obtained by reacting an aliphatic diisocyanate and polyether polyol with an admixture of polyfunctional, crosslinking agents, stannous octoate catalyst, inorganic hydroxide strong base catalyst and water such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,832, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, or a resilient polyester foam material such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,110,276, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, prepared by reacting an acyl halide, polyol and polyhydroxy crosslinking agents in the presence of an alkali metal carbonate to prepare a flexible, resilient foam. The coating may, alternatively, be a polyester foam as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,043, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, or foamed latex or other monomers, polymers and terpolymers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,240, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Any foamable plastic polymer-which forms a flexible open celled or closed celled foam may be employed in the products and process of this invention. For example, latex foams are most preferable, however other foams such as polyvinyl chloride foams, polystyrene foams, crosslinked polyethylene foams, polypropylene foams, polyurethane foams, polypropylene foams, polyurethane foams, acrylic and methacrylic polymer foams or foamed rubber may be employed. While the foam can be formed by preparing a gasified monomer before curing it is much preferred to employ monomer compatible blowing agents known to those of skill in the art such as air, carbon dioxide, volatile alkanes such a 2-methyl propane, volatile halo alkanes such as methyl chloride, dichloromethane and the like, volatile alcohols and ethers and various halocarbons including fluorocarbons.
Preferably the process of this invention entails forming the polymer of choice into a fluid polymer phase and bringing that fluid polymer phase to a low density cellular state. This low density cellular state should be preserved by setting the polymer into a flexible, resilient, soft, foamed coating. This is accomplished by creating small discontinuities or cells in the plastic phase, causing the cells to grow to the desired five fold or preferably ten fold increase in volume from unfoamed polymer. The cellular structure should then be stabilized by physical or chemical means. Preferably, the pressure inside the cell that causes the polymer to foam is generated by the blowing agent dispersed or dissolved in the polymer mixture. For example, a fluorocarbon blowing agent can be uniformly dispersed in the polymer. Heating this mixture causes a rapid and controllable expansion of the polymer mixture. Similar expansion can be obtained by reacting compounds in the deposited polymer during curing, to cause evolutions of a gas such as carbon dioxide which causes the polymer to expand. The expanded polymer is then set or solidified by heat or other known means.
Alternatively, the foamable composition may be deposited on the substrate under pressure from a die or an extruder and thereafter expanded at atmospheric or reduced pressure.
Polyethylene and polypropylene foams can be prepared by crosslinking the polyethylene chemically using peroxides or by radiation which is preferred using an electron gun or other means. The expanded polyethylene foam is prepared by mixing polyethylene, a chemical blowing agent and optionally a crosslinking agent at low or medium temperature, shaping the polymer by applying it to the substrate using an engraving, screen or other known depositing process, chemically treating or radiating to polymer to crosslink the polymer and heating the polymer and heating the polymer to expand. The polymer is then cooled to form a solid foamed coating. Polyurethane foams can be prepared from a polyfunctional isocyanate and a hydroxyl-containing polymer along with a catalyst and blowing agent as a halocarbon.
Polystyrene foams can be produced by decompression of polymer as it leaves a die, which is used to coat the engraving roll or silk screen. The engraving roll or silk screen then prints the polymer onto the substrate.
Latex rubber foams can be made by dispersing a gas or solid in a liquid phase, stabilizing the liquid polymer phase and subsequently treating the polymer after its application to the fiber substrate by heat. The heat then causes the gas to expand the rubber to cure. Expanded acrylonitride-butadiene rubber, expanded butyl rubber, expanded natural rubber, expanded neoprene, expanded latex foam, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride and silicon foams and compatible mixtures thereof, are all useful in forming the geometric foamed coating of this invention.
Most preferably, the polymer material useful in the products of this invention is polyvinyl chloride. Most preferably, it is combined with various plasticizers known to those of skill in the art to form a plastisol. This plastisol is combined further with blowing agents, such as nitrogen or another inert gas and encapsulated carbon dioxide to form a foaming composition. The plastisol is then applied to an etched printing roll which in turn applied the plastisol to a nonwoven substrate made of staple synthetic or natural fibers and/or stabilized paper pulp fibers. The substrate moves under a curing station which directs heat at the plastisol-coated substrate in order to cure the polymer and cause it to foam. The curing temperature and curing time is dependent upon the formulation of the plastisol as well as upon the heat source used during the cure. Using the preferable composition of polyvinyl chloride in a plastisol composition, the formulation should be cured at a temperature of from about 300° F. to about 475° F. for a time period of between about 15 and about 45 seconds.
In one preferred embodiment of the process and products of this invention, a fibrous web material such as Scotts High Loft SPP is brought through a printing station. This web is preferably made up of various blends containing thermoplastic fibers such as Enka bicomponent fiber having a polyester core and a polyethylene sheath, and Dupont Pulplus®, a polyethylene microfiber available from E. I. dupont de Nemours of Wilmington, Del. A preferred plastisol cover formulation contains 50% by weight polyvinyl chloride resin, such as Geon® 180×5 available from B. F. Goodrich and 50% plasticizer such as butyl benzyl phthalate, such as Santicizer 160, available from Monsanto Corporation of St. Louis, Mo. This plastisol cover formulation should be applied to the web in amounts between about 0.4 and about 1.2 ounces/yd 2 .
The polymer film or foam covers of this invention are particularly useful for their appearance and comfort. Not only are the coatings soft, flexible and compressive, they offer a clean, fresh appearance and provide an easy means of controlling moisture transfer to the absorbent areas of diapers, sanitary napkins, tampons and the like. The flexible and compressive urethanes, vinyl, latex, foam rubber and olefin foams are particularly useful for comfort and cushioning.
The film or foam coating of this invention can be whitened to improve its appearance and enhance its stain-masking characteristics by incorporating in the polymer mix prior to transfer to the substrate, various pigments such as clays, calcium carbonate, talc, titanium dioxide and the like. The addition of white pigment is particularly useful for the absorbent articles of this invention in improving the appearance, both before and after use, of the article. The coated foamed surface of the absorbent article has a clean, white appearance which is very desirable and is a preferred embodiment of the products of this invention.
The surface geometry of this invention is controlled by the plastisol or foamed plastisol while the white appearance is due to the high opacity of the foamed polymer and preferably by the addition of white pigment. The foamed plastisol allows the formation of an infinitely variable variety of designs of porous film in situ on fiber substrates. The degree of moisture penetration is easily controlled by the geometric design, the hydrophobic-hydrophilic characteristics of the foam and by the physical properties of the polymer as its is expanded and then cured. Less sharply defined, geometric patterns are also possible to create by modifying the polymer viscosity or cure time. This causes the sharply defined printed shape to slump. The shape can then cover all or a portion of the underlying substrate.
A particular advantage of the foamed in situ process of this invention, however, is to produce rather sharply defined geometric designs of white surfaces which have high vertical walls extending from the fabric substrate which insures that the upper surface of such walls remains dry while fluid is passed through uncovered or lightly covered areas of the substrate in the valleys between the vertical walls of the geometric design and then into the absorbent core.
The in situ foam covers of this invention are an extremely cost effective way of manufacturing foam covered absorbent products. The foamed geometric design increases the cover's working surface and allows further control of the cover's absorption properties as well as improving the appearance of the surface. The foamed polymer film also forms surface channels, which encourage vertical fluid penetration into the absorbent core of pads. This maintains dry upper surfaces and discourages side failures.
The foam cover of this invention is also an excellent method by which to combine a cover film and absorbent fiber in a hybrid structure. The method of this invention strengthens the fiber web by coating the surface fibers and interstices with film or foam. Fiber substrate interstices therefore do not trap fluids and become stained. The open fiber portions in the valleys created by the pattern pass fluid to the absorbent core while the vertical walls of the foam hide any staining in the valley. The cover, once hybridized with a foamed film, becomes more structurally stable and resists bunching of the surface cover. The foamed cover retains its cured appearance during and after use.
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This invention relates to polymer film or foam coatings for the covers of absorbent articles. More particularly, this invention relates to absorbent products and processes for making in situ foamed polymer coatings which give an opaque, soft, dry and clean-appearing water-permeable cover to absorbent products such as sanitary napkins, diapers and the like.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a linear-motion wiper structure and more particularly to one which can wipe in a linear reciprocating motion by a transmission mechanism possessing both horizontal and vertical displacement function.
Conventional wipers, which can be applied to the bus, truck or car, generally are arranged to wipe in an angular harmonic motion, however the wiping effect thus achieved is limited within a sectoral zone so that such wipers fail to provide an adequately clear vision for users who drive in a heavy storm or in a dusty area.
Further, since the conventional rubber blade of a wiper is arranged to wipe in an angular harmonic motion with different displacement between both ends of the wiper, the torque applied to each point of said rubber blade is different such that the contact surface between the rubber blade and the windshield will be corrugated and this results in a poor wiping effect and causes an undesirable noise. The aforesaid disadvantages will adversely affect the users' mood and thus reduce the driving security.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a linear-motion wiper structure which can provide a clear vision for the users when driving in the rain so as to increase the driving security.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a linear-motion wiper structure which adapts to different windshields, and the blade of the wiper structure can wipe in a horizontal reciprocating motion on the windshield so as to provide an excellent vision for users.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a linear-motion wiper structure which can cooperate with a conventional power supply to drive the blade of the wiper structure so as to provide a more practical application.
The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wiper structure associated with a car according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of a transmission mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FEG. 3 is a side view of the transmission mechanism as shown in FIG. 2;
FIGS. 4 to 6 are the schematic views thereof respectively showing the motion of the blade structure;
FIGS. 7 to 9 are the schematic views thereof respectively illustrating the retractation and stretch of the ARM2 structure as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6; and
FIGS. 10 to 13 are the schematic views thereof respectively illustrating the motion of the ARM2 structure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1 TO 3, a linear-motion wiper structure is arranged to wipe on the windshield 10 of a car in a linear reciprocating motion so as to completely clear said windshield and leave no uncleared portions when driving in the rain to increase their driving security.
The wiper structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a blade 1, an arm 2, a vertical transmission mechanism 3 and a horizontal transmission mechanism 4. The blade 1 is provided about its center with a pair of upper and lower pivots 11.
The arm 2 is a multistage hydraulic cylinder of which a piston 21 is pivotally connected at one end to said lower pivot 11. The piston 21 of the arm 2 is provided with a sliding groove 22 in which a tongue 23 is properly disposed. One end of said tongue 23 is connected to a stop 24 and the other end thereof is pivotally connected to said upper pivot 11 whereby the blade 1, when driven by said piston 21, will wipe on the windshield in a linear reciprocating motion with the aid of the stopping function furnished by the stop 24 associated with the sliding groove 22, in spite that the piston 21 either intersects the blade 1 at an angle or coincides with said blade 1. However, it should be noted that only when the arm 2 is coincident with the tongue 23 the stop 24 can move along the groove 22 upwards or downwards. The tongue 23 will not move up and down along said sliding groove 22 until said arm 2 rotates to a position perpendicular to said tongue 23 so as to prevent the blade angle from being changed in advance. The sliding groove 22 of the arm 2 is used to limit the angle variation of the tongue 23, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, to keep the blade 1 either in a vertical state or within a predetermined angle range. The arm 2 further is provided with a supporting point 25 and a supporting arm 26 extending from said supporting point.
The sliding vertical transmission mechanism 3 comprises a motor (not shown) which is arranged to drive a gear 31 which, in turn, drives a vertical sliding gear rack 32 which can move up and down along the sliding groove.
The vertical sliding gear rack 32 is mounted on a sliding plate 35 which can move left and right. The vertical sliding gear rack 32 further drives a link 33 to make said link 33 synchronously move with said sliding gear rack 32 in a vertical direction. Each end of the link 33 is secured to the supporting point 25 of each arm 2 whereby as the link 33 moves up and down, the arm 2 will move up and down accordingly. When the sliding gear rack 32 moves downward and reaches the lower limit, the gear 31 happens to contact with the non-tooth portion (34) of said sliding gear rack 32, and moves the sliding plate 35 so that the gear 31 again contacts the other side of said sliding gear rack 32 to achieve the purpose of reversing direction. Then, the sliding gear rack 32 can change the moving direction to move upward. When the sliding gear rack 32 reaches the upper limit, said sliding gear rack can, in a similar manner, reverse its moving direction to again move downward. Such procedure will repeat during the normal operating period.
The horizontal transmission mechanism 4 comprises a gear 41 which is arranged to be driven by the same motor used for said vertical transmission mechanism 3. Said gear 41, in turn, drives a horizontal sliding gear rack 42. The horizontal sliding gear rack 42 then will drive a rod 43 to move in a horizontal direction (The sliding gear rack 42 also is mounted on a sliding plate 45 which can move up and down, and the direction reversing process of said sliding gear rack 42 is identical to that of said veritical transmission mechanism). The rod 43 can, in turn, drive a transverse rod 44 to move in a horizontal direction. Each end of the transverse rod 44 is pivotally connected to the supporting arm 26 of each of the arm 2 to move in a horizontal direction while the link 33 drives the arm 2 to move in a vertical direction such that the blade 1 can wipe on the windshield in a swinging motion.
Referring to FIGS. 7 to 9, when the switch is turned off, the motor will move the arm 2 to a top position (as shown in FIG. 7). Then, at the instant position, the hydraulic cylinder arm 2 begins to retract. When the arm 2 retracts to a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 8, the motor again will be actuated. (This can be achieved by utilizing a conventional delay circuit or microswitch). The motor will be turned off when said arm 2 also retracts to its shortest length, as shown in FIG. 9. Such procedures can be reversed when the blade is to be used in clearing the windshield. The switch, which is used to control the rotation of the motor, is a reversible switch. By using such a reversible switch, whenever said motor will be opposite to its previous rotating direction such that the blade can always move in a vertical or quasi-vertical motion.
The initial positions of the blade 1 and the associated transmission mechanisms 3 and 4, at To, are shown in FIG. 10 wherein the blade 1 is in its unused state. In operation, firstly, the switch for controlling the hydraulic cylinder arm 2 is actuated and then the blade 1 can be driven by the piston 21 (to a position as shown in FIG. 11). At this instant, the motor will simultaneously drive the gears 31 and 41 which, in turn, respectively drive the gears rack 32 and 42 thereby the link 33 and the transverse rod 44 can simultaneously drive the arm 2 to move in both vertical and horizontal directions (in swinging motion). That is, when the transverse rod 44 drives the supporting arm 26 to make the arm 2 moved, the link 33 also will drive the supporting point 25 downwardly to make the arm 2 swung such that the top of said arm will move along a horizontal path to keep the blade wiping in a linear reciprocating motion.
Referring to FIG. 12, the link 33, at T2, locates at its lower limit (In FIG. 11, the link 33, at T1, locates at its uppe limit), and the blade 1 coincides with the arm 2. At T3, the arm 2 swings to its left most position and the supporting point 25 thereof rises up to its upper limit as shown in FIG. 13, Such reciprocating motion may completely clear the windshield and will leave no uncleared portions thereon.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, said transmission mechanisms are provided with two pairs of pivot pins 5,5-1, and 6, 6-1 respectively to fix the sliding plate 35, 45 in position. When the gear racks 32 and 42 respectively move to their upper/lower or leftmost/rightmost limits, one of each pair of pivot pins 5,6 will be shifted from the pin holes (51)(61) by said flanges (7) (7-1) respectively mounted on gear racks 32 and 42 to release sliding plates 35, 45 and let them respectively move along sliding grooves 36,46. As the sliding plates 35, 45 respectively reach their leftmost/rightmost or upper/lower limits, the other one of each pair of pivot pins 5-1, 6-1 will fall in the pin hole 51-1 61-1 to fix the sliding plate 35, 45 again and make gears 31,41 securely contact the other side of each of said horizontal and vertical gear racks 32,42 to achieve the purpose of reversing direction. When the gear rack 32, 42 respectively contact their upper/lower or leftmost/rightmost limits, the pivot pin will return to its initial position to effect the positioning function.
Conclusively, the instant linear-motion wiper structure possesses both novelty and practicability, and it can completely achieve the expected purpose. Hence, the present application indeed is a progressive and novel invention.
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A linear-motion wiper structure comprising a multistage hydraulic cylinder arm which can be driven by a transmission mechanism having both vertical and horizontal displacement function whereby a blade, which is driven by the arm, can wipe on the windshield in a linear reciprocating motion so as to completely clear the drops of rain on the windshield, and this may provide a clear vision for users who drive in the rain.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/459,690, filed on Jun. 11, 2003, which is divisional application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/738,331, filed on Dec. 18, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,469, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/542,477, filed Apr. 4, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,760.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an inflatable product provided with an electric pump.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B , a conventional electric pump 14 for inflating an airbed has a fan and motor 142 inside. A plurality of batteries 144 are loaded into the electric pump 14 to supply the power. The airbed 10 is provided with a valve 12 . In operation, the electric pump 14 is connected to the valve 12 in direction B and then rotated in direction A to fasten the connection between the electric pump 14 and the airbed 10 . Then, the airbed 10 is pumped by the electric pump 14 .
SUMMARY
In an embodiment of the present invention, an inflatable product comprising an inflatable body and an electric pump for pumping the inflatable body is provided. The electric pump comprises a pump body and an air outlet, wherein the pump body is wholly or partially recessed into the inflatable body and permanently held by the inflatable body. The electric pump preferably comprises a fan and a motor connected to the fan, and the fan is rotated by the motor in a first direction to pump the inflatable body or in a second direction opposite the first direction to deflate the inflatable body. In one preferred embodiment, the pump body is located in the inflatable body. Preferably, the air outlet is also located in the inflatable body.
In another embodiment of the invention, an inflatable product comprising an inflatable body and an electric pump for pumping the inflatable body is provided. The electric pump comprises a pump body and an air outlet, wherein the pump body is wholly or partially recessed into the inflatable body.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1A depicts a conventional airbed;
FIG. 1B is a sectional view along line I-I in FIG. 1A ;
FIG. 2 locally depicts an airbed in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3A shows the inflating operation of the airbed of the first embodiment;
FIG. 3B shows the deflating operation of the airbed of the first embodiment;
FIG. 4 locally depicts an airbed in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective diagram of the electric pump of the second embodiment;
FIGS. 6A , 6 B and 6 C show the inflating operation of the airbed of the second embodiment;
FIGS. 7A and 7B show the deflating operation of the airbed of the second embodiment;
FIG. 8A is an exploded perspective diagram of a local portion of an airbed in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8B is a perspective diagram of the electric pump of the airbed of the third embodiment;
FIG. 8C is a sectional view of a socket of the airbed along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 8A ;
FIG. 8D is a top view of the socket shown in FIG. 8A ;
FIG. 8E depicts the electric pump and the socket assembled together in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8F depicts the cover, the electric pump and the socket assembled together in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9A is an exploded perspective diagram of a local portion of an airbed in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9B is a perspective diagram of the electric pump of the airbed of the fourth embodiment;
FIG. 9C depicts a set of sockets of the fourth embodiment;
FIG. 9D is a sectional view of a socket of the airbed along line VIIII-VIIII in FIG. 9A ;
FIG. 9E depicts the cover, the electric pump and the socket assembled together in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10A is a perspective diagram of a local portion of an airbed in accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10B is a sectional view of the electric pump along line X-X of FIG. 10A ;
FIG. 11 is a perspective diagram of an electric pump of an airbed in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12A is a perspective diagram of a cover, electric pump and socket of an airbed in accordance with a seventh embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12B is a sectional view of the socket along line XI-XI of FIG. 12A ;
FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram of an airbed in an inflating operation in accordance with an eighth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 13B is a schematic diagram of the airbed in a deflating operation in accordance with the eighth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a perspective diagram of an electric pump of an airbed in accordance with a ninth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a perspective diagram of an electric pump of an airbed in accordance with a tenth embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 2 , an airbed 26 of a first embodiment of the present invention is provided with a detachable electric pump 20 , a built-in battery case 22 and a built-in socket 24 . The battery case 22 has a cover 221 on which electrodes 222 are provided. Also, on the bottom of the battery case 22 are provided electrodes 223 corresponding to the electrodes 222 of the cover 221 . An O-ring 244 and an electrode 242 are provided on the inner wall of the socket 24 , wherein the electrode 242 is electrically connected to the electrodes 222 , 223 of the battery case 22 . Furthermore, the electric pump 20 is substantially cylindrical and has an electrode 202 on its side surfaces, an air inlet 204 and an air outlet 206 on its ends and a check valve 208 inside. The check valve 208 of the electric pump allows air to flow in a single direction from the inlet 204 to the outlet 206 .
In operation, batteries are loaded into the battery case 22 . The electric pump 20 is fitted into the socket 24 and then rotated so that the electrode 202 of the electric pump 20 physically contacts the electrode 242 of the socket 24 . Then, the electric pump 20 is actuated to pump outside air into the airbed 26 as shown in FIG. 3A . The O-ring 242 in the socket 24 prevents the airbed 26 from leaking. In deflating operation, the user detaches the electric pump 20 from the socket 24 to deflate the airbed 26 , as shown in FIG. 3B .
It is understood that the O-ring can be provided on the side surfaces of the electric pump 20 instead of in the socket 24 to prevent the airbed from leaking.
Referring to FIG. 4 , an airbed of a second embodiment of the present invention is provided with a detachable electric pump 30 , a cap 37 for the electric pump 30 , a built-in battery case 32 and a built-in socket 34 . The battery case 32 has a cover 321 on which electrodes 322 are provided. Also, on the bottom of the battery case 32 are provided electrodes 323 corresponding to the electrodes 322 of the cover 321 . Furthermore, an arrow symbol 36 is marked on the airbed and besides the socket 34 . Flanges 342 are formed at the rim of the socket 34 , while electrodes 344 are provided on the inner wall of the socket 34 and are electrically connected to the electrodes 322 , 323 of the battery case 32 . Furthermore, the electric pump 30 is substantially cylindrical and has a flange 301 on its side surfaces, two electrodes 302 provided on the flange 301 , an air inlet 304 and an air outlet 306 on its ends. Also referring to FIG. 5 , symbols “on”, “off” and “open” are marked on the side surfaces and the end of the electric pump 30 .
In operation, batteries are loaded into the battery case 32 to supply the electric pump 30 with the power. The electric pump 30 in this embodiment is used to inflate or deflate the airbed. In inflating operation, the electric pump 30 is fitted into the socket 34 with the air outlet 306 inside the airbed and the air inlet 304 outside the airbed. The electric pump 30 is rotated to change the positions of symbols “on”, “off” and “open”. When the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “on” as shown in FIG. 6A , the electrodes 302 of the electric pump 30 physically contact the electrodes 344 of the socket 34 to actuate the electric pump 30 . Then, outside air is pumped into the airbed as shown in FIG. 6B . When the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “off”, the electric pump 30 is stopped. When the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “open”, the electric pump 30 is detachable from the socket 34 . FIG. 6C depicts the airbed full of air, wherein the air outlet of the electric pump 30 is closed by the cap 37 to seal the airbed after the inflating operation.
In the deflating operation, the electric pump 30 is fitted in reverse into the socket 34 , with the air inlet 304 inside the airbed and the air outlet 306 outside the airbed. The electric pump 30 is rotated to change the positions of symbols “on”, “off” and “open” on its side surfaces. When the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “on” as shown in FIG. 7A , the electrodes 302 of the electric pump 30 physically contact the electrodes 344 of the socket 34 to actuate the electric pump 30 . Then, air inside the airbed is pumped out as shown in FIG. 7B . When the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “off”, the electric pump 30 is stopped. When the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “open”, the electric pump 30 is detachable from the socket 34 .
In either of the inflating and deflating operations, the flanges 342 of the socket 34 are used for confining the flange 301 of the electric pump 30 , thus preventing the electric pump 30 from separating with the socket 34 when the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbols “on” and “off”. However, the flanges 342 are spaced apart at the rim of the socket 34 to avoid confining the flange 301 of the electric pump 30 when the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “open”. Thus, the electric pump 30 is detachable from the socket 34 when the arrow symbol 36 points at the symbol “open”.
Referring to FIG. 8A , an airbed of the third embodiment of the present invention is provided with a cover 44 , an electric pump 42 and a built-in socket 46 . The cover 44 is circular, with a plurality of recesses 443 provided on its side surfaces. Such an arrangement increases the friction on the side surfaces, facilitates the rotation of the cover 44 . Furthermore, the cover 44 is closed at its top end and is opened at its bottom end. At the bottom end of the cover 44 is provided a pair of inward arcuate flanges 441 . The arcuate flanges 441 extend to the bottom rim of the cover 44 to engage the socket 46 mounted on the body 40 of the airbed. The electric pump 42 is cylindrical. On the side surfaces of the electric pump is provided a switch 421 and a connector 423 . Also referring to FIG. 8B , a plurality of rechargeable batteries 429 are provided in the electric pump 42 to supply the motor 422 with power. The connector 423 is used for connecting an external power (alternating current or direct current) to charge the batteries 429 or directly to actuate the electric pump 42 . For example, the connector 423 is connected to a cigarette lighter (direct current) of a car via a cigarette plug 600 . Alternatively, the connector 423 is connected to a alternating current power supply via a rectifier 700 which converts the alternating current into a direct current for the electric pump. Furthermore, at the ends of the electric pump 42 are provided a protruding air inlet 427 and a protruding air outlet 425 . Outward flanges 424 , 426 are respectively provided at the air inlet 427 and air outlet 425 . The socket 46 is a cylindrical housing, while an annular flange 467 is provided on the side surfaces of the socket 46 to define an upper portion and a lower portion of the socket 46 . The annular flange 467 is welded together with the body 40 of the airbed so that the lower portion of the socket 46 is buried in the airbed. Referring to FIG. 8C , the socket 46 has a large hole 465 at its top end and a small hole at its bottom end. The large hole 465 at the top end is circular. The small hole 466 at the bottom end is shown in FIG. 8D , the shape of which matches those of the air inlet 427 and air outlet 425 of the electric pump 42 . Furthermore, the socket 46 has grooves 461 formed on the outer surface of the upper portion and other grooves 463 formed at the inner circumferences of the hole 466 at the bottom end.
In the inflating operation, the electric pump 42 is put in the socket 46 , with the air outlet 425 of the electric pump 42 aligning with the bottom hole 466 of the socket 46 . Then, the electric pump 42 is rotated so that the flanges 426 of the electric pump 42 enter the grooves 463 at the bottom end of the socket 46 . Thus, the electric pump 42 and the socket 46 are firmly connected together, as shown in FIG. 8E . The user pushes the switch 421 of the electric pump 42 to pump outside air into the body 40 of the airbed. The air flows from the air inlet 427 , through the air outlet 425 and bottom hole 466 , to the inside of the airbed.
If the airbed is used on the water, then the cover 44 is necessarily assembled together with the socket 46 . The user rotates the cover 44 so that the inner flanges 441 enter the grooves 461 of the socket 46 . Thus, the cover 44 and the socket 46 are firmly connected together. The cover 44 protects the electric pump 42 from water.
In the deflating operation, the electric pump 42 is fitted in reverse into the socket 46 , with the air inlet 427 of the electric pump 42 aligning with the bottom hole 466 of the socket 46 . Then, the electric pump 42 pumps air inside the airbed out.
Referring to FIG. 9A , an airbed of the fourth embodiment of the present invention is provided with a cover 54 , an electric pump 52 and a set of sockets 56 , 56 ′ built in the body of the airbed. The cover 54 is circular, with a plurality of recesses 543 provided on its side surfaces. Such an arrangement increases the friction on the side surfaces, facilitates the user to rotate the cover 54 . Furthermore, the cover 54 is closed at its top end and is opened at its bottom end. At the bottom end of the cover 54 is provided a pair of inward arcuate flanges 541 . The arcuate flanges 541 extend to the rim of the bottom end of the cover 54 for engaging the socket 56 . The electric pump 52 is cylindrical. On the side surfaces of the electric pump 52 are provided a switch 521 , an connector 523 and circumferential flanges 529 , 529 ′. Furthermore, a plurality of rechargeable batteries (not shown) are provided in the electric pump 52 to supply the power. The connector 523 is used for connecting an external power to charge the batteries or directly to actuate the electric pump 52 . Referring to both FIGS. 9A and 9B , at the ends 524 , 520 of the electric pump 52 are provided a protruding air inlet 527 and a protruding air outlet 525 . A pair of outward flanges 528 are provided at the air inlet 527 , with grooves 528 ′ formed between the flanges 528 and the end 524 . Another pair of outward flanges 526 are provided at the air outlet 525 to form grooves 526 ′ between the flanges 526 and the end 520 . Referring to FIG. 9C , the set of sockets include a top socket 56 and a bottom socket 56 ′ connected by a flexible sleeve 560 . The top socket 56 is welded together with the body 50 of the airbed. The top and bottom sockets 56 , 56 ′ have the same structure and therefore only the top socket 56 is now introduced. The top socket 56 has a top surface 564 with a through hole 561 provided on the top surface 564 . Furthermore, the top socket 56 has a pair of inward flanges 562 protruding from the top surface 564 toward the through hole 561 . Referring to FIG. 9D , an annular groove 563 is formed in the socket 56 .
In the inflating operation, the electric pump 52 is inserted into the set of sockets 56 , 56 ′ on the airbed 50 . The protruding air outlet 525 of the electric pump 52 is fitted into the bottom socket 56 ′. The rubber pad 522 eliminates any gaps between the bottom sockets 56 ′ and the electric pump 52 through which the airbed possibly leaks. The circumferential flanges 529 of the electric pump 52 enter the groove 563 of the socket 56 . Then, the electric pump 52 is rotated so that the flanges 529 of the electric pump 52 are confined in the grooves 563 by the flanges 562 of the top socket 56 . Then, the user pushes the switch 521 on the electric pump 52 to pump the airbed. After the airbed is filled with air, the user assembles the cover 54 and the electric pump 52 as shown in FIG. 9E , with the flanges 541 of the cover 54 received in the grooves 528 ′ of the electric pump 52 . The cover 54 prevents the airbed from leaking though the air inlet 527 .
In the deflating operation, the electric pump 52 is reversely disposed with the air inlet 527 connected to the bottom socket 56 ′. Also, the flanges 528 of the electric pump 52 are confined in the grooves 563 by the flanges 562 of the top socket 56 . Then, the user pushes the switch 521 on the electric pump 52 to pump air in the airbed out. It is noted that the electric pump 52 is not protected from water. Nevertheless, the electric pump 52 can be modified to be waterproof, introduced in the following fifth embodiment.
Refer to FIGS. 10A and 10B . Reference numeral 64 is a cover and reference numeral 62 is a waterproof electric pump. The waterproof electric pump 62 of the fifth embodiment is similar with the electric pump 52 of the fourth embodiment except that (1) the waterproof electric pump 62 has no connector on its side surfaces; (2) the switch 621 of the waterproof electric pump 62 is covered by a waterproof rubber strip 622 . The waterproof rubber strip 622 is so thin that the user can still push the switch 621 from outside the rubber strip 622 to actuate the electric pump 62 .
FIG. 11 depicts another waterproof electric pump 66 in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention, wherein a recess 662 is provided on the side surfaces of the electric pump 66 . A switch 664 and a connector 666 are provided in the recess 662 , while a lid 668 is rotatably mounted on the side surfaces of the electric pump 66 to protect the switch 664 and the connector 666 from water.
Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B , an airbed of a seventh embodiment of the invention is provided with a socket 76 , an electric pump 72 and a cover 74 . The socket 76 has threads 762 on its inner surfaces, while the electric pump 72 has threads 722 on its outer surfaces so that the electric pump 72 and the socket 76 can be screwed together. Furthermore, the electric pump 72 has rubber pads 724 on both ends. The arrangement of rubber pads 724 eliminates any gaps between the socket 76 and the electric pump 72 through which the airbed possibly leaks, when the electric pump 72 and the socket 76 are screwed together. Furthermore, it is noted that the cover 74 is mounted on the electric pump 72 rather than the socket 76 to prevent an air leakage.
Referring to FIG. 1A , an airbed 80 of an eighth embodiment of the invention is provided a cover 85 , a chamber 84 , a fan 81 received in the chamber 84 , a motor 82 for rotating the fan 81 , a plurality of rechargeable batteries 88 for supplying the motor 82 with power, and a switch 83 for actuating the motor 82 . The motor 82 is also connected to an external power to charge the batteries 88 or directly to actuate the motor 82 . The external power supplies an alternating current via a rectifier 87 or supplies a direct current via a cigarette plug (not shown). The chamber 84 has a nozzle 841 communicating the chamber 84 and the outside of the airbed 80 , and a hole communicating the chamber 84 and the inside of the airbed 80 . In the inflating operation, the user pushes the switch 83 to actuate the motor 82 and fan 81 . Then, outside air is pumped into the airbed 80 through the nozzle 841 and the hole 842 . After the airbed 80 is filled with air, the user closes the nozzle with the cover 85 to prevent the airbed from leaking. Referring to FIG. 1B , in the deflating operation, the user takes away the cover 85 and pushes the switch 83 to rotate the motor 82 and fan 81 in reverse. Then, air inside the airbed 80 is pumped out.
In the eighth embodiment, the fan 81 is received in a chamber 84 and is driven by an outside motor 82 . However, it is understood that the fan and motor can be housed together to operate. Referring to FIG. 14 , in a ninth embodiment of the present invention, a motor 92 and a fan 91 with helical blades 911 are assembled and are received in a housing 93 . The motor 92 is actuated by rechargeable batteries (not shown) or by an external power (not shown) via a connector 98 , wherein the external power supplies an alternating current or a direct current. The housing 93 is mounted on the airbed 90 (not fully shown in FIG. 14 ) and has a first hole 94 communicating the outside of the airbed and a second hole communicating the inside. In the inflating operation, the fan 91 and motor 92 pump outside air into the airbed 90 through the holes 94 , 95 . When the airbed is filled with air, the cover 96 is screwed to the housing 93 to prevent an air leakage. In the deflating operation, the cover 96 is taken away. The fan 91 is rotated by the motor 92 in reverse to pump air inside the airbed out.
Referring to FIG. 15 , in a tenth embodiment of the present invention, a first fan and motor 100 and a second fan and motor 200 are housed in different chambers. The first and second fans and motors 100 , 200 are permanently or detachably connected to the airbed 180 (not fully shown in FIG. 15 ). Furthermore, the motors 100 and 200 are actuated by rechargeable batteries (not shown) or by an external power (not shown) via a connector 150 . In the inflating operation, the first fan and motor 100 is actuated to pump the airbed 180 (not fully shown in FIG. 15 ) while the second fan and motor 200 is at rest. In the deflating operation, the first fan and motor 100 is at rest while the second fan and motor 200 is actuated to pump air inside the airbed out.
In conclusion, the invention provides various ways to pump an airbed or other inflatable products.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
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An inflatable product includes an inflatable body and an electric pump for pumping the inflatable body. The electric pump includes a pump body and an air outlet, wherein the pump body is wholly or partially recessed into the inflatable body and permanently held by the inflatable body. Preferably, the electric pump includes a fan and a motor connected to the fan, and the fan is rotated by the motor in a first direction to pump the inflatable body or in a second direction opposite the first direction to deflate the inflatable body.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Polymeric ultraviolet light absorbers are especially desirable in thin films of between about 0.05 mils and about 0.5 mils since monomeric absorbers are readily lost by diffusion, and solvent leaching because of the high surface area in relation to the volume of material employed. The preparation of polymeric UV-absorbers usually involves the vinyl polymerization of substituted UV-screeners such as (2-hydroxy-4-methacryloxybenzophenone) or the condensation polymerization of properly substituted UV-screeners such as 2-hydroxybenzophenone-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid with glycols or 2-hydroxy-4,4'-bishydroxymethyl benzophenone with diacids.
It has now been discovered that improved polymeric films can be formed from a melamine nucleus compound, a benzophenone and preferably a polyol. Moreover, the benzophenone appears to be incorporated in the polymer as indicated by long term thermal aging tests, which renders the transparent coating ideally suited for protecting transparent polycarbonates, and other UV degradable materials.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Ultraviolet resistant surface coatings are provided of a transparent copolymer of (A) a melamine nucleus compound of the formula, ##STR1## wherein the R groups are independently selected from H,--CH 2 OH, and --CH 2 0(CH 2 ) x H, wherein x is an integer of from 1 to 4; and a stabilizing amount (B) of a benzophenone of the formula, ##STR2## wherein R' is selected from --OH and --NH 2 groups in the 3,4 or 5 positions of the ring, and D is an aromatic radical of less than 4 six membered rings which can be substituted with --OH and --NH 2 groups; and preferably (C) a polyfunctional compound containing at least two hydroxyl groups. The coatings are particularly well suited for protecting polycarbonate resins and other UV light degradable materials.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Melamine nucleus compounds which can be employed in the invention are those of the above formula wherein the R groups can be methoxymethyl, ethoxymethyl, propoxymethyl, or butoxymethyl and hydrogen. Preferably the R groups are all the same and are alkoxymethyl.
The polyfunctional compound containing at least two hydroxyl groups can be aromatic or aliphatic. Representative aromatic compounds are phenols which include resorcinol, 2,2'-methylenediphenol, 2,4-methylenediphenol, 4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol, 4,4'-(cyclohexylidene)diphenol, and 4,4'-dihydroxydiphenol, and 4,4'-dihydroxydiphenylsulfone. Representative aliphatic compounds are alcohols which include ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, propylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,2,3-propanetriol, pentaerythritol and sorbitol. In addition, the polyfunctional hydroxyl compound can be an alkyd resin, such as a hydroxyl containing epoxy resin, a soluble cellulose derivative, a vinyl polymer having free hydroxyl groups, such as poly(vinyl alcohol) or partial saponified poly (vinyl acetate). The polyfunctional hydroxyl compound (e.g. polyol) can also contain carboxyl and amine groups but should contain at least two hydroxyl groups.
Among the dihydroxybenzophenones of the above formula which can be employed are the following:
2,3-dihydroxybenzophenone,
2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone,
2,5-dihydroxybenzophenone,
2,3'-dihydroxybenzophenone,
2,4'-dihydroxybenzophenone,
2-hydroxy-5-aminobenzophenone,
2-hydroxy-4'-aminobenzophenone,
2,2',4,4'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone,
2,2',3,3'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone,
2,2',5,5'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone,
dihydroxynaphthophenones,
dihydroxyanthrophenones,
dihydroxydinaphthoketones,
dihydroxyanthrones, etc.
The preferred compounds are where D is a substituted or unsubstituted benzene ring.
The benzophenone should be used in an amount sufficient to reduce the UV light degradation. Generally, from about one to about five percent by weight of the composition is sufficient.
The benzophenone can be reacted solely with the melamine nucleus compound but preferably a polyol is employed such as described in the specification. Generally, the melamine nucleus compound will constitute from about 20 to about 80 percent of the mixture and the polyol the remainder, exclusive of the benzophenone.
In order to form the UV light resistant composition and apply it to a suitable substrate, the reactants can be dissolved or suspended in a suitable solvent such as n-butanol, ethanol and the like, preferably with a suitable acid catalyst which is activated at elevated temperature such as benzene sulfonic acid and sulfamic acid and preferably with a surface active agent to aid in forming a film of the composition. A variety of catalysts and surface active agents can be employed and are commercially available.
The coating composition can be applied to a suitable substrate by conventional means such as spraying, dipping and the like. The thickness of the coating is not critical but will generally be between about 0.05 mil and about 0.5 mil for a substrate of between about 1 mil and about 0.5 inches. After application, the reaction can be accomplished at a temperature between about 100° and about 150° C. in a period of from 15 minutes to about four hours in an air oven. The resultant article is then resistant to UV degradation and it is found that the benzophenone does not leach out as it is reacted within the composition.
Among the materials which can be protected by the compositions of the invention are those which are readily degraded by UV light such as, for example, polycarbonates, polycarbonate-polysiloxane copolymers, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, ABS polymers, poly(2,6-dimethylphenylene oxide) alone or copolymerized with high impact polystyrene, or even wood.
The following examples will serve to illustrate the invention, but are not meant to be limiting. All parts and percentages in said examples and elsewhere in the specification and claims are by weight unless otherwise indicated.
A coating blend of 750 parts of hexamethoxymethylmelamine and a like amount of caprolactone polyol (Nyax Polyol PCP-0300) was mixed with 7.5 parts surface active agent (Mallinckrodt BYK-300) and catalyzed with 1.5% of p-toluene sulfonic acid. The reaction mixture was then diluted with 1500 parts N-butanol to 50% solids and a 10 mil Lexan polycarbonate sheet cleaned with isopropanol dipped into this coating blend, withdrawn slowly and allowed to drain for 5 minutes at room temperature to permit the solvent to evaporate. The coated sheet was cured for an hour at 125° C. in a circulating air oven.
The above procedure was repeated several times but for the exception that to 600 parts of the above mixture was added one of the following UV-stabilizers in the amount indicated.
EXAMPLES 1-7
Example 1: 15 parts (5% on solids) 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (DHBP)
Example 2: 15 parts (5% on solids) Resorcinol mono benzoate
Example 3: 15 parts (5% on solids) 2(2'-hydroxy-5'-octylphenyl)benzotriazole (Cyasorb 5411)
Example 4: 9 parts (3% on solids) 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (DHBP)
Example 5: 9 parts (3% on solids) 2-hydroxy-4-n-octoxybenzophenone (Cyasorb UV 531)
Example 6: 9 parts (3% on solids) ethyl-2-cyano-3,3-diphenyl acrylate (Uvinul N-35)
Example 7: 9 parts (3% on solids) 2-cyano-3,3-diphenyl acrylic acid
Lexan polycarbonate panels coated with the various blends of samples 1, 2 and 3 were exposed to UV light from RS sunlamps. The protection afforded by the various screeners is most easily seen by the change in yellowness index (ΔYI) of the various samples. The sample number 1 had the lowest ΔYI of 1.66 while sample number 2 had a ΔYI of 13.63 compared to 13.68 for an unprotected control and sample number 3 had a ΔYI of 3.74. The change in yellowness was determined by the method of ASTM D-1925-70 for samples tested for 1000 hours.
Ten mil Lexan polycarbonate film samples were then coated on one side with one of the coating blends of Examples 4, 5, 6 and 7 and allowed to air dry for 30 minutes at room temperature (25°-30° C.). The UV absorbances of these uncured coatings were measured with a UV-spectrometer before and after curing for 1 hour at 125° C. The coated films were then baked for 50 hours at 125° C. while UV-absorbance measurements were taken at intervals.
______________________________________ AbsorbanceSam- Un- Cured Baked Baked Baked Bakedple Peak λ cured 1 hr 3 hrs 13 hrs 20 hrs 50 hrs______________________________________4 328 nm 2.391 2.184 2.090 2.184 2.223 2.2265 293 nm 2.283 1.468 1.086 0.650 0.557 0.5396 305 nm 2.592 0.253 0.041 0.053 0.059 0.0707 304 nm 2.568 2.700 2.625 1.905 1.276 0.275______________________________________
From an examination of the data it can be seen that the composition of the invention, sample 4, is considerably more resistant to thermal degradation after an extended period of 50 hours.
In repeating the examples, similar results are achieved with other benzophenones of the invention, such as 2,3-dihydroxybenophenone, 2,5-dihydroxybenzophenone, 2-hydroxy-5-aminobenzophenone, 2-hydroxy-4'-aminobenzophenone, 2,2',4,4'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone and 2,4-dihydroxynaphthophenone; and with polyols such as polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol; melamine compounds such as hexa(ethoxymethyl)melamine and polymers such as a copolymer of Lexan polycarbonate and polydimethylsiloxane.
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Ultraviolet resistant transparent coatings are provided formed of (A) a melamine nucleus compound, (B) a benzophenone and preferably (C) a polyol. The compositions are effective in protecting polycarbonate resins and other UV degradable materials.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/953,209 filed on Mar. 14, 2014, and incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to submergible modular breakwaters for lowering the kinetic energy of water waves. In particular, the present invention is directed toward a physical embodiment that, when in its floating position, will provide resistance to the movement of water waves in the direction of the waves for a large range of wave periods.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Recently, partly due to changes influenced by climate change such as sea raise and stronger storms, there have been major catastrophes in coastal areas in the world both in industrialized temperate weather countries and in non-industrialized tropical countries. An example of a catastrophe in an industrialized temperate weather country was the one caused by Hurricane Sandy in the East Coast of the United States, one of the costliest catastrophes in the history of this country. During storms, the principal damages caused by water waves are erosion, especially by the removal of sand in sandy beaches, destruction of infrastructure close to the coastline, and flooding. Strong storms or rough waters in coastal areas have both direct and indirect economic and financial negative impacts. The direct economic and financial impact results from the urgent necessity to repair damage and to restore conditions of the coastline beaches and infrastructures.
[0004] As quoted in the 2013 Corelogic Storm Surge Report, “ . . . For many homeowners along the eastern seaboard of the United States, Hurricanes Irene and Sandy have been harsh reminders that hurricane risk in not simply confined to Florida or even just the southern states. Hurricane Irene arrived during the late summer of 2011 and caused more than $15 billion in property damage. The impact zone included 13 states and extended as far north as Vermont and New Hampshire, becoming the seventh costliest hurricane in U.S. history. As it turns out, however, Irene was a weak opening act for what was to come in 2012. Hurricane Sandy dwarfed the property damage caused by Irene just one year prior when its devastating storm surge struck the northeastern coastline in late October. As the storm barreled along the Atlantic coast, Sandy set records for surge water and wave heights in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The destruction attributed to this single storm is estimated at $50 billion, with some 650.000 home damaged or destroyed, and caused power outages in the Northeast affecting 8.5 million people.”
[0005] One of the indirect negative economic impacts, especially in coastal zones of tourist states like for example Florida and New Jersey, are reduction of tourism activities along after the passing of the storm. To have an idea of the importance of economic benefits derived from beaches in a tourist state like New Jersey, the following can be quoted from a 2010 Environmental Trends Report titled “Beach Replenishment” of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Science (http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/trends/pdfs/beach-replenish.pdf, incorporated herein by reference) “ . . . New Jersey's beaches play a critical role in protecting people and property from coastal storm hazards. Due to its geography, New Jersey is sometimes in the path of hurricanes (tropical storms) and nor' easters (extratropical storms). Beaches act as a buffer between the surf and the homes, businesses and infrastructure along the coast. In addition, beaches provide recreation for beachgoers and fishermen and help support a multibillion dollar tourism industry. In 2008, the total economic impact of travel and tourism was $27.9 billion to the state, which accounted for 5.8 percent of the gross state product. In addition, 72 percent of each tourism dollar spent in New Jersey was retained in state, and 10.9 percent of the total employment in the state, 443,094 jobs, was due to travel and tourism economic activity. In 2008, tourism generated $7.7 billion in federal, state, and local government taxes. A regional breakdown of tourism shows that 33.4 percent of total statewide tourism expenditure occurs in Atlantic County, with the Southern Shore Region (Cape May and Cumberland counties) and the Shore Region (Monmouth and Ocean counties), contributing 14.5 percent and 13.9 percent respectively. In addition, Atlantic, Cape May, and Ocean counties are leaders in terms of tourism expenditure by county; these three counties combined contribute over half of New Jersey's total tourism expenditure.” After hurricanes like Irene and Sandy, the importance of coastal protection in coastal urban and tourist zones has never greater than today.
[0006] In the case of tropical countries, especially small island countries, climate change derived destruction, through sea raise and stronger storms, will heavily impact the economy of such countries. For example, as stated in a report prepared by Margaree Consultants Inc. for the World Bank in 2002 (Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on CARICOM Countries, incorporated herein by reference) “ . . . In most of the eastern Caribbean states, more than 50% of the population resides within 2 km of the coast. Thus large populations and supporting infrastructure are located close to mean sea level. As a result critical infrastructure tends to be located in or near coastal areas. The projected sea-level rise will increase the vulnerability of that infrastructure, especially during extreme events. Due to the concentration of population in these areas, damage to important infrastructure may be disruptive to economic, social and cultural activities. The Caribbean region suffered considerable damage from severe hurricanes in the 1980s and 1990s. As a direct result, many insurance and reinsurance companies withdrew from the market. Those that remained imposed onerous conditions for coverage—including very high deductibles; separate, increased rates for windstorms; and insertion of an “average” clause to eliminate the possibility of underinsurance . . . ”
[0007] “Hurricane and tropical storm activity have had major impacts on Antigua and Barbuda's vital tourism industry. In 1995 Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn devastated coastal areas, causing severe damage to hotel and other tourism properties and leading to a 17% decrease in the number of tourist arrivals and adversely affecting employment and foreign exchange. The cost associated with damage from Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 was in the region of J$25 million. The 1998 hurricane season was especially devastating to Jamaica with long lasting effects resulting from hurricanes Georges and Mitch. Hurricane Lenny in 1999 caused approximately US$250,000.00 damage to tourism infrastructure in Dominica, mainly along the west coast. Tourism arrivals in St. Kitts by air and sea have been negatively affected by the passage of hurricanes Luis and Marilyn (1995), Georges (1998) and Jose (1999). Lost stay over tourist days in St. Lucia were estimated at 50% due to hurricane Allen.”
[0008] The report entitled, “Low-Carbon Climate-Resilient Development Strategy—2012-2020” incorporated herein by reference, states “ . . . It is well-established that the countries of the Caribbean are among the most vulnerable to global climate change. While the severity of the impacts will vary from country to country, there is a suite of priority concerns directly linked to climate change that is virtually ubiquitous across the region. Sea level rise will combine a number of factors resulting in accelerated coastal erosion, increased flood risk and in some areas permanent loss of land. This may be exacerbated further by any increase in the destructiveness of tropical storms, the impacts of which may be greater due to sea-level rise even without increases in storm intensity.”
[0009] An example of the impacts of sea waves on beaches is presented in the UNESCO portal Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands (http://www.unesco.org/csi/act/cosalc/hur9b.htm, incorporated herein by reference), where the impacts that tropical storm waves had in Dominica is described as follows: “ . . . Tropical Storm Iris passed 30 km west of Dominica, Hurricane Luis passed 180 km north of Dominica and Hurricane Marilyn passed less than 20 km east of the island. All three storms impacted Dominica, but Hurricane Marilyn was the strongest and closest. The combined damage from the three storm systems was estimated at US$184 million . . . ” “ . . . Tropical Storm Iris damaged the west coast road and cut road access between Soufriere and Scotts Head. Hurricane Luis damaged coastal structures—hotels, roads, utilities, jetties and fish landing sites. There was severe damage to the beaches, especially on the west coast. In particular the northwest beaches from Prince Rupert Bay to Toucarie were heavily impacted. The road was washed out and the hotel damaged at Coconut Beach, similar damage occurred at Mero. Trees were undermined and washed away, and in some cases—Toucarie, Belle Hall and Mero—the sand was replaced with stones and boulders. At some sites such as Batalie, debris from the reefs was washed up onto the beach. New beachrock formations were exposed at some of the beaches e.g. Woodford Hill. The data show that the erosion was most severe on the west coast beaches particularly at Rockaway Beach, Mero Beach, Coconut Beach and Purple Turtle. The profile area decreased by 24%, the beaches narrowed by 6.7 m and the land edge retreated inland 2.4 m.”
[0010] For decades there have been many devices proposed and used to control force of water waves (in seas and lakes) that reach coasts and cause severe damage including erosion of beaches, flooding, destruction of buildings and boardwalk, and the like. These devices include seawalls, bulkhead, and breakwaters. In the case of breakwaters, they can be fixed caissons either submerged or that raise above the water line, or modular structures that can be fixed to the sea bed by piling or floating components anchored.
[0011] Fixed breakwaters, generally constructed with rocks, can be expensive to build especially when the water depth is more than 5 meters. Additional disadvantages of this type of breakwater, beside costs, are affectation of the beach view, and the accumulation of sand between the breakwater and the coastline.
[0012] Many modular breakwaters that consist of laminar components (like walls, plates or sheets) that block the horizontal movement of water waves are placed in location by piling. Revision of previous art indicates that this type of breakwaters can be impractical due to the following characteristics:
a) They protrude from the water all the time, creating a possible navigating hazard; b) They are difficult to place on the water. To attach a breakwater to the bottom may require piling, making the deployment very costly; and c) Water wave kinetic forces during storms could easily destroy this type of breakwater, due to the forces exert in the base of the pilings.
[0016] Prior Art floating breakwaters, have other disadvantages:
a) They do not extend like a wall through the entire water column; therefore protection in the horizontal plane is not complete; b) They stay afloat all the time, creating possible navigating hazards; c) Due to the linear and/or cylindrical shape and the small diameter of the main components of such devices, a large number of units must be deployed in order to block the horizontal movement of water waves; d) Even though Stokes Law movement of the water molecules keeps pushing these floating devices towards the coast, the circular or elliptical movement of the molecules during the passing of waves also makes these devices move in a circular or elliptical manner. This movement makes the barrier less efficient in stopping kinetic energy movement toward the coast due to the horizontal back-and-forth movement of the devices; e) Although some of these devices are designed in such a manner as to create more resistance to the movement of water waves and to reduce the back and forth movement when the water waves pass though then, for example by placing plates or components a half-wavelength distance from each other, these type of designs are impractical to deploy and costly to build due to size (i.e., minimum a half wavelength); and f) In many cases, these floating breakwaters are composed of many cylindrical units which are independently anchored and, since the diameter of each unit cannot be that large, a lot of anchors are required, as well as time to place them, in order to have an effective horizontal water movement blockage.
[0023] A review of the Prior Art indicates that very few of the breakwater devices have been designed to be deployed and act only when major storms or rough waters reach the coast and raised or dissembled once the storm passes. The aforementioned problems or challenges are precisely those which the present invention is oriented to solve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] The present invention relates to submergible modular breakwaters for lowering the kinetic energy of water waves. In particular, the present invention is directed toward a physical embodiment that, when in its floating position, will provide resistance to the movement of water waves in the direction of the waves for a large range of wave periods. The invention is a submergible modular breakwater that can be kept underwater on the sea or lake floor as not to provide any barrier to navigation until it is needed to lower the kinetic energy of waves, when it is quickly raised afloat to provide protection, especially for coastal erosion control during storms or rough waters. Once the lowering of the kinetic energy of water waves is not longer needed, the modular breakwater can be quickly sunk to the sea or lake floor in order to remove any barrier to navigation.
[0025] It is the main objective of the present invention to reduce the kinetic energy of water waves that reach the coastline, especially during storms or rough waters independently of the wave periods or heights.
[0026] It is another objective of the present invention to quickly and cheaply be raised from the sea or lake floor or be deployed from the coast to act as a breakwater before waves derived from storms or rough waters states arrive to the coastline.
[0027] It is another objective of the present invention to quickly and cheaply be sunk to the sea floor or be removed to the coast to stop acting as a breakwater after waves derived from storms or rough waters states are not longer a threat, eliminating then any navigational barriers.
[0028] It is another objective of the present invention to be easily deployable at the appropriate location avoiding the use of large cranes and/or the like.
[0029] It is another objective of the present invention to provide a device that may survive harsh weather or high waves.
[0030] In order to accomplish these objectives there is provided a modular submergible breakwater device with four main embodiments. All elements or components of the breakwater device can be made of any type of materials, but especially metals like aluminum and/or steel. All embodiments are comprised of a mainframe attached to two or more main floats, at least one of such a floats located at each end of said mainframe in order to make the entire system to float in a catamaran manner. These main floats are attached to the mainframe through a series of legs in a manner as to guarantee structural toughness and survivability during waves derived from storms or rough waters.
[0031] An additional stabilizing float may be located at the center of the mainframe with the purpose to maintain the mainframe in a horizontal position while the entire system is being sunk to or raised from the sea or lake bottom. All main floats and stabilizing float are designed of the appropriate size as to guarantee stable flotation of the entire system while being afloat. The principal components that make the breakwater device to act as a breakwater are Venetian-like slats located under the mainframe. These Venetian-like slats will act as a breakwater only in the direction of the wave when they are in a lose stage and the breakwater device is afloat. This occurs because a series of anchor lines hold in position the entire breakwater device and the Venetian-like slats will close under the pressure of the incoming wave.
[0032] Once the wave crest passes and the breakwater device is floating in the wave trough, water movement in the opposite direction of the wave is allowed because the Venetian-like slats will open under the pressure of the water moving away from the coast. All the anchor lines, which are attached not only to the mainframe, main floats and Venetian-like slats, also are attached to a single anchor on the sea or lake floor. All main floats have holes in the lowest position as to allow the entrance of water while the breakwater device is being sunk, or the exit of water from the float to the environment while the breakwater device is being raised afloat by filling them with air. The stabilizing float has holes in the lowest possible position as to allow the entrance of water coming from the main floats through connecting lines or hoses while the breakwater device is being sunk, or the exit of water from the float to the main floats while the breakwater device is being raised afloat by filling them with air.
[0033] Within the mainframe there is a float air filling system comprising:
[0034] a) one or more pressurized air tanks;
[0035] b) a dual position valve (one position allows the entrance of air from the pressurized tanks to the stabilizing float and the other position allows air to out from the stabilizing float to the environment) located at the highest point of the stabilizing float;
[0036] c) air flow connection lines or hoses that go from the pressurized tanks to the dual position valve at the top of the stabilizing float; and
[0037] d) air-water flow connection lines or hoses that go from the lowest position of the stabilizing float to the top position of the main floats.
[0038] The procedure the sinking of the breakwater device when it is afloat is to put the dual valve in the release air to the environment position. This may allow water to enter the main floats through the holes they have in their lowest position. Once the main floats are filled with water, the water continues to enter the stabilizing float through the air-water connection lines or hoses that connect the top of the main floats with the bottom of the stabilizing float. In order to raise the breakwater device from the sea or lake floor, the reverse procedure is done; that is, the dual valve is put in the fill with air position, allowing air to come from the pressurized tanks to the stabilizing float and then, through the air-water flow lines or hoses that connect the stabilizing float with the main floats, filling with air the main floats. During the float filling process, water inside the floats is released to the environment through the holes located at the lowest position in the main floats.
[0039] In a first embodiment of the present invention, a series of breakwater devices may generally remain sunk several meters at a location on top of the sea or lake floor with the Venetian-like slats not acting as a breakwater because they are compressed between the mainframe and the sea or lake floor. In this position, the breakwater devices do not pose any navigational hazard. Once a storm or rough water state is predicted (usually 48 to 72 hours ahead) through usual weather prediction systems and rough water waves are expected in the coastline where the breakwater devices are located, the breakwater devices are raise within a few minutes per device by filling all floats with air. This may allow the Venetian-like slats to hang in their lose embodiment from the mainframe down to the bottom of the sea or lake and act as a unidirectional breakwater. It is important to note that in this embodiment, a number of breakwater devices located to protect several kilometers of coastline can be raised within a few hours, allowing coastal protection to be in place before arrival of predicted rough waves. Once waves are not longer a threat, the breakwater devices, after having the emptied pressured tanks replaced, can be sunk to the bottom of the sea or lake also within a few hours, therefore removing any navigational barrier.
[0040] In a second embodiment, the modular breakwater of the present invention is always in a floating position and the raising or lowering of the slats is performed by a mechanism. Since in this embodiment the device is always afloat, there is no need for an air filling system or for a stabilizing float.
[0041] In a third embodiment, the modular breakwater of the present invention is always in a floating position and there is no mechanism for raising or lowering of the slats. Since in this embodiment the device is always afloat, there is no need for an air filling system or for a stabilizing float.
[0042] In the fourth embodiment, the modular breakwater of the present invention has Venetian-like slats with holes to allow water to pass through when the breakwater is in the wave crest and the slats are closed, creating turbulence during the passing of the water waves. These Venetian-like slats with holes can be used in and embodiment of the device.
[0043] In the fifth configuration, ideal when the incident wave angle with respect to the coast is always the same, the modular breakwater of the present invention has an additional anchor and anchor lines between the breakwater and the coast holding in position the entire breakwater device when it is in the wave trough and the water molecules movement is in the opposite direction of the wave.
[0044] Dimensions of the device may be varied to suit prevalent sea conditions of the locality where deployed.
[0045] The construction of the device is similar to the construction of buoys and small ships and device is thus very robust.
[0046] The present invention may bot have a fixed “design wave height” or “design wave period” but may actually have a “design wave height range” and a “design wave period range”.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0047] FIG. 1 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position.
[0048] FIG. 2 is a general top view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention.
[0049] FIG. 3 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position over a wave crest, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position.
[0050] FIG. 4 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position over the wave trough, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position.
[0051] FIG. 5 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the submerged position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position.
[0052] FIG. 6 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the submerged position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position.
[0053] FIG. 7 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the submerged position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the lowered position.
[0054] FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, illustrating the components of the system for filling the floating tanks with air.
[0055] FIG. 9 is a schematic top view of the of first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, illustrating the components of the system for filling the floating tanks with air.
[0056] FIG. 10 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the lowered position.
[0057] FIG. 11 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the lose breakwater Venetian-like slats in the closed position.
[0058] FIG. 12 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the lose breakwater Venetian-like slats in the open position.
[0059] FIG. 13 is a schematic top view of an embodiment of several modular breakwaters of the present invention along a coastline where the wave direction is perpendicular to the coastline.
[0060] FIG. 14 is a schematic top view of an embodiment of several modular breakwaters of the present invention along a coastline where the wave direction is in an angle from left to right to the coastline.
[0061] FIG. 15 is a schematic top view of an embodiment of several modular breakwaters of the present invention along a coastline where the wave direction is in an angle from right to left to the coastline.
[0062] FIG. 16 is a general front view of a second embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, which is always in a floating position, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position where the raising or lowering of the slats is performed by a mechanism.
[0063] FIG. 17 is a general front view of the second embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, which is always in a floating position, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the lowered position.
[0064] FIG. 18 is a general front view of a third embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, which is always in a floating position, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position with no mechanism for raising or lowering of the slats.
[0065] FIG. 19 is a general front view of the third embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, which is always in a floating position, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the lowered position with no mechanism for raising or lowering of the slats.
[0066] FIG. 20 is a general front view of a fourth embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats with holes to allow water to pass through when the breakwater is in the wave crest and the slats are closed.
[0067] FIG. 21 is a general side view of a fifth configuration of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position on the trough of the wave with the lose breakwater Venetian-like slats in the open position, ideal when the incident wave angle with respect to the coast is always the same.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0068] The following Figures are not to scale. The actual dimension and/or shape of each of the device components may vary. Only important details of the device are shown, however one of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate how the overall device may be constructed, without undue experimentation. The device may be constructed using standard ship, boat and/or buoy building methods and materials or any appropriate materials and methods to allow efficiency and survivability.
[0069] FIG. 1 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention, in the floating position, with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position. FIG. 2 is a general top view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention. Note the movement and direction of the waves as illustrated in FIG. 2 . Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the apparatus is composed of a main frame 1 that serves as the structure that holds all parts of the modular breakwater device together. Legs 2 serve as the base for the main floats of the breakwater 3 . The main floats 3 are designed in such a manner as to maintain the main frame 1 out of the water when they are completely filled with air, like a catamaran. At the center of main frame 1 is located a stabilizing float 4 which has the purpose to hold the main frame 1 in a horizontal position when the breakwater is being sunk into the seafloor or lifted from the seafloor when it is in its submerged position. The main frame 1 also holds a series of Venetian-like slats 5 which are hold together with lines 6 and which in FIG. 1 are shown in their raised position with ropes, belts or equivalent elements 7 . The ropes, belts or equivalent elements 7 are used only when the modular breakwater is being placed in the water for the first time in order to maintain minimum water resistance when dragging or placing the breakwater its permanent position. When the Venetian-like slats are in their unfolded position as is discussed below, they will serve the function of impeding the movement of the water in the direction of the wave shown in FIG. 2 , therefore lowering the kinetic energy of waves reaching the coastline.
[0070] The modular breakwater is held in position through two sets of anchor lines attached to the breakwater anchor 8 . One set of lines 9 is attached in an evenly spaced manner to the lines 6 that hold together the Venetian-like slats, and the other set 10 is attached to the main float 3 . Within main frame 1 there are located one or more scuba diving like pressurized air tanks 11 (only two are shown) that are used to fill floats 4 and 3 (in that order).
[0071] In FIG. 1 stabilizing lines 12 are also illustrated. The purpose of stabilizing lines 12 is to make sure that when the breakwater floats 3 are being filled with air, they keep these floats always below the mainframe 1 line because the Venetian-like slats 5 add weight to these floats when the slats are in the lowered position.
[0072] FIGS. 3 and 4 show general side views of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position. In FIG. 3 , the breakwater device is floating over the wave crest and the anchor lines 9 and 10 are in a taut stage. In FIG. 4 , the breakwater device is floating over the wave trough and the anchor lines 9 and 10 are in a slack stage. Notice the different shape of the main float 3 and stabilizing float 4 . Main floats 3 are designed to make the breakwater float in a catamaran manner and they can be design in any shape that can accomplish that purpose. The stabilizing float 4 can also be designed in any shape as to accomplish the purpose of stabilizing the breakwater (i.e., keeping the main frame 1 in horizontal position when sinking it to or raising it from the seafloor). By filling main float 3 with seawater first, and then float 4 , through a system that is described in connection with FIGS. 8 and 9 , the breakwater may be sunk to the sea floor.
[0073] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a general front and side view respectively of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the submerged position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in the raised position. It can be observed that main float 3 act as legs of the breakwater while resting on the sea floor.
[0074] FIG. 7 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the submerged position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats in a lowered position. Note that once the ropes, belts or equivalent elements 7 are cut or removed, the Venetian-like slats 5 fall into a lowered position, until they hit the sea floor. Also notice that the stabilizing lines 12 move down. The purpose of stabilizing lines 12 is to make sure that when the breakwater floats 3 are being filled with air through the air filling system explained in FIGS. 8 and 9 , it keeps these floats 3 always below the mainframe 1 line, as the Venetian-like slats 5 add weight to these floats 3 when the slats are in the lowered position.
[0075] Once the ropes, belts or equivalent elements 7 are cut or removed, and the Venetian-like slats 5 fall into their lowered position, the stabilizing float 4 and the main floats 3 can be filled with air with the air filling system schematically shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 . The air filling system shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is composed of one or more pressurized tanks 11 , connecting air lines or hoses 13 that connect the pressurized air tanks 11 with the air filling valve 15 positioned on top of the stabilizing tank 4 through connector element 14 , and connecting air lines or hoses 16 that go from the bottom of the stabilizing float 4 to the main floats 3 .
[0076] The procedure of filling the floats 4 and 3 is as follows. Valve 15 (which is a dual position valve, one position allows the entrance of air from the pressurized tanks 11 to the stabilizing float 4 and the other position allows air to out from the stabilizing float 4 to the environment) is put manually or automatically in the filling float 4 position, allowing air to come from pressurized tanks 11 to the top of float 4 through connecting air lines or hoses 13 . As float 4 starts to be filled with air, the air displaces the seawater contained inside the float 4 , lines or hoses 16 , and main float 3 , in that sequence. The seawater being displaced by the filling with air the system of floats and connecting lines or hoses is released to the environment through holes 3 a that are positioned in the lowest point in the middle of main floats 3 .
[0077] Since stabilizing float 4 is in the center of the breakwater module and also is the highest of the floats, it keeps the main frame 1 in a horizontal position when the breakwater is being filled with air and therefore raised from the seafloor to the water surface. In the opposite manner, when the breakwater is afloat, the procedure to sink the breakwater to the sea floor is to place valve 15 in the position that allows air out of float 4 to the environment. This allows seawater to enter floats 3 through holes 3 a displacing air upwardly first through floats 3 , then through lines or hoses 16 and then through float 4 until the breakwater sinks to the sea floor.
[0078] FIG. 10 is a general front view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats 5 in the lowered position. Note that the main frame 1 is out of the water due to the floating force of main floats 3 . Also note that the stabilizing lines 12 are pushed down by the weight of the lose Venetian-like slats 5 , maintaining the entire breakwater stable by keeping the main floats 3 under the main frame 1 horizontal line. The lines 6 that hold the Venetian-like slats 5 in position are all taut due to the weight of the slats.
[0079] FIG. 11 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention floating on the wave crest with the Venetian-like slats 5 in the lowered position. The Venetian-like slats 5 may pivot as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 , much as Venetian blinds do. The Venetian-like slats 5 may pivot on a hinge or be tied together by line 6 , much as in a Venetian blind mechanism. Thus, the Venetian-like slats 5 may be raised and lowered and may also pivot. Note that, because in the wave crest the movement of water molecules is in the same direction of the wave, and the Venetian-like slats 5 are pushed together (closed) thus preventing the passing of water and making the anchor lines 9 and 10 to be in a taut manner. Since the anchor lines in the taut mode do not allow the breakwater to move in the wave direction, the breakwater acts as a wall, stopping the movement of water molecules and therefore lowering the kinetic energy of the wave in the wave direction.
[0080] FIG. 12 is a general side view of the first embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention floating on the wave trough with the Venetian-like slats 5 in the lowered position. Note that, because in the wave trough the movement of water molecules is in the opposite direction of the wave, and the Venetian-like slats 5 are pushed to an open position allowing therefore the passing of water and making the anchor lines 9 and 10 to be in a slack manner. Since the breakwater on the trough of the wave offers little resistance to the water molecule movement in the opposite direction to the wave direction, due to its floating as a catamaran and the opening of the Venetian-like slats allowing the passing of water, the breakwater tends to stay in position. So, when the next wave crest passes the breakwater, the Venetian-like slats 5 will close and the anchor lines 9 and 10 quickly become taut, not allowing the movement of water in the wave direction and therefore lowering the kinetic energy of the wave in that direction.
[0081] FIG. 13 is a schematic top view of an embodiment of several modular breakwaters of the present invention along a coastline where the wave direction is perpendicular to the coastline. As the incoming wave approaches the device, water molecules moving in the direction of the wave push closed the Venetian-like slats, allowing therefore the breakwater to stop the movement of water in that direction, thus lowering the kinetic energy of the wave that will reach the coastline. FIGS. 14 and 15 are schematic top views of an embodiment of several modular breakwaters of the present invention along a coastline where the wave direction is in an angle from left to right and right to left to the coastline respectively.
[0082] FIG. 16 is a general front view of a second embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats 5 in the raised position where the raising or lowering of the slats is performed by a mechanism 17 . In this embodiment, the breakwater device will always be afloat, so there is no need for an air filling system described in FIGS. 8 and 9 , nor the need for a stabilizing float 4 . Main floats 3 may not need the holes 3 a in the lowest position.
[0083] FIG. 17 is a general front view of the second embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats 5 in the lowered position where the raising or lowering of the slats is performed by a mechanism 17 .
[0084] FIG. 18 is a general front view of a third embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats 5 in the raised position, without any slats raising or lowering mechanism 17 . In this embodiment, the breakwater device will always be afloat, so there is no need for an air filling system described in FIGS. 8 and 9 , nor the need for a stabilizing float 4 . Main floats 3 may not need the holes 3 a in the lowest position. The Venetian-like slats 5 are shown in their raised position with ropes, belts or equivalent elements 7 .
[0085] FIG. 19 is a general front view of the third embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position with the breakwater Venetian-like slats 5 in the lowered position. Notice that, once the ropes, belts or equivalent elements 7 are cut or removed, the Venetian-like slats 5 fall into their lowered position due to the force of gravity.
[0086] FIG. 20 is a general front view of a fourth embodiment of the modular breakwater of the present invention in the floating position where the breakwater Venetian-like slats 5 have holes 18 that may allow water to pass through when the breakwater is in the wave crest and the slats are closed. Water passing through the holes 18 will experience turbulence therefore lowering the kinetic energy of the wave in the direction of the wave. These Venetian-like slats with holes 18 can be used in all previous embodiments.
[0087] FIG. 21 is a general side view of the fifth configuration of the modular breakwater of the present invention floating on the wave trough with the Venetian-like slats 5 in the lowered position. Note that, because in the wave trough the water molecules movement is in the opposite direction of the wave, the Venetian-like slats 5 are pushed to an open position allowing therefore the passing of water and making the anchor lines 9 and 10 to be in a slack manner. Since the breakwater on the trough of the wave offers little resistance to the water molecule movement in the opposite direction to the wave direction, due to its floating as a catamaran and the opening of the Venetian-like slats allowing the passing of water, the breakwater tends to stay in position. When the incident wave angle with respect to the coast is always the same, in order to reduce even more the movement of the breakwater away from the coast when it is in the trough of the wave and the water molecules are moving in the opposite direction of the wave, anchor 19 can be placed between the breakwater and the coast so anchor lines 20 and 21 can be attached to the floats 3 and the lines holding the slats 5 . Lines 20 and 21 can have weights 22 added so they are always in a taut manner. These anchor lines ( 20 and 21 ) will hold the breakwater in position when it is in the wave trough.
[0088] While the preferred embodiment and various alternative embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it may be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
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The present invention relates to submergible modular breakwaters for lowering the kinetic energy of water waves. In particular, the present invention is directed toward a physical embodiment that, when in its floating position, will provide resistance to the movement of water waves in the direction of the waves for a large range of wave periods. The invention is a submergible modular breakwater that can be kept underwater on the sea or lake floor as not to provide any barrier to navigation until it is needed to lower the kinetic energy of waves, when it is quickly raised afloat to provide protection, especially for coastal erosion control during storms or rough waters. Once the lowering of the kinetic energy of water waves is not longer needed, the modular breakwater can be quickly sunk to the sea or lake floor in order to remove any barrier to navigation.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to device and method for effecting application of a therapeutic agent to a patient.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various devices and methods have been heretofore suggested and/or utilized to control delivery of therapeutic agents, such as drugs or electrical energy, to a patient. In addition, various drive mechanisms have heretofore been suggested and/or utilized to effect metering of therapeutic agents to a patient, and various on-board dedicated controllers have also been heretofore suggested and/or utilized.
While improvements in dedicated, self-contained controllers have heretofore been made and/or suggested, meaningful further improvements have presented a problem, primarily due to space limitations which have become more acute as the desire and/or need for smaller sized devices has increased while, at the same time, the desirability and/or need for elements providing increasingly sophisticated complexity, which often require additional space, has also increased to the emtent that such elements cannot be fitted into this decreasingly available space.
This has resulted in compromises that often have proved to be undesirable, at least in some respects. For example, delivery units capable of delivering therapeutic agents in liquid form and small enough to be worn on the body of a patient must normally now be single-channeled devices, and such devices have normally been limited to delivery of a therapeutic agent at either a controlled rate or a cycled bolus, with the rate being manually adjustable or automatically changed to programmed levels only up to a few times in any twenty-four hour period (with provision being also sometimes made ior a brief supplemental bolus of varying size upon demand by the patient or amplitude release on demand of the patient when combined with a profile of a programmed waveform).
Known systems and methods for programming and controlling delivery units have varied, but generally include a manual knob or pushbutton, or buttons on a keyboard, which adjust parameters, and the values of which may be displayed on a panel.
Ambulatory delivery devices capable of delivering therapeutic agents in liquid form have also been heretofore suggested and/or utilized. Within this category are delivery units that are implanted into the body of a patient. Such devices have been typically passive type devices (such as pressurized medication delivery devices) or have been adapted from cardiac pacemaker technology, and flow profile programs for these units have nornally been communicated telemetrically to the unit by a programmer. Several such emisting devices use the approach of a keyboard remote to the delivery unit, while others use a large, desktop special-purpose computer connected with a telemetry antenna, with such telemetry using pulse-modulated electromagnetic fields.
The programs contained within such dedicated computers are designed with a limited number of pre-programed waveforms. Because of the use of a limited selection of predetermined profiles, these computers are, in effect, an emtension of manual keyboards, and do not give the user either the capability of specifying the profile waveform itself, or of combining freely-defined waveform components. Moreover, these programmers are usually further limited to programming single-chamber devices.
The telemetered programming systems described above use "random access memory" (RAM) units to store the transmitted data in the delivery unit. RAM units, however, have inherent disadvantages, which include the need for sustained power to avoid loss of memory contents, and are designed for ease and speed of writing into memory as well as reading the nemory contents which results in relatively high susceptibility to transient electromagnetic noise.
Such programmable devices most often require the use of microprocessors (which depend upon a separate machine program to operate) as well as a program of user-defined parameters. Changing flow profiles in most of these devices entails rewriting the machine program as well as the user program. The machine progran is, however, not accessible to reprogramming by the user, and the program must therefore be physically replaced since it is normally contained in a "read only memory" (ROM) unit that is incapable of being reprogrammed (or is reprogrammable only after physical removal and special procedures).
In addition, the relative complexity of the machine programs needed for such general-purpose microprocessors does not easily allow unambiguous proof of all possible logical states of the processor. While such proof is possible in theory, it is extremely difficult to demonstrate in reality, and very expensive to implement. Such proof is therefore limited to relatively simple logic networks and programs, that are far below the complexity of the typically-used microprocessor and machine program.
More recently, dual microprocessors have been used to compensate for the failure potential inherent in single-processor designs, in order to assure only safe failure modes. This does not, however, resolve the problem of ambiguity, and creates a trap for logic states not explicitly contained in a truth table used for comparison.
Since known devices use specially designed programming computers, they tend to be very limited in their capability and the difficulty of writing programs for such computers is very high. In addition, known devices provide only the minimum functions needed to program the delivery unit, and do not provide assistive programs or databases.
The status of known devices intended for table or pole mounting, and used with relatively high flow rates, is somewhat different than for ambulatory devices. Such known large-volume delivery units, however, normally provide only constant flow rate profiles or combinations thereof. Also, the controls for such devices are normally local on-board, and are typically of the keyboard variety which are used in conjunction with various data displays. Also typically, currently used devices have microprocessor controls, with the most advanced systems using dual processors for error detection.
In such devices, a plurality of flow channels have been provided. Typically, however, a primary channel is used to supply a fluid which is usually delivered in large volumes, and a secondary channel is used to supply a smaller volume of a drug containing fluid (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,598 to Thompson). In this system, the fluid flow in the primary channel is interrupted only when a manual order is given which also causes conmencement of flow through the secondary channel, and after flow through the secondary channel has occurred at a known flow rate for a time period calculated to be coincident with the emptying of the reservoir associated with the secondary channel, flow is reverted back to the primary channel. In addition, the flow rate in each channel is constant and set by the user with on-board controls.
Another form of multi-channel device has also been suggested in which the flow rate in each channel is a fixed ratio to that of the other channels, depending upon selection of mechanical elements (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,251 to Berman et al).
Another large delivery unit has been suggested which can control up to four flow channels, but utilizes a constant flow rate for each channel that is set using onboard controls.
A single-channel delivery unit has been suggested which has connectors provided for computer access. However, the delivery unit and computer are not designed together as a system. Instead, a user must first provide a computer, and then program the computer for the intended purpose, with conmunication between the delivery unit and computer being effected by direct wire connection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a system and method for application of one or more therapeutic agents to a patient which overcomes many of the disadvantages of known devices and methods such as set forth hereinabove.
A computer, such as a general purpose computer, is used to program a programmable element remotely from the delivery unit (which can be a pump), and the programmable element, after placement in the delivery unit, controls operation of the delivery unit, which delivery unit may contain a plurality of channels all of which are controlled by the programmable element to effect delivery of a plurality of therapeutic agents.
Through use of this arrangement, the device and method of this invention allows programming of a therapeutic agent delivery unit (single or multi-channel) to deliver virtually any needed or desired flow rate profile, be it physical matter (such as a liquid) or a form of energy (such as electrical), normally as a function of time, with such profiles being definable by the user or selected from a database of profiles that does not require machine modification of the delivery unit. Patient or event triggering capability is also provided to allow introduction of supplemental profiles, which are later automatically terminated and flow returned to control by the programmed profile, and each channel is independently or contingently controllable under fully automatic and unattended operation.
In addition, manual control functions or special profiles assigned by programming may also be provided, and secure, verifiable means of transmission of data from the data entry means to the delivery unit may also be utilized, which transmission means requires neither electrical power to sustain its contents nor continued connection between data entry means and delivery means.
Since the data entry means is based on a general-purpose computer, the difficulty of writing applications software is minimized, and assistive programs are also provided in the data entry means to aid the user in specifying the desired flow profile (including, if desired, graphics-based entry means), and provision can also be made to simulate the action of the delivery unit, both physically and pharmacokinetically. Emtensive error-reduction means, including use of databases for cross-checking drug information, protocol parameters, and patient records may also be provided, and dosage adjustment assistance may be provided based on laboratory blood values by use of pharmacokinetic algorithims (or through the use of special calculators enabling the patient to apply results of test done in the home or other non-laboratory environment) for fine adjustments of the dosage scale.
The system and method of this invention thus permits virtually unlimited programming capabilities without compromising the size and weight of the delivery unit. Conversely, by freeing the system from size constraints, virtually unlimited programming capabilities may be included within the system and yet the delivery unit (which may be worn by the patient) can be smaller than even less sophisticated devices.
This unlimited programming capability, or power, thus provides an ability to program single or multiple channels with each of the multiple channels being capable of having different drugs and individually specified delivery profiles and with the machine code of the delivery unit being automatically programmed for each channel, as well as an ability to assign, by programming, manual or event synchronized input sources to any designated delivery channel.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved system and method for application of a therapeutic agent to a patient.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved system and method for application of a therapeutic agent to a patient wherein a programmable logic unit is programmed remote from the delivery unit and then used at the delivery unit for controlling operation of the delivery unit.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved system and method for application of a therapeutic agent to a patient that allows delivery of any selected flow rate profile with progranming of a programmable logic unit being carried out remotely of the delivery unit and the delivery unit being virtually free of size restraints other than being adapted to receive the progranmable logic unit.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved system and method for application of a therapeutic agent to a patient wherein a programmable logic unit is used to individually control operation of a plurality of channels in the delivery unit.
With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent to one skilled in the art as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination, arrangement of parts and method substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that changes are meant to be included as come within the scope of the claims.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings illustrate a complete embodiment of the invention according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof and in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the device of this invention with patient interaction being also indicated;
FIG. 2 is an expanded block diagram of the programming unit shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the delivery unit, similar to that shown in FIG. 1, but illustrating use of the control a unit to control plurality of channels through which therapeutic agents may be delivered to a patient;
FIG. 4 is an expanded block diagram of the control unit shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a typical constant rate profile for therapeutic agent delivery during a one day period;
FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a typical multilevel approximation to the toxicity limit for therapeutic agent delivery during a one day period; and
FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating a typical series of boli (discrete shots) of therapeutic agent delivery spaced over a one day period and illustrating limitations in dose rate due to varying toxic susceptibility.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The block diagram of FIG. 1 summarizes the interconnection the components, or elements, of the device of this invention. As shown, device 11 includes, primarily, a progranming unit 13 and a delivery unit 14.
programming unit 13 includes a computer 16, preferably a general-purpose computer, that is capable of programming programmable logic unit 18 used to control operation of delivery unit 14 when placed in delivery unit 14 (as indicated in FIG. 1). As also indicated in FIG. 1, by way of emample, computer 16 has machine program 20 connected therewith, as well as databases 22, assistive programs 24 and pharmacokinetic programs 26, as needed, for programming the logic unit.
Obviously, computer 16 could also have connected therewith any number of other input devices, such as a keyboard, graphics, tablet, joystick, "mouse", or other manipulanda, or other data acquisition devices. In addition, computer 16 can also be connected with one or more displays 28, which, by way of emample, could be a video screen, a liquid crystal display, a printer and/or or a plotter.
Logic unit 18 is preferably a programmable logic cartridge. Programmable logic cartridge 18 may be any form of non-volatile logic (meaning the programmed form will be retained in the absence of electrical power) or otherwise volatile logic sustained by an accompanying power source, such as a small back-up battery. Preferred forms or such components include, but are not meant to be limited to, commercially available devices such as programmable read only memories (PROMs), erasable programmable read only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), electrically alterable programmable read only memories (EAPROMs), nonvolatile random access memories (NVRAMs), and programmable logic arrays (PLAs).
The logic cartridge contains the configurable portion of the logic path of the control unit and establishes operation thereof depending upon the contained configuration of logic gates or states in the delivery unit. Program 20 is a machine program that is used to operate computer 16, and the system transforms the user-provided information into a logic configuration suitable for operating the delivery unit in accordance with the intended delivery requirements of the user. Computer 16 then writes the configuration into logic cartridge 18 and automatically verifies correct entry.
In assisting the user to enter error-free information, the computer uses appropriate databases 22 and assistive programs 24 to determine inconsistencies, to offer the user supporting information and/or to aid calculations, as indicated in greater detail in FIG. 2. Databases 22 can therefore include, by way of example, patient DBs 22a and drug DBs 22b. These can be augmented by assistive programs 24 (such as protocols 24a, unit definitions 24b, and graphics 24c), and by pharmacokinetic algorithms 26 to thereby provide information such as accepted drug dosage ranges, interactions between drugs when present in the patient at the same time, and parameters for mathematical dose-response or pharmacokinetic models for each drug.
By using these databases and assistive programs, the computer is able to automatically interpolate from the preferred nomenclature of the user and units of measurement to those needed by the logic of the delivery unit (heretofore, the user was required to perform numerous calculations before being able to adjust a delivery unit, each such calculation carrying a finite probability of introducing error).
The computer is also able to utilize the databases to retain the history of the individual patient's treatment and responses, and the patient's pertinent physiological or other parameters used to assist determination of safe and effective dosage. Furthermore, the computer uses a "library" of delivery protocols, either provided by the manufacturer, developed by the user, or provided by a third party. Such protocols assist the user by requiring only the minimum amount of data needed to correctly adjust the dosage to an individual patient.
The computer may also use pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, or dose-response models (designated generally by the numeral 26 in FIGS. 1 and 2), to either aid programming of the delivery profile of the delivery unit, or to simulate the outcome of a profile in terms of resulting bodily concentrations of the delivered substances, or both. Furthermore, such programs may aid the user in finally adjusting dosages after taking requirements of substance concentrations within the body of the patient at some time intervals after beginning delivery. Such data may be acquired from a clinical setting, such as a hospital laboratory 30, as generally indicated in FIG. 1, or in the patient's own normal surroundings by means of simplified tests.
Data may then be entered into the programming computer for programming a new logic cartridge, or may be communicated to the delivery unit. In the latter case, the logic cartridge contains sections of configurable logic suitably different from the base configurations so as to allow small changes in effective dosage rates from the base program.
The suitable interpolation of a concentratron measurement to a logic configuration or selection is normally automatically accomplished in the programming computer, but may be accomplished by a calculator 32 (operated by patient 34) which has the ability to communicate with the delivery unit under special circumstances such as, for example, in response to patient perception of clinical symptoms.
As brought out more fully hereinafter, a patient, or an event, is also able to initiate delivery of the therapeutic agent, as generally indicated in FIG. 1 by the block entitled demand or event 36, the output from which is coupled to delivery unit 14.
As also indicated in FIG. 2, data is written into logic cartridge 18 by computer 16 through converter 38, with the computer also providing, if desired, an output to labeler 40 (which provides a suitable label for attachment to the logic cartridge). As also indicated in FIG. 2, computer 16 may also be connected with delivery unit 14 through a telephone interconnect system 42 that includes modems 44 and 46 at opposite sides of telephone system 48, for purposes as described more fully hereinafter.
Delivery unit 14 includes a control unit 50 which receives removable programmable logic unit 18. Control unit 50 drives a driver 52, which driver, in turn, controls operation of an applicator, such as a syringe 54, through which the therapeutic agent is delivered to patient 34. Delivery unit 14 will not operate if logic unit 18 is removed from control unit 50.
The driver mechanism may be of any suitable form, and may be, for example, a mechanism that depresses the plunger of a syringe, as is now preferred, with all components contacted by the fluid drug formulation being preferably disposable.
The delivery unit may contain a plurality of independently controlled fluid delivery channels as indicated in FIG. 3. When so utilized, control unit 50 independently controls each driver (indicated by the numerals 52a-d in FIG. 3), and each driver controls a separate syringe (indicated by the numerals 54a-d in FIG. 3) with each driver and syringe establishing separate channels indicated in FIG. 3 as channels 1-4).
The preferred embodiment uses a modular design assembly in which any number from one to four channels may be used at any one time. More than one delivery unit assembly may, however, be synchronized together for applications requiring more than four fluid channels.
In its preferred form, the controller logic consists of discrete logic elements so as to make up a state machine. This state machine performs strict sequences of logic functions depending upon the state of a clock or other control element, or a combination thereof, and upon the state of the logic programmed into the logic cartridge. Alternately, combinational logic can be utilized in a dedicated control machine, which again uses the configurable logic in the programmable cartridge to define the sequence of logic operations.
While the intended preferred embodiment of this invention utilizes a delivery unit without a microprocessor, the delivery unit could include a suitably programmed microprocessor (or microprocessors), which reads operating parameters from the information contained in the programmable memory cartridge which is programmed remote from the delivery unit.
The electronic controller 56 of control unit 50 also utilizes a read/write memory 58 (see FIG. 4) within the delivery unit to record data about the actual operating history over a time period, for emample, a number of days, and can include coding of date and time of day, if desired. Such data are useful for various purposes, including diagnosing hardware problems, recording data of patient-demanded delivery events, recording data on physiologically -or blood-level-controlled delivery profiles, and/or compiling data on the patient's compliance with a prescribed delivery schedule.
The delivery unit may, depending upon the application, use manually-operated controls 60 (connected through ports 62 to controller 56 as indicated in FIG. 4) to synchronize delivery events of any complexity with the detailed waveform and amplitude information relating to the events being programmed into the logic cartridge. Such manual controls may operate any of the available channels, the assignment being made by appropriately programming the logic cartridge.
Similarly, delivery events may be synchronized by detecting, as by sensors 64 as indicated in FIG. 4, the occurrence of a physiological event or by appearance of a critical level of a substance in the blood or other physiological fluid. Of greater complexity, the profile of fluid delivery over time may change in accordance with direct modulation from the detected levels and/or statistical behavior of physiological events, or from detected levels of substances in the blood or other physiological fluids.
The computer can also communicate with the delivery unit remotely by means of the telephone interconnect unit 42. In this case, communication is normally restricted to hardware problems diagnosis, routinely report patient usage information, or to slightly adjust dosage rate.
As also shown in FIG. 4, control unit 50 includes electronic controller 56 capable of dividing time into time segments, such as, for example, one-minute intervals, utilizing clocks 66. Typically, clocks 66 follows a twenty-four hour clock in real time. At each time segment, the controller addresses the logic cartridge and performs a series of housekeeping checks, then looks to see if a delivery event is scheduled.
Since the computer programs the logic cartridge, the computer preferably uses programs that translate the user's expression of delivery profile into time-encoded series of discrete delivery pulses. Mathematically, the programs encode a combination of both pulse-width modulated and pulse-period modulated trains of delivery events. The computer then synthesizes a flow profile using relatively rapid trains of pulses.
Emamples of some of the more simple profiles are shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. In these examples, the wave-like top line represents an exemplary toxicity limit of a patient which limit varies with a twenty-four hour rhythm. The objective of optimizing flow rate is achieved by delivering the therapeutic agent at a rate which comes close to the toxic limit, but never exceeds it.
FIG. 5 shows a typical constant rate profile deliverable by many delivery systems now known, and FIG. 6 shows a typical multilevel approximation to toxicity limit, while FIG. 7 shows the results of a typical series of boli (discrete volumes) spaced variably in time and limited in dose content by the varying toxic susceptibility.
The delivery unit is not dependent upon the size or type of mechanical drive being used. The controller would work just as well with a small capacity element, such as, for example, a 0.l cc/day capacity, as with a large capacity element, such as, for example, a 2000 cc/day capacity driver element. It would also work equally as well with other drive mechanisms, such as, for example, a pulsatile solenoid drive or a continuous-flow proportional regulator, as with the syringe drive.
Since the computer designs the delivery profile for each channel, based on the specifications of the user, not only can each channel be made to operate independently, the channels can also be linked in operation relative to one another to allow greater operating flexibility. For example, while a particular delivery unit might offer up to four channels of 30 cc of a therapeutic agent each, two channels are operated in series or in tandem, the result is to allow 60 cc capacity for a particular therapeutic agent (such as a relatively insoluble drug, for example).
Of major importance is the fact that this capability has been designed without requiring microprocessors in the controller. While microprocessors are powerful, they may have several significant limitations, including higher costs, limited availability, and software provability limitations (at least without use of multiple units to provide a cross-check).
All of the "intelligent" features are included in the programming unit. This allows the delivery unit (which is the key component in the patient's view) to be kept simple, have a low cost, and yet be highly reliable. If desired, however, the delivery unit can provide displays (such as displays 68 connected with controller 56 as indicated in FIG. 4).
The programming unit is far more powerful and friendly than known systems, which attempt to fit sophisticated controls into small size and thus conpromise both size and user friendliness. In addition, the system of this invention, uses partitioning (i.e., programming in a separate unit from that of the delivery unit) which is a najor departure from known practice.
The programming unit prompts the user (such as a pharmacist) for patient and prescription data. Basic protocol information may be requested from a database to speed data entry. The protocol outline asks only for the minimum amount of data needed to individualize dosages to the patient.
Protocols are derived from published sources, third parties, or are developed by the user. In the latter case, friendly software is preferably provided to assist the user by asking a series of questions. All protocol entries and changes may be preferably date/time coded to provide a complete audit trail.
If requested, the computer queries a drug database to check for dosage range errors and for compliance with package insert labeling. It also checks for possible adverse drug interactions. The user may over-ride certain types of warnings by providing signature for the audit trail held in the pernanent patient record.
The provided software may, if desired, cause the computer to look up the patient's history on the patient database to check for consistency. Again, the user may over-ride certain warnings with appropriate security precautions. The patient's records are automatically updated upon the users verification of correct entry.
The computer can be used not only to nanage each of the infused drugs, but other drugs as well. It also charts the responses of the patient to therapy, or any laboratory measurements.
The computer is thus utilized as far more than just a delivery unit programmer. It is a conprehensive medication nanagement system. The user can also ask the computer to use pharmacokinetic algorithms to help derive optimum profiles for a patient. The algorithm prompts for laboratory data and may, if requested, remind the user of the correct sampling protocol.
When the user indicates program acceptance, the computer writes the data into the logic cartridge and automatically verifies its contents against the original image. If desired, the computer can cause a label to be printed, in appropriate pharmacy form, for placement on the cartridge. Finally, the computer may cause a hard copy of the patient's updated record to be printed, and copies all data into the patient database.
The programmable logic cartridge is a nonvolatile memory (it does not lose contents with power loss). It may be used either as a one-time disposable, or as a reprogrammbale cartridge. The former provides relatively low cost with ultimate data security. Disposability assures the least chance of a mixup, which is possible with re-use. The old cartridges may be included in the patient's permanent physical file for medico-legal backup.
Although microprocessor-based devices use read-only memories, they use them for the microcode of the processor, and not for the user program--which is in the random-access memory (RAM) unit with presently known systems. In addition, known systems, despite containing one or two microprocessors, have only a very limited "vocabulary" of permissible flow profiles. To change the profile, the machine microcode must be rewritten, which is quite difficult and cannot normally be done by the user. Such systems are therefore rigidly limited in capability despite the use of relatively complex computing chips which are required to manage these very simple functions, with most of the sophistication of such a process being used to manage manual controls and displays.
Unlike the more commonly used RAM unit which is designed for high-speed writing as well as reading at low voltages and is thus relatively susceptible to electrical noise as well as being volatile, the logic cartridge used in this invention is exceedingly resistant to environmental electromagnetic noise.
Most significantly, the logic memory unit is used as a configurable logic, and not as a simple table of parameters to be looked up. This gives the system of this invention enhanced programming power.
As can be appreciated from the foregoing, this invention provides an improved system and method for application of a therapeutic agent to a patient.
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Device and method are disclosed for effecting application of a therapeutic agent. A removable programmable element is used to control operation of a delivery unit, which unit delivers the therapeutic agent to the patient. The programmable element is programmed, while removed from the delivery unit, by a computer that is operationally independent of the delivery unit to insure the integrity of subsequent delivery of the therapeutic agent to the patient by the delivery unit. The delivery unit requires no microprocessor and can include a plurality of channels for effecting independent delivery of therapeutic agents in each channel under the control of the programmable element. The programmable element is programmed with respect to available protocol information, including patient history, needs and tolerances, as well as therapeutic agent parameters, to thereby establish a flow profile that is customized for a particular patient during each moment of each day. Patient demand for therapeutic agents can also be accommodated with safeguards being included to assure proper dispensing of the demanded agents.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a gas tube type surge protective device using two interfitting electrodes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A gas tube surge protective device containing two electrodes secured to a cylindrical insulator to provide a vacuum tight enclosure has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,952. The disclosure of that patent is incorporated herein by reference. The overvoltage arrester disclosed in that patent consists of a first electrode which forms a cylindrical gap with a ceramic housing, together with a circular, wafer-shaped gap and a cylindrical gap in a low deposition space. A starting electrode is produced by sputtering electrode material onto the inside wall of the ceramic housing. The sputtered metal extends into the condensation gap. This type of starting aid requires high static initial ignition values after extended dark storage. Moreover, the effect of the starting aid is deteriorated with current passage, particularly during a surge current load since the metal of the electrodes thereby vaporizes and the expulsion of gases contained therein may raise the ignition voltage.
The gaps used in the low deposition rear spaces of the prior art must be extremely narrow. They should comprise a gap width of about 0.025 mm. This short spacing is required with the design of the prior art in order to prevent a short circuit as a consequence of metal precipitation along the surface of the ceramic housing despite the extremely short gap lengths. In the example given, the gap may have a length of about 1.1 mm overall. Said extremely small gap widths require very precise structuring of the individual parts and an extremely precise assembly. In practice, the ceramic material must also be provided with an inside burnishing which is involved and expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an improved arrester which is more easily manufactured than devices of the prior art. In addition, the arrester of the present invention provides a reduction of the scatter of values obtained and in the reduction of the disturbing "light-dark effect" i.e., the sporadically occuring, high static initial ignition values following a longer duration between two discharges.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an overvoltage arrester including a hollow cylindrical insulator, a pair of electrodes hard soldered to the insulator and providing a vacuum-tight space in the interior of the insulator, with a starting aid secured only to one of the electrodes. The starting aid extends into the low deposition space provided between one of the electrodes and the insulator. The electrode includes a bore into which the other electrode projects, the electrodes being shaped to provide a discharge gap between them. With the structure of the present invention, with identical outside dimensions and at least equivalent arresting capability, there are far lower demands as far as mechanical tolerances are concerned in order to guarantee a reduced range of scatter of the electrical data. The shaping and the type of starting devices also interact to provide a more efficient unit. The structure is such that it can be soldered together in simple adjustment devices.
The end face of one of the electrodes is preferably covered with a metal coating which serves as an activator. By using such an activator, the arc discharge can be concentrated on the discharge gap between the parts of the electrodes which are covered with the activator or can at least be kept in the discharge gap.
A high glow ignition voltage is required for various applications. Activators having alkali and alkaline earth compounds of known composition are unsuitable for this purpose because they provide too low a glow ignition voltage or they may produce a gas contamination following the surge current load due to subsequent generation of gas as they produce a chemical conversion of the activator causing an instability of the electrical characteristics. Pure metals used as activators are more stable toward load but tend to atomize and with multiple alternating current loads, they produce a considerable metal condensation on the housing parts which are visible from the discharge gap.
Metals can be used as activators in accordance with the present invention since with the design of the arrester, a high degree of metal vapor condensation is achieved at non-critical locations, for example, at the second electrode and an adequately large space is available for the metal vapor. The critical insulator segments are not subject to vapor deposition to any great extent, so a low deposition space can be provided in a relatively simple way. A particularly advantageous activator for a high glow ignition voltage consists of a first component in the form a fused-on layer of aluminum and a second component which consists of a metal which forms a eutectic with the aluminum and has a melting point lying below the soldering temperature. The metals Ag, Cu, Si, Sn, and Cr are particularly suitable as the second component when they are present in metallic form. A silver layer can also be used as an activator in an overvoltage arrester of the present invention. The silver can be applied in powder form or by means of known coating methods such as by electrodeposition.
The metals which are added to the aluminum as the second component prevent a roughening of the electrode surface which arises during soldering and during operation when aluminum alone is utilized as an activator. This roughening considerably changes the characteristics and can lead to a short circuit. Based upon my observation, the roughening is caused by a ball formation of the aluminum layer as a consequence of heating and can be prevented by the use of the aformentioned additives. The aluminum metal advantageously acts as a getter at the same time.
A high performance, space saving embodiment is provided by an insulator housing composed of ceramics and electrodes composed essentially of copper. At least the second electrode is soldered to the ceramic housing with a eutectic silver-copper solder. A silver containing metal layer is applied to both electrodes in the region of the discharge gap to act as an activator layer. The condensation gap has a width which is at least roughly the same as the width of the discharge gap. The low deposition rear space is about 1.5 times as wide as the discharge gap. The length of the condensation gap and of the gap-shaped low deposition rear space amounts to at least 5 times the corresponding gap width. The end face of the cylinder wall of the first electrode is preferably rounded off. The spacing of the end face of the cylinder wall from all parts of the second electrode amounts to about 1.5 times the width of the discharge gap. This dimensioning produces no discharges outside of the discharge gap. It therefore provides a extremely space saving overvoltage arrester. Starting strips composed of graphite are also advantageously used as a starting aid for a uniform ignition voltage.
In a preferred form of the invention, the shortest path from the starting aid along the ceramic housing to the first electrode is at least as great as the smallest spacing between the two electrodes in the region of the discharge gap.
The activator layer preferably contains aluminum in an amount between 10 and 40% by weight. A firmly adhering layer is thus obtained without the formation of small aluminum balls.
An embodiment of the invention having a low unit scatter of the electrical characteristics is provided by utilizing an inside diameter for the insulator housing of about 1 mm larger than the outside diameter of the first electrode. The inside diameter of the insulating housing and the outside diameter of the first electrode do not depart by more than plus or minus 0.1 mm from their respective nominal values.
The overvoltage arrester of the present invention is preferably filled with a gas mixture of argon and hydrogen containing an amount of hydrogen between 5 and 20%.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The three figures of the drawings are cross sectional views of different forms of overvoltage arresters.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, there is shown combination of a first electrode 1 located within a cylindrical ceramic housing 3, in combination with a second electrode 2. The elements are soldered to one another in a vacuum-tight condition by means of solder surfaces 4. The first electrode 1 comprises a blind ended bore 12 including a cylindrical inside wall 19 and a floor 13. The second electrode 2 comprises an end face 14 and a generated surface 18.
A gap 5 extends between the end face 14 and the floor 13. The gap 5 between the inside wall 19 of the first electrode 1 and the generated surface 18 of the second electrode 2 merges into a gap 6 which has at least the same width as the gap 5. The two electrodes 1 and 2 are preferably of copper but they may also be composed of an alloy, for example, of the metals Fe, Ni and Co.
The end face 11 of the cylinder wall 15 is rounded off or bevelled. The spacing of the end face 11 from arbitrary parts of the second electrode 2 amounts to at least about 1.5 times the width of the smaller of the two gaps 5 or 6.
A low deposition rear space 7 extends between the cylinder wall 15 and the ceramic housing 3. Its legnth amounts to about 5 times its width. At least one starting strip 10 is connected to the electrode 2 in conductive fashion and extends into the low deposition rear space 7. The distance of the lower extremity of the strip 10 from the first electrode 1 along the inside wall 16 of the ceramic housing 3 is at least about the same as the spacing of the two electrodes 1 and 2 from each other in the gaps 5 or 6. The starting strip or strips 10 are preferably made from graphite.
A considerable reduction in the dimensions of the overvoltage arrester can be accomplished by providing an activator layer 8,9,21,22 to at least one limiting surface of the gaps 5 or 6. As a result thereof, the discharge is kept in the region of the activator layer. The overvoltage arrester can be miniaturized both in diameter as well as in axial extent without discharges occuring at undersired locations, which discharges would potentially reduce the useful life of the overvoltage arrester.
In FIG. 1, both the inside wall 19 of the first electrode 1 and the generated surface 18 of the second electrode 2 as well as the floor 13 of the first electrode 1 and the end face 14 of the second electrode 2 are covered with activator layers 8,9,21 and 22. As a result thereof, the gaps 5 and 6 are completely utilized as discharge gaps. The overvoltage arrester can thus accomodate an extremely large surge current load.
FIG. 2 shows an embodiment which is particularly simple to manufacture. In this form, the end face 24 and the floor 23 are each shaped approximately conically and the angle of the cone jacket to its rotational axis corresponds to the angle of the cutter of a spiral drill to its rotational axis. In the example, the activator layers 29 and 30 are provided only on the end face 24 and on the floor 23. The gap 5 is narrower than the gap 6. The dimensions of the overvoltage arrester in the axial direction can thus be kept relatively small.
The device of FIG. 3 has a particularly long useful life. In this form of the invention, activator layers 8 and 9 are applied in the region of the gap 5 whereas no activator layers are present in the vicinity of the gap 6. As a result, the gap 6 essentially acts as an additional condensation gap. In order to avoid mis-ignitions in the region of the end faces 11, the second electrode 2 includes a region 28 having a reduced diameter in proximity to the end face 11, so that the distance between the end face 11 and the second electrode 2 also meets the insulating demands.
The end faces 14 and the floor 13 are in the shape of truncated cones terminating in circular areas 25 or 26 at the side having the smaller cross section. The circular areas 25 and 26 have different diameters so that their edges 27 and 31 are offset relative to each other in the radial direction. The circular area 25 is smaller than the circular area 26. As a result, a current concentration along the edge 27 is avoided. In this embodiment, the gap 6 is narrower than the gap 5 so that the diameter of the arrester can be kept relatively small and the metal evaporating in the gap 5 can precipitate quickly in the relatively narrow gap 6. The region 17 on the ceramic insulator which is vapor-deposited with metal is thereby kept quite small. This embodiment thus guarantees an especially long useful life for the overvoltage arrester.
It should be evident that various modifications can be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.
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An overvoltage arrester for handling high surge currents including a pair of electrodes one of which includes a blind bore into which the second electrode projects, thereby providing at least one discharge gap between the two electrodes. The arrester of the present invention has a long useful life and a high surge current carrying capability.
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RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a conventional application claiming the benefit of the priority date of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/253,716 filed Nov. 28, 2000.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of measurement of absorbency of textile, paper and other similar materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method which enables in-plane liquid spread and recording of the liquid spread to occur simultaneously to facilitate selected measurements of absorbency, desorbency and/or pore volume distribution of liquid in a textile, paper or other similar material.
RELATED ART
[0003] Nonwovens are textile assemblies made up of fibers that are neither interlaced nor interlocked, but instead they are held together through mechanical, thermal or chemical bonding. It is this unique way of producing the materials that results in the materials being highly anisotropic. Nonwovens are highly anisotropic materials and unlike woven and knitted fabrics where the properties of the material depend greatly on the way in which the yarns are interlaced or interlooped, a nonwoven's properties depend greatly on the way in which the fibers are oriented within the material which can vary significantly from one product to another depending on the production techniques and any further processing that the product might experience.
[0004] The anisotropy of a nonwoven is an important structural characteristic of the material because it allows the user to isolate the directional properties of the nonwoven and due to this the structure can be engineered such that the materials serves a specific purpose. It has been found that important structural characteristics such as the tensile strength and the bending rigidity are directly influenced by the anisotropy of the nonwoven. There are other important properties of nonwovens that have not been correlated with the structural anisotropy. This includes the liquid distribution of the material.
[0005] Nonwovens are used in such products as baby diapers, feminine products, geotextiles, medical equipment such as gowns and sterilization covers, and may someday be a common method for the production of clothing. In most of these areas one of the key properties of the material is its liquid transport ability and more specifically the in-plane liquid distribution. In-plane liquid distribution is the movement of liquid within the plane of the fabric as opposed to the movement of liquid perpendicular to the plane of the fabric, which is referred to as transplanar distribution. The in-plane liquid distribution is used to distribute liquid over a given area so that either total evaporation of the liquid can occur more readily, such in the case of perspiration on clothing, or so that the product can be used to its maximum capacity, such in the case of the second layer of a baby diaper. If the connection between the anisotropy and the liquid distribution can be made then the liquid flow can be modeled as a function of the anisotropy and from there the nonwoven materials can be made such that the liquid distribution is engineered to meet a specific purpose. It is necessary, however, to first measure the intrinsic in-plane liquid distribution of the material.
[0006] Presently there are many different ways in which liquid movement within the nonwoven is measured. These are normally divided into two categories: liquid absorption from a limited reservoir and liquid absorption from an unlimited reservoir. The drop test is an example of a test from a limited reservoir. The invention described and claimed hereinbelow, however, focuses on absorption from an unlimited reservoir because for many of the nonwoven applications the liquid that wets the material can be assumed to constitute an unlimited reservoir. Conventionally tests that have been used to measure liquid absorption from an unlimited reservoir are tests such as the vertical wicking test, the dunk test, and the Gravimetric Absorbency Test System (GATS). The results from these tests, however, are all inconclusive because of the way in which the tests are carried out. To resolve these problems a new system has been developed.
[0007] The new instrument and method described and claimed hereinbelow is based on the GATS testing system and has been developed in order to measure and quantify the in-plane liquid distribution of nonwoven fabrics as well as absorbency, desorbency and pore size distribution. This system is able to accurately calculate the liquid distribution with the added feature of a camera mounted above the testing plate. A new test plate has also been developed so that the intrinsic liquid absorption rate can be better determined. The new plate is a flat circular plate that is hollowed out. The material that is placed on the plate touches the plate only in the center where the liquid is distributed to the fabric and around the edges for support. Unlike the old testing plates the new plate adds no new capillaries to the system and therefore allows for the true intrinsic wicking of the material to be generated. With the new plate and the new machine the effect of fabric anisotropy on liquid distribution can easily be determined.
Conventional Test Methods and Appartuses for Liquid Absorption/Wicking
[0008] As noted above, there are many tests that are presently used for measuring the absorption rate of a material. These tests include the vertical wicking test, downward wicking test, the basket test, GATS test and more recently the NCRC (Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center) directional absorbency test. Strip tests are generally used to measure absorption in a given direction while the other tests, basket, GATS, and the NCRC directional absorbency test, are used to measure the bulk of liquid uptake into a system whether that is transplanar or in-plane liquid uptake. Although there are arguments to use the previously mentioned tests, they all possess inherent problems and shortcomings well known to one skilled in the art. The test methods and the problems associated with each one are discussed below.
[0009] The vertical wicking test, as the name implies, is an absorbency/wicking test carried out with the specimen being tested vertically. This is referenced in the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) standard test method 10.1. For this test, a strip of material is cut in a given direction (usually the machine or cross direction) and one end of the material is suspended while the other end hangs vertically down into a liquid reservoir. The test fabric is preconditioned at 20°C. and 65% RH. The time it takes for the liquid to rise to a given height is timed. There are different standards for those materials that are considered to wick slowly and those that are considered to wick at a rapid rate. For the slow ones the time allotted is 24 hours and the ones that wick fast are allotted five minutes maximum.
[0010] Many people include an additional piece of equipment during testing that measures the change in weight of the material as the liquid is absorbed into the system. Although this is not included in the standard test method it is often a useful technique of measuring liquid absorption. The material can be hung from a device in which the weight of the material during uptake is recorded. This is a direct measurement of the amount of liquid being absorbed into the material. When the material is fully saturated, the weight balance will show a constant value and the test is ended.
[0011] As stated hereinbefore, other tests for measuring wicking and/or absorption are the basket test, the Gravimetric Absorbency Testing System (GATS), and more recently the NCRC directional wicking test.
[0012] The basket or sink test as it is sometimes referred to, is used to measure the total liquid uptake into a material over a period of time. This is also referenced in the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) standard test method 10.1. This test is executed by cutting out a strip of material weighing 5 grams and then rolling it up and placing it into a basket. The basket is then placed into a liquid reservoir and the time it takes for the material to sink is recorded. When the basket is recovered from the liquid the excess liquid is allowed to drain off and then the weight of the material is measured by subtracting from the total weight the weight of the basket. There are a number of problems associated with this test method, which may make the test unsuitable for real world applications. First, the rolled up material forms extra capillaries between its layers. These capillaries have the potential of holding liquid and thus the reading for the weight may be a greater than the actual amount of liquid that the material could absorb for a given period of time. Second, the absorption rate cannot be modeled by using this test procedure.
[0013] Another way to measure absorption versus time is the conventional GATS machine available from M/K Systems, Inc. of Danvers, Massachusetts (see FIGS. 1 - 2 ). The Gravimetric Absorbency Testing System or GATS 10 is a system for measuring the wicking rate of a material over a period of time. It consists of a liquid reservoir 12 that is connected to a platform or test plate via a plastic tube 14 . The plastic tube enters the test plate 16 from the bottom and this is how the liquid is delivered to the material. The liquid reservoir rests on top of a balance 18 , which is connected to a computer 20 . The material, a circular piece of fabric, is placed on the platform 16 and the test is initiated by using an automatic start switch. The material then begins to absorb the liquid delivered to it through the plastic tube 14 . As the liquid in the reservoir 12 drops the value on the balance 18 also drops and this is recorded by the computer 20 as the amount of liquid absorbed by the material per unit time.
[0014] More specifically, the GATS consists of a base unit incorporating the electronics on which is mounted a solenoid assembly and 3-way valve 22 , lead screw slide assembly with sample test plate 16 , and electronic balance (EB 18 ). On the balance is mounted a fluid feed system consisting of a two chamber reservoir 12 which rests on a frame surrounding the pan of the EB. The reservoir top chamber 12 A holds sufficient fluid (water or any other fluid) for several tests and has a cover with a hole for filling. The bottom chamber 12 B holds the refill solenoid assembly 22 and the fluid cell 24 . The cell holds a specific weight of fluid automatically siphoned to the test sample during a test. A plexiglas rod 26 , screwed into the base of the fluid cell and topped by a sample weigh platform 28 , allows separate use of the balance. A wind cover 30 is provided to cover this pan during operation. The same rod, without the weigh platform is used to lift the fluid cell off the balance during set-up for testing. The test sample rests on test plate 16 which is connected to the fluid cell 24 by means of the silicone tubing 14 , the 3-way valve 22 and the glass siphon tube. The test plate 16 is connected to the lead screw slide assembly 32 which makes it possible to match the level of the fluid in test plate to that of the cell. During a test, a stepper motor 34 automatically lowers the test plate 16 at the same rate as the fluid is absorbed so that the present head level is maintained on the sample throughout the test.
[0015] GATS employs one of two possible plates for which the sample rests. First, there is a plate 16 A with a small hole 16 A′ in the center (see FIG. 4) referred to as the point absorbency test. This test is used to measure in-plane absorbency/wicking over a period of time. In this test, the liquid is absorbed only from the small hole and then is allowed to spread over the entire area of the material. The test is stopped either after a given period of time or when the sample is fully saturated. The sample is considered to have reached full saturation when there is no notable difference in the change of the liquid in the reservoir indicated by no change on the balance.
[0016] Another plate utilized for this test is the “porous” plate 16 B. (see FIG. 5) The sample that is placed on this plate absorbs liquid over the entire surface of the material is used to measure the total absorbency of the sample. This is widely used for thicker samples where transplanar wicking as well as in-plane wicking is occurring or when total absorbency is to be determined.
[0017] There are inherent problems with the GATS test method and apparatus that are well known. First, an extra capillary may form between the plate and the material, especially when using the point test plate. This may result in faster absorption times than would normally be associated with the intrinsic wicking ability of the material. Second, the directionality of the wicking cannot be isolated. This means that although the total absorption of the material can be measured, the rate of wicking in a given direction is not known. The Nonwoven Cooperative Research Center in Raleigh, North Carolina (NCRC) developed a plate that would enable the directionality of the liquid spread to potentially be isolated. The test method that NCRC developed utilizes the conventional GATS equipment, but uses a plate 16 C that is rectangular in shape (see FIG. 6) and measures the liquid spread of a strip of material cut in a given direction (such as the cross or machine direction).
[0018] This test is similar to the vertical and downward wicking test except that the test is executed in a horizontal position. The material is only in contact with the plate in the center and along the edges. This eliminates the extra capillaries formed between the plate and the fabric. One of the problems that arise with this test is overflow of the liquid into the trough of the plate. This in turn results in inconclusive results because the data that is being recorded is not only a function of the liquid being absorbed by the material, but also a function of the liquid that is filling the trough. Also, like the vertical wicking test there are edge effects.
[0019] A solution to the shortcomings of the conventional test methods and apparatuses is described and claimed below.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The present invention provides a method for testing predetermined absorbency characteristics of a textile, paper or similar material sample including the steps of: (1) providing a liquid reservoir mounted on an electronic balance or load cell; (2) providing a vertically movable test plate for the material sample and a liquid conduit between the liquid reservoir and the test plate; and (3) analyzing liquid absorbency and/or desorbency with a computer operatively connected to the electronic balance or load cell. The improvement provided by the invention comprises (a) recording images of the liquid on the material sample with a camera mounted above the test plate and operatively connected to the computer; and (b) analyzing the recorded images with the computer to make real time determinations of selected properties of liquid absorbency and/or desorbency of the material sample.
[0021] Also, the invention provides for an apparatus for testing absorbency characteristics of a textile, paper or similar material sample comprising: (1) a liquid reservoir mounted on an electronic balance or load cell; (2) a liquid supply system for supplying a plurality of test liquid samples from a storage chamber in the liquid reservoir to a test liquid chamber; (3) a vertically moveable test plate and actuator assembly for mounting of the material sample thereon; (4) a liquid conduit extending from the test liquid chamber to the test plate; and (5) a computer operatively connected to the electronic balance or load cell. The invention provides for the improvement comprising a video camera mounted above and at a predetermined distance from the test plate and adapted to be vertically moveable therewith, the video camera being operatively connected to the computer; and a computer program for analyzing recorded images from the video camera to make real time calculations of liquid absorbency and/or desorbency characteristics of the material sample.
[0022] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for measuring absorbency, desorbency, and pore volume distribution of liquid within a textile, paper or other similar sample material.
[0023] It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for making an orientation distribution function (ODF) of fluid absorbency and/or desorbency of a textile, paper or similar test material as well as pore volume distribution measurements.
[0024] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for measuring in-plane liquid distribution in a textile, paper or similar test sample and simultaneously video recording spread of the liquid distribution.
[0025] It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved sample test plate for use in the apparatus and method of the present invention.
[0026] Some of the objects of the invention having been stated hereinabove, other objects will become evident as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings as best described hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] [0027]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a prior art gravimetric absorbency testing system (GATS) apparatus;
[0028] [0028]FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the GATS apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
[0029] [0029]FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the GATS apparatus modified in accordance with the present invention;
[0030] [0030]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a prior art point absorbency test plate which is used with the prior art GATS machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
[0031] [0031]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a prior art porous test plate which is used with the conventional GATS apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
[0032] [0032]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a rectangular disk plate used with the conventional GATS apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
[0033] [0033]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the novel hoop plate used in combination with the modified GATS apparatus of the present invention;
[0034] [0034]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the hoop that may be optionally used on the hoop plate shown in FIG. 7; and
[0035] FIGS. 9 A- 9 C represent typical liquid spread images that are captured during liquid spreading by the modified GATS apparatus and method of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Antisotropic Fabric
[0036] Anisotropy is a measure by which one can characterize the directional variation of material. An isotropic material would exhibit equal in-plane liquid distribution about all angles or bins. Anisotropic material would show a strong directional dependence about a particular angular range or about multiple angular ranges while exhibiting minimum values about other ranges. A polar plot shows the in-plane liquid distribution of an anisotropic material. The anisotropy can be expressed as the ratio of the maximum radius to minimum radius of the ellipse. An isotropic material would show a circular distribution. One can use the Cos 2 Anisotropy ratio to express the anisotropy. The Cos 2 anisotropy parameter f p can be defined, with the help of the liquid distribution function. For simplicity, this can be referred to as the Orientation Distribution Function (ODF) since the liquid distribution is dominated by the orientation distribution of the fabric.
[0037] f p varies between −1 and 1.
[0038] 1 indicates a perfect alignment parallel to the reference direction
[0039] −1 indicates a perfect perpendicular alignment to that direction
[0040] f p is zero for a random assembly—isotropic behavior
f p = 2 [ ∫ 0 π ψ ( θ ) cos 2 ( θ ref - θ i ) θ ∫ 0 π ψ ( θ ) θ ] - 1
Orientation Distribution Function (ODF)
[0041] The comparison of a fabric's anisotropy to the anisotropy of the liquid distribution requires that the orientation distribution function (ODF) of the fabric be determined. The ODF is determined by first digitizing an image of the fabric. Then, a median filter was applied to the image to eliminate high frequency noise and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) procedure was used to determine the ODF.
[0042] A nonwoven is considered to a highly anisotropic material. To study the fabric's anisotropy, the orientation distribution function (ODF) was measured. The ODF Ψ is a function of the angle θ. The integral of the function Ψ from an angle θ 1 and θ 2 is equal to the probability that a fiber will lie between the angles θ 1 and θ 2 ( 48 ). The function V must additionally satisfy the following conditions:
Ψ((θ+π)=Ψ(θ)
[0043] [0043] ∫ 0 π ψ ( θ ) θ = 1
[0044] It can easily be seen from the above definition that the ODF is dependent on the anisotropy of the material. To determine a material's dominant orientation angle the following formula is used:
θ _ = 1 2 tan - 1 ∑ i = 1 N f ( θ i ) sin 2 θ i ∑ i = 1 N f ( θ i ) cos 2 θ i
[0045] and the standard deviation is given as:
σ ( θ ) = [ 1 2 N ∑ i = 1 N f ( θ i ) ( 1 - cos 2 ( θ i - θ _ ) ) ] 1 / 2
Fast Fourier Transform
[0046] The ODF of digitized images was calculated using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) procedure. FFT is an indirect method of measuring the ODF, but has been shown to be very effective. A brief description of FFT is given below.
[0047] An image is represented by transitions in the gray scale from light to dark and dark to light. These transitions represent the fibers and the spaces between them. The rate of transition is related to the orientation of the fibers. The FFT performs the transform by processing all of the rows one at a time and then by doing the same for the columns. This results in a two-dimensional set of values each with its own magnitude and phase. The orientation of the fibers is related to the transform because changes in the horizontal gray scale encompass vertical elements and vice versa. The equation of the direct and indirect Fourier transforms in two dimensions is the following:
F ( u , v ) = ∫ - ∞ ∞ ∫ - ∞ ∞ f ( x , y ) exp [ - j 2 π ( ux + vy ) ] x y f ( x , y ) = ∫ - ∞ ∞ ∫ - ∞ ∞ F ( u , v ) exp [ j 2 π ( ux + vy ) ] u v
[0048] where,
[0049] f(x y)=the image
[0050] F(u,v)=the image's transform
[0051] u=frequency along the x direction
[0052] v=frequency along the y direction
[0053] The transform's reference is in the center of the image and therefore the orientation can be directly found for an annulus of a given width w and radius r. A given width is necessary for the annulus because if only a point was examined instead of an area there would be too much noise in the results and for that reason the data is averaged over a given width. The image is scanned radially to determine the ODF and the average intensity is found for a specified angular range. The images that were scanned and which are shown in representative FIGS. 9 A- 9 C can be examined in a ten-degree angular range.
[0054] There are problems with using only an FFT function for given images. The FFT assumes periodicity, which means that when the image is scanned horizontally or vertically the resulting function will be periodic. Unfortunately most images are not periodic due discrepancies at the edges of the image. These discrepancies are caused by the right edge of the image not matching perfectly with the left side of the image or the top of the image not matching perfectly with the bottom of the image.
[0055] To reduce the problem windowing is introduced. In windowing the FFT function is multiplied by a given function to alleviate edge discrepancies. The data from the FFT without windowing can have a great affect on the standard deviation of the ODF. The ODF's standard deviation is more accurate after windowing than the ODF's standard deviation before windowing. The standard deviation is still slightly overestimated.
Pore Volume Distribution
[0056] The pore volume distribution can be measured with the following equation:
r = 2 γ cos θ g × p × h
[0057] p=density of liquid
[0058] g=gravity
[0059] y=liquid surface tension
[0060] θ=contact angle
[0061] r=pore radius
[0062] h=height
[0063] The pore size (e.g., pore volume) measurements are made by causing a ΔP to be exerted on the saturated sample. This is accomplished by moving the sample test platform up incrementally by predetermined height changes (using the software controlled stepper motor and screw). The largest pores will release liquid back to the reservoir until the pores at that particular size range have been evacuated.
[0064] One the balance readings have stabilized, the platform will be moved up once again to a pre-determined height. The liquid contained in the next respective size pores will be evacuated into the reservoir and the balance readings will be monitored for stabilization. The procedure is repeated automatically until the desired pore size information is obtained, the sample is completely evacuated, or the mechanical limitations of the riser sled is reached. (Pore size and pore volume are terms that are used interchangeably herein.)
APPARATUS AND METHOD OF INVENTION
[0065] Given the preliminary description of a portion of applicant's methodology described above, it should be further understood that tests for this study were carried out on a modified GATS machine 100 . This machine is shown in FIGS. 3 and 7- 8 where like numerals indicate like elements in FIGS. 1 and 2. This instrument is set up with a liquid reservoir 12 that is placed on top of a balance 18 and is connected to the bottom of a plate 16 using a plastic tube 14 . In addition to this configuration, a camera 40 is mounted above the plate 16 and is used to record the spreading of the liquid. Previously, when no camera is attached above the plate only the amount absorbed and not the direction in which it spreads can be determined.
[0066] FIGS. 9 A- 9 C show typical images captured during the progression of the absorption test. These images are digitized at a present time interval. The images are then analyzed to determine the characteristics of the spread's properties such as anisotropy and area spread per unit time.
[0067] The modified instrument shown in FIGS. 3 and 7- 8 also has the ability to move the platform 16 automatically during testing. This allows for a constant pressure or a change in pressure to be achieved throughout the test. For example, if a zero hydrostatic pressure head is desired the platform 16 will actually move down as liquid is absorbed so that the level of the liquid in the reservoir 12 and the level of the platform 16 are kept even. The platform is able to move because it employs a stepping motor 34 that drives the shaft 32 that the platform 16 is mounted on. The camera 40 that is mounted above the platform 16 is attached to the same platform and therefore moves with the platform. Moving the camera 40 with the platform 16 provides a constant distance and magnification.
[0068] Computer 20 is a PC and the electronic balance 18 is connected to the serial port of computer 20 . Camera 40 is integrated through a PCI based frame grabber (not shown). The motor controls of modified GATS machine 100 are integrated with the computer 20 by a PCI based DIO card (not shown).
[0069] Modified Gats Apparatus
[0070] There are a number of problems associated with the synchronization of image digitization during moisture absorbency. To overcome these difficulties, special device 100 was built that integrates moisture transport monitoring as well as image capture. The instrument is composed of a moveable platform 16 onto which the sample is placed. The camera 40 is attached to the same platform. A liquid reservoir 12 sits on a sensitive balance 18 . The reservoir is connected to the sample stage by a tube 14 . The sample stage is kept level with the liquid level in the reservoir 12 . The conventional sample stage 16 A provides a single hole measuring 4 mm in diameter through which liquid may be absorbed (transported) by the fabric. Alternatively, conventional porous plate 16 B may be used or the novel plates described hereafter. The size of the porous plate is 5 cm. This is the same as the specimen size used. When the liquid is absorbed by the sample, the liquid level in the reservoir 12 is reduced. To avoid the drainage of the liquid in the fabric back to the reservoir brought about by the pressure gradient caused by the differences in height, the sample platform 16 is moved automatically so as to keep it level with the liquid level in the reservoir 12 . This is accomplished by a stepping a stepper motor 34 that drives the shaft 32 connected to the stage.
[0071] The stepper motor 34 requires pulses to be driven. These pulses are in the form of a square wave. The period of the square wave determines the speed with which the motor moves. The pulses can be sent to the motor 34 using commercially available controllers that communicate with the motor using serial ports. Serial port communication is often unreliable and therefore, applicant developed a new controller. For this a National Instrument multi-purpose interface card that has digital input/output (DIO was used). This interface card is used for driving the motor. Further, applicant prefers to replace the balance 18 with a compression load cell thereby improving the response time of the system. Through the DIO ports, a square wave with amplitude of 5 volts is sent to the motor via a power amplifier (not shown). The minimum resolution achievable is 1 millisecond. This means that 1000 pulses a second can be sent to the motor 34 stepping it by 500 steps (500 on and 500 off in a square wave). Stepper motors rotate by 1.80 with each step resulting in 200 steps per revolution. The speed of the movement of the platform 16 is a function of the thread spacing on the shaft and the number of steps per unit time.
[0072] The stepper motor 34 and shaft 32 combination used on the device 100 provides a resolution of 200 steps per mm. The camera 40 is mounted on the same shaft and moves with the sample stage so that the focus is not disturbed. Through a callback function, there is continuous communication with the motor and can the operator can inquire its position or stop it immediately in an emergency. The weight is sampled by checking the balance 18 through the serial port. A sampling rate of 5 Hz was achieved. The image digitization is accomplished using a Matrox Meteor II frame grabber (not shown). The images can be saved individually or in a movie film.
[0073] The modified GATS apparatus 100 allows the following tests to be performed using water or any other fluid:
[0074] Absorbency
[0075] Absorbency refers to the transport of liquid due to capillary pressure and/or due to liquid absorption. The liquid pick up is monitored and images can be stored to evaluate the anisotropy of liquid transport.
[0076] Desorbency
[0077] Desorbency refers to the loss of liquid under a given pressure. The liquid loss is monitored and images can be stored to evaluate the loss of liquid.
[0078] Pore Size
[0079] Pore volume (size) is measured by saturating the sample and then allowing it to drain under different pressures. At each pressure, certain size pores can be evacuated.
[0080] The modification to the GATS apparatus was accomplished with the following equipment:
Equipment Part Number Manufacturer PCI-6035E Data Part # 778026-01 National Instruments Acquisition Board Connector Cable Part # 182482-01 National Instruments Connector Block Part # 777145-01 National Instruments Velmex Slide and block Part # MA4039Q1-S4 Velmex, Inc. (1M) Stepper Motor Part # 4-9826 Velmex, Inc. Adapter Bracket Part # 3-764-MD Velmex, Inc. Matrox Meteor II Frame The Imaging Source Grabber Computer 8 mm Lens Part # H612FIC Royal Systems Hitachi KP-160U Royal Systems Stepper Motor Controller American Precision Instruments
Conventional Specimen Stage
[0081] [0081]FIG. 4 shows one of the plates P used in testing the sample and carried by platform 16 . This plate P was shown previously when discussing the GATS machine. This is the plate that was mentioned earlier as the point test plate and which will subsequently be referred to as the bottom plate. Two different methods of testing can be executed on this plate. In the first method a piece of material that is to be tested is placed on the plate and a thin ring is placed around the outer edge of the material to weigh it down. In the second method, which will subsequently be referred to as top and bottom plate, the piece of material is placed on the plate and another clear plate is placed on top of the material. The second plate is used to ensure complete contact with the plate and is commonly used in absorption testing. There are some inherent problems with these conventional test methods as described above. The problems with these methods arise because of the added capillaries that are formed when the relatively rough surfaces of the fabrics are placed on the platform and also when the extra plate is placed on top of the material. These one or two added capillaries can cause the data from tests to be skewed.
New Specimen Stage
[0082] [0082]FIG. 7 shows the new specimen stage 16 D used for the tests. FIG. 7 shows the plate is hollowed out in the middle. The plate is described as the “hoop” plate due to the use of a hoop that holds the fabric tightly when placed on the plate for testing. The cylinder 16 D′ in the middle of the plate is where the liquid enters the system. This is the initial point of absorption/wicking and is also the only point at which the fabric is touching the plate during the test. The point of contact measures 2.0 cm in diameter. A weight can be placed on the sample at this point to ensure complete contact and no overflow of the liquid into the trough. Although the fabric is in contact with the plate around the outer edge this area of the fabric is not considered in testing and therefore, has no effect on the results.
[0083] [0083]FIG. 8 shows the hoop sample holder 16 DD used to test. Fabric is slipped in between the inner ring and the outer ring and the inner ring is expanded to hold the fabric in place. A slight tension is placed on the material, but it is felt that this has no affect on the test results. This hoop is slightly larger in diameter than the plate so that the fabric rests in intimate contact with the center cylinder and outer edge of the plate.
Liquid Spread Analysis
[0084] As mentioned earlier, the new device 100 based on the GATS machine incorporates a camera 40 into the testing process to capture the images as the liquid (water or any other fluid) is spreading in the material. These images are stored digitally and are later analyzed for their liquid spread properties using image analysis. The process for analyzing these images is more complex than the process for finding the ODF of the material as described hereinbefore. This process demands that a filter be applied, the image to be thresholded, and the boundaries to be isolated, tracked and then finally the center to be found. From this all the necessary elements of the spread can be found.
[0085] Thresholding
[0086] Thresholding, also referred to as segmentation, is the process by which a gray scale image is converted into a binary one. This step is necessary for tracking boundaries because a black and white image is needed to fully distinguish the object being measured from the background. Some examples of thresholding are edge thresholding, simple thresholding, and dual thresholding.
[0087] Edge thresholding is applied to images where the contrast between the image and its background is not sufficient enough to separate the two into groups. This is often used when individual fibers need to be separated from the background. For edge thresholding an edge detector is used to identify local changes in the intensity. A region of the image is considered to be an edge when there is an abrupt change in the intensity. If there is no abrupt change then the pixel is considered to be part of the background. For images with good contrast simple thresholding can be applied. Simple thresholding is a technique where the pixels are grouped into two classes and unlike the edge thresholding without the consideration of their neighbors. The threshold cut off has been predetermined and is usually the mean intensity. This method works best when the images are bimodal. If the contrast is not as high, but the images are not small objects dual thresholding may be used.
[0088] Dual thresholding is similar to simple thresholding in that it takes they gray levels and separates them into two groups. Unlike simple thresholding it does not use the mean intensity to differentiate between the two groups. Instead it selects a range, which, such as in this case, may be designated black, and then everything above and below that range would be white. Depending on the quality of the image either simple thresholding or dual thresholding is used to clean up the images.
[0089] Sometimes images can appear to have high contrast when actually they do not. In this case just applying a simple threshold would mean some of the data would be lost. To improve the results of simple thresholding the local contrast is often improved prior to thresholding. Once again depending on the quality of the picture many different techniques may be used to improve the quality of the image prior to thresholding.
[0090] Boundary Extraction & Tracking
[0091] Images are representation of objects, which in this case is liquid spread. All images can be represented by chain code. This is the key for tracking the boundary of the liquid spread.
[0092] The chain code is the relationship of the center pixel to all of the pixels that are connected to it. There are two definitions for connectivity, four connectivity and eight connectivity. Four connectivity considers a pixel to be touching the center pixel only if that pixel is immediately to the right, left, upwards or downward from the center pixel. Eight connectivity also includes the four pixels diagonal from the center pixel. For tracking, the boundaries eight connectivity should be used.
[0093] Each of the pixels surrounding the center pixel is assigned a number zero through seven. These numbers are used to represent the movement from the center pixel to another pixel in a given direction. For example if the next pixel in the boundary was directly to the right of the starting pixel this movement would be designated seven. This new pixel would now be considered the center pixel. Then if the boundary moved diagonally up and to the right this movement would be designated zero. Thus the chain code that represents both of these moves is 7,0.
[0094] As mentioned earlier, to track the boundaries the image must first be converted into a binary image. This is achieved though thresholding. Although not required, the black area represents liquid spread and the white area represents the background. The opposite can of course be used.
[0095] Boundaries can be extracted from the thresholded images by a morphological operation. From here the image is scanned from the bottom up until the first black pixel is reached. An arbitrary direction is chosen and then the boundary is tracked and then recorded using chain code. The gravitational center is then found and from this point the liquid spread properties are determined. The liquid spread properties, such as the area spread in a given direction of the dominate angle, are determined by starting at the center of the binary image and then calculating the distance from the center to the boundary in a given direction. The result from a given angle is actually an average of the angle and the angle plus 180 degrees.
ANALYSIS OF DATA
Chi-Square Test
[0096] The relationship between two sets of ODF distribution data can be determined by applying the Chi-Square test. The Chi Square test can be used to compare the ODFs of subsets in a sample set and it can also be used to compare the liquid spread anisotropy to the same sample's ODF so that a relationship might be established. The values obtained from the test are then correlated to a given probability found in a chi-square table which lists the chi-square values and their corresponding probabilities. The values for the probabilities range from zero, where the sets are not the same, to one, where the sets are exactly the same. The formula for the test is the following:
X v 2 = ∑ i = 1 n ( O i - E i ) 2 E i
[0097] E i is the expected value and O i is the observed value.
Anisotropy Parameter
[0098] A simple anisotropy parameter can be defined as the following:
Machine / CrossAnisotropy = MachineFrequency ( overarange ) CrossFrequency ( overarange )
[0099] This equation is often used to described anisotropy, but is not accurate because it only considers the machine and cross directions. The basic equation for anisotropy shown above is only valid for liquid distributions that maintain a shape that is a perfect ellipse (meaning no rough edges or variance from the path that the radii describe) that is oriented in either the machine or cross direction. If the shape of the ellipse varies from its original path or is not ellipse at all the results from this equation will be an inaccurate description of the spread. For example, if the distribution is bi-modal, for example with dominant angles in both the machine and cross direction, the number calculated using the above equation would be one. This number would give the impression that the spread was circular, but in fact the spread is non-circular. Also the equation only determines what is happening at the global level while many changes in the material occur at the local level. For these reasons the cos 2 anisotropy should be utilized for this analysis.
[0100] The cos 2 anisotropy is used to compare the change in the anisotropy as a function of time. The value for the cosine anisotropy can be evaluated using the following equations.
f p = 2 〈 cos 2 θ 〉 - 1 〈 cos 2 θ 〉 = ∫ 0 π ψ ( θ ) cos 2 ( θ ref - θ i ) θ ∫ 0 π ψ ( θ ) θ
[0101] Where Ψ is the orientation distribution function and the integration of Ψ between θ 1 and θ 2 is equal to the probability that a fiber will lie in that interval. The value for the cosine anisotropy varies between −1 and 1 with −1 in this case pertaining to perfect alignment in the machine direction and the value of 1 pertaining to a perfect alignment in the cross direction. A value of the zero always indicates a random distribution leading to an isotropic flow with a circular front.
[0102] It will be understood that various details of the invention may be changed without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation—the invention being defined by the claims.
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An improved apparatus and method for characterizing in-plane liquid transport, liquid absorbency, liquid desorbency and pore volume distribution of liquid in a textile, paper or similar material test sample. A camera is used for recording images of the fluid on the material sample, and the recorded images are then analyzed with a computer in order to make real time determinations of selected properties of in-plane liquid transport, liquid absorbency and/or desorbency and pore volume distribution in the material sample. Also, an improved test plate is provided for use with the improved apparatus and method.
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CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/421,437, filed Apr. 12, 1995.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a lifting mechanism for removing and replacing the cover of a spa.
The use of outdoor spas has become widespread, particularly in the regions of the country that enjoy generally warm weather. Most outdoor spas are equipped with covers which when closed, prevents debris, rain and the like from contaminating the tub water when the spa is not being utilized. The cover further serves to retain heat within the tub to help maintain the water at a desired temperature level. As a consequence, spa covers tend to be relatively heavy and thus difficult to remove and replace.
Lifting devices have been developed to aid in the removal and replacement of these relatively heavy spa covers which can be operated with varying amounts of difficulty by one person. One such lifting device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,102 to Salley et al. A pair of lifting arms is pivotally mounted along the back wall of a spa and the extended ends of the arms are, in turn, conjoined by a bridge arm that passes over the cover along the center hinge of the cover. To remove the cover, the two half sections of the cover are folded over the bridge arm and the lifting arm is then rotated upwardly and rearwardly to bring the cover to a raised position adjacent to the rear wall of the spa. Although this lifting mechanism works well in practice, the bridge arm tends to become angularly offset when the operator pulls on one or the other of the lifting arms. This in turn can produce excessive wear on the cover and misalignment of the cover. In addition, this lifting arm arrangement provides only a limited amount of mechanical advantage to the operator.
Walls et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,153, describes a similar lifting mechanism for a spa cover in which the extended ends of the lifting arms are securely attached to the opposed side walls of the spa cover using a hinge plate and pivot mechanism. The lifting arms are equipped with spring loaded struts which absorb the weight of the cover as it is rotated into an open position. Again, this type of lifting mechanism has a limited mechanical advantage and the hinge plate connections produce excessive wear on the cover. Lastly, this type of lifting mechanism does not have the adjustability such that it can be adapted for use in association with various sized spas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for removing and replacing relatively heavy spa covers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a relatively light weight lifting device for a spa cover that is fully adjustable to fit various size spas.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a lifting apparatus for a spa cover that is simple in construction and provides sufficient mechanical advantage so that it can be easily operated by one person to remove and replace a relatively heavy spa cover.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lifting apparatus for a spa cover that has an easily accessible foot actuated lever that enables one person to operate the device.
These and other objects of the present invention are attained by a lifting frame for a spa cover that has two half sections conjoined by a hinge whereby the half sections are foldable one over the other, the lifting apparatus having a pair of pivots mounted in the rear wall of the spa, in opposed side walls of a spa, or in the deck adjacent to the side walls or the rear wall. A lifting arm is rotatably mounted in each pivot. In one form of this invention, either a continuous shaft or two stub shafts are is mounted in the upper parts of the lifting arms and is rotatable from a first position adjacent to and parallel with the cover hinge to a second position clear of one end wall of the spa. In operation, the cover is folded over these shafts when the lifting arms are in a first position and then moved with the arms into the second position whereby the cover is supported in a vertical position adjacent to the one end wall. A U-shaped foot actuated lever is secured to the lifting arms with the base of the lever extending across the end wall of the spa. The base of the lever is in an elevated position when the lifting arms are in the first position so that a person attempting to rotate the arms can stand on the base to assist in the rotation of said arms. The elongated base also serves as a rest when the arms are in the second position. The length of each lifting arm is adjustable as is the width of the base whereby the frame can be adjusted to fit various size spas.
In a second, lighter and simpler form of the lifting apparatus of the invention, preferably usable with two stud shafts mounted in the upper parts of the lifting arms, the U-shaped foot actuated lever is eliminated. In addition, the lifting apparatus is provided with upper and lower pairs of L-shaped arms which are arranged to fit together in telescoping relationships to form a plurality of overlapped adjustable joints. In the preferred embodiment of this form of the invention, the adjustable joints include sets of aligned holes which may be selected as necessary to accommodate spas having differing heights and/or widths. This embodiment of the invention has the advantage that it allows the use of fasteners which penetrate and bridge the adjustable joints, thereby greatly increasing the structural integrity of the lifting arms.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of these and other objects of the present invention, reference will be made to the following detailed description of the invention which is to be read in association with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention which includes a top beam that extends across the full width of the top spa cover;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a variant of the embodiment of FIG. 1 which includes a bifurcated top beam having two stub shafts;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the lifting frame shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the lifting frame shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an end view of the lifting frame shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of the beam utilized in the lifting frame shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is an end view of the beam shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a section view taken along lines 8--8 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along lines 9--9 in FIG. 2 showing the spa cover in an unfolded condition;
FIG. 10 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 9 showing the spa cover folded over the beam members;
FIGS. 11 and 12 are side views of a spa showing the lifting frame in a first lowered position and a second raised position, respectively;
FIG. 13 is an enlarged view in section showing one of the split collar units used in the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a front elevation of the lifting frame shown in FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is an end view of the lifting frame shown in FIG. 14;
FIG. 17 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of one of the telescoping junctions used in the embodiment of FIG. 14;
FIG. 18 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view of one of the pivot units shown in FIG. 14; and
FIGS. 19 and 20 are side views of the lifting frame of FIG. 14 in a first lowered position and in a second raised position, respectively.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an above-ground spa generally referenced 10, that includes a lifting frame 12 embodying the teachings of the present invention. Although the spa can take one of a number of shapes, it is shown rectangular in form and includes a pair of end walls 13 and 14 and a pair of side walls 15 and 16. The top of the spa is closed by a removable cover 17. The cover is made in two half sections 18 and 19 that are joined together by means of a hinge 20 so that the half-sections can be folded one over the other. The cover contains a core section 21 that is enclosed within a high strength sheath 22 that forms part of the hinge between the two half-sections (see FIG. 8). Typically, the core section of the cover is relatively thick to provide sufficient insulation to hold heat within the tub when the cover is closed. As a consequence, the cover is typically relatively bulky and heavy and thus, difficult to remove.
Lifting mechanisms have been devised for use in removing and replacing spa covers. For the most part, these devices have a large number of component parts which tend to weaken the overall structure of the device. Many of these prior art devices are difficult to operate by one person. In addition, these prior art devices, because of their complexity, cannot be readily adjusted for either height or width, and as a consequence, are poorly mated to the spa it services. This, in turn, can adversely effect the operation of the device and produce undue wear on the cover.
As shown in FIG. 1, the present lifting frame is simple in construction, yet fully adjustable in both height and width so that it can be easily mated to a spa for efficient operation during both removal and replacement of the cover. The lifting frame is further provided with an easily accessible foot actuated lever that provides a greatly enhanced mechanical advantage to the user so the cover can be easily removed and replaced by one person. The lifting mechanism is made of high strength light-weight tubing with the various tubular components telescoped one inside the other for adjustability without sacrificing strength. As will be explained below in greater detail, the telescoping joint between the mated tubular components is closed by a high strength split collar arrangement that not only prevents the telescope parts from shifting axially, but also prevents the parts from turning one inside the other.
The lifting frame includes a pair of lifting arms 25 and 26 that are joined in telescoping relationship at their upper or distal ends by a pair of L-shaped beam members 29 and 30 to create a cover support member 31. (FIGS. 3-5). The proximal or lower sections 32 and 33 of the two lifting arms are turned inwardly toward each other and telescoped together to form a U-shaped foot bracket generally referenced 35, The U-shaped bracket includes a pair of opposed legs 36 and 37 and a horizontally disposed base member 38. The two legs 36 and 37 of the bracket form an interior angle with the two lifting arms that is less than 90°.
A locking collar assembly is located at each of the telescoping joints. As illustrated at FIG. 13, the assembly includes a female tubular member 40 into which a male tubular member 41 is slidably received and held in place by a retainer 42. In this embodiment, the distal end of the female member is provided with one or more axially aligned slots 43 and an annular locking collar 44 is slipped over the distal end of the female tubular member. One or more set screws 45 are threaded radially through the locking collar and, in assembly, are threaded into locking contact against the distal end tabs 46 of the female tubular member. The female member is deformed inwardly to lock the female member securely against the male member. Sufficient force is applied by the locking collar to prevent the telescoped member from sliding or turning in assembly, thus assuring a high strength joint which resists torque or bending when placed under load.
At each corner where the legs of the bracket 35 join the lifting arms, there is located a pivot unit 48. Each unit includes angle bracket 49 and a pivot pin 50 that is secured to frame at the corner and passes through an opening in the vertical plate 51 of the angle bracket. The horizontal plate 52 of angle bracket may be secured to a deck 53 (FIG. 1 ) that surrounds the tub. Similarly, the end bracket may be replaced by a suitable bracket that is secured to one of the tub side walls by any type of suitable fastener. The pivot pins are mounted within suitable bushings (not shown) within the angle brackets and secured in place by nuts 55.
In assembly, the frame is adjusted for the width and height of the tub and the locking collars are then tightened down securely. The beam 31 is placed in parallel alignment with the hinge of the cover 19, as shown in FIG. 8, and the pivot units then secured to the spa deck or alternatively, against the opposing side walls of the spa using any suitable type fasteners. To remove the cover, it is first folded over the lifting frame beam, as shown in FIG. 11. The foot bracket 35, at this time, is at an elevated position, as shown. To raise the cover, the operator simply grasps one of the lifting arms and steps upon the foot bracket 35. The foot bracket acts as a lever which, under the operator's weight, helps to swing the lifting arms and thus the cover upwardly to the raised position adjacent the end wall 14 of the tub as shown in FIG. 12. At this time, the foot bracket rests on the deck. Because the interior angle of the lifting frame corner's formed at the point of joinder between the lifting arms and the foot bracket is less than 90°, the frame, while resting upon the deck is tilted slightly rearwardly, thus allowing the cover to hang down vertically adjacent to the spa end wall 14. A safety chain 60 is attached between the spa and the adjacent lifting arm, which helps to support the frame in the raised position and prevent the frame from over-rotating. The cover is replaced over the tube by simply reversing the above described operation.
Turning now to FIG. 2 where like numbers related to like elements as described above, the lifting frame 12 has been slightly modified so that the beam 31 that extends across the cover along the hinge 20 is replaced by a pair of stub shaft units 62--62 that are positionable adjacent to and parallel with the cover hinge 20 when the lifting frame 12 is placed in the first lowered position. The stub shafts are L-shaped members having a horizontal leg 63 that extends some distance, preferably one or two feet over the cover and a vertical leg 64 that is telescoped into the adjacent lifting arm and adjustably locked in place by means of a retainer 42 of the type described above. The distal end of the leg 63 is closed by an end cap 64. A split collar face plate 65 is mounted upon the horizontal leg of the unit and secured thereto by means of a set screw 67. An alignment pin 68 is stacked in the face plate and is positioned as shown beneath the horizontal leg 63 of the unit.
Turning now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the horizontal leg 63 of the stub shaft assembly is arranged to rest on the top of the cover near or at the hinge when the cover is closed over the tub. At this time, the alignment pin 68 is passed into the hinge beneath the pleated section 70 of the hinge as shown in FIG. 9.
To remove the cover from the spa, one-half section 18 is folded over the two stub shaft assemblies as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 and the frame is moved to the raised position as shown in FIG. 12 to support the cover adjacent to one end wall of the spa. Again, the cover is replaced by reversing the above noted operation.
The aligning pins act to prevent the lifting frame from being moved from the first lowered position into the second raised position when the cover is in an unfolded position. As can be seen, in the event the frame moves from the first position toward the second position with the cover unfolded, the safety dowel will engage the hinge pleat and thus prevent the frame from moving too far out of the first position.
Referring to FIG. 14, there is shown a second, lighter and simpler embodiment of the lifting frame of the invention. This embodiment of the invention differs from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in three principal respects. Firstly, the embodiment of FIG. 14 includes a simpler and lighter generally rectangular frame 112 which does not include a foot actuated lever. Secondly, the embodiment of FIG. 14 has longer lifting arms and a more rearwardly located pivoting axis than the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. Thirdly, the embodiment of FIG. 14 has a different and stronger adjustment mechanism than the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. The nature and significance of these differences will now be discussed with reference to FIGS. 14-20.
In the embodiment of FIG. 14 the lifting frame as a whole is identified by the label 112 and has generally rectangular shape. As is most clearly shown in FIG. 15, this frame includes two monolithic L-shaped lower arms 150 and 151, each having an inner end indicated by the postscript A and an outer end indicated by the postscript B. This frame also includes two monolithic upper arms 160 and 161, each having an inner end indicated by the postscript A and an outer end indicated by the postscript B. Since the inner ends of the upper arms are shorter than the inner ends of the lower arms, the upper arms do not extend into contact with one another. Thus, the inner ends of arms 160, 161 are similar to stub shafts 62 of the embodiment of FIG. 2.
As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the arms of the embodiment of FIG. 14 fit together in telescoping relationship to form joints within which the telescoped arms overlap one another. The inner ends 150A and 151A of lower arms 150 and 151, for example, fit together to form an overlapped joint 155. Similarly, the outer ends 160B and 161B of the upper arms 160 and 161 fit together with outer ends 150B and 151B of arms 150 and 151 to form overlapped joints 165 and 167. These junctions are broadly similar to the corresponding junctions in FIGS. 1 and 2.
Unlike the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, however, the embodiment of FIG. 14 does not use a locking collar with a set screw to fasten the two parts of the joint together. Instead, as is best shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the portions of each arm that overlap one another within each joint are provided with a plurality of holes which can be slidably aligned with one another in any one of a plurality of selectable positions to adjust the overall length of the lifting arms that include those joints. Holes 156 in the inner end of arm 150, for example, can be aligned with any one of a plurality of similar holes in the inner end of arm 151 to accommodate spas having any of a plurality of different widths. Similarly, holes in the outer ends of arm 160 can be aligned with any of a plurality of similar holes 166 in the outer end of arm 150 to accommodate spas having any of a plurality of different heights or cover lengths. Once the desired combination of hole alignments has been selected, the arms may be locked in their final position by one or more suitable fasteners such as push pins, nuts and bolts, etc. having the strength necessary to bear the loads imposed thereon during the use of the lifting apparatus. FIG. 17 shows an enlarged fragmentary view of a junction having arms that are fastened to one another by a machine screw 170.
While the adjustment and locking mechanisms used by the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 14 are both usable and practical, the adjustment and locking mechanism of the embodiment of FIG. 14 has advantages that make it specially suited for use with that embodiment. One of these advantages is that it allows the use of fasteners that penetrate both of the fastened arms, and thereby prevent the arms from sliding longitudinally with respect to one another. Another of these is that it allows the carrying of heavier loads. Both of these advantages are of increased significance in embodiments such as that of FIG. 14 in which the lengths of the lifting arms are relatively longer than those of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2.
In accordance with the present invention, the absence of a foot actuated lever in the embodiment of FIG. 14 is compensated for by displacing the pivoting axis of the lifting frame rearwardly with respect to its location in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. This displacement has the effect of increasing the leverage provided by the lifting frame and thereby decreasing the force necessary to use it. This is because the displacement increases the length of the third class lever formed by arm pairs 150-160 and 151-161.
In the preferred embodiment, the above discussed increase in leverage is afforded by including in the lifting frame a pivoting unit which is adapted to be attached to the lower edge of the rear end wall of the spa, as shown in FIGS. 14, 19 and 20. The structure and mode of attachment of one type of pivoting unit which is suitable for use with the present embodiment is shown as pivoting unit 180 in FIG. 18.
As shown in FIG. 18, pivoting unit 180 includes a body 182 which defines a opening 183 for receiving and journalling arm 150, preferably in a suitable bushing (not shown), and a plurality of holes 184 by which body 182 may be fastened to the rear wall of the spa by screws 185. Body 182 also includes a positioning strip 186 that is adapted to fit into a slot 187 at the rear lower edge of the spa and at a lower surface that is adapted to rest on the same surface that supports the spa. It will be understood that arm 151 is journalled in a pivoting unit 190 which is similar to pivoting unit 180 and which is similarly mounted to the rear wall of the spa.
One particularly desirable feature of the use of a pivoting unit having the structure and mounting position shown in FIG. 18 is the support which it provides to the lifting frame by virtue of its resting on the same surface as the spa. This is important because it relieves the wall of the spa, screws 185, etc. of the forces applied to the pivoting unit by the arms of the lifting frame of the invention. Thus, pivoting units 180 and 190 cooperate with the lifting arms to provide a lifting frame which has great structural integrity and yet which provides the leverage necessary to make it easy to use.
While this invention has been explained with reference to the structure disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and this invention is intended to cover any modifications and changes as may come within the scope of the following claims:
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A lifting frame for a hinged spa cover having a pair of adjustable lifting arms pivotally mounted on or adjacent to a side wall of a spa. The upper part of the arms are equipped with one or more supports that are adjacent to and parallel with the cover hinge whereby the cover is foldable over the support or supports when the lifting arms are in a first horizontal position. Rotating the frame causes the folded cover to be rotated to a second, vertical position adjacent one end wall of the spa. The lifting frame includes a plurality of L-shaped arm segments which are connected in telescoping relationship with one another to form a plurality of overlapped junctions. A plurality of fasteners located in the regions of the junctions, allow the dimensions of the frame to be adjusted to accommodate spas of different sizes.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the construction and production of a laminated composite pipe.
Thus, the present invention proposes a method of producing a laminated composite pipe by the step of coating a pipe core, defining a central channel, with a synthetic resin layer, and the features of the present invention which are worthy of special mention are that any desired ready-made pipe is utilized directly as said pipe core; that in forming a coating of a synthetic resin layer on said ready-made pipe, a resin liquid is laminated and integrally moved onto the peripheral surface thereof by gravity while said ready-made pipe is vertically lowered in the direction of its length; and, that in order to increase the binding force between the synthetic resin layer and the ready-made pipe, glass fiber or other yarn-like material is wound on the peripheral surface of the ready-made pipe.
According to the method of the invention, it is possible not only to produce the intended laminated composite pipe at low cost by an extremely simple apparatus, but also to optionally change the inner diameter by simply selecting a suitable ready-made pipe.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a production method is employed which consists of the steps of winding a reinforcing continuous fiber on the outer surface of a flexible pipe while lowering the pipe in the direction of its length, passing said fiber-wound flexible pipe through a hopper containing a putty-like resin which can be set at any desired time and then through a cylindrical outer mold vertically mounted to communicate with the lower end opening in said hopper, allowing said putty-like resin to descend by gravity in an annular air gap defined between said fiber-wound flexible pipe and the inner surface of said outer mold and to form a lamination molded on the fiber-wound flexible pipe, withdrawing the laminated flexible pipe from said outer mold, and winding a parting tape on the outer surface of said withdrawn laminated flexible pipe.
According to such production method, there is easily obtained a conveniently usable unset flexible pipe which can be stored in a reel form until it is put to use for piping and which, when used for piping, can be caused to take the same form as a plastically bent copper pipe by simply employing a setting means such as heating with a burner after bending said flexible pipe into a desired shape.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, said flexible pipe which is unset, i.e., which can be set at any desired time, may have a foam synthetic resin layer to provide a useful unset flexible pipe having a heat insulation effect.
Further, according to the present invention, a method is provided which is suitable for forming a multiple pipe having an annular outer channel besides a central channel.
Specific methods and their features and merits in various preferred embodiments of the present invention as described above will be easily understood from some manners of embodying the invention to be presently described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1 through 6 illustrate a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is an elevation partly in longitudinal section, schematically showing means for production.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing fiber winding means.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a pipe produced.
FIGS. 4 through 6 are cross-sectional views of modifications of said pipe.
FIGS. 7 through 9 illustrate a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is an elevation partly in longitudinal section, schematically showing means for production.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing parting tape winding means.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a pipe produced.
FIGS. 10 through 13 illustrate a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is an elevation partly in longitudinal section schematically showing means for production.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view partly broken away showing a foam synthetic resin layer molding portion.
FIG. 12 is a plan view of said portion.
FIG. 13 is a side view, partly broken away, of a pipe produced.
FIGS. 14 through 23 illustrate a fourth embodiment. FIG. 14 is an elevation partly in longitudinal section schematically showing means for production.
FIG. 15 is a plan view showing projection-equipped tape winding means.
FIG. 16 is a side view, partly broken away, of a pipe produced.
FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of said pipe.
FIGS. 18 through 21 are longitudinal sections showing various examples of the projection-equipped tape.
FIGS. 22 and 23 are explanatory views showing how to use the tape shown in FIG. 21.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
First Embodiment
The first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 6.
As shown in FIG. 1, a pipe 1 is lowered in the direction of its length. This pipe 1 is a rigid linear pipe made of synthetic resin or iron, such pipe lengths being connected together by joint members 2 in such manner as to seal the interior of each pipe length. The pipe is lowered at a constant speed in a vertical descending path 5 by means of synchronously rotating feed rolls 3 and drawing rolls 4. At the initial end (upper end) of the vertical descending path 5, continuous fibers 6 are wound on the outer surface la of the pipe l. The continuous fibers are string-like bodies formed of glass fiber or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, they consist of continuous fibers 6 for counter-clockwise winding arranged in a roll form on a counter-clockwise rotary plate 8 formed with a central opening 7 allowing the passage of said pipe therethrough, and continuous fibers 6 for clockwise winding similarly arranged on a clockwise rotary plate 9 fitted over said counter-clockwise rotary plate 8. By rotating the two rotary plates 8 and 9 by any suitable means, the continuous fibers are wound on the outer pipe surface la in a mesh form to form a fiber-wound pipe 10. The fiber-wound pipe 10 is then passed (lowered) through a hopper 12 containing a putty-like resin II which can be set at any desired time and then through an outer mold 14 communicating with the lower end opening 12a in the hopper 12, suspendedly fitted over said vertical descending path 5 and defining an annular air gap 13 between it and said fiber-wound pipe 10. The putty-like resin II consists, e.g., of putty-like polyester and is continuously or intermittently fed to said hopper 12 by any suitable means. The putty-like resin II descends by gravity in said annular air gap 13 and sufficiently impregnates the layer of said continuous fibers 6 to form a resin layer around the periphery of said fiber-wound pipe 10. While the laminated pipe 15 is descending in the annular air gap, the putty-like resin II thereon is gradually set by setting means 16 arranged outside the outer mold 14. As for such setting means 16, a cooling system is employed when the putty-like resin is thermoplastic, but when it is thermosetting, a heating system is employed. The set laminated pipe 17 is withdrawn from said outer mold 14 and severed at the position of the joint member 2 to assume the form shown in FIG. 3.
The continuous fibers 6 are wound on the outer pipe surface la, but by changing the width of the annular air gap 13, it is possible to form a thick resin layer 18 on the exterior of the continuous fibers 6 as shown in FIG. 3 or a thin resin layer 19 of approximately the same thickness as the fiber layer as shown in FIG. 4. Further, by providing a plurality of winding means for continuous fibers 6, it is possible to form a plurality of fiber layers as shown in FIG. 5.
As can be understood from what has been described so far, the thickness of the set laminated pipe 17 can be freely changed, and by changing the diameter of the pipe, it is possible to obtain set laminated pipes 17 having various inner diameters. Further, by using a pipe 1 and outer mold 14 having a different cross-sectional shape, it is possible to produce a set laminated pipe having a corresponding cross-sectional shape, e.g., a square set laminated pipe 20, as shown in FIG. 6.
By arranging the hopper 12 in a sealed chamber and applying pressure, the gravitation descent action can be promoted, and by increasing the pressure it is possible to decrease the overall height of the apparatus and to improve defoaming and impregnation of fiber layers.
According to the present invention described with reference to the above embodiment, the putty-like resin II is firmly laminated on and joined to the outer pipe surface 1a through the layer of continuous fibers 6 wound on the outer surface 1a of the pipe 1, and the method is particularly effective to produce a laminated pipe of dissimilar materials wherein a pipe 1 and a putty-like resin 11 are laminated together. Further, since the lamination molding makes use of gravity acting on the putty-like resin 11, the resin density can be increased during the descending movement. Moreover, impregnation of the layer of continuous fibers 6 with putty-like resin can be satisfactorily effected deep to the outer pipe surface 1a. Further, this coupled with the fact that the pipe 1 can be used as an inner mold, simplifies the apparatus necessary for employing the method.
Second Embodiment
A second embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 9.
A flexible pipe 30 is lowered in the direction of its length. The flexible pipe 30 is wound in advance on a feed reel 31 and passes through a vertical descending path 34 as guided by a pair of upper and lower rolls 32 and 33 and reaches a take-up reel 35. The descending movement is carried out at a constant speed by the synchronous rotation of the reels 31 and 35 and drawing rolls 36. At the initial end (upper end) of the vertical descending path 34, reinforcing continuous fibers 37 are wound on the outer surface 30a of said flexible pipe 30. The reinforcing continuous fibers 37 are string-like bodies formed of glass fiber or the like and are wound in a mesh form on the outer surface 30a of the flexible pipe by the same device 38 as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in the first embodiment, whereby a fiber-wound flexible pipe 39 is formed. The fiber-wound flexible pipe 39 is then passed (lowered) through a hopper 41 containing a putty-like resin 40 which can be set at any desired time and then through a cylindrical outer mold 43 communicating with the lower end opening 41a in the hopper 41, suspendedly fitted over the vertical descending path 34 and defining an annular air gap 42 between it and said fiber-wound flexible pipe 39. The putty-like resin 40 consists, e.g., of putty-like polyester and is continuously or intermittently fed to said hopper 41 by any suitable means. The putty-like resin 40 descends by gravity in said annular air gap 42, and since the fiber-wound flexible pipe 39 serves as an inner mold, the putty-like resin, while being made denser, sufficiently impregnates the layer of said reinforcing continuous fibers 37 to form a resin layer 49 on the outer surface 30a of the flexible pipe. Parting tapes 45 are then wound on the laminated flexible pipe 44 being withdrawn, thereby forming the composite pipe 48 shown in FIG. 9.
Third Embodiment
A third embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13.
In this embodiment, the processing steps in the second embodiment up to the point where a laminated flexible pipe 44 in the second embodiment is formed are applied as such; therefore, description of the steps up to the formation of a laminated flexible pipe 44 will be omitted and the same reference characters as used in the description of the second embodiment will be used intact.
While a laminated flexible pipe 44 formed in the same manner as in the second embodiment and withdrawn from the cylindrical outer mold 43 is passed through a second outer mold 50 fitted over said vertical descending path 34, a foam resin liquid 53 which can be set any desired time is fed into an annular air gap 52 between the outer surface of said laminated flexible pipe and the surface of a parting tape 51 fed to the inner surface 50a of said mold. The parting tape is preferably a film of cellophane, vinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, styrol, acrylics or nylon, and is drawn flat from a reel 54 on which it has been wound in advance. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, while the tape is guided by a guide plate 55, it is deformed into a cylinder with the right and left edges thereof gradually brought close to each other, whereupon it is fed onto the inner surface 50a of said outer mold. THe foam resin liquid 53 is preferably in the form of urethane, phenol, silicone, polyethylene, cellulose, urea, epoxy polyester, polystyrene, vinyl cholride or polyvinyl alcohol. For example, if it is urethane, it is in the form of a mixed liquid consisting of a P liquid 53a from a P liquid supply pipe 56 and an R liquid 53b from an R liquid supply pipe 57. While allowing the resin liquid 53 fed into said annular air space 52 to descend by gravity, a foam resin layer 58 which can be set at any desired time is formed by soft foaming on the basis of its two-liquid foaming action. At this time, since said laminated pipe 44 serves as an inner mold, the inner side of the foam resin layer 58 sticks to the outer of said putty-like resin layer 49, while the outer side sticks to and presses the parting tape 51 against the inner surface 50a of the outer mold. Further, the width of the parting tape 51 is so determined that the right and left edges thereof may overlap each other after the foaming operation. Thus, an unset composite flexible pipe 59 which is laminated pipe consisting of a flexible pipe 30, a putty-like resin layer 49 having a layer of fibers 37 embedded therein, a foam resin layer 58, and a layer of a parting tape 51, as shown in FIG. 13, and which can be set at any desired time, is continuously drawn. As shown in FIG. 10, this unset composite flexible pipe 59 is given a drawing force by the drawing rolls 36 and reaches the take-up reel 35.
According to this embodiment, a composite pipe can be easily obtained which has a foam resin layer providing a heat insulation effect and which, after being deformed into any desired shape, can be used as a rigid pipe by being set in that deformed shape.
In addition, the foam resin layer may be embodied by suitably selecting a material so that it remains soft, unaffected by the subsequent setting means, such setting means being effective to set the inner putty-like resin layer 49 alone.
Fourth Embodiment
A fourth embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 14 through 23. In this embodiment, the steps up to the formation of a laminated flexible pipe 44 in the second embodiment are applied as such. Therefore, the description up to that step will be omitted and the same reference characters as used in the description of the second embodiment are also applied to these Figures.
While a laminated flexible pipe 44 formed in the same manner as in the second embodiment and drawn from the cylindrical outer mold 43 is lowered in the direction of its length along said vertical descending path 34, intermediate tapes 60 are first wound on the outer surface 44a of said laminated flexible pipe. Such intermediate tape 60 is a strong one, consisting preferably of cellophane or nylon, and is spirally wound on the outer surface 42a of the flexible pipe by the same device 61 as that used for winding the parting tape 45 shown in the second exbodiment. A tape 63 having spacer projections 62 is wound on the exterior of said intermediate tapes 60. As shown in FIG. 15, such tape 60 is a strong one, consisting preferably of cellophane or nylon, and it has a number of said projections 62 erected in advance on the inner surface thereof and is supported in a roll form on a rotary plate 64. Thus, by rotating the rotary plate 64 around the axis of the laminated flexible pipe 44, the tape 63 is spirally wound on the descending laminated flexible pipe 44 in such a manner that the front ends of said projections abut against the intermediate tapes 60. As shown in FIG. 14, reinforcing continuous fibers 65 are wound in a mesh form on the outer surface of said tape 63 by the same device 66 as that shown in the second embodiment. The composite pipe is then passed (lowered) through a hopper 68 containing a putty-like resin 67 which can be set at any desired time and then through a second cylindrical outer mold 70 suspendedly fitted over said vertical descending path 34 so as to communicate with the lower end opening in said hopper 68 and to define an annular air gap 69 between it and said tape 63. The putty-like resin 67, as in the previous case, consists of putty-like polyester or the like. When it descends by gravity in said annular air gap 69, the side of said tape 63 serves as an inner mold. For this reason, the putty-like resin 67, while being compacted, sufficiently penetrates the layer of said fibers 65 to form a second resin layer 71 extending to the outer surface of the tape 63. A parting tape 72 is then wound on the outer surface of said second putty-like resin layer 71. The parting tape 72 is wound by the same device 73 as that shown in the second embodiment. As a result, an unset multiple pipe 76 is formed which, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, consists of a flexible pipe 30 defining an inner channel 74, a first putty-like resin layer 49 having a layer of fibers 37 embedded therein, a layer of tape 63 defining an outer channel 75 whose distance is maintained by projections 62, and a second putty-like resin layer 71 having a layer of a parting tape 72 embedded therein and which can be set at any desired time. This pipe 76 can be continuously drawn and wound onto the take-up reel 35. The reference character 36 designates drawing and guiding rolls.
As for the tape 63 having projections 62 in the above embodiment, it may be in the form of a tape 63a having a number of bar-like projections 62a arranged lengthwise and widthwise, as shown in FIG. 18. Besides this, the following tapes may be used.
* A tape 63b, shown in FIG. 19, having projections 62b provided with bulges 77 at their front ends.
* A tape 63c, shown in FIG. 20, comprising two front and back tape elements 78a and 78b and projections 62c bridging the distance therebetween. In this case, the step of winding the intermediate tapes 60 may be omitted.
* A tape 63d, shown in FIG. 21, wherein the opposite ends 79a and 79b of projections 62d extend through tape elements 79a and 79b. In this case, as shown in FIG. 22, the opposite ends 79a and 79b are thrust into the putty-like resin layers 49 and 71 to make firmer the molding between the putty-like resin layers and the tape 60d. Further, even when the tape elements 78a and 78b are such that they will melt away upon heating for the setting of the pipe, the set resin layers 49 and 71 serve to fix the ends of the projections 62d so that the distance between the resin layers is maintained.
As for projections 62, it is preferable to use aluminum or copper ones, but this may be suitably changed according to the material which flows through the outer channel 75 during the use of the pipe.
Further, by making an arrangement so that after the pipe is withdrawn from the second outer mold 70 it is passed again to a step of winding of a tape 63, it is possible to produce an unset multiple pipe having a plurality of outer channels similar to the one shown at 75.
According to the present invention described in this embodiment, it is possible to continuously produce an unset multiple pipe which has an inner channel 74 defined by a flexible pipe 30 and an outer channel 75 defined by spacer projections 62 and which can be set at any desired time.
In addition, in any of the second to fourth embodiments, it is possible, as in the first embodiment, to optionally select a thickness for each layer, inner and outer diameters for the entire pipe and a cross-sectional shape therefor.
By arranging said hoppers 12, 41 and 68 in a sealed chamber and pressurizing them, the gravity descending action can be assisted, and by increasing the pressure the height of the apparatus can be decreased and, moreover, defoaming from the resin layer and penetration into fiber layers can be further improved. Further, if the hoppers 12, 31 and 68 are modified to the sealed chamber type and such chamber is constantly evacuated by a vacuum pump to provide a vacuum chamber and the cylindrical outer molds 14, 43 and 70 are increased in length to the extent that the gravity which acts on the putty-like resin injected into the vacuum chamber and tending to flow down the hopper under its own weight is balanced by the vacuum force, then this results in a degassed resin liquid impregnating the fiber laayer, providing the same merit as in the case of the pressure gravity type described above.
Further, when said flexible pipe 30 is formed of cellophane or nylon and has a thin wall having the danger of being easily deformed by the fiber winding force or external pressure caused by the putty-like resin, it is possible to cope with such deformation by applying a pressure such as compressed air to the interior of the flexible pipe 30.
The unset composite flexible pipe is used by optionally deforming and then setting the same by applying setting means such as heating, but at this time it is possible to use tapes formed of a thermoplastic resin film as the parting tapes 45, 51 and 72 so that they may be automatically melted away.
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A laminated composite pipe is produced by employing a pre-formed pipe as a core and applying a layer of reinforcing fiber onto the outer surface of the pipe core which is being lowered vertically in the direction of its length through a hopper and a tubular outer mold. Resin supplied to the hopper is drawn into an annular space between the wound pipe and the outer mold and forms a layer on the wound pipe core. A flexible pipe may be used as the core, together with a resin that can be subsequently cured, thereby forming a flexible laminated composite pipe which can be covered with a parting tape, stored in reel form, and given a permanent set after installation by curing the resin. Depending upon the nature of the resin employed and upon the number of resin layers applied to the pipe core, reinforcing, insulating and stiffening properties, or any combination of such properties, may be imparted to the composite pipe. A multi-channel pipe may be formed by the application to one of the composite pipes described above of an additional tape provided with spacer projections, followed by the application of reinforcing fiber and resin.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the art of butterfly valves, and more specifically, to apparatus and a method for reconstituting skewed-axis butteryfly valves.
Skewed-axis butterfly valves of the type with which this invention is used, depicted in FIGS. 1-3, are in common use throughout industry and are often used on ships.
Heretofore, some discs of these valves have been made with replaceable O-rings in perimeter grooves so that the O-rings could be periodically replaced without replacing the whole discs. However, many extremely corrosive applications of such valves do not allow the use of perimeter O-rings but rather require that the discs be made totally of metal. As in the case of valves with O-rings, the metal discs also corrode at their perimeters. Heretofore, it has been possible to throw away the corroded discs of such valves and replace them with new discs. However, the manufacturers of such discs often do not stock them so they are often difficult to purchase in a timely manner. Further, such butterfly-valve discs are extremely expensive. Thus, some users of skewed-axis butterfly valves have repaired the discs by welding metal about their outer perimeters and then filing the outer perimeters to form new, appropriately-shaped perimeter surfaces. Although some money can be saved using this procedure, the procedure is time consuming and inexact. To date there is no relatively easy, exact and economical way to reconstitute these all-metal, skewed-axis, butterfly valve discs. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus and a method for reconstituting all-metal skewed-axis butterfly valve discs which is economical, fast, exact and relatively easy to perform.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method of reconstituting skewed-axis butterfly valves which allows the butterfly-valve discs thereof to be quickly, and smoothly, worked on a lathe.
SUMMARY
According to principles of this invention, skewed-axis butterfly valves are reconstituted by removing them from their valve housings, adding weld metal about their peripheral, or perimeter edges, and working these edges with a lathe in order to restore them to their proper configurations.
One is enabled to carry out this method by using a spinner apparatus for adapting butterfly valve discs to be turned on a lathe. The spinner apparatus includes two spinner mechanisms each of which contains a block, an elongated centering shaft slidably mounted on the block for engaging a butterfly-valve disc in the center thereof, a spinner bar with an attached balancing shaft for extending into a boss hole on the side of the valve disc on which the spinner mechanism is mounted, and an aligning bar mechanism attached to the block for making contact with the sides of the valve disc on which the spinner mechanism is mounted for aligning the valve disc axis with the axis of the centering shaft. Outer ends of the centering shafts of spinner mechanisms attached to opposite sides of a valve disc are mounted in a lathe for rotating the valve disc. The balancing shafts include devices for gripping the sides of valve bosses for holding the balancing shafts in holes in the bosses.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the invention in a clear manner.
FIG. 1 is a side, partially in section, view of a skewed-axis butterfly valve mounted in its housing;
FIG. 2 is a top view of the butterfly-valve disc of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the butterfly-valve disc of FIG. 1; and,
FIG. 4 is an isometric, exploded, view of a spinner mechanism of this invention mounted on a skewed-axis butterfly-valve disc.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows a scewed-axis butterfly valve disc 10 mounted in a valve housing 12. This valve is referred to as a skewed-axis butterfly valve disc because the plane of the round disc 10 is skewed at an angle of about 25° to an axis 14 about which the disc 10 rotates. In this respect, the disc 10 has integral therewith an operator boss 16 and a mounting boss 18 respectively formed on opposite sides thereof at approximately opposite positions along a perimeter edge 20. These bosses 16 and 18 respectively have an operating hole 22 (FIG. 2) and a mounting hole 24 (FIG. 3) formed therein for respectively receiving shafts mounted on opposite sides of the valve housing 12. The operating hole 22 of the operating boss 16 includes an elongated slot 26 and a countersunk round guiding hole 28 which receive correspondingly shaped male protrusions 30 from an operator shaft 32. The elongated slot 26, by mating with a similarly formed male protrusion, provides positive rotative engagement between the operator shaft 32 and the operating boss 16 so that when the operator shaft 32 is rotated, the butterfly-valve disc 10 will also be rotated about the axis 14 to open and close a passage 33. The mounting hole 24 is round to receive a round protrusion from a mounting stud 34 which allows the mounting boss 18 and the attached butterfly-valve disc 10 to freely rotate about the mounting stud 34 on the axis 14.
In the use of this valve, the perimeter edge 20 of the valve makes contact with a valve seat 36 of the valve housing 12. It is about this perimeter edge 20 that the butterfly-valve disc 10 tends to corrode. In order to reconstitute this perimeter edge when unacceptable corrosion has occurred, welding material is welded to this outer perimeter edge 20 and the valve disc 10, with its integral operator and mounting bosses 16 and 18, are mounted on a lathe so that this perimeter edge can be worked with a lathe tool.
A spinner apparatus for mounting the valve disc 10 on a lathe comprises first and second spinner mechanisms A and B. As can be seen in FIG. 4, these spinner mechanisms A and B are mounted on opposite sides of the butterfly-valve disc 10 and their elements are almost identical. For ease of description, spinner mechanism A will be described and then the differences between spinner mechanism A and spinner mechanism B will be described. In FIG. 4, identical elements between the spinner mechanism are given identical numbers.
All of the elements of the spinner apparatus are constructed of metal. A 1/2 inch thick block 38 has a 1.005 inch bore 40 therethrough in which is positioned a 1 inch diameter centering shaft 42 having a centering-shaft axis 43. The centering shaft is approximately 6 inches long and its inner end has a 45° point 44 thereon. The centering shaft 42 can be selectively slid in the bore 40 or fixed relative to the block 38 by means of set screws 46 which are placed about the block 38 at 90° intervals.
Welded to the block 38 is a flat spinner bar 48 having a first section 50 parallel to the centering shaft 42, a second section 52 on about an 80° angle to the centering shaft 42 and a third section 54 which forms approximately a 30° angle to the centering shaft 42. A 1 inch diameter balancing shaft 56 is attached to the third section 54 by means of a cap screw 58 passing through a slot 60 in the third section 54 which threadingly engages a hole in the end of the balancing shaft 56. A mounting end 62 of the balancing shaft 56 is cut on approximately a 10° angle with its axis so that the balancing shaft 56 is not perpendicular to the third section 54, but rather is at approximately an 80° angle thereto. An outer-end portion 64 of the balancing shaft 56 has a shape for fitting snugly into both the round guiding hole 28 and the elongated slot 26 of the operator boss 16 of the valve disc 10. The outer-end portion 64 extends along an axis which forms an angle of about 25° with the plane of a disc 10 in which it is mounted, the same as the axis 14 of the operator shaft 32 in FIG. 1. Balancing shaft retainers 66 are attached to opposite sides of the balancing shaft 56 and extend outwardly on opposite sides of the outer-end portion 64. These extensions of the balancing-retainers 66 have set screws 68 therein which can be tightened and loosened to engage opposite sides of the operator boss 16 when the outer-end portion 64 is engaged with the guiding hole 28 and enlongated slot 26 of the boss 16.
Opposite aligning bars 70 and 72 are welded to the block 38, each is respectively removed approximately 90° about the block 38 from the center of the flat spinner bar 48 in an opposite direction than the other. The aligning bars 70 and 72 are approximately 6 inches long and are constructed of 3/8 inch square metal bars. Each of these aligning bars has a 90° bend 74 therein to form a foot 76 with a set screw 78 being approximately parallel to the axis 43 of the centering shaft 42.
The spinner mechanism B differs from the spinner mechanism A in that a balancing shaft 80 of the mechanism B has an outer end 82 which is shaped differently from the outer end 64 of the balancing shaft 56. In this regard, the outer end 82 is cylindrically shaped to securely fit in the mounting hole 24 of the mounting boss 18. It should be noted that the mounting hole 24 is quite a bit larger than the guiding hole 28 of the operator boss 16, thus, that portion of the outer end 64 which fits into the guiding hole 28 is of a different diameter than the outer end 82 of the balancing shaft 80.
Each of the balancing shafts 56 and 80 have a 1/16 inch slice 84 taken from the surface thereof facing the disc 10 on which the spinner mechanism is to be mounted near the respective outer ends 64 and 82 thereat. This slice 84 has the purpose of providing additional space between the respective balancing shafts 56 and 80 and the perimeter edge 20 of the disc 10 to allow a lathe tool to be used on the parameter edge 20.
In operation of the spinner apparatus of FIG. 4, a butterfly-valve disc 10 is removed from its housing 12 and if there are none there, dents 86 are made at center points on opposite sides of the disc 10 (only one shown in FIG. 4). Weld material is welded about the disc's perimeter edge 20. The outer-end portions 64 and 82 of the balancing shafts 56 and 80 are respectively inserted into operating and mounting holes 22 and 24 of the operator and mounting bosses 16 and 18 and the retainer set screws 68 are tightened on the sides of the bosses 16 and 18 to hold these end portions in the boss holes. The centering shafts 42 are slid in the bores 40 of their respective blocks 38 so that the tips of their points 44 are inserted into the center dents 86 on opposite sides of the disc 10. The set screws 46 and 78 as well as the cap screw 58 are then adjusted to approximately align the centering-shaft axis 43 with a disc axis 88 passing through the center dents 86. In this regard, by adjusting the positions of the balancing shafts 56 and 80 in the slots 60 relative to the third section 54 prior to fastening the cap screw 58, by slidingly adjusting the position of the centering shaft 42 relative to the block 38 before tightening the set screws 46, and by adjusting the set screws 78 to be in contact with the respective sides of the disc on which the respective spinner mechanisms are mounted, the spinner mechanisms are tightly mounted onto opposite sides of the valve disc 10 with the centering shaft axes 43 being in approximate alignment with the axis 88 of the disc valve 10. Such an orientation can be checked once the assembly is mounted on a lathe and can be adjusted using the various set screws and the cap screw 58. It should be understood, that the tips of the points 44 of the centering shafts 42 should be in contact with center dents 86 on opposite sides of the disc 10 when the spinner mechanisms A and B are properly mounted on the disc 10. The respective bends of the flat spinner bar 48 and the non-perpendicular cut of the mounting end 62 of the balancing shafts 56 and 80 allow the outer ends 64 and 80 to be inserted into the operating and mounting holes 22 and 24 of the operating and mounting bosses 16 and 18.
Outer ends 90 of the centering shafts 42 are then engaged by lathe engaging elements. In this respect, each of the centering shafts 42 has a center indentation 92 in the outer end thereof which is engaged by a center (not shown) of a lathe engaging element. The lathe is then rotated by hand to check for any wobble in the disc caused by non-squareness of the centering shafts 42 and if there is any it is corrected by adjusting the set screws 78 and the cap screw 58. The lathe then rotates the entire assembly including both spinner mechanisms and the disc valve 10 which rotates smoothly and allows the use of a lathe tool to work its perimeter outer edge 20 for thereby reforming this outer edge so that the valve can again be mounted in the housing 12 for further use.
It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the method of reconstituting skewed-axis butterfly valves and the spinner apparatus of this invention provide an inexpensive, noncomplicated manner in which skewed-axis butterfly valves can be reconstituted.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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A butterfly-valve disc (10) is reconstituted by applying welding metal about its edge, rotating the disc with a lathe, and working the disc edge with a lathe tool. A spinner apparatus adapts the butterfly valve disc to be turned on the lathe. The spinner apparatus comprises two spinner mechanisms (A and B) for respectively attaching to opposite sides of the disc. Each of the spinner mechanisms includes a block (38), an elongated centering shaft (42) slidably mounted on the block, a spinner bar (48) fastened to the block for extending into a boss hole (22 or 24) on a side of the valve disc on which the spinner mechanism is to be mounted, and aligning bars (70 and 72) attached to the block for making contact with the side of the valve disc on which the spinner mechanism is to be mounted for holding a valve-disc axis (88) aligned with an axis (43) of the centering shaft.
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RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/114,959 filed May 5, 2008 and claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/941,065 filed May 31, 2007, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/941,065 filed May 31, 2007, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a disk refiner for ligno-cellulosic materials, and generally to disk refiners used for producing fiberboard and mechanical pulps for medium density fiberboard (MDF), thermomechanical pulps (TMP) and a variety of chemi-thermomechanical pulps (CTMP), which are collectively referred to as mechanical pulps and mechanical pulping process. In particular, this invention relates to steam flow through disk refiners in mechanical pulping processes.
A disk refiner may be used in a thermo-mechanical pulping (TMP) refiner in which the pulp material, such as wood chips, is ground in an environment of steam between a rotating grinding disk (rotor) and a stationary disk (stator) (or a pair of rotating disk rotors) each with radial grooves that provide the grinding surfaces. The rotor may operate at rotational speeds of 1000 to 2300 revolutions per minute (RPM).
Wood chips are fed to the center of the opposing disks of a disk refiner. The chips are broken down between the disks as centrifugal force pushes the chips towards the disk outer circumference. The refiner plates generally include a pattern of bars and grooves which provide repeated compression actions on the chips. The compression action results in the separation of lingo-cellulosic fibers out of the raw chips. The fiber separation transforms the raw chip material into fiber pulp suitable for a final product, such as fiberboards.
While the chips are retained between the disks, energy is transferred to the chips via the refiner plates attached to the disks. The energy is in the form of high centrifugal and compression forces applied to break-down the wood chips. The refining process also generates high frictional forces that causes water in the chip feed material to convert to high pressure steam.
In most disk refiners, the steam from the disk refiner flows in the same direction, e.g., radially outward from between the disks, as the fiber material exiting the refining disks. By way of example, typically between 60% and 100% of the steam produced between the disks in a refiner flows in a forward direction, which is the same direction as the fiber material moving between the refining disks. These percentages for forward flowing steam vary depending on refiner plate patterns and process conditions. After exiting the outer periphery of the fiber disks, the forward flowing steam carries fiber pulp through blow lines downstream of the disk refiner. The pressure of the forward flowing steam is released as the refined fiber pulp material exits the blow lines and enters bins and other relatively low pressure vessels. In MDF, the forward flowing steam typically adds little value to the pulping process and the pressure energy in the forward flowing steam is generally not used. In mechanical pulping, some systems allow for the recovery of heat energy in the forward flowing steam from a discharge cyclone, and other systems vent the forward flowing steam to atmosphere. When recovered such as via a heat exchanger, the heat from forward flowing steam from the mechanical refining processes is typically used for paper machine dryers and on pulp drying equipment
High pressure steam is needed in the feeding side of the refiner in MDF and other mechanical pulping systems. Steam is used to soften the wood to improve the performance of the refiner and produce fiber. High pressure steam for refining is usually provided a combination of back-flowing steam from the refiner and fresh steam, usually generated by a boiler. Fresh steam is expensive to produce in terms of energy consumption. There is a long felt need for sources of high pressure steam for pulping processes.
A source of high pressure steam is the steam generated during mechanical refining. High pressure steam is generated between refining disks in a disk refiner. In a traditional refiner, up to 40% of the high pressure steam generated between does not flow in a forward direction with the chip feed material. To the extent that the high pressure steam between the disks can be extracted without loss of pressure, the high pressure steam may be directed to a steaming vessel in a chip feed system of a mechanical refining plant.
A known technique to capture high pressure steam from the disks is to allow the steam to back flow against the movement of chip material between the refining disks and through the feeding system to the chip pre-steaming vessel. High pressure back flow steam has been used in the pre-steaming vessels. Separate piping has been added to refiners to allow back flow steam to bypass the conveyors and feeding devices from the feeding system, and allow the back flow steam to move with little resistance from the refiner inlet to the pre-steaming vessels.
The amount of back flow steam is generally reduced by the use of directional (low energy) refiner plates. Low energy plates typically reduce steam generation by 10 to 50% in a refiner and reduce the amount of back flow steam by 20 to 70%, as compared to conventional higher energy refiner plates. While directional MDF refiner plates are advantageous in reducing the energy required to drive a disk refiner, the reduction in the available back flow steam increases the amount of high pressure steam needed for a mechnical refining plant.
There is a long felt need for techniques to reduce the amount of high pressure steam needed to be produced at high energy costs for a mechanical refining plant. In particular, there is a long felt need to capture a greater amount of high pressure steam from the refining process than is presently captured using directional (low-energy) refiner plates in mechanical refining plants.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A novel refiner plate has been developed to increase the amount of high pressure steam extracted from refiner plates, and especially low energy refiner plates. The refiner plate includes steam channels that cut through the refining section and provide a passage for back flow steam. Advantages of the refiner plate include increased amount of high pressure steam available for other purposes in the refining plant, and low-energy refining associated with directional plates.
A refining plate has been developed for refining lignocellulosic material, where the plate includes: a radially outer peripheral edge and a substrate surface; a refining zone including a plurality of substantially radially disposed bars and grooves between the bars, wherein the bars protrude upward from the substrate surface and the grooves each have a groove width, and a steam channel traversing the bars and grooves of the refining zone, wherein the steam channel has a radially outer end radially inward of the outer peripheral edge of the plate and a width substantially greater than the groove width.
The refining plate may include a dam extending across the steam channel at a radially outward inlet end of the channel. The plate, such as a rotor or stator plate, may include an inlet zone adjacent a radially inner end of the steam channel. The gap between bars in the inlet zone should be at least as wide as the steam channel. The refining plate comprise an annular array of plate segments where each segment includes the refining zone, and a plurality of the plate segments (but not necessarily all segments) includes at least one steam channel.
A method has been developed to extract high pressure steam from a refining system comprising: introducing a cellulose fibrous feed material to an inlet of a disk refiner; feeding the cellulose fibrous feed material between opposing disks of the refiner, wherein one disk rotates relative to the other; refining the cellulose fibrous feed material between opposing refiner plates each mounted on a respective one of the opposing plates, wherein each refiner plate has a zone of refining bars and grooves; back flowing steam generated during the refining of the feed material flows through channels in the zone of at least one of the plates, wherein the channels have a width substantially greater than a width of the grooves, and extracting the back flow steam from the disk refiner from an outlet radially inward of an outlet of the channels.
The pressure of the back flow steam may be extracted at a pressure of 1 to 8 bar (gauge pressure). The back flow steam is forced to flow radially inward through the channels (and possibly a discontinuous steam channel) by forming a radially outer end of the channel substantially radially inward of the outer circumference of the disks. The back flow steam may be discharged from the channel to a coarse zone of the refining plate, wherein the coarse zone is radially inward of the channel and spacing between the bars in the coarse zone is at least as wide as that of a steam flow channel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following identified figures included with this application illustrate preferred embodiments and the best mode of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a first directional, low energy refiner plate segment wherein the segment includes a steam channel.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the first plate segment.
FIG. 3 is a front view of a second directional, low energy refiner plate segment, wherein the segment includes a steam channel.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the second plate segment.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a TMP refiner plate segment wherein the segment includes a steam channel.
FIG. 6 is a front view of a non-directional refiner plate segment wherein the segment includes a steam channel extending half-way through the refining zone.
FIGS. 7 and 8 are a front view and a side view, respectively, of a plate segment of a directional, low energy plate.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of refiner system having an outlet for high pressure back flow steam.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A steam channel has been developed for use in refiner plates, such as rotor and stator plates in mechanical pulping refining. The steam channel allows high pressure steam generated during mechanical refining of cellousic material, e.g., wood chips, to back flow through a refining zone(s) in the plates and be extracted as high pressure steam.
The refiner plate segments disclosed herein are primarily applicable to MDF and TMP refining and for use in a mechanical refiner, such as a disk refiner for refining wood fibers. The plate segments may be directional and low energy plates. Steam channels are included on the plate segments to increase the volume of high pressure steam that back flows through the refiner in a flow direction opposite to the flow of the chips flow between the plates of the refiner.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a front view and a side view, respectively, of a stator or rotor plate segment 10 having an inlet section 12 and an outer section 14 . An array of plate segments is arranged in an annulus on a refiner disk to form an annular refining plate. The plate is mounted on a disk. In a disk refiner, a rotor plate faces a stationary stator plate with a refining gap between the plates. The plate is formed of plate segments 10 arranged in an annular array on the disk. The plate segments of a stator plate may have similar bar and groove features as an opposing rotor plates, or the stator and rotor plates may have different bar and groove features. The rotational direction for the rotor plate is typically counter-clockwise. The stator plate is typically stationary. A refining gap is defined between the opposing stator and rotor plates.
The inlet section 12 is the feeding part of the plate. The inlet section 12 feeds the incoming fibrous material to the outer refining section 14 , preferably with minimal frictional energy and minimal work of the feed material. The inlet section may include coarse bars that feed the chip material to the outer section. Between the coarse bars are wide gaps that allow for the passage of back flow steam.
The outer refining section 14 of the refiner plate segment is the area where the energy is applied to the feed material to break down the wood chips into a fibrous pulp. By way of example, the outer section should preferably be a radial distance of between 100 millimeters (mm) to 200 mm (4 to 5 inches).
By way of example, the outer refining section 14 may be comprised of straight bars 18 and narrow grooves 22 . A bar 18 is an extended ridge protruding from the substrate surface 19 of the plate segment. The height of the bar is typically at least as great as the width of the bar. The length of each bar is typically substantially greater than its width. The bars extend along their length in a direction predominately radial with respect to the plate segment, but the direction of the bar often also includes a tangential component, especially for directional, low energy refiner plates. The bars 18 may be straight, curved or irregular.
The bars may be grouped side-by-side in zones 20 of, for example, twenty (20) of parallel bars 18 . The bars are arranged so that they are relatively close to each other. The gap between adjacent bars defines a groove 22 . Each zone 20 of bars 18 typically includes an equal number of grooves 22 or one less groove than the number of bars. The refining zones 20 may span adjacent plate segments.
The grooves 22 each are defined by opposite sidewalls of adjacent bars 18 . The depth of the grooves extend from the upper region of the bars to the substrate surface of the plate. Typically, MDF plates have 3-5 mm bar widths, 5-12 mm groove widths, and 7-12 mm groove depths. TMP plates typically have 1.0-5.0 mm bar widths, 1.5-5.0 mm groove widths, and 1.8-8.0 mm groove depth (a really wide range.
Refining of the fibrous material generally occurs at the upper levels of the bars and grooves of the outer refining section 14 . The lower regions of the grooves, i.e., near the substrate 19 , typically serve to vent steam and allow chip feed and other materials flow radially outward through the refiner plate.
Pumping directional refiner plates typically have bars arranged such that frictional forces created during the crossing of rotor and stator plates contribute to a net forward force applied to the feed material. The bars are arranged at acute angles with respect to a radius and angle towards the rotational direction of the rotor plate. Directional plates reduce the retention time of the feed material between the plates. The refiner operates with a smaller operating gap between the rotor and stator plates/disks. Reducing the operating gap tends to reduce the amount of energy needed to achieve a given fiber quality.
Directional refiner plates also tend to generate less steam per amount of fiber produced due to the lower energy input. The pumping angles of the bars in directional refiner plates also tend to cause a greater percentage of the steam generated to flow forward (in the same radial direction as the chip material), as compared to bi-directional refiner plates having an average pumping angle of zero. The amount of backward flowing steam in directional refiner plates is significantly reduced as compared to bi-directional plates.
Running directional (or low-energy) refiner plates typically reduces steam generation by 30-50% and 10-20% in TMP, as compared to bi-directional plates. steam generation reduced 10-20% in TMP, 30-50% in MDF, usually. Back-flowing steam reduction with directional refiner plates may be 20 to 90%, as compared to bi-directional plates, with TMP plates have a lesser reduction in back-flow steam and MDF plates having a greater reduction in back-flow steam.
Dams 24 , 26 may be included in the grooves to retard the flow of fibrous materials in the lower region of the grooves. Dams 26 , 28 are arranged in the grooves to prevent excessive fiber flow through the grooves. Split height dams 26 may be arranged at radially inward regions of the grooves. Full height dams 28 (also referred to as “surface dams”) may be at the radially outward regions of the grooves or may be arranged throughout the length of the grooves. MDF and TMP refiner plate segments tend to have many dams arranged in their grooves. The dams increase the refining that occurs between the plates by slowing the flow of fibrous materials between the plates.
The dams between the grooves of refiner plates also substantially reduce the back-flow of steam. Steam may back flow by moving through the grooves generally radially inward and to the inlet to the refiner plates. Back flow steam flows radially inward and in a counter-flow direction to the generally radially outward movement of the chip and fiber material and much of the steam. The back flow steam occurs in the lower regions of the grooves, which regions are near the substrate of the plate. Back flow steam is most likely to occur in grooves that do not have dams. Dams block the flow of back flow steam.
The high pressure of back flow steam may be useful for other applications in a refiner plate. To promote back flow steam, channels 34 are preferably provided in the stator plate segment. The channels 34 provide a flow path to allow steam to back flow radially inward towards the center inlet of the refiner. The channels 34 provide passage for back flow steam through the refining zone. The steam channels facilitate the flow of steam in a counter-flow direction to a relatively large volume flow (as compared to the back flow steam) of fiber material being fed to the center inlet of the plates and moving radially outward to the outer circumferential outlet of the plates.
Steam channels 34 may be arranged in rotor plates. A rotor pumping effect (due to centrifugal force) may reduce the amount of back flow steam in a steam channel in a rotor plate. The pump effect also advantageously reduces the fiber flowing back in the rotor channels 34 , as compared to steam channels in a stator plate.
Stator steam channels have a higher efficiency for steam removal, but allow more fiber to flow back as compared to steam channels in a rotor plate. The steam channels 34 arranged in the stator plate segments because the centrifugal forces in the stator plate on steam flow in channels and grooves, is low compared to the centrifugal forces acting on steam flowing in the grooves on the rotating rotor plate.
The steam carrying channels 34 are preferably at least one-half inch wide (1.3 centimeter (cm)) and a length of two inches (5.1 cm) to eight inches (20.3 cm). The steam channel 34 may have a radially inward steam discharge end 36 adjacent, at or near the inlet section 12 of the stator plate segment. The radially inward end 36 of the channel preferably opens to a section in which the bars are spaced apart at least three-quarters of an inch (1.8 cm). The inlet section 12 of bars generally has bars space wide apart and allows for back flow of steam. A section of bars spaced apart at least three-quarters of an inch on a stator plate will allow steam to back flow through its grooves. Steam back flow channels may not be needed in zones of a refiner plate having bars spaced apart by at least three-quarters of an inch.
The radially outer end 38 of the steam channels 34 may not extend to the outer circumferential edge 40 of the plate segment. The outer end 38 of the channel may be one inch (2.54 cm) radially inward of the outer circumferential outer edge 40 of the plate. Alternatively, the outer end of the steam channel may be at approximately one-half the radial distance of the refining zone. The selection of the radial end location of the steam channel depends on the particular refiner and plates, the desired amount back flow steam and the refining process. Ending 38 the channel before the outer circumferential outer plate edge 40 prevents steam and chip material in the channel from flowing radially out the discharge of the plates. A surface dam may be placed at the radially outer end 38 of the steam channel, especially if the end is adjacent the plate edge 40 .
The channels 34 preferably span at least the inner radial half of the refining zone 14 and a much as 85% of the radial length of the refining zone 14 . Steam in the refining section of the refiner plate may back flow through the channel 34 to the center and/or inlet of the refiner.
The steam channels 34 are preferably at an acute angle with respect to a radial line of the stator plate. The channel angle may be in an opposite direction to the angle of the bars in the zone(s) adjacent the channel 34 . The channel angle may be 0 degrees to 60 degrees to a radial line. The angled channel reduces the tendency of chip material being push through the channel 34 in an opposite direction to the back flow steam. The chip material tends to flow over the channel in a direction generally transverse to the channel. The chip material tends not to flow in a direction parallel to the channel. The back flow steam in the stator channel 34 tends to flow in lower regions of the channel near the substrate and flow parallel to the channel. Accordingly, the chip material tends not to flow directly counter to the back flow steam in the channel 34 . However, the direction of the channel may be radial or in alignment with the angle of the bar.
The steam channels 34 may be as deep as the grooves between the bars. Alternatively, the channels may be shallower or deeper than the grooves depending on the construction of the refiner plate and the desired flow of back flow steam. In plates with multiple refining zones of bars and grooves, wide channels may separate the zones. The channels may be in a tangential direction if separating refining zones that are radially adjacent each other. The annular channels between refining zones may from a portion of a steam channel 34 . The steam channel may be discontinuous (see FIG. 3 ) along a radial direction of the plate, provided that there is a back flow steam path between the channel sections. Steam may flow between discontinuous channels by flowing in a direction generally perpendicular to a radius of the plate and between adjacent zones of bars and grooves.
More than one steam channel 34 may be used on each refiner plate segment. A steam channel need not be provided in every refiner plate segment in a plate array of segments. The geometry of the channel 34 may be selected based on a desired flow of back flow steam, the refining process, operating variables, and other features of the plate design. The steam channel(s) ay be straight, curved, zig-zagged and discontinuous.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are a front view and side view, respectively, of a refiner plate segment 42 having an outer refining section 44 , an inner refining section 46 , and a coarse bar feeding section 48 . A steam channel 50 extends partially through the outer refining section. The channel traverses the relatively narrow grooves 52 between finely spaced bars 54 in the outer refining section 44 . Surface dams 56 are in all grooves of the outer section. The radially inward refining section 46 has a steam channel 58 that is discontinuous with the channel 50 in the outer refining section 44 . Back flow steam moves from the outer channel 50 , through a channel gap 60 between the refining sections 44 , 46 and to the inner channel 58 . The steam back flowing through inner steam channel 58 discharges to the feeding section 48 that has wide space bars allowing the stem to back flow to a high pressure steam exhaust.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a plate segment 70 of a TMP stator plate. A steam channel 72 traverses an inner refiner zone 74 . The bars of the inner refiner zone are closely spaced as is typical. There is only a small acute angle between the bars and a radius, which is typical with TMP refining applications. The steam channel is straight and at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to a radius, and at an opposite angle to the angle formed by the bars. The bars on opposite sides of the channel are sloped towards the channel. The bars adjacent the lower side of the channel have a steep slope 76 and the bars adjacent an outer side of the channel have a shallow slope 77 . The plate has an outer refining zone 78 without a steam channel. Steam generated in the inner refining zone 74 that flows into the channel may flow radially inward to a steam outlet near an inlet to the plate, which may be near a center of the plate.
FIG. 6 is a front view of a bi-directional plate segment 80 of a MDF stator plate. A wide steam channel 82 extends entirely through an inner refining zone 84 and partially through an outer refining zone 86 . The steam channel extends radially and is parallel to radially aligned bars of the inner and outer refining zones 84 , 86 . The steam channel 82 in the MDF bi-directional plate 80 allows steam generated in the refining zones 84 , 86 to flow radially inward to a high pressure steam exhaust port adjacent a radially inward position of the refiner plate.
The radial orientation of the bars allows the stator and corresponding rotor plate to be rotated clock-wise or counter-clock-wise during refining. In contrast to the bi-direction MDF plate shown in FIG. 6 , the MDF plates shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 are directional due to the angle formed by their bars with respect to a radial.
FIGS. 7 and 8 are a front view and a side view, respectively, of a plate segment 90 of a directional, low energy MDF stator plate. An inlet section 92 has wide gaps between the breaker bars that allow steam to flow radially inward. A refining section 94 includes discontinuous steam channels 96 , 98 and 100 .
The steam channels 96 , 98 , 100 form a zig-zag pattern traversing approximately two-thirds the radial length of the refining zone. The zig-zag pattern is formed by sections 96 , 98 of the steam channel that are generally perpendicular to the bars and a connecting steam channel section 100 generally parallel to bars. The zig-zag pattern tends to direct fiber in the channel to the bars of the refining zone 94 and allows steam to follow the zig-zag pattern. The zig-zag pattern reduces the fibers flowing with the back flowing steam to a high pressure outlet of the refiner.
The zig-zag steam channels 96 , 98 and 100 illustrates that a steam channel may traverse the plate along an angle opposite to the angle(s) formed by the bars of the refining section, and along an angle generally aligned with the bars of the plate. An opposite angled steam channel forms an angle with respect to a radial line that is on the opposite side of the radial line from the angle(s) formed by the refining section. An aligned steam channel forms an angle with respect to a radial line that is on the same side of the radial line as the angle(s) formed by the bars of the refining section.
As is evident from FIGS. 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 , and 7 , a steam channel may be straight or curved, continuous or discontinuous, form an angle opposite to the angles of the refining section or aligned with the refining section, and may be a combination of steam channel segments. Preferably, the steam channel is relatively wide (as compared to the groove widths in the refining section), does not extend to a radially outer edge of the plate or has one or more dams towards the outer edge to prevent steam venting out the outer periphery of the plate, and the channel is relatively deep to allow steam to flow radially inward and below the refining action at the bar tips.
FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a thermomechanical (TMP) refiner system 60 , such as is described in US Patent Application Publication 2006/0006265, entitled “High Intensity Refiner Plate with Inner Fiberizing Zone.” A chip feed system 62 steams the wood chips and applies a pressure to the slurry of steamed wood chips. A steaming vessel 64 may be used to steam the chips at high pressure, wherein high pressure steam is introduced to the steaming vessel. The chip feed slurry may be at a high pressure, of for example 15 to 25 psig (pounds per square inch gauge).
The high pressure chip feed slurry is fed, via a high pressure chip feed tube 65 , to a high consistency primary refiner 66 that has relatively rotating disks. The disks are housed in a casing 68 of the primary refiner 66 . A pair of disk oppose each other in the casing such that the array of stator plates face the array of rotor plates and both arrays are coaxial. A narrow gap separates the bars of the stator plate and bars of the rotor plate. The casing is operated at a high pressure, e.g., 1 to 6 bar for TMP, and 6 to 8 bar to MDF. A refiner feed device 71 , such as a ribbon feeder, receives the high pressure chip feed slurry and delivers the pressurized slurry to a center inlet of one of the disk such that the slurry is fed between the disks at substantially the inner diameter of the disks.
A back flow steam path is formed by the channels and other steam flow passages on the refiner plates, e.g., the stator and/or rotor plate segments. Other steam flow passages may include inlet sections with widely spaced bars without dams, and annular gaps between inner and outer refining sections. The back flow steam discharges from the steam channels to the inlet sections where the spacing between the bars is relatively wide, e.g., at least one-half of an inch (1.2 cm). The wide grooves between the bars of the inlet section and/or the lack of dams in the inlet section allow back flow steam to flow to a high pressure steam exhaust 70 at the ribbon feeder 71 which is coupled to a center inlet of the disk refiner. Alternatively, piping for back flow steam may receive the steam from a coupling behind the chip chute 65 which is at the top inlet to the ribbon feeder 71 . Back flow steam may pass through the ribbon feeder, against the chip flow, and up the chip chute 65 to an inlet to the back flow steam pipe 72 .
The high pressure back flow steam exhausted from the disk refiner is available for use as high pressure steam in the preheating portion of the refining process. The back flow steam may be used to reduce the amount of fresh steam added to preheating. The use of high pressure back flow steam is conventional in TMP refining systems. The exhausted high pressure back flow steam may be introduced via steam line 72 to the steaming vessel 64 to steam wood chips prior to the refiner.
The refining plates with channels provide a relatively generous flow of high pressure back pressure steam. This high pressure back flow steam can be used in the refining plant instead of independently generated high pressure steam. The generous flow of high pressure steam provided by the steam channels of the refiner plate segments disclosed herein may reduce the energy requirements in a refiner plant by reducing the volume of high pressure steam to be independently generated.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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A refining plate for refining lignocellulosic material including: a radially outer peripheral edge and a substrate surface; a refining zone having a plurality of substantially radially disposed bars and grooves between the bars, wherein the bars protrude upward from the substrate surface and the grooves each have a groove width, and a steam channel traversing the bars and grooves of the refining zone, wherein the steam channel has a radially outer end radially inward of the outer peripheral edge of the plate and the steam channel has a width substantially greater than the groove width.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of priority of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2008/002603, filed Apr. 2, 2008, which application claims priority of German Patent Application No. 10 2007 028 429.4, filed Jun. 20, 2007. The entire text of the priority application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a device for application of screw cap enclosures, such as in beverage bottling operations.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In such devices that are used in practice, for instance for closing PET bottles with screw caps, for example, of the type known from DE-A-101 24 659, the closing element used must be screwed together with a fitting sleeve downwards out of the closing head upon change to another type of screw cap. Since different bottle conveying and treating components, e.g. round neck-guiding plates, of which at least some must be exactly adjusted to the closing head, are installed underneath the closing head and relatively close to said head, the change of the closing element requires the disassembly of at least some components so as to provide space and access downwardly, as well as subsequent new adjusting operations. This calls for considerable set-up times and is a difficult job carried out with tools. Since it often happens that even bottles of the same producer have different screw caps, although the bottles are always the same, i.e. after a closing-element change they would actually not require any adjusting of the components adjoining the closing head, the long setting times matter a lot. Moreover, with frequent closing-element changes there arises the risk of seizure of the thread with which the closing element is fixed in the closing head.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0004] It is the object of the present disclosure to provide a device of the aforementioned type enabling a fast change of the closing element without disassembly of components adjoining the closing head, for instance a neck star or round guide plates.
[0005] The closing element is not directly held in the closing head, but in the quick-change mechanism, which is however configured such that the closing element is essentially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the closing head and can be laterally removed or inserted. Such a change can be carried out swiftly, resulting in a very short set-up time as no adjoining components have to be disassembled and then readjusted again. On the side of the closing head, and above the adjoining components, there is enough space for an easy manipulation. The quick-change mechanism can be used for different closing-head systems, e.g. both for plunger and stop systems, and can also be used for segmented closing elements.
[0006] In an expedient embodiment the respective closing element is held in a change member of the quick-change mechanism and is inserted or removed together with the change member. The change member is coupled in a force and motion transmitting manner via the positive coupling of the change member with the permanently fixed accommodating means remaining in the closing head. This positive coupling can be laterally disengaged for changing purposes and in the release state of the quick-change mechanism. An additional advantage is here that the thread in the closing head is no longer subject to wear because the accommodating means must be disassembled, if at all, only on rare occasions. The accommodating means of the change member can fit different screw caps. As an alternative, clearly different screw caps can belong to different change members.
[0007] A particular advantage of the device is that the quick-change mechanism can be operated by hand and without any tools. A change can be carried out with a few simple operations and without the application of a considerable force.
[0008] Expediently, the positive coupling is even configured such that disassembly or insertion of the change member can be carried out from two sides that are diametrically opposite with respect to the rotational axis of the closing head. Since in the area where the change member is laterally removed or inserted, there is normally a very good accessibility for the changing operation, e.g. over about 300°, the closing head coupled with a gearing for a plurality of closing heads need possibly not be rotated at all for a changing operation because one side is always accessible for the changing operation.
[0009] In an expedient embodiment the accommodating means is a tubular section that can be fixed in the closing head, preferably a tubular section with an external thread and a fitting cone at one end. At the other end of the accommodating means a mount is formed that comprises a first member of the positive coupling. The change member may be a hollow body that at one end comprises a second member of the positive coupling and in the other end the accommodating means for the closing element.
[0010] For an easy handling the change-member securing means may comprise a ring which is axially displaceable on the mount on the outside and grips in the locking position on the outside over both interengaged members of the positive coupling, thereby preventing an unintended release of the positive coupling and centering the change member neatly on the accommodating means and the closing head, respectively.
[0011] Expediently, axially spaced-apart stops between which the ring can be axially reciprocated are provided on the accommodating means and on the change member. To make sure that under operationally caused vibrations the ring does not move in an uncontrolled manner into the release state, it is expedient to bias the ring towards the locking position by spring force. The spring force must only be so great that the ring cannot independently abandon its locking position, but can be moved easily by hand into the release state. Upon removal of the change member, however, the ring should remain secured on the accommodating means.
[0012] Under mounting aspects at least the stop on the accommodating means is advantageously a circlip or another suitable stop that can be mounted and removed easily if the quick-change mechanism has to be disassembled.
[0013] In an expedient embodiment the positive coupling is configured in the manner of a dovetail guide that is oriented essentially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the closing head. Said guide is provided preferably at one end of the hollow body on the outside with two parallel-extending, straight grooves defined by outer webs, and on the mount on the inside with two grooves extending in parallel relative to each other and being defined by interior webs. The webs are linearly slid into the grooves. This yields a stable mounting of the change member with large force transmitting surfaces and has the advantage that the positive coupling can be easily released or engaged by applying a small force. Optionally, a plurality of groove and web pairs are provided, e.g. each offset by 60° or 120° in circumferential direction in the mount and/or on the change member, so as to find a suitable change position in an easy way without rotating the closing head.
[0014] To be able to remove the closing element in an easy way from the change member, it is expedient when the change member comprises a spring lock for the inserted closing element in the accommodating means.
[0015] Expediently, the accommodating means, the change member and the ring are shaped parts of plastics or metal.
[0016] Furthermore, it might be expedient when some kind of locking, e.g. a ball locking, is arranged for centering the change member on the accommodating means in the dovetail guide, the locking additionally or basically ensuring a centering of the change member on the accommodating means.
[0017] The accommodating means should have circumferentially distributed cleaning openings, so that the cleaning head can be easily rinsed and cleaned, as is customary.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] An embodiment of the subject matter of the disclosure will now be explained with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a side view showing a device for closing containers, particularly bottles, with screw caps, wherein a quick-change mechanism is shown in an operative position shortly before a change;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the quick-change mechanism of FIG. 1 ;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a section taken through the quick-change mechanism in the sectional plane III-III in FIG. 1 ;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a top view on the quick-change mechanism in FIG. 2 ;
[0023] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the quick-change mechanism in the operative position of FIG. 1 ; and
[0024] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the quick-change mechanism while carrying out a changing operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0025] Of a device V for closing containers, for example PET bottles, in a closing device of a bottling system, FIG. 1 shows a lower part of a closing head K in broken line. The closing head K can be driven in axial direction and/or in rotational direction to mount a screw cap, which is positioned in a closing element E, on the external thread of the bottle neck of a bottle positioned underneath the closing head K. To position and convey the containers, components (not shown in FIG. 1 ) are provided next to the closing head and underneath said head.
[0026] In FIG. 1 the closing head K is equipped with a quick-change mechanism S for exchangeably holding the respective closing element E. Main components of the quick-change mechanism S in FIG. 1 (see also FIG. 2 in a longitudinal section) are an accommodating means 1 , a change member 2 in which the closing element E is held, a positive coupling 3 of the change member, and a change-member securing means 4 . The quick-change mechanism S is preferably operable by hand without any tool and, upon insertion or removal of the closing element E with the change member 2 , the mechanism enables a lateral movement of said members, i.e. in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis of the closing head K.
[0027] The accommodating means 1 ( FIG. 2 ) is a tubular section having a fitting cone 5 and an external thread 6 on one end and a mount 7 on the other end. Circumferentially distributed cleaning openings 8 may be provided in the accommodating means 1 . On the outside a stop 9 , e.g. a circlip, is provided on the accommodating means 1 and supports a spring 10 acting on an axially displaceable ring 11 of the change-member securing means 4 towards a locking position. A further stop 12 limiting the path of movement of the ring 11 is e.g. formed on the mount 7 , e.g. in the form of a surrounding shoulder.
[0028] The laterally releasable and engageable positive coupling 3 of the change member is configured in the form of a straight dovetail guide and is composed of two parts. The one part, i.e. two linearly extending grooves 13 that are in parallel with each other and are upwardly defined by straight webs 16 , is formed in the upper end of the change member 2 . The other part of the positive coupling 3 of the change member is constituted by two grooves 15 that are here U-shaped and in parallel with each other and are continuously formed on the inside into the mount 7 and are defined on the bottom side by webs 14 that are also straight and continuous. The webs 14 , 16 are inserted or removed with a straight movement (part 23 in FIG. 6 ). The grooves 15 , 13 are open either on the side positioned at the rear in the drawing plane of FIG. 2 or on the side positioned at the front, or on both sides, so that the change member 2 in FIG. 2 can be separated laterally upwards or downwards from the accommodating means 1 . The ring 11 is shown in a position in which it does not yet permit a separation of the accommodating means 1 from the change member 2 . For changing purposes the ring 11 must be moved upwards in the direction of an arrow 22 ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ). If necessary, several groove and web pairs are provided, the pairs being offset circumferentially relative to one another. Furthermore, any desired cross section may be chosen for the grooves and the webs.
[0029] An accommodating means 17 for the closing element E is formed in the lower end of the change member 2 . The closing element E is seated e.g. with a hollow attachment 18 in the accommodating means 17 and comprises an inner cone for accommodating a screw cap that is held by balls 19 acted upon radially inwards by an O-ring 20 .
[0030] In the section shown in sectional plane in III-III in FIG. 1 , it can be seen in FIG. 3 that the grooves 13 end freely at the front and rear so as to be able to separate the change member 2 in FIG. 3 either downwards or upwards from the accommodating means 1 .
[0031] It can be seen in the top view (in FIG. 2 from above) according to FIG. 4 that the stop 9 is formed by a circlip or a similar stop ring and that a flange of the closing element E projects outwards. FIG. 4 is a view onto the upper end of the accommodating means 1 .
[0032] In the perspective view of the quick-change mechanism S in FIG. 5 , the ring 11 is slightly pushed upwards in the direction of the arrow 22 against the spring 10 towards the upper stop 9 , just to such an extent that the positive coupling 3 cannot be released yet. The change member 2 may e.g. comprise lateral cutouts 21 for reasons of processing.
[0033] To be able to separate the change member 2 with the closing element E laterally in the direction of the double-headed arrow 23 ( FIG. 6 ) from the accommodating means 1 , the ring 11 according to FIG. 6 is even pushed slightly further in the direction of the arrow upwards, and the change member in the dovetail guide with the web 16 is linearly pulled out of the groove 15 while the web 14 is sliding out of the groove 13 .
[0034] A lock 24 that centers the change member 2 already on the accommodating means 1 when the ring 11 has not been shifted downwards yet is provided in the dovetail guide if necessary.
[0035] For the insertion of another change member 2 the ring 11 is first shifted upwards in the direction of the arrow 22 until the groove 15 of the accommodating means 1 is exposed, and the web 16 is threaded into the groove 15 and the web 14 is simultaneously threaded into the groove 13 before the change member 2 is inserted to be aligned with the rotational axis of the closing head K and the accommodating means 1 , respectively. The ring 11 is then released, so that it slides under the action of the force of the spring 10 automatically downwards, e.g. down to stop 12 , and secures the coupling against release. If necessary, manual assistance is provided when the ring 11 is slid downwards.
[0036] The parts of the quick-change mechanism may be shaped parts of plastics or also of metal. Furthermore, change members of different sizes or of different designs with respect to their accommodating seats may be used for distinctly different screw caps, but all of said change members have the same one part of the positive coupling. Upon a change there is no need for disassembling or shifting any components installed underneath the closing head K. In case only different screw caps are processed for the same type of container or bottle, new adjusting operations are also not required for said components upon a changing operation. It would even be possible to form the closing element E directly with the one coupling member or to insert it without the change member 2 .
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A device for closing containers, particularly bottles, with screw caps, having at least one rotatably drivable closing head in which a closure-specific closing element is exchangeably retained, a positive-fit quick-change mechanism for the respective closing element is embodied in the closing head, and in the release state of the quick-change mechanism the closing element can be laterally removed or inserted essentially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the closing head.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a diode element circuit and a switch circuit using the same and, more specifically, relates a diode element circuit formed in an IC form having a high break down voltage and a small leakage current which is suitably used for the switch circuit in an IC tester.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] As typical conventional diodes which are formed in a monolithic IC circuit and perform rectification, a schottky barrier diode which utilizes a schottky junction between a metal and a semiconductor and a PN junction diode which utilizes a PN junction between a P type semiconductor and an N type semiconductor are enumerated. Among those, the schottky barrier diode has an advantage of a high break down voltage and a disadvantage of a large leakage current in a reverse direction.
[0005] The PN junction diodes include one using a PN junction between base and emitter of a transistor and one using a PN junction between base and collector of a transistor. A PN junction diode using a PN junction between base and emitter of a transistor which is generally used has an advantage of a small leakage current, but has a disadvantage of a low break down voltage. On the other hand, a PN junction diode using a PN junction between base and collector of a transistor shows a high break down voltage, but has a disadvantage of causing a leakage current to a substrate during being used in forward direction operation because of an influence of parasitic transistors around the junction.
[0006] Accordingly, in order to achieve at the same time both a small leakage current and a high break down voltage, a variety of measures have been proposed which devise material and structure of the diodes. As examples thereof, with regard to the schottky barrier diodes, JP-A-9-199733 (1997) is enumerated and with regard to the PN junction diodes JP-A-7-66433 (1995) is enumerated.
[0007] However, these measures bring about problems of requiring a special additional manufacturing process and difficulty of using a conventional manufacturing method and manufacturing device as they are. Further, since these measures complicate the manufacturing process, which causes problems of reducing the yield and increasing the manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] An object of the present invention is to resolve the above conventional problems and to provide a diode element circuit which requires no additional manufacturing process and realizes a small leakage current and a high break down voltage.
[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a switch circuit which achieves at the same time both a small leakage current and a high break down voltage and is, in particular, suitable for use in an IC tester.
[0010] A diode element circuit and a switch circuit using the same according to the present invention which achieve the above objects are characterized, in that in a diode element circuit formed in an IC which includes an anode electrode and a cathode electrode and uses a diode of a PN junction between base and collector of a PNP transistor, the PNP transistor is a vertical type transistor formed in a well region, and a voltage drop element which is connected between the collector of the transistor and the anode electrode is included, wherein the base of the transistor is connected to the cathode electrode and the well region is connected to the anode electrode.
[0011] As indicated in the above structure, the PN junction between base and collector of the PNP transistor which shows a small leakage current in the reverse direction is used, and in order to reduce a leakage current to a substrate due to parasitic transistors in the PNP transistor the voltage drop element is inserted between the anode electrode and the collector thereof as a bias circuit. Thereby, the collector side is placed in a lower potential than the well region to induce a potential difference therebetween. With this measure, the emitter potential of a PNP parasitic transistor is reduced which is constituted by the collector region of the PNP transistors serving as an emitter and the well region thereof serving as a base.
[0012] As a result, since a reverse bias is applied between the base and emitter of the parasitic transistor, when a forward current is flown and even when a current between the base and collector of the PNP transistor increases and a voltage drop is generated in the well region, a current value where the parasitic transistor is turned ON can be increased. Accordingly, if the diode is operated under a condition below such large current value, the leakage current from the collector region to the substrate is reduced to substantially zero.
[0013] As a result, the diode element circuit according to the present invention can realize a diode having a small leakage current and a high break down voltage in a monolithic IC circuit without adding a manufacturing process. Thereby, the switch circuit constituted by the diode element circuit likely enjoys the above advantages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] [0014]FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of a diode element circuit with a voltage drop means and a PNP transistor according to the present invention;
[0015] [0015]FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a cross sectional structure of a vertical type PNP transistor used in a general monolithic IC circuit;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of a switch circuit according to the present invention;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of another embodiment of a switch circuit according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0018] Hereinbelow, an embodiment according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0019] [0019]FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of a diode element circuit with a voltage drop means and a PNP transistor according to the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a cross sectional structural view of a vertical type PNP transistor used in a general monolithic IC circuit.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, a diode element circuit 3 is constituted by a PNP transistor 1 serving as a rectification element and a voltage drop means 2 . An emitter terminal 101 and a cathode terminal 103 of the PNP transistor 1 are connected each other and are used as a cathode electrode 5 for the diode element circuit 3 . Further, a collector terminal 102 of the PNP transistor 1 is connected to one terminal of the voltage drop means 2 and a well terminal 104 of the PNP transistor 1 is connected to the other terminal of the voltage drop means 2 , and further, the well terminal 104 serves as an anode electrode 4 for the diode element circuit 3 .
[0021] With this structure, a well region 6 which is connected to the well terminal 104 and is shown by a dotted line frame is set at a higher potential than a collector region (see FIG. 2) under a forward bias condition.
[0022] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the vertical type PNP transistor 1 as used in a general monolithic IC circuit is structured by alternatively sandwiching a P type semiconductor and an N type semiconductor, there exist parasitic transistor (NPN transistor) 11 and another parasitic transistor (PNP transistor) 12 other than the main body of the PNP transistor 10 .
[0023] Among these parasitic transistors, when the parasitic transistor 11 is rendered conductive, a current flows from the well terminal 104 to the base terminal 103 . As a result, when constituting a diode by making use of the junction between the base and collector of the PNP transistor 1 , a current from the well terminal 104 is added to a current from the collector terminal 102 serving as the anode side for the current flowing into the base terminal serving as the cathode terminal. For this reason, when constituting a diode by making use of the junction between the base and collector of the PNP transistor 1 , a positive electrode (anode terminal) is constituted by connecting the well terminal 104 and the collector terminal 102 .
[0024] Further, when the resistance of the well is large, a voltage drop is caused inside the well due to the current flowing through the well, therefore, if the well terminal 104 and the collector terminal 102 are simply connected as explained above, the well potential lowers below the collector potential near the parasitic transistor 12 to render the parasitic transistor 12 conductive.
[0025] As a result, a current flows from the base terminal 103 serving as the cathode side to a substrate 105 to reduce the forward direction current and further, because of substrate potential rise an erroneous operation is caused in the surrounding circuits. Therefore, practically such circuit can not be used. For this reason, the potential of an emitter 121 (which corresponds to the collector region 7 of the PNP transistor main body 10 ) of the parasitic transistor 12 in the PNP transistor 1 is lowered by the voltage drop means 2 below that of the base 123 of the parasitic transistor 12 , thereby, an application of a forward bias voltage (usually more than 0.7 V) between the base and emitter of the parasitic transistor 12 is prevented, which will be explained later in detail. Because the conduction of the parasitic transistor 12 is prevented in this way, the leakage current to the substrate which is caused during use of the diode in its forward direction can be reduced.
[0026] Now, an operation of the diode element circuit 3 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0027] Since in a general PNP transistor, the collector resistance is high, the potential of the cathode electrode 5 is higher than that of the anode electrode 4 in the above structure and under a condition where a reverse direction voltage is applied, a substantial part of the applied voltage is applied to the junction between the base and collector of the PNP transistor 1 .
[0028] Accordingly, the characteristic of the diode element circuit 3 at the time when a reverse direction voltage is applied is determined by the characteristic of the junction between the base and collector thereof (terminals 103 and 102 ), in that shows a large reverse break down voltage as well as a small leakage current in reverse direction.
[0029] On the other hand, under a condition where a forward direction voltage is applied in which the potential at the anode electrode 4 is higher than the potential at the cathode electrode 5 , the potential at the collector terminal 102 of the PNP transistor 1 is lowered below the potential of the well terminal 104 through the voltage drop means 2 by the voltage drop therein, therefore, a reverse bias voltage is applied between the base and emitter (terminals 121 and 123 ) of the parasitic transistor 12 . Thus, the conduction of the parasitic transistor 12 is prevented and the leakage current from the anode electrode 4 to the substrate 105 is reduced.
[0030] At this moment, a reverse bias voltage corresponding to the voltage drop in the voltage drop means 2 is applied between the well region 6 and the collector region 7 .
[0031] Further, when a current is flown from the anode electrode 4 to the cathode electrode 5 , in that a current is flown in forward direction, a voltage drop is caused by the well resistance in a passage from the well terminal 104 of the PNP transistor 1 to the base terminal 123 of the parasitic transistor 12 . With the voltage caused the parasitic transistor 12 is usually rendered conductive to cause a leakage current to the substrate 105 , however, because of the provision of the voltage drop means 2 , the parasitic transistor 12 is reversely biased and the limit current where the parasitic transistor 12 is rendered conductive can be increased.
[0032] Further, as the voltage drop means 2 other than the resistor such as a schottky barrier diode and PN junction diode formed by the junction between the base and emitter of an NPN and PNP transistor can be used. Still further, a plurality of these elements can be used therefor while connecting in combination.
[0033] [0033]FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a switch circuit, in that an analogue switch for switching an input and output in an IC tester, in which the diode element circuit 3 according to the present invention is used. A switch circuit 30 for switching an input and output for an IC tester is constituted by four diode element circuits 32 ˜ 35 each corresponding to the diode element circuit 3 , current sources 301 and 311 and switches 302 and 312 as shown in FIG. 3.
[0034] The four diode element circuits 32 ˜ 35 are respectively formed by a transistor 32 a and a diode 32 b serving as a voltage drop means, a transistor 33 a and a diode 33 b serving as a voltage drop means, a transistor 34 a and a diode 34 b serving as a voltage drop means and a transistor 35 a and a diode 35 b serving as a voltage drop means, and constitute a diode bridge circuit 31 as shown in FIG. 3. When the entirety of these constitutes an analogue switch, an input terminal 321 for the analogue switch is connected to the junction between the cathode electrode of the diode element circuit 34 and the anode electrode of the diode element circuit 35 , and an output terminal 322 for the analogue switch is connected to the junction between the cathode electrode of the diode element circuit 32 and the anode electrode of the diode element circuit 33 . As the remaining two terminals for the analogue switch into which a biasing current is flown, the junction between the anode electrode of the diode element circuit 32 and the anode electrode of the diode element circuit 34 constitutes an upstream side terminal, and the junction between the cathode electrode of the diode element circuit 33 and the cathode electrode of the diode element circuit 35 constitutes a downstream side terminal. The upstream side terminal is connected via the switch 302 to the current source 301 for current discharge, and the downstream side terminal is connected via the switch 312 to the current source 311 for current sink.
[0035] The current sources 301 and 311 are for flowing a bias current to the diode bridge circuit 31 , and the current source 301 is connected to a power source line Vcc and causes to flow a current received from the line to the diode bridge circuit.
[0036] The current source 311 is connected to a power source line V EE at negative side and causes to sink the current flowing out from the diode bridge circuit 31 into the line.
[0037] Herein, the diodes 32 b˜ 35 b are diodes which are formed at the same time in the same well region 6 and which can be formed as vertical type transistors as shown in FIG. 2, as other type transistors or as separate diodes formed separately in the well region 6 . Now, an operation of the switch circuit 30 will be explained. Under a condition when the switches 302 and 312 are connected, by means of the upper current source 301 and the lower current source 311 a bias current is flown into the diode bridge circuit 31 , therefore, the bridge circuit 31 is placed in an electrically balanced condition and the voltage at the input terminal 321 appears at the output terminal 322 . Further, under a condition when the switches 302 and 312 are interrupted, since no bias current flows into the diode bridge circuit 31 , the respective diodes are placed in an OFF condition, thus the output terminal 322 gives a high resistance. As will be seen from the above, the switch circuit 30 functions as an analogue switch which can perform switching of high/low impedance between the input terminal 321 and the output terminal 322 through connection/interruption of the switches 302 and 321 .
[0038] Further, when the output terminal 322 is connected to an arbitrary device to be inspected (DUT), the switch circuit 30 can be utilized as a load current supply circuit (a current load circuit) for an IC tester.
[0039] More specifically, under an ON condition of the switches 302 and 321 , when the voltage of the output terminal 322 connected to the output terminal of DUT, is lower than the voltage of the input terminal 321 , a current flows out from the current source 301 to the output terminal of DUT, and further, when the voltage of the output terminal 322 is higher than the voltage of the input terminal 321 , the current source 311 performs an operation of sinking a flow out current from the output terminal of DUT via the output terminal 322 . Further, in this instance, the current sources 301 and 311 can be formed as a constant current source.
[0040] Herein, the respective diode element circuits 32 ˜ 35 are constituted likely as the diode element circuit 3 and are provided with characteristics of high break down and a low leakage current. Therefore, a high voltage can be applied between the input and output terminals of the switch circuit 30 , the switch circuit is suitable for a switch circuit for an IC tester and further, the switch circuit shows a characteristic of a small leakage current at the time of switch interruption.
[0041] [0041]FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of another embodiment of a switch circuit for switching input and output in an IC tester in which a diode element circuit 3 according to the present invention is used.
[0042] A switch circuit 40 as shown in FIG. 4 is an example in which the switches 302 and 312 are respectively formed by change-over switches 303 and 313 . Further, the current sources 301 and 311 are constituted by variable current sources 301 a and 311 a , so that the current values thereof can be set separately at predetermined constant current values through external control signal CONT, thereby, the current load condition to DUT can be varied. Other structure in FIG. 4 are the same as those in FIG. 3.
[0043] The change-over switches 303 and 313 are for changing over the current passages of the two variable current sources 301 a and 311 a between the side of the diode bridge 31 and the side of short circuiting (ground GN). The respective single pole sides in the respective single pole double throw type change-over switch are connected to the respective variable current sources 301 a and 311 a and each one of the double throws is connected to each one terminal of the diode bridge 31 and the other of the double throws are connected to the ground.
[0044] When both passages are changed over toward the diode bridge 31 , like the switch circuit as shown in FIG. 3, a bias current is flown into the diode bridge by the upper and lower current sources and a voltage at the input terminal 321 appears at the output terminal 322 . Further, when the both current passages are changed over toward the short circuiting sides, no bias current flows through the diode bridge, therefore, the respective diodes are rendered into OFF condition to give a high resistance at the output terminal 322 . The other functions and advantages than the above in the switch circuit 40 are the same as those in the switch circuit 30 .
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A diode element circuit uses a junction between the base and collector of a vertical type PNP transistor as a diode, and is further designed that a reverse bias voltage is applied between base and emitter of a parasitic PNP transistor in the vertical type PNP transistor, thereby, a diode having a small leakage current and a high break down voltage is realized without necessitating an additional manufacturing process.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/176,262 Nov. 14, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a spinning ring for textile yarn spinning and more specifically relates to a spinning ring having a low friction, high durability bearing surface for supporting a traveler.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In conventional spinning and twisting operations, spinning or twisting rings are used to support a traveler that moves rapidly around the circumference of the spinning ring. The traveler engages and guides a loose yarn as it is being twisted and wound onto a twisting spindle.
An increase in spinning speed increases the rate at which the traveler rotates around the surface of the spinning ring thereby also increasing the centrifugal force applied between the traveler and the ring. In turn, the greater centrifugal force increases frictional heating of the traveler and the spinning ring while also increasing the abrasive force applied to the traveler and to the spinning ring. Accordingly, spinning speed increases can cause burn-off and/or shortening of the lifetime of the traveler, and also typically decrease the lifetime of the spinning ring because the bearing surface of the ring can spall, chip, or otherwise become roughened.
As spinning speeds are increased the resulting increase in frictional or abrasive forces between the traveler and spinning ring can cause breaks in the yarn being spun or twisted. Yam breaks are particularly undesirable because they lead to downtime in the spinning operation and, thus, a lower manufacturing efficiency. In general, for a given spinning ring and traveler combination, there exists a practical spinning speed limit that cannot be exceeded without frequent breakage of yams. For this reason, the choice of traveler and spinning rings (i.e. the construction of the traveler and spinning rings) can have a substantial impact on manufacturing efficiency.
Spinning ring durability also impacts substantially on manufacturing efficiencies and/or costs. In particular, degradation of the bearing surface of the spinning ring by spalling, chipping or the like, is normally a gradual process. As the bearing surface of the spinning ring degrades, the frictional characteristics of the bearing surface increase. Although in some cases the initial degradation of the spinning ring surface can be addressed by decreasing spinning speeds and/or by selecting travelers of different weight or construction, the manufacturing non-uniformities and potential disruptions associated with changes in the frictional characteristics of the ring surface are costly in many cases and undesirable in any event. Accordingly, the bearing surface of the spinning ring should preferably exhibit uniform frictional characteristics over a substantial period of time, even when the spinning operation is conducted at extremely high speeds.
Attempts to simultaneously address spinning ring surface durability characteristics while also achieving sufficiently low frictional characteristics to allow high spinning speeds have met with only limited success until recent times, due, at least in part, to the contradictory objectives associated with high durability surfaces, and those associated with low friction surfaces. Specifically, high durability surfaces that are resistant to abrasive force typically possess an inherent hardness sufficient to apply significant abrasive forces to a traveler. However, if surface hardness of the ring is decreased in order to decrease the abrasive characteristics of the surface, the durability of the ring surface generally also suffers.
In this regard the textile industry has recently developed spinning rings having ceramic coatings and co-deposited metal/abrasion resistant materials on the bearing surface thereof, to impart superior hardness and superior durability. However, in practice, these spinning rings generally require a substantial break-in period. During the break-in period, the spinning equipment is operated at a relatively low spinning speed because the surface of the spinning ring is initially too rough to allow operation at high speed. The low speed spinning operation allows the initially rough surface of the spinning ring to be conditioned by contact with a moving traveler. Such break-in periods can last for time periods of one month or longer, thus substantially decreasing manufacturing efficiencies.
More recently, spinning rings have been provided that are capable of high-speed operations over a period of several years. These rings have a bearing surface comprising an electrodeposited coating of hard, nodular chromium, and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,240, entitled “Spinning Ring Having Improved Traveler Bearing Surface” issued Nov. 3, 1998, in the name of inventors Rio H. Benson and Gereon E. Poquette and assigned to A. B. Carter, Incorporated, the assignee of the present invention. In most cases, when these rings are treated in a polishing operation prior to use, only a relatively shortly break-in period is required prior to use of these rings in extremely high speed spinning operations. Nevertheless, in the case of fine yarns, break-in times of 1-2 weeks can be required in order to sufficiently condition the surface of the ring for use in high speed operations due to the relatively low weight travelers used in spinning fine yarns. The lighter travelers apply less conditioning force to the surface of the spinning rings and the lighter travelers are also more susceptible to damage with the result that the break-in period is longer and more travelers are used during the break-in period.
Although various conventional spinning rings can minimize or even eliminate break-in time for fine yarn spinning operations, these rings typically suffer from the undesirably low durability properties associated with spinning rings of conventional construction. For example, spinning rings described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,615, entitled “Coated Spinning Rings and Travelers”, issued in the name of inventor Bodnar, on Feb. 11, 1992, that have a surface coating with a particulate polymeric fluorocarbon dispersed in a metallic matrix, can have a very short break-in time requirement, but also typically have a useful life of less than about one year.
As detailed above, the textile industry desires a spinning ring that can impart increased durability and spinning speed over prolonged use periods without increasing the inefficient break-in period required to operate the device at standard productivity spinning speeds. To date, the successful modifications that have been used in conjunction with the spinning ring to improve durability and useful spinning speed have been hampered by typically requiring costly and sophisticated coating processes, modifications to the travelers used with the spinning rings and/or increased periods of break-in.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides spinning rings having a traveler bearing surface that can be used at high productivity spinning speeds without spalling or cracking of the bearing surface of the spinning ring. The spinning rings of the present invention can be used in the as-manufactured state for high speed spinning of fine yarns; that is, no break-in period is required in order to achieve high speed spinning of fine yarns. Nevertheless, the spinning rings of the present invention have a hard and durable traveler bearing surface such that the rings can be used for high speed spinning without substantial degradation of the frictional characteristics of the traveler bearing surface of the spinning rings for periods of greater than about one year, typically longer.
The spinning rings of the present invention comprise an electroplated, hard amorphous chromium coating having a thickness of between about 0.05 mil (0.00005 in.) and about 1.5 mil (0.0015 in.), preferably between about 0.2 mil (0.0002 in.) and about 0.4 (0.0004 in.). The chromium plating can be applied to spinning rings formed from conventional base metals such as carbon steels and steel alloys. The frictional characteristics of the traveler bearing surface of the spinning ring are such that the ring can be used for high speed spinning in the as-plated state without the necessity of a polishing or conditioning treatment.
In particular, spinning rings of the present invention are capable of immediate use in a high speed spinning operation in which a 50 cotton count yarn is spun at a spinning speed such that the traveler moves at a velocity of at least about 35 meters per second for a period of at least about 3 days without burn-off of the traveler or other degradation of the traveler sufficient to require traveler replacement.
Preferably, the amorphous chromium coating applied to the spinning ring surface has a hardness exceeding at least about 900 Vickers hardness (HR c 67), more preferably about 1,070 Vickers hardness (HR c 70) or greater. Despite the extremely hard and durable surface of the spinning ring, the ring can be used with conventional travelers at high speeds without break-in or conditioning of the spinning ring surface.
The amorphous, hard chromium coatings employed in the present invention can be smooth or nodular, preferably smooth. However, the coatings generally exhibit a bright satin white appearance having a brightness less than that of the bright, mirror-like surface of conventional bright chromium plating. As compared to the nodular, crystalline, hard chromium coatings employed in Applicant's assignee's commercially available high durability spinning rings, the chromium coatings employed in the present invention are generally brighter in the as-plated state, even in the case of a nodular amorphous chromium coating.
The improved durability of the chromium coatings employed in the present invention is believed to be due to the absence of shear planes within the matrix of the chromium coating. In particular, conventional electrodeposited hard chromium coatings are crystalline in nature with the result that stresses applied to the chromium coating are concentrated along the shear planes of the crystalline chromium coating matrix. The absence of a crystalline structure in the chromium coatings employed in the present invention greatly improves stress distribution because there is no stress concentration along shear planes so that fatigue cracking which is characteristic of conventional chromium coatings, is avoided in the spinning rings of the present invention.
The spinning rings of the present invention can be prepared using known commercially available technologies. Hard amorphous chromium plating technology is well known in the art and can be applied according to various processes including electroplating processes, incorporating an organic additive in a somewhat modified conventional hard chromium plating process.
Amorphous chromium coated spinning rings according to the present invention provide numerous benefits and advantages. The elimination of the necessity for a break-in, or conditioning period can substantially improve manufacturing efficiencies in the spinning operation. The time and costs associated with manufacture of the spinning rings of the present invention are substantially improved since polishing operations for improving surface finish prior to use of the spinning rings are not necessary.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating the flange portion of a spinning ring that receives and guides a traveler and also illustrates the amorphous chromium plating thereon, in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating an alternate vertical spinning ring and the amorphous chromium plating thereon, in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a high magnification scanning electron microscope (SEM) photograph of a conventional hard chromium plated spinning ring surface, in accordance with the prior art.
FIG. 4 is a high magnification SEM photograph of the chromium surface of a hard nodular chromium coated spinning ring, in accordance with the prior art.
FIG. 5 is a high magnification SEM photograph of the surface of an amorphous chromium electroplated spinning ring, in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a high magnification SEM photograph of a nodular amorphous chromium coated spinning ring surface in accordance with the present invention.
FIGS. 7, 8 , 9 and 10 illustrate x-ray diffraction patterns taken from the chromium surfaces illustrated in FIGS. 3-6, respectively, and demonstrate the x-ray diffraction pattern differences between the crystalline and amorphous chromium structures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following detailed description, preferred embodiments of the invention are described to enable practice of the invention. Although specific terms are used to describe and illustrate the preferred embodiments, such terms are not intended as limitations on the practice of the invention. Moreover, although the invention is described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous variations and modifications of the invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon consideration of the foregoing and following detailed description.
FIG. 1 illustrates an upper flange portion of a spinning ring 10 according to the present invention. The spinning ring 10 includes an annular flange 12 for supporting and guiding a traveler (not shown). The spinning ring includes a traveler bearing surface 14 located on the interior circumferential surface thereof located between the areas 15 and 16 shown in FIG. 1 . The flange 12 of the spinning ring 10 is supported by a relatively narrow vertical or neck portion 18 , which in turn connects the flange 12 to a lower mounting flange or similar adapter 20 , shown in phantom in FIG. 1 . The mounting flange or adapter 20 can have numerous and varying shapes and is used for mounting of the spinning ring 10 to the ring rail of a spinning apparatus as will be apparent to the skilled artisan. The shape and structure of the mounting adapter 20 will vary depending on the construction of the particular spinning equipment as is also known to the skilled artisan. In some cases, the ring 10 can be a reversible ring having a second flange (not shown) at the lower portion of the spinning ring when the spinning equipment is constructed to mount the spinning ring via a second flange. It will be further apparent to the skilled artisan that flange 12 can have any of various cross-sectional shapes for cooperating with a traveler positioned about the flange 12 .
Returning now to FIG. 1, at least the traveler bearing surface 14 of the flange 12 comprises an electrodeposited amorphous chromium coating 22 . Typically, the amorphous chromium coating 22 can also be present on other portions of the spinning ring such as exterior surfaces 24 of the flange and/or interior and exterior surfaces of the neck 18 of the spinning ring. The extent of the chromium coating can be controlled through the use of shaped anodes and masking treatments for the surfaces of the base as will be apparent. Normally the traveler bearing surface 14 comprises a hard amorphous electrodeposited chromium coating having a thickness at least about 0.05 mils, preferably greater than about 0.1 mils. It is typically advisable to limit the maximum amorphous electrodeposited chromium coating thickness to about 0.5 mils. Thickness in excess of about 0.5 mils tends to cause the surface of the coating to become nodular with stress concentrations being exhibited in the nodular areas.
The basis metal forming the base portion 26 of the spinning ring 10 is preferably formed of an alloy steel such as AISI 52100 hardened to a hardness of about HR c 60 (about 700 Vickers) but may also be formed of various other materials such as various ferrous alloys that preferably have a hardness of at least about HR c 50 (about 600 Vickers) or higher, preferably at least about HR c 60 (about 700 Vickers) or higher. The high hardness is preferred to support the thin dense chromium coating on the surface.
The spinning ring to which the amorphous chromium plating is applied is not limited to the flange type embodiment shown in FIG. 1 . In this regard, the spinning ring can likewise incorporate any of the various shapes and structures known in the art in connection with vertical and horizontal rings and with reversible and non-reversible rings. For example, shown in FIG. 2 is an alternate embodiment of a vertical spinning ring 30 , in accordance with the present invention. The vertical spinning ring 30 includes a traveler bearing surface 32 located on the interior circumferential surface of the ring for supporting and guiding a traveler (not shown). At a minimum the traveler bearing surface 32 comprises an electrodeposited amorphous chromium coating 34 . Typically, and as illustrated in FIG. 2, the amorphous chromium coating 34 can also be present on other portions of the spinning ring as the plating process dictates. The basis metal forming the base portion 36 of the spinning ring 30 is preferably formed of an alloy steel such as AISI 52100 steel or the like.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, 1000× SEM photographs of crystalline chromium electroplated surfaces on commercially available spinning rings are illustrated.
The chromium plating illustrated in FIG. 4 is a conventional hard bright chromium plating in accordance with the prior art. As seen in FIG. 3, the surface includes a plurality of microcracks which are believed to be formed as a result of the high residual stresses generated in the chromium layer during the electrodeposition process. During the operational life of the spinning ring stress concentrations at the microcracks propagate along shear planes causing cracking, peeling and/or catastrophic failure of the spinning ring.
FIG. 4 illustrates a prior art nodular electrodeposited chromium coating on a spinning ring in accordance with previously incorporated by reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,240. The nodular nature of the surface topography decreases the stress concentrations that are typically observed in plating structures having a generally smooth finish and thus the frequency of microcracks is markedly diminished. However, the nodular chromium coating will typically require a break-in period in which the spinning ring will be limited to low-speed operation. Additionally, the nodular chromium coating will typically undergo a polishing operation prior to use to reduce the degree of grain separation and provide for a more uniform nodular surface.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate 1000× SEM photos of amorphous chromium coated spinning rings, in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention. The chromium coating of FIG. 5 is generally similar to the coating surface observed in the non-amorphous coating shown in FIG. 3 (i.e. both FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 depict pronounced microcracks typically formed during application of the coating). However, the microcracks observed in the structure shown in FIG. 5 will not typically propagate over time because the amorphous structure of the chromium coating does not define shear planes. Additionally, a cross-section of the amorphous chromium coating shown in FIG. 5 will typically have a generally undulating surface as opposed to the generally flat surface of the non-amorphous chromium coating shown in FIG. 3 .
The amorphous chromium coating illustrated in FIG. 6 is a highly nodular structure. The nodular structure typically results from exceeding the preferred coating thickness. It has been observed that as the coating thickness exceeds about 0.5 mils the surface takes on nodular characteristics. Similar to the amorphous structure shown in FIG. 5, the nodular embodiment exhibits microcracks typically formed during coating application. However, the microcracks observed in the structure shown in FIG. 6 will not typically propagate over time because the amorphous structure of the chromium coating does not define shear planes. Nevertheless, the nodular structure seen in FIG. 6, while still being a type of amorphous chromium plating embodied within the invention, is not the preferred form of the plating structure.
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate x-ray diffraction patterns taken of the crystalline chromium coatings shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. The x-ray diffraction patterns were made using a x-ray diffractometer having a copper target and operating on the power settings of 35 kilovolts (KV) and 20 milliamps (mA). As can be seen from FIGS. 7 and 8, the chromium coatings of FIGS. 3 and 4 each demonstrate strong x-ray diffraction peaks at 45, 65, and 82 degrees two-theta value. These peaks are characteristic of crystalline chromium structures. Specifically, the peak at 45 degrees is characteristic of the <110> plane; the peak at 65 degrees is characteristics of the <200> plane, while the peak at 82 degrees is characteristics of the <211> plane. For the purposes of the present invention, a chromium coating is considered amorphous by the absence of any peak corresponding to any of the <110>, <200> or <211> planes as determined by conventional x-ray diffraction techniques. Highly desirable amorphous chromium coatings are characterized by the absence of at least the peak corresponding to the <110> plane.
In contrast and in accordance with the present invention, FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate x-ray diffraction patterns taken on the chromium electroplated coatings shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. As illustrated, no peak corresponding to any of the <110>, <200>, or <211> planes can be identified in these x-ray diffraction patterns. Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the chromium coatings of FIGS. 5 and 6 are amorphous chromium coatings.
The amorphous chromium coatings illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 can be applied to the surface of a spinning ring using conventional electroplating techniques, typically followed by conventional stress release techniques. One process for electroplating of a hard amorphous chromium coating is discussed in detail in Corrosion and Wear Properties of Electrodeposited Amorphous Chrome , Choi, Yong, Journal of Materials Science, pp. 1581-1586, (1997) which is hereby incorporated by reference. As indicated previously, hard amorphous chromium electrodeposited coatings can also be obtained from commercial chromium plating businesses.
In general, the provision of an electrodeposited, hard amorphous chromium coating involves the steps of cleaning and/or surface activation, followed by electroplating, followed by a stress relief heat treatment. Any of various cleaning and surface activation processes as are well known to those skilled in the art can be used prior to electroplating. Exemplary cleaning and activation processes are described, for example, in “Hard Chromium Plating” by Hyman Chessin and Everett H Fernald, Jr., published in Metals Handbook , 9th Ed., Vol. 5, “Surface Cleaning, Finishing and Coating,” pp. 170-187 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Thereafter, the amorphous chromium coating is applied by electrodeposition. As known to those skilled in the art, and described in the foregoing Choi article, amorphous chromium can be advantageously deposited by employing a chromium plating solution containing an organic reagent or a comparable additive such as an organic acid that promotes amorphous electrodeposition of a hard chromium layer.
In one embodiment of the present invention the amorphous chromium coating is deposited on the spinning ring by employing a standard electrodeposition technique. A typical plating bath will comprise about 8.0 to about 14.0 percent chromic acid, about 1.0 to about 3.0 percent organic acid and about 0.10 to about 0.50 percent oxyacid. In one embodiment the plating bath may comprise about 11.0 chromic acid, about 2.0 percent formic acid and about 0.25 sulfuric acid. The plating operation will typically be carried out at an amperage of about 0.6 A/dm 2 . The duration of the electrodeposition process will vary in accordance with the desired plating thickness; in general the process will vary from about 8 minutes to about 15 minutes.
In general, electroplating conditions are varied to provide a hardness greater than about 900 Vickers (HR c 67), preferably greater than about 1,070 Vickers (HR c 70). As known to those skilled in the art, hardness of the chromium electroplated coating can be controlled by varying current densities and treatment time as discussed in, for example, the aforementioned Chessin et al. article and the aforementioned Choi article.
Following deposition of the amorphous chromium coating, the chromium coated spinning ring is recovered and heat treated to release stresses induced during the chromium coating. Stress relief treatments are well known to those skilled in the art. Preferably, the stress relief treatment is conducted at a temperature between about 250° F. and about 350° F.
Although both the crystalline chromium coatings of FIG. 3 and the amorphous chromium coatings of FIGS. 5 and 6 exhibit microcracking, the nature of the microcracking is believed substantially different. In the case of the conventional crystalline hard chromium coating of FIG. 3, the microcracks are formed along shear planes resulting from the regular crystalline structure of the chromium coating. These types of microcracks can be expected to propagate further as the chromium coating is exposed to repetitive fatigue stress from movement of a traveler around the surface of the ring. On the other hand, the microcracks as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are not formed along crystalline boundaries since there is no crystalline structure in the amorphous chromium coating. Accordingly, stress is not concentrated along shear planes as the ring surface is exposed to repetitive stress from movement of the traveler. Thus, further propagation of the microcracks is minimal, if at all, and degradation of the frictional surface properties of the amorphous chromium coating due to development of further fatigue cracking is minimized.
In actual experience, it has been found that amorphous chromium electroplated spinning rings prepared according to the present invention in which the amorphous chromium coating has a hardness of 1200 Vickers (71 Rockwell) and wherein the spinning rings were exposed to a heat stress relief treatment prior to use, the rings could be readily used to spin a 50 cotton count yarn at 20,000 rpm with no break-in period required. After a period of one year of substantially continuous operation at this speed, the frictional characteristic of the bearing surface of the spinning rings had not been degraded. For the purpose of the present invention, a spinning ring is considered to be useable without a break-in if the ring can be used to spin a 50 cotton count yarn at a speed of about 35 meters per second for three days without requiring a replacement of a suitably selected traveler in order to achieve and maintain a stable spinning operation. As will be known to those skilled in the art, the traveler speed is calculated by multiplying the length of the traveler bearing surface of the ring (ring diameter times Pi) by the speed, in revolutions per second, of the spinning operation.
The invention has been described in considerably detail with reference to its preferred embodiments. However, numerous variations and modifications can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention without departing from the invention as described in the foregoing detailed specification and defined in the appended claims.
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The invention provides spinning rings for textile spinning processes having an improved bearing surface formed of a coating of amorphous chromium that is typically applied by an electrodeposition process. The amorphous chromium coated spinning rings of the present invention impart a durable spinning ring that can be used in fine yarn, high speed spinning operations without the need to provide for a conventional break-in period.
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BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] This invention relates to wellbore communication systems and particularly to systems and methods for generating and transmitting data signals between the surface of the earth and the bottom hole assembly while drilling a borehole.
[0003] 2. Background
[0004] Wells are generally drilled into the ground to recover natural deposits of hydrocarbons and other desirable materials trapped in geological formations in the Earth's crust. A well is typically drilled using a drill bit attached to the lower end of a drill string. The well is drilled so that it penetrates the subsurface formations containing the trapped materials and the materials can be recovered.
[0005] At the bottom end of the drill string is a “bottom hole assembly” (“BHA”). The BHA includes the drill bit along with sensors, control mechanisms, and the required circuitry. A typical BHA includes sensors that measure various properties of the formation and of the fluid that is contained in the formation. A BHA may also include sensors that measure the BHA's orientation and position.
[0006] The drilling operations may be controlled by an operator at the surface or operators at a remote operations support center. The drill string is rotated at a desired rate by a rotary table, or top drive, at the surface, and the operator controls the weight-on-bit and other operating parameters of the drilling process.
[0007] Another aspect of drilling and well control relates to the drilling fluid, called “mud.” The mud is a fluid that is pumped from the surface to the drill bit by way of the drill string. The mud serves to cool and lubricate the drill bit, and it carries the drill cuttings back to the surface. The density of the mud is carefully controlled to maintain the hydrostatic pressure in the borehole at desired levels.
[0008] In order for the operator to be aware of the measurements made by the sensors in the BHA, and for the operator to be able to control the direction of the drill bit, communication between the operator at the surface and the BHA are necessary. A “downlink” is a communication from the surface to the BHA. Based on the data collected by the sensors in the BHA, an operator may desire to send data or command to the BHA. A common command is an instruction for the BHA to change the direction of drilling.
[0009] Likewise, an “uplink” is a communication from the BHA to the surface. An uplink is typically a transmission of the data collected by the sensors in the BHA. For example, it is often important for an operator to know the BHA orientation. Thus, the orientation data collected by sensors in the BHA is often transmitted to the surface. Uplink communications are also used to confirm that a downlink command was correctly understood.
[0010] One common method of communication is called “mud pulse telemetry.” Mud pulse telemetry is a method of sending signals, either downlinks or uplinks, by creating pressure and/or flow rate pulses in the mud. These pulses may be detected by sensors at the receiving location. For example, in a downlink operation, a change in the pressure or the flow rate of the mud being pumped down the drill string may be detected by a sensor in the BHA. The pattern of the pulses, such as the frequency, the phase and the amplitude, may be detected by the sensors and interpreted so that the command may be understood by the BHA.
[0011] Mud pulse telemetry systems are typically classified as one of two species depending upon the type of pressure pulse generator used, although “hybrid” systems have been disclosed. The first species uses a valving “poppet” system to generate a series of either positive or negative, and essentially discrete, pressure pulses which are digital representations of transmitted data. The second species, an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,309,656, comprises a rotary valve or “mud siren” pressure pulse generator which repeatedly interrupts the flow of the drilling fluid, and thus causes varying pressure waves to be generated in the drilling fluid at a carrier frequency that is proportional to the rate of interruption. Downhole sensor response data is transmitted to the surface of the earth by modulating the acoustic carrier frequency. A related design is that of the oscillating valve, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,253, wherein the rotor oscillates relative to the stator, changing directions every 180 degrees, repeatedly interrupting the flow of the drilling fluid and causing varying pressure waves to be generated.
[0012] With reference to FIG. 1 , a drilling rig 10 includes a drive mechanism 12 to provide a driving torque to a drill string 14 . The lower end of the drill string 14 extends into a wellbore 30 and carries a drill bit 16 to drill an underground formation 18 . During drilling operations, drilling mud 20 is drawn from a mud pit 22 on a surface 29 via one or more pumps 24 (e.g., reciprocating pumps). The drilling mud 20 is circulated through a mud line 26 down through the drill string 14 , through the drill bit 16 , and back to the surface 29 via an annulus 28 between the drill string 14 and the wall of the wellbore 30 . Upon reaching the surface 29 , the drilling mud 20 is discharged through a line 32 into the mud pit 22 so that rock and/or other well debris carried in the mud can settle to the bottom of the mud pit 22 before the drilling mud 20 is recirculated.
[0013] Referring now to FIG. 1 , one known wellbore telemetry system 100 is depicted including a downhole measurement while drilling (MWD) tool 34 is incorporated in the drill string 14 near the drill bit 16 for the acquisition and transmission of downhole data or information. The MWD tool 34 includes an electronic sensor package 36 and a mudflow wellbore telemetry device 38 . The mudflow telemetry device 38 can selectively block the passage of the mud 20 through the drill string 14 to cause pressure changes in the mud line 26 . In other words, the wellbore telemetry device 38 can be used to modulate the pressure in the mud 20 to transmit data from the sensor package 36 to the surface 29 . Modulated changes in pressure are detected by a pressure transducer 40 and a pump piston sensor 42 , both of which are coupled to a surface system processor (not shown). The surface system processor interprets the modulated changes in pressure to reconstruct the data collected and sent by the sensor package 36 . The modulation and demodulation of a pressure wave are described in detail in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,098, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0014] The surface system processor may be implemented using any desired combination of hardware and/or software. For example, a personal computer platform, workstation platform, etc. may store on a computer readable medium (e.g., a magnetic or optical hard disk, random access memory, etc.) and execute one or more software routines, programs, machine readable code or instructions, etc. to perform the operations described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the surface system processor may use dedicated hardware or logic such as, for example, application specific integrated circuits, configured programmable logic controllers, discrete logic, analog circuitry, passive electrical components, etc. to perform the functions or operations described herein.
[0015] Still further, while the surface system processor can be positioned relatively proximate to the drilling rig (i.e., substantially co-located with the drilling rig), some part of or the entire surface system processor may alternatively be located relatively remotely from the rig. For example, the surface system processor may be operationally and/or communicatively coupled to the wellbore telemetry component 18 via any combination of one or more wireless or hardwired communication links (not shown). Such communication links may include communications via a packet switched network (e.g., the Internet), hardwired telephone lines, cellular communication links and/or other radio frequency based communication links, etc. using any desired communication protocol.
[0016] Additionally one or more of the components of the BHA may include one or more processors or processing units (e.g., a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit, etc.) to manipulate and/or analyze data collected by the components at a downhole location rather than at the surface.
SUMMARY
[0017] In at least one aspect, embodiments relate to a method and an apparatus for communicating between a tool and a surface of a subterranean formation including a signal generator configured to send a signal through the formation, a relay in communication with the generator, and a receiver in communication with the relay. Embodiments also relate to a method and an apparatus for communicating between a tool and a surface of a subterranean formation including sending a signal from a generator configured to send a signal through a formation, receiving the signal at a relay, sending a second signal from the relay, and receiving the second signal at a receiver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] So that the above recited features and advantages of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a schematic view, partially in cross-section, of a measurement while drilling tool and wellbore telemetry device connected to a drill string and deployed from a rig into a wellbore.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a plot of data rate as a function of distance to illustrate a capacity of mud pulse under a certain simple model.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a schematic of one embodiment of a relay placed along a wellbore in a subterranean formation.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a formation, wellbore, surface equipment and relay.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments are possible.
[0024] The following terms have a specialized meaning in this disclosure. While many are consistent with the meanings that would be attributed to them by a person having ordinary skill in the art, the meanings are also specified here.
[0025] In this disclosure, “fluid communication” is intended to mean connected in such a way that a fluid in one of the components may travel to the other. For example, a bypass line may be in fluid communication with a standpipe by connecting the bypass line directly to the standpipe. “Fluid communication” may also include situations where there is another component disposed between the components that are in fluid communication. For example, a valve, a hose or some other piece of equipment used in the production of oil and gas may be disposed between the standpipe and the bypass line. The standpipe and the bypass line may still be in fluid communication so long as fluid may pass from one, through the interposing component or components, to the other.
[0026] A “drilling system” typically includes a drill string, a BHA with sensors, and a drill bit located at the bottom of the BHA. Mud that flows to the drilling system must return through the annulus between the drill string and the borehole wall. In the art, a “drilling system” may be known to include the rig, the rotary table and other drilling equipment, but in this disclosure it is intended to refer to those components that come into contact with the drilling fluid.
[0027] Embodiments relate to drilling fluid telemetry systems for modulating the pressure of a drilling fluid channel inside the drill pipes to communicate downhole measurement information to the surface without using wire.
[0028] As oil wells are drilled deeper, mud pulse telemetry system may face a bigger challenge to enable reliable higher-rate telemetry at larger depths. Several improvements and/or features are desirable, such as:
[0029] Larger mud pulse signal amplitude
[0030] Larger modulator velocity in order to generate larger mud pulse signal bandwidth
[0031] Resistance to jamming, corrosion and wear
[0032] The challenge of providing reliable telemetry over long distance is due to large signal decay or path loss, which grows exponentially. Shown in FIG. 2 is the estimated transmission rate vs. depth by using our ADVANCE MUD PULSE TOOL™ (which is commercially available from Schlumberger Technology Corporation of Sugar Land, Tex.). The two curves represent two different data rate responses according to mud attenuation from light attenuate mud shown in blue to heavy attenuate mud shown in black. As the pulse traveling distance increases regardless of mud types we will eventually have to transmit data in single digit rate. Regardless, path loss increases exponentially with distance.
[0033] Instead of increasing the pulse amplitude to overcome attenuation, we propose a different approach by implementing a relay at half way between the surface and drill bit in order to transmit data at much higher rate. The relay may be positioned at exactly the midpoint between the surface and bit or it may be positioned elsewhere to optimize the signal transmission. The relay may be used in combination with additional relays and/or repeaters to optimize the transmission.
[0034] One configuration is for the BHA to send its telemetry signal at low frequency and for the relay to send its signal at high frequency. A mud pulse signal typically propagates better at low frequencies. Therefore, the relay can be positioned closer to the surface for easier access. Noise due to mud pumps tend to be at lower frequencies. Thus, the relay can send its signal at high frequency in order to increase signal quality that is received at the surface.
[0035] The new modulator design also has the advantages of lower power requirement for the same data rate and compact form factor. These help enable the deployment of a repeater or relay to improve the overall performance of the mud pulse telemetry system.
Device and Conveyance
[0036] The relay is deployed between the mud pump and drill bit, often half way. It will have to include a receiver to listen to what have been sent up by the first mud pulse modulator near the drill bit. However, this receiver is away from both noise sources at the drill bit and surface mud pump. Intuitively it is easier to decode because the signal strength is very likely to be bigger than the noises. The only interferences will likely come from the forwarding signals at this relay station. Therefore, we ought to have a modulator that is capable of transmitting signals at different frequency band either high or low enough to allow us to isolate the interferences, in addition to a potential physical separation of 90 feet distance between the receiver and transmitter, because a typical rig height can accommodate three 30 feet drill pipes. Multiple receivers can be included depending upon justifying their worthiness. In some embodiments, if longer than 90 feet, receiver separation is necessary, then we can use a few sections of wired drill pipe to link the receiver to the processing and the modulation units.
[0037] Looking at the 25,000 ft heavy mud data rate response curve in FIG. 1 , if one can deploy a relay at 12,000 ft, we can still transmit signal at higher rate than otherwise. For light mud, we can transmit signals through the distance of 50,000 ft at high rate.
[0038] FIG. 3 shows a telemetry system including a relay 301 located on the drill string 302 between the BHA 303 and the surface system 304 . The location of the relay 301 can be optimized in order to obtain the best signal decoding from the BHA 303 and the best signal transmission to the surface 304 . One way to optimize is to select the distances between equipment. That is, the distance 306 between the BHA 303 and relay 301 and the distance 305 between the relay 301 and surface 304 may be tailored for optimum signal properties. Further, additional relays and/or receivers may be positioned along distances 305 and 306 .
[0039] A few elements form a relay station. The relay must first receive the uplink signal from the BHA. It can then perform denoising and/or equalization and/or decoding. Then it re-encodes the information and transmits the signal to the surface. Therefore, at the minimum, the relay includes the following functional blocks.
1. A mud pulse receiver/decoder. 2. A power supply or generator. As an example, this can be a turbine or a battery or a combination of the two. 3. A mud pulse transmitter/encoder.
[0043] FIG. 4 shows the deployment of a mud pulse module 401 near the bit 404 and a relay station 402 in the middle of drill string 403 with two sensors (not shown) to receive bit information sent up from the modulator 401 near the bit 404 . The sensor, which may be a receiver, at the relay 402 can then combine the signal received by the two sensors to improve decoding of the signal. The signals received at the surface 405 may contain pulses coming from the modulator 401 at the bit 404 and the signals sent from the relay station 402 . The signals coming from the relay station 402 are likely to be much stronger than the signals coming from the modulator 401 near the bit 404 . A receiver (not shown) at surface 405 may be configured to receive both sets of signals and may also be configured to optimize the demodulation. Different arrows 406 along the drill string 403 indicate different carrying frequency, which is one of the possible ways to convey information.
[0044] Alternatives are also possible. As a practical matter, the signal may be mud pulse, electromagnet, acoustic or a combination thereof. Further, the position of the module and the surface receiving equipment may be alternated such that the signal is sent from the surface to the BHA. The signal generator and the relay may send signals that are not of the same frequency or type.
Telemetry Methodologies
[0045] We now describe the operation of the telemetry components to facilitate efficient operation and performance. Recall that for a fixed signal power, the possible data rate will decrease exponentially with distance.
[0046] Here, we focus on the case where both the relay and the BHA wish to send information to the surface. Because the relay itself also has a receiver/processor, it is possible for the relay to also receive information from the BHA.
1. Channel Sharing
[0047] The relay has to share the mud pulse channel with the downhole mud pulser at the BHA, because a mud pulser or modulator generates pressure differential to convey information, and the pressure signal propagates both upwards and downwards (with negative polarity). Because of the shared medium, all receivers are affected by all transmitters. Hence, it is important to consider methods for efficiently sharing the channel.
Channel Sharing Strategies:
[0048] 1. Time-domain division: BHA sends pressure signal at different times than the relay. For example, the BHA sends a signal for some proscribed time. The relay then waits until this signal is fully sent and received at the relay, then sends its uplink signal. The BHA then waits for the relay's signal to be fully sent before it sends its own signal.
[0049] 2. Frequency-domain division. For example, the BHA sends a signal at low frequency, and the relay sends a signal at high frequency. In this fashion it is possible to distinguish the two signals at the surface, or to decode the relay's signal with minimal interference from the BHA's signal.
[0050] 3. Code-based division.
[0051] 4. Combinations of the above.
[0052] Format of signal in the relay: It may be desirable to relay not only the decoded bits but also some bit confidence information, to enable better processing or error correcting coding at the surface system. The relay can also add information generated at the relay station, such as status updates.
Performance Estimates
[0053] Time domain division performance
[0054] For concreteness, suppose that we wish to enable communication from a BHA at 20 kft of depth to the surface. Suppose that we have a relay/repeater at 10 kft. With viscous mud and current modulator technology with signal level at 500 psi peak-to-peak, we can achieve only 4.25 bps at 20 kft. For 10 kft of distance, we can achieve 64 bps. This is because the signal energy loss is exponential with distance, so we more than double the data rate when we halve the distance. Hence, even if we can only use 40% of the duty cycle for each transmitter in the link, we still achieve 26 bps.
[0055] Frequency domain division performance
[0056] This is advantageous because at low frequencies the propagation of mud pulse is better but there is more pump noise. So it is advantageous to send at low frequency from the BHA to the relay tool, and the relay tool can be located a little closer to the surface and send its transmission at higher carrier frequency.
[0057] Code based division performance
[0058] It is possible to also use spread spectrum signaling, where we assign different spreading codes to different transmitters. This allows the spectrum of the signals from the BHA and from the relay to overlap in both time and frequency, with some performance degradation.
[0059] Combinations
[0000] We can also apply combinations of the above techniques.
2. Processing at the Relay and the Surface (Final Destination)
Processing of Received Signal at Relay
[0060] Upon receiving the signal from the BHA, the relay can do one or a combination of the following:
[0061] It can decode the information sent by the BHA. For example the uplink signal from the BHA can be sent at lower frequency in order to have minimal propagation loss, but the relayed signal can be sent at higher frequency in order to mitigate the impact of pump noise at the surface.
[0062] It can record a representative waveform of the signal generated by the mud modulator of the BHA, which it receives at the relay tool. The information carried in this waveform may not be fully decoded by the relay tool.
[0063] The latter method has the advantage of being able to relay to the final destination at the surface some “soft” information regarding the reliability of the received waveform at the relay.
[0064] The relay tool then relays these and optionally additional information, to the surface system, using the channel sharing method(s) described in the previous subsection. It does so at its own preferred modulation format, carrier frequency and data rate.
Relaying of Information
[0065] There are several options of what signal to be transmitted by the relay:
[0066] 1. The relay can decode-and-forward the message from the BHA.
[0067] 2. The relay can compress-and-forward the message from the BHA. An example of compression is to send only partial information in order to assist the surface system in the decoding of the signal from the BHA as received at the surface. This option allows for lower transmission power at the relay.
[0068] 3. The relay can amplify-and-forward, thus not requiring full decoding at the relay. This will simplify the relay and minimize the relaying delay.
[0069] In order to minimize relaying delay, the relay may begin to transmit its signal before fully decoding the frame or packet from the BHA.
Processing of Received Signal at the Surface (Final Destination)
[0070] The surface system receives both the signal from the BHA and also the signal from the relay(s). If the relayed signal is similar, it may use both signal simultaneously to further improve robustness to noise and to reflections in propagation. As an example, the surface system can estimate the transmitted information based on the signal sent by the BHA and the signal sent by the relay. For each atomic unit of information, such as a bit or a set of bits, its reliability and likelihood can be assessed, based on each signal. Then, a combined estimate of the information can be computed that improves upon each individual estimate.
[0071] The surface receiver may use array receiver techniques to be able to separate the signal from the BHA and the signal from the relay, or to optimally combine the two signals if they can be used in such a fashion.
[0072] There are several options for optimizing the overall system performance. It is known today that pump noise from the surface is a dominant limiting factor, in addition to nulls in the propagation channel due to reflectors from surface piping, pipe ID changes, the BHA/bit, etc. The impact of reflections depends on the frequencies of interest, and on the spatial location of the transmitter, relay, receiver and the reflectors themselves. Therefore, it is advantageous to choose the placement of the relay to mitigate the impact of reflections.
[0073] Further it is important to select the appropriate frequency band and transmission rate for the link from the BHA-to-relay and the relay-to-surface. If the surface receiver is at a disadvantage due to the nature of the impairments mentioned above, then one or a combination of the following can be used to improve performance:
[0074] 1. Locate the relay closer to the surface than to the BHA. This means that the signal from the relay as received at the surface is of larger amplitude, and helps with the signal-to-noise ratio at the surface.
[0075] 2. Use different data rates in the BHA-to-relay and relay-to-surface links. Then the relay may have to buffer some data, and it may make a decision as to which data set is to be sent to the surface.
[0076] 3. As the surface receiver also receiver a (weaker) version of the signal sent by the BHA, it may do array processing or multiuser decoding methods to improve the decoding of the overall signal.
[0077] Embodiments of a relay station will help us to deliver stronger and higher data rate (the a signal received by the receiver has a higher signal to noise ratio than if no relay were present.) from the BHA to the surface and we can deploy more than one relay station if it is necessary. It may be combined with other means of signal transmission, for example, using wired drill pipes from relay station to the surface as well as a wired sea bottom receiver station to electrically deliver the last section of the transmission to the surface rig by wire.
[0078] Finally, a relay station can also be used to improve downlink instead of or in addition to uplink.
[0079] This description is intended for purposes of illustration only and should not be construed in a limiting sense. The scope of this invention should be determined only by the language of the claims that follow. The term “comprising” within the claims is intended to mean “including at least” such that the recited listing of elements in a claim are an open group. “A,” “an” and other singular terms are intended to include the plural forms thereof unless specifically excluded.
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A method and an apparatus for communicating between a tool and a surface of a subterranean formation including a signal generator configured to send a signal through the formation, a relay in communication with the generator, and a receiver in communication with the relay. A method and an apparatus for communicating between a tool and a surface of a subterranean formation including sending a signal from a generator configured to send a signal through a formation, receiving the signal at a relay, sending a second signal from the relay, and receiving the second signal at a receiver.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/273,380 entitled “JARRING TOOL WITH MICRO ADJUSTMENT,” filed Aug. 4, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This disclosure relates to downhole tools in general and, more specifically, to impact jars for freeing stuck tools.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Drilling operations have become increasingly expensive as the need to drill in harsher environments, through more difficult materials, and deeper than ever before have become reality. Additionally, more testing and evaluation of completed and partially finished well bores has become a reality in order to make sure the well produces an acceptable return on investment.
In working with more complex and deeper well bores, a greater danger arises that work strings and tools will be stuck within the bore. In addition to the potential to damage equipment in trying to retrieve it, the operation of the well must generally stop while tools are fished from the bore. Moreover, with some fishing techniques, it is possible to damage the well bore itself.
Any tool designed for use in a downhole environment may be subject to heat, pressure, and unclean operating conditions. Internal components may be subject to repeated stresses that must be overcome in order to function reliably, and for a suitable length of time, to warrant inclusion in the work string. Additionally, economies may be realized by constructing a tool that is wear resistant enough to be used for a lengthy periods of time before breakdowns or rebuilds.
What is needed is a device for addressing the above and related concerns.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention of the present disclosure, in one aspect thereof, comprises a jarring tool. The tool has a segment of sub housing containing an upper stop proximate a first end thereof. An outer latch piece is connected to an upper end of the lower shaft inside the sub housing, and an upper shaft passes through the stop and connects on a first end thereof to an inner latch piece. A cap is on a second end of the upper shaft retaining a washer stack against the upper stop. A retainer is inside the sub housing and has an first piece providing a restraining region and an open region and a second piece attached to the sub housing. The retainer retains the inner and outer latch pieces in a latched position in the restraining region until the latch pieces are displaced toward the second end of the sub housing through the retainer to the open region as a result of a tensile force on the outer latch piece.
The tensile force required to unlatch the first and second latch pieces may be controlled by moving the first retainer piece relative to the second retainer piece by a threading engagement. The outer latch piece may be a collet that grasps the inner latch piece when latched.
Some embodiments may have a lower shaft attached to the outer latch piece on a first end thereof and providing a sub end on a second end thereof. A lower stop may be provided proximate the second end of the sub housing, the lower stop having a passage sized to permit extension of the lower shaft therethrough and away from the sub housing and to stop the extension of the shaft by contact with a shoulder of the shaft at a predetermined extension. An intermediate shaft may be provided and arranged in a sliding and concentric relationship to the inner and outer latch pieces to define a protected passageway.
A second segment of sub housing may be attached to the upper stop and provide an indicator that displaces and remains displaced in response to contact from the upper shaft cap resulting from unlatching of the inner and outer latch pieces. An access port may be defined in the sub housing and have an attached cover plate defining an opening of a predetermined size to control fluid flow into and out of the sub housing.
The invention of the present disclosure, in another aspect thereof comprises latch. An retainer defines a restrictive region and an open region therein, the retainer having cooperating first and second pieces whereby the restrictive region is axially adjustable by moving the first and second pieces relative to one another. The latch has an outer latch piece and an inner latch piece that is biased against movement through the retainer. The retainer retains the inner and outer latch pieces in a latched configuration in the restrictive region and allows the inner and outer latch pieces to unlatch when tensile forces applied to the outer latch piece move the latch pieces into the open region. In some embodiments, the cooperating first and second pieces each define cooperatively threaded cylinders.
The retainer may be anchored by a sub segment. The inner latch piece may be biased against movement through the retainer by a shaft attached to a spring washer stack. The outer latch piece may be connected to a sub end. In some embodiments, an intermediate shaft passes through the inner and outer latch pieces both in the latched and unlatched configuration.
In some embodiments, a substantially cylindrical housing circumscribes the retainer and has a stop in one end thereof. A shaft passes through the stop and connects to the outer latch piece inside the housing. The shaft provides a shoulder for impacting the stop to create a jarring impact in response to a tensile force applied to the shaft that unlatches the first and second latch piece.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A-1F taken together provide a side cutaway view of one embodiment of the jarring tool of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is an exterior view of a lower end of the jarring tool of FIG. 1
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1A-1F , a side cutaway view of one embodiment of a downhole jarring tool according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. These drawings are meant to be understood sequentially as adjoining segments of a jarring tool 100 . FIG. 1A illustrates the uppermost end of the tool 100 , which is to be followed by FIG. 1B , FIG. 1C , etc. In the present embodiment, FIG. 1F illustrates the bottom most portion of the jarring tool 100 .
In the present embodiment, the jarring tool 100 includes three sub housings: an upper sub housing 10 having a distal end 12 and a proximal end 14 ; a center sub housing 102 having a distal end 104 and a proximal end 108 ; and a lower sub housing 112 having a proximal end 114 and a distal end 116 . The proximal end 14 of the upper sub housing 10 connects to the distal end 104 of the center sub housing 102 via an upper connector 16 . The upper connector 16 may be a sub connector with threaded fittings. In the present embodiment, the upper connector 16 also provides an activation indicator 20 that provides a visual indication of whether the tool 100 has been activated. This may be useful when the tool 100 is withdrawn from a well bore.
It will be appreciated that the tool of the present disclosure may be adapted for use on slick line or e-line tool strings. In the present embodiment, the various components of the tool 100 provide a central passage way 21 that proceeds the entire length of the tool 100 . Additionally, even though portions of the tool telescope with respect to one another, the central passageway 21 remains relatively protected from movements that can pinch or cut lines.
The functionality of the jarring operation of the tool 100 is described in greater detail below. However, the functionality of the upper connector 16 as an activation indicator may best be described here with particular reference to FIG. 1B . Before the tool 100 has been activated to produce a jarring effect on a work string, an activation rod 22 extends slightly beyond upper connector 16 toward an upper shaft cap 135 . A rod spring 24 urges the rod 22 toward the cap 135 . A set screw 25 prevents the rod 22 from falling out of the upper connector 16 .
When in the unactivated position as shown, a recess 26 in the rod 22 is displaced toward the cap 135 . The recess 26 provides clearance for the indicator 20 to pop out from its depressed position when the rod 22 is moved against the force of spring 24 . A spring 28 provides the force to move the indicator 20 . During activation of the tool 100 , the cap 135 contacts the rod 22 which displaces it to allow the indicator 20 to pop up. The activator 20 is at least partially captive to the rod 22 to prevent it from coming completely free form the tool 100 . For example, two halves of the indictor 20 may be threaded through the rod 22 , or a 90 degree turn or series of turns may be required to completely free it. When the indicator 20 is pressed down, the rod spring 24 will urge the rod 22 back toward the cap 135 , resetting the indicator. Various holes or ports, such as port 29 may be provided near or in upper connector 16 to prevent activation or resetting of the indicator 20 by bore pressure.
It will be appreciated that in embodiments where the activation indicator mechanism is not needed, the entire upper sub housing 10 and upper connector 16 could be removed from the tool. Similarly, the upper sub housing 10 could be removed leaving the upper connector 16 as an attachment point for the tool 100 in the work string.
Referring again now to the complete set of figures, center sub housing 102 attaches on the distal end 104 to the upper connector 16 . The proximal end 108 of the upper sub housing 102 interconnects with a lower connector 110 . The lower connector 110 joins the center sub housing 102 with a lower sub housing 112 . The proximal end 114 of the lower housing 112 connects to the lower connector 110 .
A distal end 116 of the lower housing 112 is connected to a lower stop 118 . In the present embodiment, the lower stop 118 provides for sliding engagement and limited passage of a lower shaft 120 . The lower shaft 120 may be interconnected to a lower sub end 122 . The range of motion of the lower shaft 120 relative to the lower housing 112 may be limited by both the lower sub end 122 and by an inner shoulder 124 of the lower stop 118 . The lower shaft 120 provides a shoulder 126 , which will be too wide to pass through the lower stop 118 . As will be described in greater detail below, when the jarring tool 100 is activated, the upper sub housing 10 will extend away from the lower sub end 122 to the point where inner shoulder 124 of the lower stop 118 contacts the lower shaft shoulder 126 .
The lower shaft 120 connects to an outer latch piece 130 which cooperates with an inner latch piece latch piece 128 . In the present embodiment, the outer latch piece 130 is a collet device that selectively grasps the inner latch piece 128 , which functions as a stub for the collet. The interfitting inner and outer latch pieces 128 , 130 are subjected to tensile forces of many thousands of pounds in operation. In order to secure adequate transmission of tensile forces between the inner latch piece 128 and the outer latch piece 130 , the inner latch piece 128 may have a lip 129 extending substantially around a proximal end of the latch piece 128 . Similarly, outer latch piece 130 may have a lip 131 on one or more collet fingers.
The lower shaft 120 is slidingly engaged with an intermediate shaft 121 . The intermediate shaft 121 provides a circumferential stop 123 that selectively engages with the lip 129 of the inner latch piece 128 , as further described below. The intermediate shaft 121 is also slidingly engaged through the inner latch piece 128 and connects to an upper shaft 134 . The intermediate shaft 121 and upper shaft 134 function as a single connected unit, and in some cases may be a single shaft.
In the present embodiment, the upper shaft 134 is slidingly engaged through a connector stop 149 that interfits into the connector 110 . It can be seen that a bias spring 140 surrounds a portion of the upper shaft 134 and the intermediate shaft 121 and presses against the inner latch piece 128 . The lip 129 of the inner latch piece 129 engages the stop 129 on the intermediate shaft 121 . Thus the inner latch piece 128 , the intermediate shaft 121 , and the upper shaft 134 are urged away from the stop 149 insofar as the other components will allow.
The upper shaft 134 partially proceeds through the stop 149 toward the distal end 104 of center sub housing 102 . Within center sub housing 102 and surrounding upper shaft 134 is a washer stack 142 . The washers of the washer stack 142 may be spring washers, such as Belleville washers. The cap 135 may retain the washer stack 142 on the upper shaft 134 .
Referring back particularly to FIG. 1D , it can be seen that the inner latch piece 128 is shown nested within the outer latch piece 130 , with the intermediate shaft 121 passing through both. This is the unactivated position. Under tensile force on the tool 100 (e.g., the distal end 12 of the upper sub housing 10 and the lower sub end 122 ), the lip 131 of the outer latch piece will move into contact with the stop 129 of the inner latch piece, which will be moved into contact with the stop 123 of the inner shaft if it is not already. This will cause the upper shaft 134 to begin compressing the washer stack 142 .
A retainer 141 is fitted into the lower sub housing 112 in a position proximate the latch pieces 128 , 130 . The outer latch piece 130 will be restrained from pulling away from the inner latch piece 128 because of limited clearance inside the retainer 141 . In the present embodiment, the retainer 141 is anchored in place to the lower subhousing by screws 150 , 152 . The retainer 141 comprises two pieces: an outer piece 148 into which screws 150 , 152 may be threaded; and an inner piece 143 that is threaded into the outer piece 148 .
The outer retainer piece 148 generally provides enough clearance to allow the inner and outer latch pieces 128 , 130 to separate, but at least a portion of the inner retainer piece 143 does not. In the embodiment shown, a restrictive region 144 prevents the latch pieces 128 , 130 from separating while an open region 146 allows the components to separate until tensile force. Because the inner and outer pieces 143 , 148 are threaded together, the restrictive region 144 can be moved further from the washer stack 142 . This will cause the washer stack 142 to undergo a greater degree of compression before the latch pieces 128 , 130 can separate. In the present embodiment, the inner and outer pieces 143 , 148 can be adjusted even after the tool 100 is assembled by a slot (not shown) on the housing 112 . However, it is understood that, in operation or deployment of the tool, the inner and outer pieces 143 , 148 remain fixed relative to one another and to the housing 112 .
When the latch pieces 128 , 130 disengage, the lower shaft 120 will no longer be retrained from moving away from the upper shaft 134 . Under tensile force, the lower shaft will slide through the stop 118 until the stop shoulders 124 abut the shaft shoulders 126 . Depending upon the tensile force applied, a large jarring force along the length of the tool 100 may be produced. This impact or upward jarring motion can be utilized to free stuck tools in a drilling well.
It will be appreciated that the greater the tensile strength applied to the tool 100 the greater the jarring force produced. The tool 100 relies upon acceleration of the upper sub housing 10 away from the sub end 122 to produce its jarring impact. It will be appreciated that the greater the tensile force required to activate the tool 100 , the greater the impact jar will be. Coarse adjustments can be made by varying the spring rater and number of washers in the stack 142 . However, finer adjustments can be made by moving the open region 146 closer to or further from the washer stack 142 . This results in lesser or greater amounts of compression of the stack 142 that are required to pull the latch pieces 128 , 130 through the restrictive region 144 and into the open region 146 where they can disconnect. The threading between the inner retainer piece 143 and the outer retainer piece 148 may be made relatively fine to allow for micro adjustments to be made to the release point of the tool 100 . In this way, it can be tailored to the application at hand. A sufficient jar can be produced to free stuck tools, while keeping the impact small enough not to unnecessarily damage any part of the rig or work string. As discussed more fully below, ports or openings can be provided in the sub housings to allow for adjustment of the tool 100 even after assembly.
Following activation of the tool 100 producing the desired jar, the tool 100 may be reset while still in the bore. When compressive forces are applied to the activated tool 100 , the outer latch piece will push against the stop 123 of the intermediate shaft 121 and/or the lip 129 of the inner latch piece 128 forcing them back through the restrictive region 144 where there is sufficient clearance for the pieces to relatch. The bias spring 140 will then act to push the inner latch lip 129 and stop 123 back into the restrictive region 144 as is shown in FIG. 1D . At this point the tool 100 has been reset and can be used again to produce additional jarring. As described above, indicator 20 on the upper connector 16 can be examined to determine that the tool 100 has been deployed at least once while down hole.
It will be appreciated that the configuration of the latching mechanism operates to maintain the central passageway 21 through the nested and sliding arrangement of the components. This allows for safe passage of a communications or power line through the tool 100 in instances where it is needed. The sub housings can be fitted with electrical connections as needed to facilitate the user of the tool 100 as an e-line tool.
As the tool 100 may be utilized as part of an active work string, the tool 100 may connect to other tools further down the string and function as an ordinary segment of drill pipe until activated. In order to prevent the lower shaft 120 and lower sub connector 122 from rotating relative to the upper sub housing 10 , the lower stop 118 may be provided with rigid inserts 160 that are slidably engaged with slots 162 on the lower shaft 120 . This configuration allows for telescoping extension of the tool 100 to produce the desired jarring effect as described, but also allows the tool 100 to transmit rotational movement that may be needed in the work string to rotate a drill bit or other tool.
Referring now to FIG. 2 , an exterior view of a lower end of the jarring tool of FIG. 1 is shown. Here additional features can be seen that affect the performance of the tool 100 . As described above, the tensile force required to activate the tool can be adjusted by varying the washer stack 142 and the retainer 140 . These affect both the release point and the jarring force produced by the tool.
In addition to these adjustments, the behavior of the tool 100 following release can be fine tuned. It will be appreciate that well fluids may enter the tool 100 . The speed at which these fluids can be displaced, as well as the force required to move them, will have an effect on the jarring force and speed of the tool 100 . It can be seen in FIG. 2 that various access ports or covers may be placed at locations along internal moving components of the tool 100 . For example, access port 202 is proximate the washer stack 142 . Access ports 204 , 206 are provided proximate either side of the retainer 141 . Access port 210 is near stop 118 . By controlling how quickly fluid can displace from the washer stack 142 , the latch pieces 128 , 130 , and the lower shaft 120 , impact force can be increased or decreased. In the embodiment shown, access ports 208 , 210 are provided with slots 208 , 212 , respectively. This allows for more rapid fluid flow into and out of the tool 100 , which is tend to increase impact force and the speed with which the tool 100 releases or deploys. The size and number of openings in the access ports can be varied according to the desired function of the tool 100 .
Access ports may also be useful for servicing or adjusting internal components. For example port 202 may be removed to provide access to the washer stack 142 and the stop 149 .
It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the tool of the present disclosure can be utilized with a wide variety of drilling and downhole technology. Non-limiting examples include drill pipe, e-line, and slick line strings. Sub ends and housings may be chosen according to the work string. Similarly, the overall size of the tools 100 may be chosen based on well bore size and other requirements. Once located in the down hole work string, the tool 100 functions as ordinary drill pipe or other string segment until called upon to create an upward jarring force on the work string. In this respect, the tool 100 may be considered as a segment of sub housing with an extensible, jar producing joint in the middle.
Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and attain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherent therein. While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes and modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as defined by the claims.
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A jarring tool is disclosed. The tool has a segment of sub housing containing an upper stop proximate a first end thereof. An outer latch piece is connected to an upper end of the lower shaft inside the sub housing, and an upper shaft passes through the stop and connects on a first end thereof to an inner latch piece. A cap is on a second end of the upper shaft retaining a washer stack against the upper stop. A retainer is inside the sub housing and has an first piece providing a restraining region and an open region and a second piece attached to the sub housing. The retainer retains the inner and outer latch pieces in a latched position in the restraining region until the latch pieces are displaced toward the second end of the sub housing through the retainer to the open region as a result of a tensile force on the outer latch piece.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to operating microscopes, and more particularly, to operating microscopes used in microsurgery and other delicate operations.
2. Related Art
Operating microscopes, according to which a surgeon is provided an enlarged view of the field of the surgery, are generally known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,498 to Muller et al., which shows a binocular operating microscope according to which a number of different individuals can simultaneously view the field of surgery.
Optical operating microscope technology has generally been quiescent in recent years. This is in part due to the fact that inevitably during surgery a layer of blood obscures the object to be imaged. That is, the ultimate limitation on the surgeon's vision is the layer of blood overlying the tissues of interest. Blood obscures the tissues to a degree depending on the amount of suction employed, how fast the blood seeps into the operating field, and so forth. Some amount of blood flow into the operating field is inevitable. In the case of particularly delicate surgery, such as microsurgery on the eye, the nervous system, and the like, blood in the operating field significantly obscures the nervous and eye tissues, preventing the surgeon from seeing the condition to be corrected by surgery.
Conventional operating microscopes cannot render transparent the layer of blood which inevitably covers the tissues on which the surgery is to be performed so that the surgeon can be provided an image of the underlying object.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,471 to Ross shows a "False Color Radiant Energy Detection Method and Apparatus" in which visible and nonvisible radiation (that is, visible and, for example, infrared radiation) are simultaneously reflected from an object and are optically and electronically detected. The nonvisible reflected radiation is converted into a false-colored visible image which is superimposed over the ordinary visible image, to produce a composite false-colored image highlighting portions of the object having a high degree of reflectivity in the nonvisible spectrum. Ross teaches that this apparatus may be of use in determining the relative health of plant life. For example, healthy foliage reflects infrared radiation more completely than does unhealthy foliage. Ross does not teach any apparatus or method whereby an obscuring layer of material can be effectively removed from an image to reveal the underlying object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,930 to Steil et al. shows a charge-coupled imaging device in which different groups of detectors which are sensitive to light energy at different wavelengths are arranged in a single array. However, Steil et al. does not teach any means in which a layer of an obscuring material, such as blood, can be effectively removed from a visible image, such as that of an operating field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is of an operating microscope in which a real time composite image is provided of the visible operating field and of an underlying object which is normally obscured by a layer of material opaque to visible radiation.
More particularly, the microscope of the preesnt invention comprises means for illuminating an object obscured by a layer of a material which is opaque to visible light with radiation consisting of visible light and "penetrating radiation" of a wavelength which penetrates the obscuring material. Where the obscuring material opaque to visible radiation is blood, penetrating radiation of a wavelength greater than about 620 nanometers is employed. Blood is significantly more transparent to radiation of a wavelength greater than 620 nm than to visible radiation. A detection and imaging system detects the penetrating radiation reflected from the object beneath the layer of blood, and converts the reflected penetrating radiation to provide a "converted" visible image. The converted image is thus a visible image of the object underlying the obscuring blood. The converted image provided by the detection and imaging system is then combined with a visible image of the operating field as ordinarily seen. The combined images permit the surgeon to orient himself accurately, by reference to the visible image, while simultaneously viewing the converted image of the object underneath the obscuring layer of blood.
In the preferred embodiment, the composite image generation apparatus of the present invention is configured as a convenient after-market addition to a highly popular preexisting type of stereoscopic operating microscope. This allows such microscopes to be provided with the composite image generation capability according to the invention without a performance penalty in any other area. In a preferred embodiment, the pre-existing microscope to which composite image generation capability is added according to the present invention provides collimated optical ray paths at the point at which the composite image generation apparatus of the present invention is inserted; this fact allows the apparatus of the present invention to be inserted in the pre-existing microscope while altering the optical path of the microscope as little as possible.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood if reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a graph of absorptance of hemoglobin versus wavelength of the illuminating radiation in nanometers;
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the optical principles of a conventional binocular operating microscope; and
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the optical principles of the operating microscope of FIG. 2 having had the improved image formation apparatus according to the present invention added thereto.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As described above, in delicate surgery, particularly microsurgery on the eyes, brain, spinal column, and the like, it is not possible to remove all blood from the operating field. In addition to obscuration of the tissues by blood flowing from damaged vessels, blood in small vessels or capillaries may render the tissues red or pink, masking normally visible cues in the target tissues. This is particularly true of tissues of the nervous system or well-vascularized tumors. In either case, the surgeon is frequently reduced to operating by touch and feel. Clearly, this is not optimal, particularly in view of the fact that the surgeon's expertise will take considerable time to develop under these circumstances.
The present invention of an operating microscope in which the obscuring layer of blood is rendered transparent in real time overcomes this problem.
More particularly, as is generally known, the human eye is sensitive to radiation of wavelengths in the range of about 380-650 nanometers (nm) wavelength. At either end of this range, the eye's sensitivity drops off relatively quickly. For example, "red" is generally considered to extend from 600-650 nm. However, the human eye is decreasingly sensitive to images formed by radiation above about 620 nm. Therefore, if an object is illuminated with radiation of wavelengths greater than 620 nm, the typical eye is decreasingly capable of detecting its image, even though radiation from 620-650 nm is sometimes termed part of the visible spectrum.
According to the present invention, an operating microscope is provided which presents a "combined" image to the surgeon's eyepiece. The combined image is a combination of a "visible" image (that is, an image formed by reflected visible radiation in the 380-620 nm range), and a "converted" image. The converted image is formed on a display device, and is a visible image formed responsive to reflection of "penetrating radiation" in the non-visible range (that is, less then about 380 nm or more than about 620 nm wavelength).
The combined image is of particular use because the converted image may be formed using reflected radiation of a wavelength to which a substance opaque to visible light is transparent. For example, hemoglobin, the main component of blood, is largely opaque to visible light. However, hemoglobin is relatively transparent to radiation of wavelength greater than about 620 nm. If an object obscured by a layer of blood is irradiated by penetrating radiation of wavelength greater than 620 nm, a "penetrating radiation image" of the object can be formed responsive to the reflected penetrating radiation; the penetrating radiation image can then be converted to a corresponding visible "converted" image of the obscured object.
When the visible and converted images are combined in real time by the operating microscope of the present invention, the surgeon can use "clues" in the visible image of the operating field to orient himself, and can simultaneously use the superimposed converted image of the underlying object, for example, to see the actual condition to be remedied by the surgery. In this way, the surgeon will be provided with the correct understanding of the position of his surgical instruments with respect to the tissues upon which he is operating. By comparison, to have the converted image displayed, for example, on a separate video screen while viewing the visible image through the operating microscope would not provide the needed physical correlation between the converted and the visible images. Such an approach would not be as useful to the surgeon.
Radiation outside the ordinary visible spectrum may be used according to the invention to image objects underlying materials opaque in the visible spectrum, and to provide converted images which may be combined with the visible images to provide correlation therebetween. It will be appreciated that the optics of the imaging system of the present invention may provide an effective limitation on the wavelengths of the "penetrating" radiation, that is, on the radiation used to form the converted image. For example, the effective wavelength limits of the very popular Zeiss OPMI microscope are estimated to be about 360-2500 nm. Use of shorter wavelength ultraviolet radiation, perhaps down to 150-200 nm wavelength, might require use of quartz or magnesium flouride optical elements. The sensors used to form the converted image will similarly have to be chosen in accordance with the wavelength of the penetrating radiation.
FIG. 1 shows, as mentioned, a plot of the relative absorptance of radiation by oxyhemoglobin (that is, the primary element of blood bearing oxygen) versus wavelength of the illuminating radiation in nanometers (nm). As can be seen, oxyhemoglobin shows several absorptance peaks in the blue (about 480 nm), green (about 545 nm) and yellow (about 578 nm) ranges, while its absorptance is relatively low in the red range (600-650 nm). This low absorbtance, of course, is why arterial blood appears red. Deoxygenated hemoglobin has the same red and infrared absorptance, but shows only a single peak at about 550-560 nm, so that venous blood appears relatively blue. The relative absorptance of both types of hemoglobin drops rapidly to a value somewhat less than 0.05 at wavelengths greater than about 620 nm. However, as discussed above, at wavelengths greater than about 620 nm, the human eye responds very weakly if at all, such that it cannot effectively image this longer wavelength radiation.
FIG. 1 thus shows that hemoglobin, and hence blood, is effectively more transparent to longer wavelength red light, which cannot be imaged by the eye, and to infrared radiation, than to visible radiation. Therefore, it is possible to irradiate an object obscured by a layer of blood with "penetrating" radiation of wavelength greater than about 620 nm, and to form a "penetrating radiation" image of the reflected penetrating radiation. The penetrating radiation image can then be used to derive a corresponding "converted" image of the actual shape of the object underneath the layer of blood. The present invention exploits this fact.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram demonstrating the optical path of a typical operating microscope, in this case, the Zeiss "OPMI" binocular stereoscopic operating microscope. An object 10 in the operating field is covered by superficial blood vessels or capillaries or by an obscuring layer 11 of material opaque to visible radiation, such as blood. The operating field is imaged by a main objective 12 and a magnification changing unit 14. The image is then passed through a binocular tube 16, and then via prisms 15 and 17 to parallel eye pieces 18. Such conventional microscopes are in common use in operating theaters.
It can be observed from FIG. 2 that the light rays describing the optical path taken by the image of the obsurced object 10 are collimated between the magnification changer 14 and the binocular tube 16. While not necessarily critical to the present invention, this collimation makes it very convenient to provide the penetrating radiation imaging system of the present invention between the magnification changer 14 and binocular tube 16, and thereby to retrofit preexisting Zeiss OPMI microscopes with the penetrating radiation imaging systems of the present invention.
The fact that the Zeiss OPMI microscopes are manufactured in a modular fashion so as to be readily disassembled for modification permits the present invention to be conveniently provided in the form of a retrofit to such conventional microscopes. In addition, the inventors have found that the Zeiss OPMI microscopes focus useful penetrating radiation as well as visible radiation, so that no modifications are needed to effectively gather penetrating radiation reflected from the object and to provide it to the penetrating radiation imaging system 20 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention as retrofit to the Zeiss OPMI microscope of FIG. 2.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the penetrating radiation imaging subsystem 20 of the present invention is interposed between the magnification changer 14 and the binocular tube 16. If needed, a source of the penetrating radiation 26 is provided. Penetrating radiation of a wavelength or of a range of wavelengths to which the obscuring layer 11 is transparent is reflected from the object 10 and collected by the main objective lens 12 exactly as is the visible light. Where the layer 11 to be penetrated is of blood, the penetrating radiation may be radiation of wavelength greater than 620 nm. The magnification changer 14 focuses the reflected penetrating radiation (forming the penetrating radiation image) in the same manner in which it focuses the visible light (forming the visible image).
The penetrating radiation imaging system 20 of the present invention is the binocular embodiment shown has mirror image optical paths which are identical for both left-and right-eye optics. These optical paths begin with a pair of beamsplitters 22 which split the combined visible and penetrating radiation reflected images. Each of the beamsplitters 22 provides a part of the combined visible and penetrating radiation image to a filter 24 and the remaining part to a beam combiner 32. Filters 24 then absorb the visible light of the part of the combined images provided to them and pass only the penetrating radiation image. Lenses 25 focus the penetrating radiation images on suitable sensors 28. The sensors 28 may be so-called Newvicon video tubes, charge-coupled device (CCD) or metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) image forming sensors, or other sensors sensitive to the wavelength of the penetrating radiation. Multiple-element sensors, in which each element is sensitive to radiation of a different wavelength, could also be used. Image signals provided by sensors 28 drive display devices 30, which may be conventional cathode ray tube video displays or the equivalent. Display devices 30 produce the visible "converted" images. These converted images are then focused by lenses 27 on beam combiners 32, which combine the converted images, supplied by the displays 30 responsive to the signals provided by the sensors 28, with the visible images provided by beam splitters 22. The combined converted and visible images are then supplied to the surgeon via mirrors 15 and 17 at eyepieces 18.
The Zeiss OPMI microscopes are stereoscopic, that is, provide differing optical paths for the surgeon's right and left eyes. Provision of the dual optical paths is highly advantageous as it provides depth perception. This advantage is retained according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, as plural optical paths, each including penetrating radiation image formation and conversion elements, are provided as discussed above.
As mentioned, the combination of the converted and visible images provided by the present invention has significant advantages. In particular, the surgeon is still provided with the visual clues with which he is most familiar, which are provided by the visible image, while simultaneously viewing the overlaid substantial additional detail provided by the converted image. In effect, the surgeon sees through the obscuring layer 11 of blood. In this way, the converted image is displayed to best advantage. By comparison, if the converted image were only provided on a video display or the like, separate from the visible image provided by the operating microscope, the surgeon would have substantial difficulty correlating the converted image with the visible image which he is accustomed to seeing. According to the present invention, the correlation is performed automatically and in real time by provision of the combined images.
Additional elements may be incorporated into the microscope of the present invention, including real-time image processing devices indicated generally by reference numeral 34. Conventional digital image processing can be used to enhance features of particular interest found in the penetrating radiation images formed by the sensors 28. Where appropriate, such image processing techniques are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention. Similarly, the provision of a video cassette recorder 36, for example to record the converted or combined images as a surgical operation proceeds, is within the scope of the present invention. An optical camera (not shown) may similarly be employed to record the combined or converted images.
Other modifications and variations on the present invention are similarly within its scope. For example, it would be possible to have separate video images displayed and combined with respect to the penetrating radiation and visible images received from the magnification changer unit 14. In addition, the converted image can be formed by an array of phosphors (not shown). In the case of use of penetrating radiation of wavelength greater than 620 nm, phosphors could be employed which are excited by penetrating radiation of this wavelength and which emit radiation in the visible spectrum. One could then combine an image of the phosphor array, for example, using a beam combiner 32 or the equivalent, with the visible image provided by the optics of the Zeiss microscope. If phosphors or other sensors were used which were not sensitive to visible light, filters 24 could be dispensed with.
Other modifications and variations on the preferred embodiment of the present invention are also within its scope. For example, one could form a digital signal corresponding to the combined visible and penetrating radiation images received from the magnification changer 14. This signal can be digitally filtered to separate the penetrating radiation for subsequent image processing and enhancement as needed. The penetrating radiation might then be converted to visible wavelengths, and combined with the digitized visible portion of the signal to provide the combined visible and converted images. Similarly, the filters 24 might be ordinary optical filters or be holographic; the beamsplitters 12 and beam combiners 32 may also be selected from a wide variety of suitable elements. A filter (not shown) for the penetrating radiation could also be interposed prior to the eyepieces 18, to prevent the user from eye damage caused by the penetrating radiation.
Furthermore, while the converted image is literally a "false-color" image, even if it is essentially a gray-scale image, it is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a true multi-color converted image, in which various colors of the displayed image correspond to differing wavelengths of the reflected penetrating radiation. Multiple-element displays, each element displaying a different portion of the visible spectrum, are also within the scope of the invention.
Similarly, it will be appreciated that the present invention has applicability beyond the specific application shown and beyond the specific materials mentioned. The present invention could be used for inspection of goods during manufacture; for example, a manufacturing process in which the workpiece 10 is obscured by a material 11 which is opaque to visible light, preventing visual inspection of the underlying surfaces, but which is transparent to radiation of other wavelengths, could be monitored by combination of a visible light image of the overall scene with a converted image made using radiation penetrating the obscuring material.
Therefore, while a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, this should not be taken as a limitation on the invention but only as exemplary thereof. The invention is to be limited only by the following claims:
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An improved microscope features real time generation of combined visible and converted images. The converted image is of an object which is obscured by a layer of material which is opaque to visible light, but which is substantially transparent to non-visible penetrating radiation. In an operating microscope application, the invisible penetrating radiation may be radiation of wavelength greater than 620 nm, to which blood is transparent. The converted visible image made using the reflected penetrating radiation will show tissues underlying a layer of blood, which otherwise would obscure the tissues from being viewed by a surgeon. The converted and visible images are combined to generate a combined image which is more useful than would be the reflected penetrating radiation image alone. Image enhancement techinques may be employed to enhance the converted image.
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CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/960,977 filed on Oct. 2, 2013 and is incorporated be reference herein in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to the field of hydraulic tamping devices used to tamp fill material tightly around a pole set into a post hole in the ground.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wooden utility poles and/or telephone poles are often over forty feet tall and must therefore be set in a deep hole in the ground for stability. Typically, such utility poles are set at least six feet in the ground. Of course, the hole is much larger in diameter than the pole and therefore, dirt must be returned to the hole around the pole little by little and must be tamped or compacted tightly around the pole to provide vertical stability.
To ease the job of tamping the dirt tightly, hydraulic pole tampers are commonly used. The tool is often used by utility crews to back fill a hole after installing a new power pole or by farmers for tamping fill material around new fence posts.
The hydraulic pole tampers come in sizes from 60″ to 85″ in length. The tamper is a longitudinal tool with two hydraulic hoses connected to the top end, a hydraulic impact unit housed in a long thin body, and a ram head at the bottom. The driving fluid may be air or oil depending upon the application. In some applications an electric motor driven tamper may be used for tamping. However, in the instant application, the driving fluid is hydraulic oil supplied by a reservoir on a vehicle such as a truck which usually includes a hydraulic oil fluid driven derrick or other drilling equipment for setting posts in holes. Without driving fluid and the hoses, the tool weights often weight nearly 30 pounds.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
A typical tamper device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,414,221 which is incorporated by reference herein. The tamper device includes a housing, a drive connected the housing, a tamper adapted to reciprocate relative to the housing and apply pressure to a surface, and a wobble connection between the drive and the tamper, wherein the wobble connection comprises a wobble plate, and wherein a first end portion of the tamper is at a side of the wobble plate. The tamper device includes a housing, a drive, a tamper, and a wobble connection. The drive is connected the housing and the tamper is adapted to reciprocate relative to the housing and apply pressure to a surface such as dirt or rock. The wobble connection is between the drive and the tamper, wherein the wobble connection includes a wobble plate with a first end portion of the tamper is at a side of the wobble plate. More particularly, the tamper device includes a housing, a rotatable shaft, a camming member, a connecting rod, and a tamper wherein the rotatable shaft has a first end and a second end. The first end is adapted to be connected to a drive and the second end extends into the housing whereby the camming member is connected to the rotatable shaft. The connecting rod has a first end portion including an opening having a camming member located therein. The first end portion is between and spaced from the first end and the second end of the rotatable shaft. The tamper is connected to a second end portion of the connecting rod.
Several tampers are available on the market and typically include a drive having an output shaft, a housing connecting to the drive, and at least a portion of the output shaft extends into the housing. A camming member is attaches to the output shaft. A connecting rod is provided having a first end portion which extends into the housing wherein the first end portion includes an opening. A second end portion of the connecting rod extends out of the housing. The camming member is movably connected to the first end portion. The cam is at the opening. The output shaft is spaced from the opening. The output shaft extends through the opening. A tamper is connected to the second end portion of the connecting rod. The tamper often comprises a base member or shoe of a particular shape such as an oval or curved oval member.
The tamper tools work on the same principal as an impact hammer or a jack hammer and therefore is subjected to many intense vertical impacts and lots of jarring and shaking. Consequently, the hoses will become strained and will crack or break loose at the connections at the top of the tool as the tool is used. Failure of the hose causes a loss of hydraulic oil which is a safety concern in that the operator can be sprayed with hot hydraulic oil. Further negative issues associated with failed hoses include expensive downtime and repair and replacement of expensive parts in addition to environmental problems.
Another downside to the design of the tamping tool relates to the lack of a comfortable and easy to use handle. Conventional longitudinal tamping tools must be long and slender to fit into the bottom of a post hole. The tamping tools are typically hand held by the rounded vertical cylindrical housing as one wood hold a broom handle. Use of the tool includes lifting and moving the tool around the pole at various positions to tamp the fill dirt and rock around the pole. The tamper is then moved and lifted from the hole so additional fill material can be added to the hole to be tamped tight. Thus, the hole containing the pole is filled and tamped in layers a few inches at a time to insure the fill material is tight around the pole and edges of the hole. After extended use, the vibration together with the holding, raising and using this heavy tool along with the hydraulic hoses becomes strenuous and burdensome to a user.
Another post hole tamping device is available from Greenlee Utility Company as set forth in FIG. 1 as (“PRIOR ART”); however, none of the references provide the handle and adapter improvements made to manipulate the device as set forth in the instant invention. The Greenlee Fairmont hydraulic pole tamper includes a kidney shaped foot or base member. The tool is includes an open and close center with the valve location at the end of the hose. The flow range of hydraulic fluid is from 4 to 6 gallons per minute and the operating pressure is from 1000 to 2000 psi. The foot size is 2.5×8 inches. The tamper rate of tamping is 1,160 blows per minute at 5 gallon per minute flow rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a pole tamper comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially an upright longitudinal cylindrical housing including a hydraulic impact unit with a hydraulic cylinder and piston, two hydraulic hoses, two hose clamps and a handle frame. The piston extends from the bottom of the hydraulic impact unit and has a tamper head fixedly attached thereto. The two hydraulic hoses are fluidly attached to the top end of the hydraulic impact unit. The handle frame is fixedly connected to the top of the longitudinal cylindrical housing. The hand frame includes a horizontal handle, an open ended cylindrical base with the first open end at the top of the cylindrical base and the second open end at the bottom of the cylindrical base. The cylindrical base has a diameter sized to fit down onto a top of the longitudinal cylindrical housing. The handle has two ends, the first end of the handle connected to a top edge of the cylindrical base by a first longitudinal strip and the second end of the handle connected to the top edge of the cylindrical base by a second longitudinal strip at a point opposite of the first longitudinal strip. The first and the second longitudinal strips have a gap there between which is bridged by a cross member having two apertures formed therein. The cylindrical base has two apertures formed in the sidewalls thereof. Also included are two hydraulic hose clamps including elastomeric bushings; and two fasteners capable of fastening the two hydraulic hose clamps with hoses into the two apertures formed within the cross member.
It is an object of this invention to provide a hydraulic pole tamper with an easy to grip handle at the top end similar to what is known a D-grip handle which includes a rounded grip situated at the top end and perpendicular to the longitudinal shaft.
It is an object of this invention to provide a hydraulic pole tamper including hose clamps with elastomeric bushings to cushion the hydraulic hoses against the shock of the hydraulic pulses causing the intense longitudinal thrusts of the tamper head.
It is another object of this invention to provide a hydraulic pole tamper wherein the D-grip handle is part of a handle frame which also includes apertures for the attachment of hose clamps.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a more ergonomic handle easier to grip and control the tamper.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a handle enabling the user to control the orientation of the tamper.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent with the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the views wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the Greenlee Farimont prior hydraulic art pole tamper;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the hydraulic hose connections to the pole tamper of FIG. 1 , showing a pair of threaded couplings attaching the hoses to the cooperatively engaging threaded nipples extending from the top distal end of the pole tamper;
FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the pole tamper including the handle and adapter including the handle frame and hose clamp improvements;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged in view of the hose clamp with the elastomeric bushing;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the pole tamper showing the HANSON fittings quick disconnect fittings on the distal ends of the hydraulic hoses extending from the pole tamper hoses;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the handle and adapter frame loop including the apertures for attachment of the hose clamps; and
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the modified hydraulic pole tamper handle and adapter frame of the present invention also showing the attachment and fasteners fixing the handle frame to the upper shaft of pole tamper.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a hydraulic pole tamper 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-7 . The pole tamper 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-2 include a longitudinal cylindrical body 4 , a tamper head 8 at the bottom end, two hydraulic hoses 9 . The improvement comprises the a handle 1 and a handle loop frame 12 at the top end with hydraulic hose clamps 18 for maintaining the hoses in alignment at the point of connection to the hose junction relieving pressure on the hose. The longitudinal cylindrical body 4 includes a hydraulic impact unit including a hydraulic cylinder and piston 8 and base member or foot 10 .
The pole tamper of the prior art, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a cylindrical longitudinal tool body 4 including an internal piston 7 connected to a ram head 8 . Two hydraulic hoses 9 provide the pressurized hydraulic oil to power the tool. The hoses are connected to the cylindrical housing 4 by fittings 5 . The tool is meant to be handled by grasping the outer surface of the cylindrical housing 4 as one would hold a broom.
The pole tamper 10 improvement feature of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 3-7 , includes all of the elements in the prior art tool along with an adapter loop handle frame 12 and handle 14 connected to the cylindrical housing 4 as shown. The handle frame 12 includes a handle 14 and at the top end, a hollow cylindrical base 26 with an inner diameter large enough to firmly slide down over the top end of the longitudinal cylindrical housing 4 . The cylindrical base protects the hose connection fittings and protects the use should one of the hose connections leak or break. A pair of vertically oriented longitudinal members 20 , 22 connect a lower first end of the handle 14 to the outer top edge of a cylindrical sleeve 26 which slides over and cooperatively engages the pole tamper cylindrical body 4 . The members 20 , 22 are spread apart at a selected acute angle for connecting to a handle grip member 13 of a selected length to enable the user to twist the handle grip and control the orientation of the foot shaped tamper or shoe 10 and to twist the pole tamper or lift it in and out of the hole. The overall length of the handle frame 12 is preferably at least twelve inches but may be shorter.
A rod, pin or bolt 13 connects the handle 14 to the members 20 and 22 . The outer diameter of cylinder 26 is about two and one half inches. Therefore, the side members 20 and 22 are connected at the ends of the handle 14 and taper downward to the top circular edge of cylinder 26 forming a loop. A pair of cross member braces bridge the gap between the members 20 and 22 to provide lateral stability for the frame 12 and attachment points for the hose clips 18 . The handle 14 , the cross member braces 24 , 25 and the portions of the side members 20 and 22 between the handle and the cross member make up the orientation loop. The cross member brace as shown in the FIG. 6 , includes two spaced apart cross members 24 and 25 stretching from side member 20 to side member 22 . A third vertical center member 23 is perpendicular to and connects the centers of the cross members 24 and 25 . Two apertures 16 are located at the junction of the center member 23 and the cross member braces 24 and 25 , for the purpose of attaching hose clamps 18 .
Another embodiment of the handle frame has a cross member which comprises a metal plate rather than two strips 24 and 25 connected by a cross strip 23 and includes apertures 16 .
Two apertures 28 are present in the sidewall of the cylindrical base 26 for fasteners such as screws 30 which rigidly hold the handle frame 12 to the top of the cylindrical housing 4 .
Two hose clamps 18 are included and used to fasten the hydraulic hoses 9 to the handle frame 12 for lateral support. The hose clamps 18 include elastomeric bushings 19 to cushion the hoses 9 . The clamps 18 are fastened to the handle frame 12 at the apertures 16 with fasteners such as screw and nut combinations. The clamps enable the hose to bent at a 90 degree angle at a section of the hose other than the distal end connecting to the hydraulic tamper connections. Constant vibration and twisting tends to weaken the hoses at the connection joint to the fittings with conventional tamper tools because the connection point and the bending point are at the same junction which leads to premature failure of the connections and hoses, damage to same, downtime, and potential hazards to the tamper user. Applicants improved orientation handle and design minimize the stress on the hoses, the fittings, and the worker orienting and lifting the tamper during use.
The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, for modification will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made upon departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, this invention is not intended to be limited by the specific exemplification presented herein above. Rather, what is intended to be covered is within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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A hydraulic pole tamper with an extended ergonomic handle including a frame and hose clamps to extend the life of the hose by securing the hoses to the frame and to improve the handle, orientation, and usability of the pole tamper. The pole tamper is used to tamp or compact the dirt around a pole which has been set into a hole in the ground to fixedly secure the pole vertically in the ground.
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DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to aqueous inks for printing through a nozzle. Such inks may be jet inks, which are propelled as drops across a space to a paper or other substrate.
This invention is directed to the minimization of particles in aqueous inks. Solids cause clogging at the nozzle and on internal filters. Accordingly, this invention is useful in any system in which ink passes through a nozzle or the like subject to obstruction by particles in the ink.
2. Background Art
The essence of this invention is in the use of Sulfur Black 1 (SB 1) with solubilizing groups completely oxidized in an aqueous ink. The use of ordinary Sulfur Black 1 is entirely within the state of the art prior to this invention. Typically, Sulfur Black 1 has been used as one of a mixture of dyes, since it is most absorptive in the near infrared range of 800 to 900 nm. To provide a greater response in the visible range a second dye absorptive in the visible range is added. Sulfur Black 1 may be employed alone in a dye formulation, as shown in Federal Republic of Germany Patent Disclosure Paper No. 28 18 573 disclosed Nov. 2, 1978. However, this invention recognizes that because of hydrolysis of the thiosulfonate salt group on the solubilized Sulfur Black 1, the dye will slowly precipitate from the ink.
Although the related chemistry of dye solubility is generally understood, no specific teaching with regard to the solubility of Sulfur Black 1 or a substantially similar dye molecule is known. The use of a Sulfur Black 1 completely oxidized at the solubilizing groups is believed to be fundamentally novel over the state of the prior art.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, the discovery is made and employed that thorough oxidation of the solubilizing groups of Sulfur Black 1 results in a non-precipitating dye in aqueous solution while the dye retains its important characteristics of near infrared response, blackness to visual observation, and compatibility with typical ingredients in aqueous inks. The Sulfur Black 1 may be treated with hydrogen peroxide as a presscake or while a component of an aqueous mixture. Even a multi-ingredient jet ink containing Sulfur Black 1 as a dye may be treated with oxidizing agent in accordance with this invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The empirical formula of Sulfur Black 1 is disclosed in the Color Index, along with the manufacturing process. The final structure is unknown, and probably somewhat variable. A dominant starting material is a benzene ring substituted by two nitro groups and one hydroxyl group, and the final formula is said to be C 24 H 16 N 6 O 8 S 7 or C 24 H 16 N 6 O 8 S 8 , depending on the process of manufacture.
In accordance with this invention hydrolytically stable Sulfur Black 1 may be produced from the presscake. The presscake is the dried, final product of synthesis from starting materials and is known to contain most of the Sulfur Black 1 in water-insoluble form and the remainder of the Sulfur Black 1 in water-soluble form.
EXAMPLE 1
From Presscake
Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in the amount of 1% by weight is added to a mixture of 5% by weight Sulfur Black 1 in water. This mixture is stirred for 2 hours.
An insoluble residue in the order of magnitude of 1% by weight of the starting presscake remains and is filtered out. The remaining Sulfur Black 1 became fully dissolved.
EXAMPLE 2
From Solubilized SB 1
Water soluble Sulfur Black 1 is obtained commercially and is dissolved in distilled water. Hydrogen peroxide in the amount of 5% by weight is added to such a solution of the solubilized Sulfur Black 1 having 5% by weight of the dye. This mixture is stirred for 2 hours. No residue forms.
Effect of pH--Table 1 below demonstrates that the reaction of solubilized Sulfur Black 1 with hydrogen peroxide varies with pH. Table II shows the results of an otherwise identical control with no hydrogen peroxide added. Reactions as above were carried out at the pH level shown and the ratio of absorbance of the modified dye at 620 nm to 800 nm was measured. The ratio is a measure of the amount of reduction of near infrared absorbance (i.e., at 800 nm). Lower values of this ratio indicate little or no reduction. As shown in Table II a ratio of 1.3 indicates little or no reduction.
It was surprisingly found that reaction at high pH favors reduction in near infrared absorbance, while low pH favors very little change. Accompanying the loss of near infrared absorbance is a color change from bluish black to greenish black. Samples at pH 8 and above have ratios above 2.0 and exhibited varying degrees of color change.
No such change is observed at low pH. Since the Sulfur Black 1 is typically added to the ink as a near infrared absorber, modification should generally be conducted at low pH, preferably at a pH of about 4.
TABLE I______________________________________5% solubilized SB 1 with 5% H.sub.2 O.sub.2 Absorbance RatiopH 620 nm/800 nm______________________________________2 1.83 1.94 1.76 1.98 2.39 2.610 2.111 2.212 2.3______________________________________
TABLE II______________________________________5% solubilized SB 1 (unmodified) Absorbance RatiopH 600 nm/800 nm______________________________________2 1.33 1.34 1.36 1.38 1.39 1.510 1.311 1.312 1.3______________________________________
Degradation of optical characteristics was not noted where pH buffers were not employed. This was true because in a straightforward combination of Sulfur Black 1 and hydrogen peroxide. The pH drops rapidly. Initially in mixing 5% SB 1 and 5% hydrogen peroxide, the pH was about 11, but it dropped rapidly to about 2. Very little degradation of the product is near infrared absorbance resulted, the ratio measured being 1.7. The dried product also could be redissolved in base.
Amount of H 2 O 2 --where the modification is carried out with insufficient oxidizing agent, the dye becomes insoluble when evaporated to dryness in acidic solution. Reactions as above were carried out with different loadings of hydrogen peroxide. This is detailed in Table III below, which indicates that the reaction does not go to completion with less than 3% by weight hydrogen peroxide. Also, no significant degradation of near infrared absorbance is indicated at reaction at higher levels of hydrogen peroxide, even up to 10% hydrogen peroxide.
Identical results as in Table III were realized when the dry samples were first heated in 6 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) after which the sample was recovered and it was attempted to redissolve the same in base. Sulfur Black 1 at 5% treated with 1% and 2% hydrogen peroxide would not redissolve. Identical samples treated at 3% to 10% hydrogen peroxide did redissolve, indicating that a hydrolytically stable form was produced.
TABLE III______________________________________% H.sub.2 O.sub.2 in 5% Dye Re-Dissolves Visible ColorSolubilized SB 1 After Dryness in Acid Change______________________________________1 No No2 No No3 Yes No4 Yes No5 Yes No10 Yes No______________________________________
EXAMPLE 3
In a Jet Ink
A typical jet ink known prior to this invention is described below:
______________________________________ Percent by weightComponent (By order of magnitude)______________________________________Distilled Water 75Sodium Omadine 0.1Hampene 220 0.2Carbowax 200 5.0N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone 4.02MB 6.0Butyl Cellosolve 3.0Sulfur Black 1 1.0Visible Range Dye 3.0(e.g., Direct Black 163or Direct Black 19)Sodium Carbonate 0.2Sodium Hydroxide As required______________________________________
Final characteristics (order of magnitude): pH 10; Viscosity 3 centistokes @ 70° F.; and Density 1.05 gr./cm 3 .
Sodium Omadine is a brand named biocide of Olin Corporation. Chemically, it is 90% sodium 2-pyridine-thiol-1-oxide and 10% inert ingredients.
Hampene 220 is a brand named sequestering agent of W. R. Grace and Company. It is used to sequester heavy metals in the ink. Chemically, it is tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate.
Carbowax 200 is a brand named product of Union Carbide Corporation. It is used to prevent crust formation during shutdown. Chemically, it is polyethylene glycol of 200 average molecules weight.
The 2MB is a water fastness agent and has some anticrusting activity. It is a 2 hydroxyethyl substituted polyethyleneimine having 7 or more nitrogen atoms per molecule. The material is a product of Cordova Chemical Company.
Butyl Cellusolve is a well known brand named product used as a paper penetrant. Chemically it is ethyleneglycol-monobutyl ether.
Sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate function as buffers.
The jet ink is manufactured from high-purity materials and thoroughly filtered, so as to remove particles.
To this jet ink is added 3.5% by weight hydrogen peroxide, with thorough stirring.
The resulting ink shows no degradation of print quality and characteristics, while indicating dramatically lower particle formation after storage for several weeks.
Table IV shows a comparison of the response of the jet ink in the visual range over a two week period, as compared to the ordinary jet ink as a control. The differences in absorbance are minor at most. Although the degradation of response is a concern, it results from a change in the optical-range dye, not the Sulfur Black 1. These results demonstrate that the modified Sulfur Black 1 has no detrimental effect over the unmodified dye in this action.
______________________________________ Absorbance/gm @ 600 nm Immediately 1 wk. @Ink (Room Temp.) 60° C. 2 wk. @ 60° C.______________________________________Standard Ink 13.5 11.3 8.80as ControlStandard Ink 14.0 11.1 8.40with ModifiedSB 1______________________________________
Analysis of Product of Oxidation
Infrared spectroscopy on the results of presscake oxidation of Example 1 and the solubilized SB 1 oxidation of Example 2 show sulfur in substituents is virtually entirely in the form of the sulfonate radical (R-SO 3 - ). Nothing appeared indicating a change in the basic, complex main molecules at the dye.
As a second test, the products of Examples 1 and 2 were heated over several hours in a acidic solution. No insoluble residue developed, while with ordinary Sulfur Black 1 a significant insoluble product would have been inevitable.
Theory of the Oxidation Chemistry
The chemistry of Sulfur Black 1 is not fully understood, and any given quantity of the dye probably is a mixture varying in minor respects from other Sulfur Black 1. Accordingly, this discussion of theory is necessarily somewhat speculative and should not be viewed as a limitation on the invention as herein described with reference to empirical results.
Sulfur Black 1 is known to have sulfur containing substituents in proximate positions. Straightforward analysis of the insoluble SB 1 reveals a sulfur-to-sulfur bond. This would accordingly be a linked structure with each sulfur atom having one connection to the main molecule of the dye (i.e., R dye --S--S--R dye ). The R may be the same or a different dye molecule. Where the R is the same dye molecule, the structure is a closed or ring configuration. Both the ring and the non-ring structure, when formed, would be generally stable and non-polar, thereby not favoring solubility with water.
The ordinary soluble SB 1 would have its substituents in the form of thiosulfonates (i.e., R--S--SO 3 - ). In water, the thiosulfonate hydrolyzes with time and temperature according to the following equation RSSO 3 + +H 2 O→RS - +SO 4 -2 +2H + . Both the thiosulfonate and sulfide (the radical composed of a single sulfur), as substituents are polar and thereby favor solubility with water. So long as this form remains, the polar sulfides are subject to mild oxidation resulting in linkage with proximal sulfides to produce the irreversible, insoluble form discussed in the prior paragraph (i.e., 2RS - →R dye --S--S--R dye ).
Oxidation of soluble SB 1 converts the sulfide substituents to sulfonate radicals (i.e., R--S - is converted to R--SO 3 - ). This form is stable and polar, thereby favoring solubility with water and not tending to subsequently change to an insoluble form.
Accordingly, when insufficient hydrogen peroxide is used, the dye reaches the sulfide form, but not the sulfonate form. Subsequent treatment of the sulfide form in acid links proximate sulfides to irreversibly produce an insoluble molecule. Sufficient hydrogen peroxide converts the sulfide form to the sulfonate, to irreversibly produce a soluble molecule. Addition of excess peroxide or running the reaction above pH 6 may cause oxidation of the dye itself with alteration of its absorption characteristics.
Characteristics in Jet Ink
An ink generally as described for Example 3, with the Sulfur Black being added after being completely oxidized as in Example 2 showed characteristics as follows. This was compared with an otherwise identical ink having commercial Sulfur Black 1.
Water fastness--This is a measure of the amount of ink removed from a printed page by soaking in water for a specified period. After the soaking the contrast of marked to unmarked areas of printing is observed.
The two inks were applied to notebook paper and allowed to dry. After soaking the samples for 24 hours, print contrast signals were identical. Accordingly, the modified Sulfur Black 1 has no effect on water-fastness.
Lightfastness--This is a measure of the degradation of light absorbance from ink on a printed page when subjected to strong illumination for a specified period. Immediately after printing and after the period of illumination, the contrast of marked to unmarked area of printing is observed.
Immediately after printing the standard ink showed a contrast signal of 0.80 while the modified ink showed a contrast signal of 0.82. The two samples were then subjected to carbon arc illumination for 72 hours, after which the standard showed a contrast signal of 0.74, while the modified in showed a contrast of 0.76.
Accordingly, the modified Sulfur Black 1 has virtually no effect on lightfastness, although possibly it slightly lowered the print contrast.
Start-Up--This is a measure of clogging at the nozzle during periods of non-printing. In using the modified ink, no start-up failures or nozzle deposits were noted over a two month period involving 34 trials at roughly regular intervals. Comparable tests with the standard ink demonstrated deposits in the nozzle at one month intervals.
Particle Minimization--Upon heating the standard ink and the modified ink for the two weeks at 60° C. particle counts at both were very low. After such heating for four weeks, however, the particle count per milliliter of the modified ink was 28,000, while the particle count of the standard was at least 120,000 and too large to actually determine. This clearly demonstrates that the modified Sulfur Black 1 has an irreversible solubility not found in ordinary Sulfur Black 1.
It will be apparent that the gist of this invention is in the use of a modified Sulfur Black 1 and that formulations and application may vary while still being within the scope and contribution of this invention and that, therefore, patent coverage should not be limited to the embodiments disclosed, but should be as provided by law, with particular reference to the accompanying claims.
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Particle occurrence in an aqueous jet ink from Sulfur Black 1 is greatly reduced by employing a Sulfur Black 1 completely oxidized at the solubilizing groups.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to surveying and geodetic measurements, and relates more particularly to a process and device for the automatic location of a reference marker, a receiver unit, a geodetic measuring device, and geodetic measurement systems.
[0003] 2. Description of the Relevant Art
[0004] For a long time, there has existed the need, in connection with geodetic measurements, for automatically recognizing geodetic reference markers to be measured and located in the field, and, if possible, at the same time, obtaining a rough measurement. This necessity is even greater as a result of the tendency toward fully automatic integrated measuring systems.
[0005] Optical-electronic devices for the automatic location of geodetic reference markers or a retro reflector or a reflection foil are corresponding already used in various embodiments. Devices of this type thereby supplement the usual sensory measuring means usually employed in geodetic measuring work. The combination of a motorized theodolite with automatic marker detection provides substantial advantages.
[0006] Devices for finding markers and, therefore, also the present invention involve all measuring devices that are optically pointed to measuring points through directing means handled by humans.
[0007] The concept “geodetic measuring device” in this connection should generally be understood to be a measuring instrument that has devices for measuring or checking data with spatial references or also for pointing. Especially, this involves the measurement of distances and/or directions or the angles to a reference or measuring point. In addition, however, additional devices, for example, components for satellite-supported location determination (for example, GPS or GLONASS) may be present, which can be used for measurements in accordance with the invention. Here, geodetic measuring devices should be understood to mean theodolites, level or total stations, tachymeters with electronic angle measurements, and electronic optical distance measuring devices. Similarly, the device is suitable for use in specialized devices with similar functionality, for example, in military aiming circles or in industrial construction or process monitoring. These systems are thereby also included under the concept “geodetic measuring device.”
[0008] Automated theodolites commonly used today, as an example of a geodetic measuring device, are not only equipped with angle and distance sensors, but also with an optical-electronic marker seeking positioning and marker point measuring device, hereinafter called automatic marker locating unit (AZE). Such theodolites are capable of moving directly to the marking point and measuring the spatial coordinates. When operating perfectly, the time saved with such automated instruments is substantial. If, in addition, the system can be operated through remote control, for example, from the marking point as a one-man station, then the work efficiency and the savings in cost achieved thereby is even greater.
[0009] An essential component of these automated measuring instruments is AZE. Various solutions are known, such as CCD or CMOS cameras with image processing, optical-electronic position-sensitive semiconductor detectors (PSD); 4-quadrant diodes, acoustical-optical beam scanners, etc.
[0010] The primary function of this AZE includes the exact measurement of a reference mark or a reflector precise to the millimeter, over short and long distances, where distances in excess of 1000 m can also be measured. In order to achieve this mm precision, the seeking devices have the disadvantage of a limited sensor site view field. Only in the case of small to medium view fields of a few degrees can point precisions of <5 mm be achieved at 1000 m.
[0011] A substantial disadvantage of a small sensor view field is that the search for the marker is rendered more difficult, since the reference mark to be measured is often outside the view field at the beginning of a measurement. In many applications, especially in the short distance range, which does with a broad angle working field, an expanded sensor view field is advantageous.
[0012] Today, two methods are used in searching for markers. In one method, the sensor seeks the marker independently following a programmed algorithm or procedure; however, this takes time, due to the small field of view. In the second method, the search field is defined by the user, so that marker search proceeds in a more directed manner and takes less time; however, this has the disadvantage that the search field configuration must be reprogrammed every time the position changes.
[0013] A further disadvantage exists in following moved markers. In the case of tangential movements that are too rapid or jerky for the marker guidance of the automatic theodolite, it can occur that the marker leaves the view field of the marker detection device. Even a loss of the marker for a short time can then interfere with an efficient following process.
[0014] Further deficiencies in the case of devices with AZE in the state of technology are also the lack of robustness in the recognition of markers in the case of reflections by foreign markers. Foreign markers are those with a high degree of reflectivity, such as traffic signs. In marker recognition, the identification of the marker to be measured has not to date been satisfactorily solved, since especially the lack of robustness in solar reflections on objects with shiny surfaces has a disadvantageous effect.
[0015] While solar reflections on objects can be recognized with modern equipment, nevertheless the analysis necessary for this takes time, as a result of which the search process comes to a halt at every reflection.
[0016] In the case of rough-search sensors of the state of technology, due to the small sensor view field, the rough marker search requires too much time. The small view field, therefore, has effects that are out of proportion. In the first place, it has a smaller area of coverage of the environment, so that examining the search range requires a longer period of time. Secondly, the coverage must be done with a slower scan speed due to the shorter time that the object remains in the view field. A fan shape for the detection area of the sensors is, in this regard, more suitable, however the view fields, made up of fan angles of typically 1 to 5 degrees, is still much to small.
[0017] From the patent CH 676 042, a device is known with a fan-shaped transmitter and receiver, which is housed in a rotating measuring head. Light pulses are transmitted in a light fan from the transmitter unit; the reflected impulses are correspondingly evaluated with respect to angular information. However, this device has a substantial disadvantage of selecting not only the markers to be measured, but also outside interference objects. Such objects are, among other things, optically reflecting objects such as plate glass windows or traffic signs, and even sunlight reflected from motor vehicles.
[0018] An extension of the above marker search device for the rough determination of the marker coordinates is described in CH 676 041. In this case, a combination with an optical-electronic device is made for fine measurement. The actual marker search device sets up two fans that are perpendicular to each other, with which the location of the marker point is measured roughly. The subsequent fine measurement can then be carried out with the second device without the marker search procedure. The disadvantage of this combination is also the lack of robustness with respect to an erroneous locking in on foreign objects.
[0019] A further device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,800. A motorized theodolite, which is equipped with a sensor to detect the marker point coordinates, is revealed, consisting of one or two fan-shaped transmission bundles and two optical receiver channels. A special characteristic of this device consists of the fact that the optical axes of the transmitting channel and the two receivers lie triaxially in a single plane. This makes it possible to differentiate between normal reflecting and retro reflecting objects in a rotational or searching movement of the theodolite by evaluating the sequence over time of the two signals received. This method of pupil division on the receiver side, however, has the disadvantage that this differentiating characteristic exists only at short distances; in addition, the device is expensive, due to the two receiving channels.
[0020] From patent DE 196 23 060, a geodetic device for rough marker search is also known. This device consists of an optical-electronic vertical angle searcher essentially formed as a scanner. Transmitted and received beams are rotated around a (second) horizontally placed motor-driven axis. The intended result is a great range that is achieved on the basis of the parallel collimated optical bundles; this property is, however, purchased with the disadvantage of the point-type and therefore sequential and time consuming probing of the space. In the search process, the rapid vertically rotating sensor beam is simultaneously rotated slowly in the horizontal direction. A further disadvantage is the need for a supplementary angle measuring system on the scanner axis for the rough determination of the vertical angle. On the other hand, if the space were searched with a fan-shaped optical measuring bundle, then only a one-dimensional rotational movement around an axis would be necessary.
[0021] A substantial disadvantage of all previously known devices is the insufficient robustness against strongly reflecting foreign objects that can be mistakenly interpreted as marker objects, as well as interference with or at least the delay of the search process as a result of bright sunlight or reflections of the sun.
[0022] In most cases, the search process is supported manually through voice radio or data radio. In the device described in document DE 197 334 91, an additional optical receiving unit attached to the market object is used to check whether the search beam of the theodolite is hitting the marker object. If the corresponding search signal is being received, then the marker object reports its identification to the theodolite using data radio. This solution, while robust, affects the ergonomics at the marker object.
[0023] The problems to be solved by this invention consist of an improvement of the sensor devices defined above.
[0024] In this regard, one problem consists of providing a geodetic measuring device for the rough search of the marker, which is suitable for locating and identifying, as rapidly as possible, marker objects and determining rough coordinates, and which has a shorter searching time with a range of up to 1000 m. The speed of the search for the marker is a main problem, since it demands a large sensor viewing field, which can be achieved by a corresponding wide fan angle. As fan angles become larger, however, the range decreases. The problem to be solved by the invention is therefore to achieve the range of geodetic applications and simultaneously a high search speed.
[0025] A further problem consists of making possible a search process that is robust against foreign light and self-reflection at foreign markers. The search process, at the same time, cannot be delayed or interrupted by foreign markers with a high degree of reflection or by items with solar reflections. At the same time, the problem includes the simultaneous identification of the marker objects to be measured on the basis of suitable identification characteristics, even during the search process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0026] These problems are solved in accordance with the present invention. This invention substantially concerns an optical-electronic marker search device consisting of a fan-shaped transmitting channel that irradiates the marker to be located, a fan-shaped receiving channel that receives light reflected from the marker object, a motorized measuring device, for example, a theodolite, which moves around one of the two axes during the search process, at least one electronic evaluating unit to determine the rough location of the marker point, signal strength of the reflected signal, the width of the marker object in the scanning direction, and the distance to the marker object. Optically, the duration of the reflected optical signal can also be determined.
[0027] Both the planes of the two optical-electronic light fans and the axis of rotation of the theodolite (=scanning axis for the search procedure) are oriented parallel to each other. In the following, the concepts of the horizontal and vertical motion are to be understood in such a manner that the corresponding components and a corresponding movement are present in a movement. A horizontal movement of the transmitter unit can therefore especially also be achieved by a movement tilted toward the horizon.
[0028] A powerful and sensorily sensitive running time measuring device serves as a marker search device. Suitable running time meters with pulse modulation have a great range and a short measuring time. The attainable optical transmission powered with pulse laser diodes only millimeters in size is over 100 Watts. This makes it possible to achieve the range required for geodetic applications even with fan-shaped spreading of the transmitted beam. During a search run, the running time meter is operated in the continuously measuring mode. In this regard, the transmitter sends out optical impulses at a rate in the kHz range. Since the device is run in the single-shot evaluation process, information concerning the scanned environment is available in the nanosecond to microsecond range. The pulses received are probed with a rapid AD converter, which provides an intensity image of the environment. At the same time, the pulses probed can, for example, be stored in a 2D memory and evaluated later or a first analysis may be made soon and the further evaluation based on these first results which, for example, can be a bringing together or concatenation of the pulses.
[0029] The dimensioning of the optical transmitting fan is done in such a manner that it covers the environment typically to be measured in the vertical direction. The divergence in the direction perpendicular to the fan is preferably narrow, limited by diffraction.
[0030] A search with a device in accordance with the invention provides, as an output, an intensity image of the environment searched. The two-dimensional intensity image can be evaluated after the scan is completed or even simultaneously or soon after the recording. Possible results of such an evaluation can be, for example intensity maxima of any marker objects, a time for finding the marker or the equivalent angles to the marker object, or the distance to the marker object.
[0031] The robustness vis-à-vis solar reflecting surfaces and reflecting distant markers is improved or attained only by using the invention. Due to the strong laser pulse, solar reflecting surfaces are not visible in the two-dimension intensity image for two reasons. First of all, the laser radiation of the transmitters is of a narrow spectrum and a comparatively narrow interference filter in the reception process blocks the sunlight to a great extent. Secondly, the pulse lasers generate strong light flashes whose density of radiation is greater than that of solar reflections. Robustness against solar reflective surfaces is thereby achieved.
[0032] The necessary robustness against foreign or interference markers is more difficult to achieve. At first, in the two-dimensional intensity image, in addition to the actual marker object to be located, there often appear further optically reflecting objects.
[0033] In the near range under 10 m, the problem can be solved by a special biaxial arrangement of the two optical fans. Transmitter and receiver are biaxially next to each other, where the sideward displacement is perpendicular to the fans. The view fields of the transmitter and receiver do not overlap below 10 m as a result. Single reflecting objects, such as mirrors, are not seen in this distance range by the receiver, only retro reflecting marker objects with a sideward displacement of the reflected beam such as, for example, the triple prisms common to measuring work generate a measurable received signal. As a result of this, the robustness below 10 m is solved by the biaxial arrangement.
[0034] At all other distances, the real marker objects must be identified from the objects included in the two-dimensional intensity image in accordance with the invention.
[0035] Any marker object generates both a characteristic signal process and a characteristic width as a function of the distance. The identification of marker objects is therefore possible using two distance-related measurement curves. For the object distance measured in each case, the width of the object and the signal strength are checked to determine whether they are within the tolerance range of the marker object sought. Depending on concrete marking parameters and measuring conditions, it may be sufficient to perform only a comparison with respect to a limit value, for example, a comparison with the lower limit value with respect to the signal and with the upper limit value with respect to the object size.
[0036] If, during a scan, a reflected object is irradiated, then the signal and the object width are continuously compared to the tolerance values loaded. As soon as the transmitter fan has completely covered an object and all measured values lie within the tolerance limits, a marker object is identified and found. Depending upon application, the search process is stopped at the point or the coordinates, optionally along with parameters such as signal and width, are stored and the search process is continued without interrupting the scan so that further marker objects can be sought and found.
[0037] The case, which is entirely possible, that at certain fan settings multiple marker objects occur simultaneously at different distances can be handled without a problem on the basis of distance measurements.
[0038] In many applications, immediately after the instrument setup, the entire environment is scanned. This generates a two-dimensional intensity image, which contains all strongly reflecting objects. The coordinates of the irrelevant market objects, such as interference and foreign markers, are calculated and stored. With the knowledge of the coordinates of all interfering objects and foreign markers, these can be blocked out of further search runs. As a result, this makes it possible to save additional searching time, since the objects irrelevant to the measuring task no longer exist from a sensory point of view.
[0039] When a marker object is found, the distance and one direction coordinate are known. Next, the second spatial direction is measured. This is achieved according to the known search procedure with the automated marker locating unit (AZE) present in the theodolite. The AZE search and measurement procedure is very efficient and rapid in this case, since only 1-dimensional movement or travel is necessary. The combination of the two devices results in a further advantage. Since the AZE measures the position of the marker object precisely to angular seconds, at the end of the AZE search and measurement process the marker point coordinates are known not only roughly, but with geodetic precision in the millimeter to sub-millimeter range.
[0040] The combination of the marker search device with an automatic marker locating unit (AZE), in accordance with the present invention, makes possible the complete and mm-precise determination of the 3D coordinates of marker objects.
[0041] An essential property of the process and the device in accordance with the invention is the speed of the search process. A complicating factor lies in the large signal dynamic resulting from the geodetic distance range.
[0042] In a device according to the invention, this problem is supported or solved by measures taken on the transmitter side. The high signal dynamic can be allowed for by transmitting multiple laser pulses of differing intensity. The signal dynamic is thereby divided onto transmitter and receiver. In the short-distance range, the receiver evaluates the weak pulses with lower amplitude in the long-distance range, the strong pulses with higher amplitude.
[0043] A suitable application of the device in accordance with the invention is represented by modular integration in a motorized theodolite with automatic marker locating unit (AZE) according to patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,606.
[0044] The process according to the invention as well as a device according to the invention and a geodetic measuring device according to the invention are described in greater detail in the following, on the basis of the sample embodiments schematically represented in the drawing, purely as an example.
[0045] The features and advantages described in the specification are not all inclusive, and particularly, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification and claims hereof. Moreover, it. should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter, resort to the claims being necessary to determine such inventive subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0046] [0046]FIGS. 1 a - b are representations of the principles of two embodiments of the process and device of the present invention, with vertical fans and single as well as double pulse modulation.
[0047] [0047]FIG. 2 is an extract from a two-dimensional intensity image of a marker object for a process in accordance with the present invention.
[0048] [0048]FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the application of a plausibility band (tolerance value table) for signal amplitude.
[0049] [0049]FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the use of a plausibility band (tolerance value table) for the apparent size of the object (object width).
[0050] [0050]FIGS. 5 a - b are representations of the differing conditions for the biaxial property of the transmitting unit and receiving unit for the transmitted beam that is preferably limited in diffraction with a retro reflector and with a singly reflecting object.
[0051] [0051]FIGS. 6 a - c are representations of various embodiments of the receiver unit according to the present invention, with a structured fan, a horizontal fan tuft, and a two-dimensionally structured view field.
[0052] [0052]FIGS. 7 a - b are perspective representations of an automated geodetic measuring device according to the invention, and the combination of the search process with AZE.
[0053] [0053]FIG. 8 is a block schematic as an example for a circuit-side embodiment of the device according to the present invention.
[0054] [0054]FIG. 9 is a perspective representation of the geodetic measuring system in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0055] The drawings depict various preferred embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
[0056] [0056]FIGS. 1 a - b show two possible embodiments of a device in accordance with the present invention to carry out the procedure according to the invention.
[0057] In FIG. 1 a, a pulse laser diode 1 a is a transmitter diode with pulse modulation that generates electromagnetic radiation with pulses P 1 as a signal. A suitable pulse duration is, for example, 50 nanoseconds. The strong signals generated thereby with optical powers in the Watt range are robust against foreign light reflections. Even sunlit reflective surfaces are therefore weaker than the signal pulse received.
[0058] The radiation generated is emitted in a vertically oriented fan, which on the side of the device is generated by a combination of a lens 1 b and a cylindrical lens array 1 c. Alternatively, however, any other suitable components can be used, such as, for example, micro lens arrays or diffractive optical elements. After the emission and a reflection by a marker, which, for example, includes a retro reflector 2 a as an example for a suitable reflector, reflective pulse P 2 is again received by the device.
[0059] In this regard, on the receiver side, the fan-shaped view field is achieved by means of a slit aperture 4 a before a receiver diode as a photosensitive element 4 b, together with an objective 3 with cylindrical effect.
[0060] In the second embodiment represented in FIG. 1 b, on the side of the device in the transmitter unit 1 , the same components of pulse laser diode 1 a, lens 1 b and cylinder lens array 1 c are used. However, now, as an example, two laser pulses with differing intensities are transmitted. Here, also, the pulse rate is in the kHz range. The radiation emitted now has a pulse P 11 with a higher maximum pulse height and a pulse P 12 with a lower maximum pulse height, which follow each other sequentially, and thus, in this embodiment, represent a double pulse.
[0061] After reflection from the marker, which again has a reflector 2 a , the reflected pulses P 21 and P 22 are detected by the receiver unit. This again consists of an objective 3 with cylindrical effect and a slit aperture 4 a before a receiver diode as a photosensitive element 4 b.
[0062] Upon reception of the pulses of different intensity, the pulse that lies in the receiving dynamic range of the receiver is evaluated. In this example, for a shorter measuring distance whose limit, for example, may be 20 m, the reflected pulse P 22 with the lower pulse height is used, and for a greater measuring distance, the reflected pulse P 21 with the higher pulse height is used.
[0063] [0063]FIG. 2 shows schematically a section of a two-dimensional intensity image with a marker object. The individual signal pulses 5 detected by the receiver are detected as a function of the time of their emission, with time triggered probing. At each laser pulse, a further signal track is created in the intensity image, along the distance axis. With time triggered probing, assignment is made with respect to distance and the emission times determine the horizontal angle associated with the signal track.
[0064] Now, by analyzing the detected progress of the signal strengths, objects can be identified in the two-dimensional intensity image and their object width and distance measured. Markers and foreign markers or interference effects are differentiated through a plausibility test.
[0065] [0065]FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show schematically the performance of such a plausibility test for the recognition of markers. The basis of the plausibility test is the signal distance model and the object width distance model (tolerance value tables). The object width or object extension is calculated on the basis of the product of the number of pulses and angular speed. Additionally, it is possible to take into account or calculate the reflectivity of the marker.
[0066] The object extension is an important recognition characteristic, since traffic signs always have greater reflective surface than the actual markers. An individual, specific tolerance value table can be kept for these object-specific characteristics for each marker type. At the same time, freely selectable tolerance value tables can be used for special user-specific markers. Also, alternative or supplementary plausibility tests based on other criteria can be performed. For example, where appropriate, spectrally different reflectivity of different objects can be analyzed.
[0067] [0067]FIG. 3 shows an example of a plausibility test with respect to the signal amplitude using a plausibility band (tolerance value table). The plausibility test is performed by testing whether a measured value of a marker lies within a plausibility band which is defined in each case by a lower tolerance limit 8 a and an upper tolerance limit 8 b. The theoretical curve of all values of a marker is then represented by the distance-dependent profile 7 a. For example, if a value for a foreign marker should lie on its profile, such as, for example, the profile 6 a of a traffic sign, and therefore outside the plausibility band, it therefore would be identified as a foreign marker.
[0068] Depending upon the concrete situation, such as, for example, the characteristic of the marker and of the possible foreign marker, it can be sufficient to work with only one tolerance limit, if this assures a safe division of the marker and foreign markers.
[0069] Another procedure for plausibility checking with regard to the apparent object size, again using a plausibility band (tolerance value table), is represented in FIG. 4. What is represented is a tolerance value table that contains the apparent object width in time units, with a logarithmic scale in the case of a horizontal scan of the measuring device for the different distances, in which a marker-may be found. A measured apparent extension for a marker for which again the theoretical profile 7 b is represented reflects the apparent extension in the horizontal direction. Here also, a test is made as to whether the measured value is within the plausibility band defined by the lower tolerance limit 8 c and the upper tolerance limit 8 d.
[0070] A value for a foreign marker width, for example, would lie near its theoretical profile 6 b and therefore outside the plausibility band.
[0071] [0071]FIGS. 5 a - b show the conditions in the reflection of the pulse emitted at a retro reflector, as compared to the reflection from a foreign marker for the short range.
[0072] [0072]FIG. 5 a shows a schematic representation of the reflection from a retro reflector 2 a at short range. The view fields of the transmitter unit 1 and the receiver unit that contains objective 3 and detector 4 are placed biaxially so that they do not overlap in the near range below 5 m and as a result are robust against foreign objects without retro reflection. The radiation from the transmitter unit 1 is reflected by the retro reflector 2 a with a parallel offset and therefore can be received in the axis defined by the objective 3 and the detector 4 of the receiving unit.
[0073] The situation that deviates from this in the case of reflection from a foreign marker 2 b is shown in FIG. 5 b. The foreigner marker does not lead to a parallel offset of the radiation emitted by the transmitter unit 1 , so that it cannot be received in the axis defined by the objective 3 and the detector 4 . A biaxial placement of the view fields of the transmitter unit 1 and the receiver unit therefore makes it possible to suppress the detection of foreign markers for the short range.
[0074] In order to shorten the search time still further, multiple embodiment forms are possible on the receiver side. The fan-shaped view field can be subdivided into multiple sectors; alternatively multiple fans next to each other can be used. FIGS. 6 a - c therefore show alternative embodiments of a receiver unit according to the invention, with structured fans, a horizontal fan tuft, and a two-dimensionally structured view field. In all examples, the sensor fan is divided into segments on the receiver side. As a result, a rough spatial position determination is possible in the fan direction as well.
[0075] [0075]FIG. 6 a shows the structuring of the fan of the receiver unit. The radiation emitted by the transmitter unit 1 and reflected from a retro reflector 2 a is now received by means of a subdivision of the receiving fan, with additional location information. This subdivision of the fan 9 a into multiple sectors can be achieved by means of a slit aperture 11 a at the first focal point of the cylindrical receiver optics. In the embodiment represented in FIG. 6 a, a switchable slit aperture can be used in which optionally the transmission from the relevant slit can be changed. The photosensitive element 12 a is placed in the area of the second focal level in order to cover the view field of the receiver optics 10 in the spatial direction perpendicular to the fan with high transmission. The slit aperture 11 a divides the receiving fan into, for example, three sectors, which makes possible a rough positioning, even in the vertical direction. The radiation coming from the retro reflector 2 a passes through the central opening of the slit aperture 11 a in the example represented, so that a rough estimate of the angle range in the vertical direction can be made.
[0076] A different embodiment of the receiver unit, according to the invention, with multiple fans, is shown in FIG. 6 b. The generation of multiple receiving fans placed next to each other as a fan tuft 9 b is done by using a structured photosensitive receiving surface 12 b at the second focal level, especially in connection with a slit aperture 11 b structured in the same arrangement. This subdivision of the photosensitive receiving surface 12 b, for example in a linear array of photo detectors, thereby generates a tuft (cluster) of search fans placed next to each other. As an example, three fans are represented here; a different number of fans can be achieved through the choice of a suitable subdivision. Thus, especially tufts (clusters) with two or four fans can be achieved The central fan of this example, which is parallel to the transmission axis, reacts to the retro reflector 2 a , the fan turned toward the transmitter axis reacts to objects with single reflections, the third fan reacts only to sunlight reflections. A structured photosensitive receiving surface 12 b therefore increases the certainty of correct identification of reflective objects.
[0077] A receiver unit according to the invention with two-dimensional structuring of the view field is represented in FIG. 6 c. Through the combination of two structured PIN diodes, whose structuring alignment in the right-hand angle is oriented toward each other, the view field can be subdivided two-dimensionally. The radiation detected by the receiving optics 10 with its view field is fed through a beam splitter 13 onto two different detectors. The first detector consists of a vertically structured photosensitive receiving surface 12 b and a corresponding slit aperture 11 b in the second focal plane. The second detector consists of a horizontally structured receiving surface 12 c with associated slit aperture 11 c in the first focal plane. As a result of this structuring oriented perpendicularly toward each other, the view field is divided horizontally and vertically, so that from this a tuft (cluster) of restructured fans results. In this example, with two PIN diodes lying side by side, retro reflection and the usual mirror reflection can be received with supplementary directional information and therefore can be differentiated.
[0078] All suitable forms of location-sensitive detectors such as, for example, receiving diodes or receiving diode arrays or PSD's may be used as the described photosensitive elements 12 a and receiving surfaces 12 b and 12 c.
[0079] The combination of a device 15 according to the invention, with an AZE system 16 , is represented together with the schematic progress of the process in FIGS. 7 a - b.
[0080] [0080]FIG. 7 a shows the structural integration of a device 15 according to the invention and an AZE system in a geodetic measuring device 14 . In this, the device 15 supplements the AZE system 16 already present in a theodolite as a geodetic measuring device 14 . The emission for the recognition of a retro reflector 2 a as a marker by the device 15 according to the invention and the AZE system 16 takes place essentially parallel to each other in this example.
[0081] [0081]FIG. 7 b shows the combination of both search processes schematically. The device 15 in accordance with the invention carries out a rapid area scan with a vertical fan 17 to determine the horizontal angle of a marker. In a short time (a few seconds), a retro reflector 2 a as a marker is found and its placement determined roughly. The measuring data of the device 15 according to the invention can be forwarded for support to other sensors in the geodetic measuring device, thus, for example, to an AZE system 16 . This AZE system 16 thereafter searches with its fan 18 also for the retro reflector 2 a and therefore also determines the vertical angle. If the channels are separated from other optical sensors by means of suitable optical carrier wave lengths, then multiple sensors can be used simultaneously in the geodetic measuring device or multiple geodetic measuring devices can be used.
[0082] [0082]FIG. 8 shows a block diagram for a device in accordance with the invention. A system clock A, which is connected to the image memory I, the electronic evaluation unit C, the control and signal processing unit B, the analog-digital converter H and the laser driver and controller E, serves as a common time base. The laser F emits radiation, which is sent to a retro reflector through beam-shaping optics 19 . After reflection, this beam is received and fed through an image-forming mask 20 to the detector G. The signal of this detector G is converted by the analog-digital converter H and processed further in the electronic evaluation unit C. This is connected to the control and processing unit B, the image memory I and the tolerance value tables J for all possible mark types. Through an interface, it is possible to connect to another system D, for example, a geodetic measuring device or the evaluation unit of a rotating device.
[0083] In FIG. 9, a geodetic measuring system according to the invention, with automatic marker recognition using a bar code pattern on the marker, is shown. On a rod 21 of a marker, in addition to the marker, which here, as an example, is represented as a retro reflector 2 a , there is additionally a coded marker board 22 . The coding consists of optically strongly reflective strips that can be scanned sequentially in a search run. The vertical fan 17 illuminates a sufficiently large vertical angle, so that a parallel illumination and detection of the marker board 22 and the retro reflector 2 a is possible. The signal received by the search sensor is amplitude modulated over time, so that the code of the marker board is transformed into a time sequence. As a result, it is possible to very rapidly search for the marker and identify the marker. Using a coordinate database, certain markers, as well as interfering objects, can be blanked out. Such points are not addressed. In the evaluation of the corresponding data image, the coded information from the marker board is also present, in addition to the object distance and object size.
[0084] It is understood that the figures represent one of many embodiments and an expert can derive alternative embodiments, for example, using other means for emission and reception of electromagnetic radiation or for signal detection or signal processing.
[0085] The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary methods and embodiments of the present invention. As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
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In geodetic measuring systems and measuring devices ( 14 ) there exists a need to find and detect, rapidly and automatically, marker points to be measured that are provided with a marker (retro reflector) ( 2 a ). For the rapid detection, identification and determination of the horizontal angles of such a marker, even at greater distances, electromagnetic radiation in the form of a vertical fan ( 17 ) is transmitted by a transmitter unit ( 1 ) whose radiation is received, after reflection from the marker, by a receiving unit with a view field in the form of a vertical fan. By analyzing the signal strength and the apparent object size, a plausibility test and a reliable suppression of foreign or interference markers can be achieved. Such a marker searching device is marked by a selective analysis of specific characteristics of a marker detected. On the basis of the plausibility test, a rapid, certain and robust location of markers is possible.
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CLAIM FOR PRIORITY
The present application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT application number PCT/CN2010/077826, having an international filing date of Oct. 18, 2010, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200910236061.7, filed on Oct. 19, 2009, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND
An FCoE technique is a technique that operates a Fibre Channel (FC) protocol family based on Ethernet. In an FCoE system, an Ethernet node (ENode) such as a server, a storage device and the like, is connected to an Ethernet interface of an FCoE Forwarder (FCF), which in turn is connected to an FC network via an FC interface of the FCF.
Specifically, referring to FIG. 1 , between each ENode and an FCF connected thereto, there is not only a physical link between Ethernet interfaces in an Ethernet layer, but also a virtual logic link between a Virtual Node (VN) port and a Virtual Fibre Channel (VFC) port in an FC layer, which is called a virtual link for short, namely, a logic connection formed by the VN port→the Ethernet interface of the ENode→the Ethernet interface of the FCF→the VFC port.
Referring to FIG. 2 , a process of virtual link discovery between an ENode and an FCF may be realized through FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) messages, which specifically comprises the following operations.
Block 201 : the ENode sends, via its VN port, an FIP Discovery Solicitation message to a VFC port of an FCF that has the highest priority or whose forwarder name has the largest value among all of the FCFs.
Block 202 : the FCF checks an address mode of the ENode.
Block 203 : the FCF returns, via its VFC port, an FIP Discovery Advertisement message to the VN port of the ENode after the address mode check of the ENode is passed.
Block 204 : the ENode checks a maximum size (MAX size) of the Discovery Advertisement message and obtains a physical (MAC) address of the FCF.
Block 205 : the ENode sends, via its VN port, a Virtual Link Instantiation Request message carrying a Fabric Login (FLOGI) message to the VFC port of the FCF after the MAX size check is passed.
Block 206 : the FCF activates the VFC port according to the FLOGI message carried in the Virtual Link Instantiation Request message.
Block 207 : the FCF determines whether a login of the VN port of the ENode is allowed, and replies a Virtual Link Instantiation Reply message carrying a login response (LS_ACC) message to the VN port of the ENode if the login of the VN port of the ENode is allowed.
Block 208 : the ENode activates the VN port that has logged into the VFC port of the FCF according to the LS_ACC message carried in the Virtual Link Instantiation Reply message, so that a virtual link between this VN port and the VFC port of the FCF is established.
So far, the process of virtual link discovery ends.
Thus, in addition to having such advantages as I/O integration and network uniformity, the FCoE system based on virtual links can change an FC network topology substantively by arbitrarily establishing different virtual links between FCFs and ENodes.
Referring to FIG. 3 , suppose that there are two FCFs and four ENodes, virtual links (as shown by solid lines in FIG. 3 ) are established between each of ENodes 1 - 4 and FCF 1 according to the process shown in FIG. 2 , and ENodes 1 - 4 access an FC network through the virtual links to FCF 1 . When a fault occurs in FCF 1 , ENodes 1 - 4 may switch to F CF 2 serving as a backup and establish virtual links to FCF 2 (as shown by dashed lines in FIG. 3 ), and may access the FC network again through the virtual links to FCF 2 , so that link backup for the FC network topology is realized and hence network reliability is improved.
However, in the existing networking ways by which the link backup for the FC network topology is realized, all the ENodes will access the same FCF that has the highest priority or whose forwarder name has the largest value upon discovery of a virtual link according to the process shown in FIG. 2 . That is, in block 201 , all the ENodes may only send the Discovery Solicitation messages to the same specified FCF that has the highest priority or whose forwarder name has the largest value according to such predefined information as the priority of the FCF or the forwarder name. As a result, all the ENodes access the same FCF, such as FCF 1 in FIG. 3 , while other FCFs serving as backups, such as FCF 2 in FIG. 3 , may remain in an idle state for a long time.
In this case, the FCF that all the ENodes access may have message congestion, while the resources of the FCFs serving as backups are. Furthermore, during the switching to the backup, each of the ENodes has to perform the process of virtual link discovery as shown in FIG. 2 , so that an efficiency of switching the virtual links is low.
SUMMARY
In view of the above, the present disclosure discloses a control method of virtual link discovery in an FCoE system as well as an FCoE system, which may reduce message congestion and increase resource utilization rate.
A control method of virtual link discovery in an FCoE system disclosed in the present disclosure is applied between Ethernet Nodes (ENodes) and FCoE Forwarders (FCFs), wherein some of the ENodes and the FCFs are allocated to different virtual networks, a Virtual Node VN port of each ENode and a Virtual Fibre Channel VFC port of each FCF are provided respectively with a Virtual Network Identification (VN ID) of a virtual network to which they belong, and the control method comprises the following operations:
a1: an ENode sending, via its VN port, an FCoE Initialization Protocol FIP Discovery Solicitation message to the VFC port of each FCF, the FIP Discovery Solicitation message carrying the VN ID of the VN port;
a2: the ENode receiving, via its VN port, an FIP Discovery Advertisement message replied by the VFC port of each. FCF, the FIP Discovery Advertisement message carrying the VN ID of the VFC port;
a3: the ENode matching the VN ID of its VN port with the VN ID carried in each of the FIP Discovery Advertisement messages, and logging into the VFC port corresponding to the matched VN ID in preference, so that a virtual link is established between the VN port of the ENode and the VFC port.
Block a2 further comprises adding, by the ENode, all of the FCFs that reply the FIP Discovery Advertisement message, to an accessible FCF list the ENode has maintained.
After block a3, there is a further operation of re-initiating, by the ENode, a login of the VN port to a VFC port of any FCF in the accessible FCF list the ENode has maintained when a fault occurs in an FCF where a VFC port connected to the VN port of the ENode is located.
Block a1 further comprises triggering a timer corresponding to the VN port, which represents a collection time.
The method further comprises, when timing of the timer expires, ending block a2 and performing block a3.
All types of FIP messages, including the FIP Discovery Solicitation message and the FIP Discovery Advertisement message, carry the VN ID in a reserved field of their message header.
Block a3 further comprises, when there is no matched VN ID, initiating a login to a VFC port whose default value indicates that the reserved field does not carry anything.
A further control method of virtual link discovery in an FCoE system disclosed in the present disclosure is applied between Ethernet Nodes (ENodes) and FCoE Forwarders (FCFs), wherein some of the ENodes and the FCFs are allocated to different virtual networks, a Virtual Node VN port of each ENode and a Virtual Fibre Channel VFC port of each FCF are provided respectively with a Virtual Network Identification VN ID of a virtual network to which they belong, and the control method comprises the following operations:
b1: an FCF receiving, via its VFC port, an FCoE initialization Protocol FIP Discovery Solicitation message sent by the VN port of each ENode, the FIP Discovery Solicitation message carrying the VN ID of the VN port;
b2: the FCF replying, via its VFC port, an FIP Discovery Advertisement message to the VN port of each ENode, the FIP Discovery Advertisement message carrying the VN ID of the VFC port so that an ENode belonging to the same virtual network as the FCF logs into the VFC port of the FCF in preference and a virtual link is established between a VN port of the ENode and the VFC port.
All types of FIP messages, including the FIP Discovery Solicitation message and the FIP Discovery Advertisement message, carry the VN ID in a reserved field of their message header.
An FCoE system disclosed in the present disclosure comprises Ethernet Nodes (ENodes) having Virtual Node (VN) ports and FCoE Forwarders (FCFs) having Virtual Fibre Channel VFC ports,
some of the ENodes and the FCFs being allocated to different virtual networks, a VN port and a VFC port of each ENode and each FCF belonging to each virtual network are provided respectively with a Virtual Network Identification VN ID of the virtual network;
each ENode sending an FCoE Initialization Protocol FIP Discovery Solicitation message to the VFC port of each FCF and receiving an FIP Discovery Advertisement message replied by the VFC port of each FCF via its VN port, the FIP Discovery Solicitation message carrying the VN ID of the VN port, the FIP Discovery Advertisement message carrying the VN ID of the corresponding VFC port; matching the VN ID of its VN port with the VN ID carried in each of the FIP Discovery Advertisement messages, and logging into the VFC port corresponding to the matched VN ID in preference, so that a virtual link is established between the VN port of the ENode and the VFC port;
each FCF receiving the FIP Discovery Solicitation message sent by the VN port of each ENode and replying the FIP Discovery Advertisement message to the VN port of each ENode via its VFC port, the FIP Discovery Advertisement message carrying the VN ID of the VFC port.
Each ENode is further used for adding all of the FCFs that reply the FIP Discovery Advertisement message to an accessible FCF list the ENode has maintained, so that a login can be initiated to a VFC port of any FCF in the accessible FCF list when a fault occurs in an FCF where a VFC port connected to the VN port of the ENode is located.
Each ENode is further used for triggering a timer corresponding to its VN port that represents a collection time when sending the Discovery Solicitation message via its VN port, and starting to perform the matching when timing of the timer expires.
All types of FIP messages including the FIP Discovery Solicitation message and the FIP Discovery Advertisement message carry the VN ID in a reserved field of their message header.
Each ENode is further used for initiating a login to a VFC port whose VN ID value is a default value indicating that the reserved field does not carry anything when there is no matched VN ID.
It can be seen from the above that the present disclosure allocates some of the ENodes and the FCFs to different virtual networks during networking, so that VN ports and VFC ports of some of the ENodes and the FCFs belong to different virtual networks and have VN IDs of the virtual networks to which they belong. In this way, the VN ports of the ENodes exchange the VN IDs with the VFC ports of FCFs, so that the VN port of each ENode may establish a virtual link with a VFC port belonging to the same VN in preference. In this case, some ENodes access FCFs that belong to the same virtual network as the ENodes, thereby avoiding accessing the same FCF at the same time by all the ENodes. Hence, a possibility of message congestion in FCF is reduced, and a possibility of resource waste due to long idling time of one or more FCFs is also reduced.
As a further alternative, the ENode may add all of the FCFs replying the FIP Discovery Advertisement message to the accessible FCF list the ENode has maintained. Thus, when a fault occurs in an FCF where a VFC port connected to the VN port of the ENode is located, in order to switch to other FCFs to realize backup, the ENode may directly initiate a VN port login to a VFC port of any FCF in the accessible FCF list it has maintained, thereby avoiding a repetitive exchange of the Discovery Solicitation message and the Discovery Advertisement message with other FCFs serving as backups and hence increasing an efficiency of the switching to the backup.
In addition, examples of the present disclosure may carry the VN ID using the reserved field in the message headers of all FIP messages in an FIP protocol family. Moreover, for an ENode and an FCF that do not support a virtual network, values of VN IDs of a VN port and a VFC port of the ENode and the FCF may take a default value of 0, indicating that the reserved fields do not carry anything, thereby improving compatibility of the present disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a virtual link in an existing FCoE system;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a process of virtual link discovery in an existing FCoE system;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example for realizing link backup for an FC network topology in an existing FCoE system;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a process of virtual link discovery in an FCoE system according to an example of the present disclosure; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example for realizing link backup for an FC network topology in an FCoE system according to an example of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present disclosure is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with examples so as to make objects and technical solutions thereof clearer.
In an example of the present disclosure, some ENodes and FCFs are allocated to different virtual networks during networking, so that some VN ports belong to virtual networks of the ENodes where they are located and have virtual network IDs (VN IDs) of the virtual networks, and some VFC ports belong to virtual networks of the FCFs where they are located and have VN IDs of the virtual networks. Moreover, a VN port of an ENode may exchange VN IDs with VFC ports of a plurality of FCFs and can preferentially establish virtual links with VFC ports that belong to the same virtual network.
In this case, for the VN port and the VFC port belonging to the same virtual network, their respective ENode and FCF must belong to the same virtual network. Hence, ENodes in each virtual network can be made to access FCFs in the same virtual network so as to avoid accessing the same FCF at the same time by all the ENodes, which reduces a possibility of message congestion in the FCF. in addition, since FCFs in each virtual network may be accessed by ENodes of the virtual network, a possibility of resource waste caused by long time idling of one or more FCFs can be reduced.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a process of virtual link discovery in an FCoE system according to an example of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4 , a process of interacting, by an ENode, with each FCF it may access is as follows.
Block 401 : the ENode sends, via its VN port, an FIP Discovery Solicitation message to a VFC port of each FCF (only one FCF is shown in FIG. 4 ), and carries a VN ID of the VN port in the FIP Discovery Solicitation message.
That is to say, in addition to the FCF shown in FIG. 4 , the ENode in block 401 may send the FIP Discovery Solicitation message to other FCFs through its VN port. This is different from sending the FIP Discovery Solicitation message only to a VFC port of an FCF that has the highest priority or whose forwarder name has the largest value in the prior art. Thus, this operation may be viewed as a process of detecting its accessible FCFs by the ENode.
Block 402 : the FCF checks an address mode of the ENode.
In a practical application, in addition to the ENode shown in FIG. 4 , the FCF may receive FIP Discovery Solicitation messages sent by other ENodes and check address modes of the other ENodes.
Block 403 : the FCF replies, via its VFC port, an FIP Discovery Advertisement message to the VN port of the ENode after the address mode check of the ENode is passed, and carries a VN ID of the VFC port in the FIP Discovery Advertisement message.
Block 404 : the ENode checks a MAX size of the FIP Discovery Advertisement message replied by a VFC port of each FCF (only one FCF is shown in FIG. 4 ) and obtains a MAC address of the FCF, and then records the VN ID carried in the FIP Discovery Advertisement message.
That is to say, in addition to receiving the FIP Discovery Advertisement message replied by the VFC port of the FCF shown in FIG. 4 , the VN port of the ENode in this operation will receive FIP Discovery Advertisement messages replied by VFC ports of other FCFs at the same time. Thus, this operation may be viewed as a process of collecting the accessible FCFs by the ENode.
In addition, in this operation, the ENode may further add the collected accessible FCFs, i.e. FCFs where VFC ports corresponding to VN IDs carried in the FIP Discovery Advertisement messages are located, to an accessible FCF list the ENode has maintained, so that when a fault occurs in a subsequently connected FCF, any FCF in the accessible FCF list may be used as a backup and a switching to the backup can be realized through initiating a login to a VFC port of the backup FCF. In this case, during the switching to the backup, the processing of block 401 to this block 404 may be skipped to directly initiate a login of the VN port according to the subsequent operations, thereby increasing an efficiency of the switching to the backup.
In a practical application, a timer may be provided for each VN port, which represents a collection time. When sending the Discovery Solicitation message through the VN port in block 401 , the ENode further triggers a timer corresponding to the VN port. The collection performed in this block 404 is ended when timing of the timer expires, and moves to the subsequent step 405 .
Block 405 : the ENode matches the VN ID of its VN port with the VN ID carried in each of the FIP Discovery Advertisement messages the ENode has recorded, and, when there is a matched VN ID, confirms that the VN port belongs to the same VN as a VFC port corresponding to the VN ID, and then performs block 406 .
Block 406 : the ENode sends, via its VN port, an FIP Virtual Link Instantiation Request message carrying an FLOGI message to the VFC port corresponding to the matched VN ID so as to log into the VFC port of the matched VN ID.
Block 407 : the FCF activates the VFC port according to the FLOGI message carried in the FIP Virtual Link Instantiation Request message.
Block 408 : the FCF determines whether the VN port of the ENode is allowed to log in, and replies an FIP Virtual Link Instantiation Reply message carrying an LS_ACC message to the VN port of the ENode if the VN port of the ENode is allowed to log in.
Block 409 : the ENode activates the VN port that has logged into the VFC port so that a virtual link is established between the VN port and the VFC port.
It should be noted again that the processing in blocks 406 - 408 of FIG. 4 concerns only the FCF where one VFC port matching the VN ID is located, while the processing in blocks 401 - 403 of FIG. 4 concerns all the accessible FCFs.
So far, the process of virtual link discovery ends.
In the control method of virtual link discovery in this example, in order to facilitate carrying of the VN ID in the FIP Discovery Solicitation message and the FIP Discovery Advertisement message, preferably, the VN ID is carried in a reserved field in a message header of an FIP protocol family. In this case, after discovery and establishment of a virtual link between the ENode and the FCF, message headers of an FIP Non-Discovery Advertisement message, an FIP Keep Alive (FKA) message, and other various types of FIP messages used during interaction will also carry the VN ID. That is to say, all types of FIP messages in the FIP protocol family will carry the VN ID.
In addition, when allocating the ENodes and the FCFs to different virtual networks, there may be some ENodes and FCFs that do not support a virtual network. Values of VN IDs of VN ports and VFC ports of the ENodes and the FCFs that do not support the virtual network may be set to a default value of 0 indicating that the above-mentioned reserved field does not carry anything. Of course, values of VN IDs of VN ports and VFC ports of ENodes and FCFs that support the virtual network may be a default value of 0 before a they are set.
Thus, if no matched VN ID is found in block 405 , it means that there is no VFC port that belongs to the same virtual network as the VN port. This may be because a fault occurs in the FCF in the same virtual network or because the ENode where the VN port is located does not support the virtual network, or because neither the ENode where the VN port is located nor the FCF in the same virtual network is set. In any regard, the VN port may initiate a login to any VFC port whose VN ID has a default value of 0, so that ENodes and FCFs under all circumstances are compatible.
That is to say, when there are ENodes and FCFs under all circumstances that are to be compatible, the VN ID of the VFC port connected to the VN port via a virtual link may be different from the VN ID previously collected by the VN port.
The above is the detailed description of the control method of virtual link discovery in this example. Now an FCoE system that may realize virtual link discovery in this example will be described in detail.
The FCoE system of this example comprises ENodes having VN ports and FCFs having VFC ports, wherein some of the ENodes and the FCFs are allocated to different virtual networks. Accordingly, a VN port of an ENode belonging to each virtual network has a VN ID of the virtual network, and a VFC port of an FCF belonging to each virtual network has a VN ID of the virtual network.
Each ENode is used for sending, via its VN port, an FIP Discovery Solicitation message to a VFC port of each FCF, instead of sending the FIP Discovery Solicitation message only to an FCF that has the highest priority or whose forwarder name has the largest value. Moreover, in this example, the FIP Discovery Solicitation message sent by the ENode via its VN port also carries the VN ID of the VN port.
Each FCF is used for replying, via its VFC port, an FIP Discovery Advertisement message to the VN port of the ENode after the address mode check of the ENode is passed, and the replied FIP Discovery Advertisement message carries the VN ID of the VFC port.
in addition, each ENode is also used for checking a MAX size of the FIP Discovery Advertisement message replied by the VFC port of each FCF, obtaining a MAC address of the FCF, and then recording the VN ID carried in the FIP Discovery Advertisement message to realize collection of the accessible FCFs, and then matching the VN ID of its VN port with the VN ID carried in each of the recorded FIP Discovery Advertisement messages, and logging into the VFC port corresponding to the matched VN ID in preference by using an FIP Virtual Link Instantiation Request message carrying an FLOGI message, so that a virtual link is established between the VN port of the ENode and the VFC port after the VN port of the ENode receives an FIP Virtual Link Instantiation Reply message carrying an LS_ACC message replied by the VFC port of the FCF after allowing a login of the VN port.
To increase efficiency of the switching to the backup, each ENode may be further used for adding all of the FCFs that reply the FIP Discovery Advertisement message to an accessible FCF list the ENode has maintained, so that a login may be initiated to a VFC port of any FCF in the accessible FCF list when a fault occurs in an FCF where a VFC port connected to its VN port is located. Moreover, in order to control time of collecting the accessible FCFs, each ENode may be further used for, when sending the Discovery Solicitation message via its VN port, triggering a timer corresponding to the VN port, and starting to perform the matching when timing of the timer expires.
In order to facilitate carrying of the VN ID in the FIP Discovery Solicitation message and the FIP Discovery Advertisement message, preferably, the VN ID is carried in a reserved field in a message header of an FIP protocol family. In this case, after discovery and establishment of a virtual link between the ENode and the FCF, message headers of an FIP Non-Discovery Advertisement message, an FIP Keep Alive (FKA) message, and other various types of FIP messages used during interaction will also carry the VN ID. That is to say, all types of FIP messages in the FIP protocol family will carry the VN ID.
In addition, when allocating the ENodes and the FCFs to different virtual networks, there may be some ENodes and FCFs that do not support a virtual network. Values of VN IDs of VN ports and VFC ports of the ENodes and FCFs that do not support the virtual network may be set to a default value of 0 indicating that the above-mentioned reserved field does not carry anything. Of course, values of VN IDs of VN ports and VFC ports of ENodes and FCFs that support the virtual network may be a default value of 0 before they are set. Thus, if no matched VN ID is found by the ENode, it means that there is no VFC port that belongs to the same virtual network as the VN port. This may be because a fault occurs in the FCF in the same virtual network or because the ENode where the VN port is located does not support the virtual network, or because neither the ENode where the VN port is located nor the FCF in the same virtual network is set. In any regard, the ENode may initiate, through the VN port, a login to any VFC port whose VN ID has a default value of 0, so that ENodes and FCFs under all circumstances are compatible. That is to say, when there are ENodes and FCFs under all circumstances that are to be compatible, the VN ID of the VFC port connected to the VN port of the ENode via a virtual link may be different from the VN ID previously collected for the VN port by the ENode.
The technical solution in this example may still realize link backup for the FC network topology by setting different virtual links between FCFs and ENodes. Referring to FIG. 5 , suppose again that there are two FCFs and four ENodes, virtual links (as shown by solid lines between ENodes 1 - 2 and FCF 1 in FIG. 5 ) are established between ENodes 1 - 2 and FCF 1 according to the process shown in FIG. 4 , and ENodes 1 - 2 access an FC network via the virtual links to FCF 1 ; virtual links (as shown by solid lines between ENodes 3 - 4 and FCF 2 in FIG. 5 ) are established between ENodes 3 - 4 and FCF 2 according to the process shown in FIG. 4 , and ENodes 3 - 4 access the FC network via the virtual links to FCF 2 . In this way, neither FCF 1 nor FCF 2 is accessed by all of ENodes 1 - 4 , and neither of them is idle. Compared to the existing mode shown in FIG. 3 , this reduces a possibility of message congestion in an FCF and reduces a possibility of resource waste caused by long time idling of one or more FCFs.
When a fault occurs in FCF 1 , ENodes 1 - 2 may be directly switched to FCF 2 serving as a backup according to the accessible FCF lists they have maintained, and establish virtual links to FCF 2 (as shown by dashed lines between ENodes 1 - 2 and FCF 2 in FIG. 5 ), and access the FC network again through the virtual links to FCF 2 . When a fault occurs in FCF 2 , ENodes 3 - 4 may be directly switched to FCF 1 serving as a backup according to the accessible FCF lists they have maintained, and establish virtual links to FCF 1 (as shown by dashed lines between ENodes 3 - 4 and FCF 1 in FIG. 5 ), and access the FC network again through the virtual links to FCF 2 . Thus, a repetitive exchange of the FIP Discovery Solicitation message and the FIP Discovery Advertisement message as well as such a process as the address mode check may be avoided during the switching, thereby increasing an efficiency of the switching to the backup.
The above are only examples of the present disclosure and are thus not intended to limit a protection scope of the present disclosure. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.
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A control method of virtual link discovery and a system for Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol allocates some Ethernet Nodes (ENodes) and FCoE Forwarders (FCFs) to different virtual networks during networking, and provides a Virtual Node (VN) port of each ENode and a Virtual Fiber Channel (VFC) port of each FCF with a Virtual Network Identification (VN ID) of a virtual network to which they belong. In this way, a VN port of an ENode may establish a virtual link with a VFC port that belongs to the same virtual network in preference, so that some ENodes are made to access FCFs that belong to the same virtual networks as the ENodes.
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This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on German Patent Application No. DE 102004055953.8, which was filed in Germany on Nov. 19, 2004, and on German Patent Application No. DE 102004056797.2-31, which was filed in Germany on Nov. 24, 2004, and which are both herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting data between a base station and at least one remote unit, such as a transponder or remote sensor, with an electromagnetic wave, onto which information packets of different symbols are modulated, wherein the information packets have at least one header section and one data section, wherein the symbols are explicitly defined in the header section of at least one information packet, and wherein in a subsequent data section, data are encoded by means of the symbols and transmitted.
Moreover, the invention relates to a device for transmitting data by means of an electromagnetic wave, onto which information packets of different symbols can be modulated, with a base station and at least one remote unit, such as a transponder or remote sensor, wherein the information packets have at least one header section and one data section, wherein the symbols are explicitly defined in the header section of at least one information packet, and wherein in a subsequent data section, data can be encoded by means of the symbols and transmitted.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, methods for transmitting data between a base station and a remote unit, for example, a transponder or a remote sensor—designated herein together as “tag”—are used in order to perform an identification within a so-called authentification process. The basis for bidirectional data transmission between the tag and base station thereby forms a data protocol or transmission protocol, which specifies the number of information symbols, among other things, for example, the significant values per data bit, and defines the identity of the individual symbols. A corresponding method—particularly related to an advantageous structure of the header section—is the subject of EP 1417631, which corresponds to U.S. Publication No. 2003133435, and which is herein incorporated by reference.
Within the scope of international collaboration in the field of radio frequency identification (RFID), in the past so-called “(minimal) air interfaces” in the form of data protocol interfaces between the tag and base station have been defined, cf. “Specification for an RFID Air Interface, EPCglobal, EPC™ Radio Frequency Identity Protocols, Class-1 Generation-2 UHF RFID, Protocol for Communications at 860 MHz-960 MHz, version 1.0.7” of Sep. 27, 2004, which is abbreviated as EPCglobal. In agreements of the type, it is not subsequently possible to readily extend a once specified protocol in a simple manner with additional commands or the like. Another complicating factor is that in many cases in protocols of the types, code sequences are reserved for later official extensions. Concept considerations for EPCglobal are mentioned here as an example: based on a basic protocol concept (Class 1), other protocol classes (Class 2 and Class 3) with additional functionalities, such as sensor applications or security-relevant applications, are to be developed. For extensions beyond this standard, however, on the basis of the mentioned protocol concept, either so-called customer commands or certain fixed preset code sequences are to be considered, cf. EPCglobal, p. 11.
Such approaches usually do not function in open RFID systems with at least one base station and tags of a different (and variable) type and number, in which different customers are provided with one and the same tag solution. In fact, in such cases, the employed transmission protocol can basically offer customer-specific codes; however, complications arise if a plurality of customers receive, in addition, tags from different manufacturers, because a certain customer-specific command can only address one customer in each case. Especially if several customers each wish to use a customer-specific solution, consequently this can no longer be represented by a single uniform code. For this reason, novel solution mechanisms are required for platform solutions, in which a command code is to be extended cost-effectively or a switch to a modified operating mode (multiprotocol capability), such as full-duplex operation, is to be made possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to, proceeding from an air interface, as is disclosed, for example, in the EPCglobal specification, the further development of a method so that protocol-extending command sequences (designated hereafter together with mode switchings simply as “protocol extensions”) are reliably recognized as such and do not conflict with an existing protocol. A device suitable for carrying out the method of the invention according to an embodiment, moreover, has a high reuse rate of logic circuits present by default, which results in additional cost effectiveness of the solution of the invention.
The object is achieved by a method of the aforementioned type in that in order to change an employed transmission protocol, at least one header section is modified so that in a remote unit, which does not support the changed protocol, an error condition is triggered and this unit thereupon withdraws from communication with the base station. A device of the aforementioned type is made for achieving the object in such a way that the base station for the purpose of changing an employed transmission protocol is set up to modify at least one header section, by which in a remote unit not supporting the changed protocol, an error condition associated with withdrawal from communication with the base station can be triggered. Hence, the sought extension of the instruction set is possible in a simple manner in RFID systems associated with suitable protocol agreements, in that the aforementioned header section is changed by the base station, which recognize the tags—at least as an error in the case when the protocol change is not supported. In particular, the method of the invention can be employed to change the data transmission from the base station to the tag to a full-duplex mode, whereby the tag backscatters the decoded signal so that the base station can rapidly recognize possible errors. It is stipulated in the already mentioned EPCglobal specification that the link is operated only in the half-duplex mode; otherwise, customer-specific commands are necessary, which specifically are to be avoided according to the invention, as a result of which the logic effort can be correspondingly limited.
In conjunction with the protocol switch of the invention, it is moreover possible to interpret certain (standard) commands differently from their standard definition and hence to use them, so to speak, double. Hereby, however, all available memory units and decoding units continue to be used, because the appropriate command word remains unchanged. This circumstances also contributes to the situation that a high reuse rate of the existing circuit logic is achieved.
It is shown in the EPCglobal specification with reference to FIG. 6.4 therein on page 25, which header section structures are used for initializing (FIG. 6.4 top) or for command transmission (FIG. 6.4 bottom) of or in bidirectional RF connections between base station and tag. They correspond to those in the aforementioned EP publication of the same applicant. After a so-called delimiter, a “blank space” of a predefined duration, the indicated header section structures each have a logic data-0 symbol, which may be used to check the header section for plausibility. Because the implementation of such a plausibility check is not stipulated as mandatory, however, on the one hand, within the scope of the present invention, this symbol can be used advantageously to effect a protocol change. Accordingly, the method of the invention in a detailed embodiment is distinguished in that the first symbol of the at least one header section is modified. Preferably, in this regard, the first logic symbol of the at least one header section is changed to its opposite logic symbol; i.e., according to the invention a data-1 forms from a data-0 . On the other hand, because of the nonbinding nature of the plausibility check, the result is also that certain tags may not note a change in the appropriate symbol, because no test occurs in them. A detailed embodiment of the method of the invention, which avoids this possibility with certainty, is described in detail below.
Alternatively, it would also be possible to add after the header section an additional symbol, whose duration in time is much longer than that of the symbol previously used in the header section, so that a protocol detection unit, routinely present in the tag, interprets this as an error, if the tag does not support an appropriate protocol extension. Such a solution, however, has the basic disadvantage that in rapid arbitration routines valuable time is lost due to the transmission of the additional symbol.
A preferred embodiment of the method of the invention provides that the first symbol of the at least one header section is temporarily stored and linked with a subsequent calibration symbol, for example, is compared with respect to time length, to detect the modification of the first symbol. Accordingly, a device of the invention in an embodiment may have a temporary memory unit for a symbol, modified compared with a first protocol, of the at least one header section, a linking unit for the temporarily stored symbol, and a calibration symbol, as well as a determining unit, which is designed to detect the modification of the temporarily stored symbol.
According to the EPCglobal Specification, following the data-0 symbol a calibration symbol RTcal is transmitted, whose length consists additively of the time duration of a data-0 and a data-1, whereby the half value of RTcal is used subsequently as a limiting value for differentiation between data-0 and data-1. In a preferred manner, therefore as taught by the invention, the first symbol of the header section is changed so that in conjunction with the following RTcal definition, for the modified first symbol a logic data-1 results, which is then recognized as such by the tag. To that end, the two named symbols are measured in regard to time according to the aforesaid and compared (linked), whereby the time length of the first symbol—as stated—was at least temporarily stored.
A tag, which supports the appropriate (based on the query manifested in the header section modification by the base station in regard to the following instruction data also necessary) protocol extensions, basically knows at this time that a command from the extended instruction set or a mode switching is to be executed or carried out. Nevertheless, it is necessary here that the tag also checks the length of the first symbol essentially as described. If this is not the case, the appropriate tag is not able to identify the changes in the protocol. For this reason, according to an embodiment, it is provided that during the modification of the at least one header section in a remote unit supporting the changed protocol, a pseudo-data stream of at least one signal pulse is generated, which can be used subsequently for clear differentiation of tags capable of extension from tags not capable of extension. Accordingly, the device of the invention is preferably designed in such a way that one of the remote units supporting the changed protocol during modification of the at least one header section is designed to create a pseudo-data stream of at least one signal pulse.
The pseudo-data stream within the scope of a further embodiment is active during the transmission of the header section by the base station. Present means “active”—that the pseudo-data stream is fed to a suitable unit of the device of the invention and that in so doing a defined change of the critical signal form, relative to the use of a default transmission protocol, occurs. For example, the pseudo-data stream can be fed to a testing unit, such as a CRC register, and there (co-)processed, so that it actively (co-)influences the result of the CRC determination.
The pseudo-data stream, e.g., a signal derived from notch signals routinely transmitted during the header section, is generated and provided during the at least one header section and/or directly after the receipt of a last header section symbol. For its processing, the device may have a circuit unit, which is designed to check a subsequent data section for its validity in accordance with the pseudo-data stream, i.e., that a subsequent data section is checked for its validity in accordance with the pseudo-data stream. The circuit unit for this purpose provides a result, which is used to check the validity of the command transmitted in the data section. The circuit unit, for example, may be a bit counter, which is started by the pseudo-data stream and simply counts the number of the transmitted bits, whereby every command sequence is formed by a specific preknown (and stored) number of bits to be transmitted and optionally test bits, such as parity bits or CRC bits. An appropriate detailed embodiment of the method of the invention provides that a number of data bits to be transmitted in the data section are checked. A command is accordingly regarded as valid, if the code is correct and accordingly the bit count corresponds to the preset definition of the command. If present, the checksum or the like must also be correct.
The aforementioned use of a bit counter can prove to be detrimental in view of cost, because the bit counter is also used for “noncritical” intermediate protocol steps, such as storing of a received command, as a result of which the decoding effort, necessary to detect the additional pulse of the pseudo-data stream, increases, which results in negative consequential costs.
An alternative possibility is to feed the pseudo-data stream produced by the tag to a circuit unit, which is available for the security level of the protocol, for example, a CRC or parity unit, so that a parameter allocated to the data section, such as a CRC or parity datum, is checked. Accordingly, in a device of the invention, the circuit unit is designed to check a parameter allocated to the data section. In this regard, it is achieved by a detailed embodiment of the process that, especially the checking of the parameter, triggers the error condition in the units not supporting the changed protocol.
In a remote unit supporting the changed protocol, an initial datum, a so-called preload value, necessary for checking the parameter, can be set as different from a standard value during modification of the at least one header section. This occurs particularly in that the initial datum necessary for checking the parameter is transmitted from the base station to the remote units, whereby the initial datum is transmitted preferably with the at least one header section. In so doing, the initial datum can be implicitly transmitted in an advantageous manner in that the pseudo-data stream, generated by the corresponding tags in response to the request by the base station, is used to set the initial value. “Implicit setting” in this case means that the base station does not simply set (predefine) a value for the CRC register, but the pseudo-data generated during the header section in the tag are used for this purpose. Alternatively, however, direct setting of the preload value without recourse to a pseudo-data stream is also possible.
A further embodiment provides that the parameter is generated by the base station with consideration of the pseudo-data stream generated in the unit supporting the changed protocol.
The tag thus at the end of the forward transmission can compare the result supplied by the circuit unit with a preknown expected value. In the case of a circuit unit especially made as a CRC unit, the base station and the tag hereby according to the aforesaid should take into account that to determine the CRC value, the start value of the calculation (initial datum) should be changed compared with a standard header section without a protocol extension because of the inserted pseudo-data stream. The start value is expressed as the so-called preload value—as already indicated above—and is preferably set implicitly in the header section for the tag: a reset of the CRC unit occurs after a first clock pulse generated by the tag as a function of symbols of the header section; the following pulses are given to the CRC register and used accordingly to set the preload value. Alternatively, it is possible in this regard to also perform the first reset of the CRC unit with a delimiting symbol (delimiter) introducing the header section. This approach has the advantage that a longer pseudo-data stream can be used.
The following procedure is therefore basically possible, by way of example, in the course of the present invention for the purpose of protocol extension: first, the first symbol of the at least one header section is modified by the base station. Preferably, for this purpose, the first logic symbol of the at least one header section is changed to its opposite logic symbol (data-1 instead of data-0). Next, it is possible to directly set in a simple manner a certain preload value (e.g., EEEEh), different from the standard (e.g., FFFFh for a 16-bit CRC register), which, however, is perhaps less favorable in terms of hardware technology than the subsequently indicated alternative. In view of the hardware effort to be exerted, it can be simpler to set (implicitly) the new preload value as described with utilization of the pseudo-data stream optionally generated by the tag.
After the header section, thus the instruction set is clearly defined in each case. If there is no protocol extension, a new resetting of the CRC unit occurs. Deviation from the CRC value determined by the base station and the tag causes an error message by the tag, which has recognized the CRC error (or accordingly a parity error) and thereupon withdraws from the communication.
If the (pseudo-)data sequence, expected for a certain (extended) instruction is defined beforehand, an optimized Hamming distance, which indicates how reliably the polynomial used in the CRC units is in regard to the reliability of a bit error detection, can be achieved via specific mathematical configuration of the employed unit. The pseudo-data stream can be published, e.g., in the data sheet of the tag or the corresponding IC. With three header section symbols each with a CRC clock pulse, thus 2^3 possible configurations for the pseudo-data stream result.
According to the invention, it is thereby possible to extend a preknown minimal definition for an RFID air interface so that totally new instruction sequences, e.g., a deterministic arbitration command or a “send subcarrier” instruction, or new operating modes, such as a full-duplex mode in the forward and return link, are freely switchable. As the first index for extensions of this type, the header section is changed first with consideration of favorable timing (only minor time prolongations). Next, the absolute differentiability is assured by at least one additional signal pulse, particularly by the processing of the pulse at the communication security level (CRC unit or bit counter), as described previously in detail.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates a device according to an embodiment of the invention with a base station and a passive transponder;
FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating possible signal forms for the case of a default data stream without protocol extension;
FIG. 3 is a timing diagram illustrating a case of a protocol extension with the use of a pseudo-data stream generated by a transponder; and
FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a transmission method of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 depicts a device according to an embodiment of the invention in the form of an arrangement for data transmission from a base station BS and a passive transponder (tag) TA. Hereby, the transponder TA takes its energy P from a carrier wave (not shown) of the base station BS. Systems of this type are used in, for example, the field of motor vehicles, among other fields, the transponder in this example being built into the door key and the base station BS into the automobile. The base station BS can also be integrated into or be a part of a radio telephony device, e.g., a cellular phone, and the transponder TA can also be integrated into other objects, such as, for example, a golf ball, a processor chip, a credit card, etc. The base station BS has an integrated circuit IC 1 , which controls a transmitting and receiving unit SE 1 with a transmitting part SXT 1 and a receiving part RXT 1 . For transmission of data D, the base station BS first transmits a modulated carrier wave (not shown), which is received by the transponder TA by a transmitting and receiving unit SE 2 , which has a receiving part RXT 2 and a transmitting part SXT 2 , and is passed on to a control unit CON for evaluation, whereby the transmitting and receiving part SE 2 , in addition, absorbs the energy P necessary for supplying the transponder TA. The data transmission D occurs bidirectionally also back from the transponder TA to the base station BS (backscatter), for example, in a half- or full-duplex method.
The indicated receiving and transmitting parts each have a suitable antenna unit, such as a dipole antenna or the like. Furthermore, at least the integrated circuit IC 2 comprises a control unit CON and a memory unit SP, in which, for example, the set parameters of a protocol used for data transmission of information packets and optionally certain protocol extensions according to the invention, such as instructions for mode switching, are stored. A corresponding memory unit (not shown) is also contained in an advantageous manner in the integrated circuit IC 1 of the base station BS. Moreover, the memory unit SP can also be used for temporary storage of data received by the tag TA or individual received data bits. Both integrated circuits IC 1 , IC 2 , moreover, have a circuit unit SCH 1 , SCH 2 , which is designed to generate and check a parameter allocated to the transmitted data D, e.g., a CRC checksum. Consequently, the circuit unit can be particularly a CRC register, i.e., a type of calculator with a specific polynomial calculation specification, which can be acted upon with a suitable data stream, which is familiar to the person skilled in the art.
The integrated circuit IC 2 or the control unit CON according to the invention furthermore has a linking unit VER for at least one data symbol temporarily stored in the memory unit SP (SYM 1 ; see below for more detail) and for a calibration symbol received from the base station BS (RTcal; see below for more detail) and a determining unit BES, which is designed to detect a certain property of the temporarily stored symbol SYM 1 , such as a modification compared with a default transmission protocol. In the indicated exemplary embodiment, the linking unit VER is designed for comparing the two previously indicated symbols in regard to their time length so that the determining unit BES, optionally working together with the memory unit SP, in which the corresponding default values are stored, is capable of recognizing whether the length of the symbol SYM 1 has changed in comparison with the standard line, e.g., has been lengthened.
According to the drawing in FIG. 1 , the transmitting and receiving unit SE 2 of the tag TA has a transmitting and receiving path. In conjunction with passive transponders, these are usually designed so that both paths—contrary to the shown exemplary embodiment—are operated with a mutual antenna, which is also known to the person skilled in the art.
FIG. 2 shows schematically possible time signal forms in the case of a default data stream, which is transmitted from the base station BS ( FIG. 1 ) and in which there is no protocol extension. The time t in FIGS. 2 and 3 flows from left to right in the direction of the arrow. First, in FIG. 2 (top) a signal stream SBS from the base station BS to tag TA ( FIG. 1 ) at a first data rate is shown. This is the beginning of a header section of, for example, two or three symbols, with which the base station and the tag each initiate a communication with the other device component (cf. the corresponding disclosure in EP 1417631 of the same applicant). Before the actual header section, there is a delimiting symbol, a so-called delimiter DL in the form of a field gap with a defined duration, cf. EPCglobal Specification. This is followed by a logic data-0 D 0 as the first symbol SYM 1 of the header section in the case of FIG. 2 . This is defined as a symbol with a time duration T<½×RTcal, where RTcal is a calibration symbol following the first symbol SYM 1 , which or whose time duration defines how the base station encodes the values 0, 1, and optionally an end of the transmission EOF ( e nd o f f rame).
A signal form RCRC for a reset of the CRC register SCH 2 of the tag TA ( FIG. 1 ) is shown below the signal stream SBS in FIG. 2 . Because the base station at the beginning of the header section sends a data-0 by default, the CRC register is reset twice into an initial state by the indicated pulses I 1 , I 2 , for example, after the RTcal symbol. As is shown thereunder, in this connection, at the end of each symbol of the header section, a pulse I 3 , I 4 of a clock signal CCRC is generated and sent to the CRC register SCH 2 , whereby the active edge is the negative edge of the respective pulse I 3 , I 4 . The CRC register SCH 2 , in the case of a default data stream, accordingly in fact receives two pulses I 3 , I 4 , of which the second I 4 is no longer in the header section but in the data section, following in time, of the transmission. Nevertheless, only this second clock pulse I 4 has an impact, because a reset has occurred previously by the pulse I 2 : the pulse I 2 takes the CRC-register SCH 2 to the ground state; the next calculation step then follows with pulse I 4 .
A possible pseudo-data stream DCRC for the CRC calculation is shown below the CCRC signal. This data stream is a previously specified data sequence, which is preferably always generated in the same way. It ultimately has an effect only if no pulse I 2 is present (see below; cf. FIG. 3 ). The data stream DCRC can basically also originate from the base station. In this case, however, the data resulting with the control symbols must be defined.
Alternatively, a realization is possible in this regard in which the CRC register is first set back to the initial state with the delimiter DL. Then, it is acted upon by a pseudo-data stream during the entire header section. The CRC register is reset by an appropriate pulse only when the tag has recognized that the protocol extension is not to be activated (cf. I 2 , I 3 in FIG. 2 ).
FIG. 3 , in contrast, shows the corresponding signal forms SBS′, RCRC′, CCRC′, and DCRC′ for the case that a tag TA supporting protocol extensions ( FIG. 1 ) is requested by the base station BS to access the extended instruction set or to change to another operating mode. The drawing in FIG. 3 is based solely for graphic reasons on a second data rate, which is different from the data rate of FIG. 2 . This has no limiting effect on the subject of the invention.
For the purpose of protocol extension, the base station BS after the delimiter DL as first symbol SYM 1 of the signal stream SBS′ sends a data-1 D 1 , followed by the calibration symbol RTcal, as described above. Based on the data-1 in the signal stream SBS′, in this case after the RTcal symbol, no reset of the CRC register SCH 2 occurs, but only by a pulse I 1 ′ of the signal RCRC′ following the delimiter DL. Subsequently, all clock pulses I 2 ′-I 4 ′ of the signal CCRC′ go to the CRC register SCH 2 , so that a preload value, changed in comparison with the drawing in FIG. 2 , arises for this, which is also to be considered in the subsequent calculation of the CRC checksum with involvement of the pseudo-data stream DCRC′ generated by the tag. The pseudo-data stream DCRC′ for the CRC calculation in turn is a previously specified data sequence, which preferably is always generated in the same way and has an effect when on hand, because no reset pulse 12 is present (see above; cf. FIG. 2 ).
As an alternative embodiment, instead of data-1 D 1 ( FIG. 3 ), the EOF symbol introduced above can also be used as the first symbol SYM 1 for the data-0 D 0 ( FIG. 2 ) to indicate the protocol extension.
The preload value is implicitly reported subsequently to the tag TA by the base station BS in the header section and recognized by the tag, if the tag supports the protocol extension and evaluates the first symbol SYM 1 of the header section. The base station knows in each case the correct CRC checksum with consideration of the preload value, or the value can be determined by the circuit unit SCH 1 ( FIG. 1 ) and is transmitted to the tag. According to the invention, this will determine no CRC error only when it has correctly taken the preload value from the header section, i.e., when it also actually supports the protocol extension. This circumstance is used within the scope of the present invention for withdrawing such tags, which detect a CRC error in the case of FIG. 3 , from communication with the base station.
Finally, using a flow diagram, FIG. 4 again shows a possible sequence of the method of the invention. First, the tag TA ( FIG. 1 ) in a first step S 1 waits for the delimiter DL ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). If the corresponding loop-like query in step S 1 is affirmed (y) and has been received, the CRC register SCH 2 is reset in step S 2 . Otherwise (n), step S 1 is again executed.
After step S 2 , the tag in step S 3 waits for the next rising edge in the signal stream SBS, SBS′ ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ), which marks the end of the first symbol SYM 1 , here: data-0 D 0 ( FIG. 2 ) or data-1 D 1 ( FIG. 3 ). If the corresponding loop-like query in step S 3 is affirmed (y), in the following step S 4 the time length T of the first symbol SYM 1 (cf. FIGS. 2 and 3 ) is temporarily stored in the memory unit SP ( FIG. 1 ) and the logic state of the DCRC(′) data stream ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ) is changed, DCRC(′)=1. At the same time, a clock pulse I 1 , I 1 ′ is sent to the CRC register SCH 2 . The appropriate new value of the register here depends explicitly on the employed calculation specification (polynomial). Thereupon, the tag in step S 5 again waits for a rising signal edge, whose arrival (y) defines the end of the RTcal symbol ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). Next, in step S 6 the value for RTcal is stored in the memory unit SP, the logic state of the DCRC(′) data stream ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ) is changed, DCRC(′)=0, and another clock pulse is sent to the CRC register SCH 2 .
Furthermore, the value of the first symbol SYM 1 is checked in step S 6 . For this purpose, according to the invention, the temporarily stored symbol SYM 1 is linked in the linking unit VER ( FIG. 1 ) with the following calibration symbol RTcal with arithmetic comparison—as was already described in detail above—to detect the (time) modification of the first symbol by the determining unit BES ( FIG. 1 ). This is followed in step S 7 by a query to the effect whether the first symbol is a data-0 D 0 . If this query is affirmed (j [y]), the CRC register SCH 2 is set back in step S 8 until the arrival of the first data symbol, cf. pulse I 2 in FIG. 2 . After this, the tag in step S 9 waits for the end of the header section, which is defined, e.g., as in EP 1417631. In this case (j [y]), the process branches after step S 10 , which for SYM 1 =D 1 (first symbol is a data-1, FIG. 3 ) directly follows step S 7 , and sends additional clock pulses (I 4 in FIG. 2 ; I 3 ′, I 4 ′ in FIG. 3 ) to the CRC register SCH 2 until the end of the transmission is reached. If the first actual data are transmitted, the CRC register accordingly has different values for the two cases described above.
According to the invention, the process then proceeds as already described above in detail.
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 to be included within the scope of the following claims.
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A method for transmitting data between a base station and at least one remote unit is provided. Conventional approaches to communication based on a predefined uniform transmission protocol do not function especially in open RFID systems with at least one base station and tags of a different (and variable) type and number, in which different customers are provided with one and the same tag solution. Primarily if several customers each wish to use a customer-specific solution, this can no longer be represented by a single uniform code. The method of the present invention makes it possible to introduce new, protocol-extending instruction sequences (protocol extensions) and to recognize these reliably as such, whereby these are not in conflict with the existing protocol.
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STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/268,151, filed Nov. 7, 2005.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] Not applicable.
[0003] The present invention relates to flush valves that control the flow of water from toilet tanks to toilet bowls. More particularly it relates to canister flush valves.
[0004] Many systems for controlling the flush of toilet tank water to a toilet bowl are known, see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,329,647 and 5,896,593. Such systems have a water inlet valve for the tank that is typically controlled by a float that senses tank water level. Depressing the trip lever moves a flush valve at the tank outlet so that water can empty from the tank through a vitreous pathway and into the bowl. As the tank water drains, the inlet valve float drops with the water level in the tank, thereby triggering inlet water flow. After sufficient tank water is drained, the flush valve closes so that the water level in the tank can be re-established. As the tank refills, the inlet valve float rises with the water and eventually closes the inlet valve to shut off the water supply.
[0005] A variety of flush valves have been devised for controlling the flow of water from the tank to the bowl. One of the most common in use today is the flapper type flush valve. Flapper flush valves have a pivotal yoke that supports a large diameter stopper that seals off the tank outlet until the trip lever is tripped to start a flush cycle. The large stopper is filled with air which slows its reseating until sufficient water has been drained from the tank. Another type of flush valve has a dedicated float that mounts a main seal. When the trip lever is depressed, the float is raised and the seal unseats to allow water to flow from the tank to the bowl. One flush valve of this type is referred to as a “canister” flush valve because the valve often has a large, generally cylindrical, float that resembles a can.
[0006] A concern common to many flush valves is creating and maintaining a tight seal at the tank outlet after the flush cycle is complete. The bulbous stoppers of flapper valves are generally initially good at achieving and holding a seal, but over time (e.g. years of operation) may permit leakage . Washer-like seals common in canister valves often have similar problems.
[0007] If the seal leaks, water will drain from the tank to the bowl. As the tank drains, the inlet valve float will fall and cause the inlet valve to open to refill the tank. If the leak persists, the inlet valve will remain open and water will continuously drain into the bowl. This will cause the bowl to overflow, or if the bowl has overflow passages, water will pass from the bowl to the building plumbing lines. Water is wasted in either case, which is very undesirable particularly given the emphasis local communities often place on the need for low water consumption toilets.
[0008] An example of a canister type flush valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,162 to Han et al. The disclosed flush valve has a valve body that mounts in the toilet tank at the outlet opening to the bowl defining a flow passage and an upper valve seat. The valve body also has an upright guide along which the float rides during a flush cycle. The float is a generally cylindrical hollow body with open ends, the upper end being above the water fill height of the tank. Water can flow through the inside of the float and through the valve body in the case of an overflow condition. The bottom end of the float has a groove about its circumference that retains a flat washer-type seal. The seal seats against the valve seat when the float is in its normal state in which the tank water is closed off from the outlet to the bowl.
[0009] Sealing problems with conventional canister flush valves, arise from various factors. The primary focus in achieving a good seal in prior devices is on how well the seal mates with the valve seat. While this is important, an often overlooked leak path arises at the float/seal interface. Particularly over time with material shrinkage or degradation of the seal, water may leak through the space between the seal and the float. This can become a low resistance leak path for water in the tank because the interface is typically a short, straight vertical path.
[0010] Regarding the contact of the sealing surface of the seal with the valve seat, again over time, it is possible for the seal to deform and take on a somewhat prolapsed configuration such that the seal does not mate properly with the valve seat. Thus, it is important that the seal be mounted to the float with sufficient backside (non-sealing side) support to prevent the seal from flexing away from the valve seat, without obstructing seating of the sealing side of the seal and while providing sufficient downward force on the seal so that a tight seal is maintained. Existing canister flush valves fail in one or more of these areas, and thus provide a less than optimal seal.
[0011] Another concern with flush valves is controlling the water consumption of the toilet. Water consumption is largely a factor of the amount of time in which the flush valve is open. For canister type flush valves, this is dependent upon the closure timing of the float, that is, the time it takes after the float is pulled from the valve body for the float to sink and reseat the seal. At least two factors affect the closure timing of the flush valve, namely the manner in which the floatation is achieved and the manner in which the float is caused to sink.
[0012] Many flush valves have an inverted cup-shaped float, with an open bottom and a closed top. When the float is pulled up by the flush trip lever, the inverted cup acts like a parachute and slows its descent by the frictional force of the water in the tank. U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,474 to Nardi et al. discloses a flush valve having such a float. Another common type of flush valve has an enclosed hollow vessel as the float. The air captured in the hollow vessel makes it buoyant so that it sinks slowly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,647 to Condon is an example of a flush valve with such a closed float. In both cases described above, the floats sink entirely under the force of gravity. The closure time of these valves is thus fixed for a given size and mass of the float.
[0013] The valve closure time can be adjusted by allowing water to flow into the float during the flush cycle. For example, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,129 to Fulton et al., one or more small bleed holes can be made in an otherwise enclosed float, such as in the bottom wall of the float. When the float is pulled upward during a flush cycle, water in the tank can flow through the bleed holes into the interior of the float, thereby increasing the overall mass of the float and causing it to sink at an increased rate so as to shorten the closure time of the valve. The size and quantity of the openings can be selected to achieve a closure rate that corresponds to a desired water consumption.
[0014] One problem, however, with the use of bleed holes is that immediately after the float is moved, the pressure head in the tank is relatively high such that water will rush into the bleed holes quickly. If, unlike in the valve disclosed by Fulton et al., the float is not enclosed at the top, the rapid flow of water through the bleed holes can spray up through the float and against the underside of the tank lid. This is disadvantageous for several reasons, but primarily because of the possibility of the water spraying out the tank, or leaking down around on the rim of the tank, and onto the bathroom floor.
[0015] Thus, a need exists for an improved canister type flush valve that provides for better valve closure control and effects a better seal at the tank outlet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The present invention is an improved canister-type flush valve for a toilet that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art discussed above. Generally, the canister flush valve has a float and seal arrangement that can be raised by a trip lever from a valve body leading to or defining the tank outlet to unseat the seal, which normally seals off the tank outlet. The float/seal interface is configured to reduce leakage between the float and seal, and seating of the seal is assisted by direct application of water pressure head in the tank. The float is also configured to improve the control of the valve closure time.
[0017] In one aspect, the invention provides a canister flush valve having a valve body defining a valve seat and a flow passage leading from the valve seat toward an outlet when installed in a toilet tank. The flush valve has a float mounting a seal on a hollow longitudinally extending body with an open upper end a closed lower end. When installed in the tank, the open upper end extends above a water fill height of the tank to be in communication with ambient air, and the bottom wall at a lower end is below the water fill line. The bottom wall at least acts to restrict flow of water into the hollow body of the float during a flush cycle such that the hollow body can be suspending above the valve seat at least temporarily during the flush cycle by a buoyancy force of the water acting on an outside of the hollow body. Before and after a flush cycle the float is positioned to seat the seal on the valve seat and close off communication of tank water outside of the float with the flow passage. During a flush cycle, the float can be moved with respect to the valve body to unseat the seal and allow water within the tank to pass into the flow passage and out to the bowl.
[0018] In preferred forms, the float is generally cup-shaped and oriented upright. The float can define a longitudinal overflow tube within the hollow body in communication with the open end of the hollow body and an opening in the bottom wall. The valve body can include a float guide that is received in the overflow tube, without completely obstructing flow therethrough, along which the float can travel during a flush cycle. The float is preferably molded of a rigid plastic as an monolithic structure.
[0019] In another aspect the invention provides a canister flush valve with a float having a hollow body extending along a longitudinal axis and an end wall extending at an angle to the axis. The end wall has at least one bleed opening therein defining a passage into the hollow body of the float that includes travel along a path at an angle to the axis.
[0020] The bleed openings can be numbered, sized, and configured to allow tank water to pass inside the float and cause it to reseat the seal before the tank is completely emptied. This assists in seating the seal by ensuring that a minimum height of water will remain in the tank to provide enough pressure head to seat the seal fully. Moreover, the number of openings as well as the opening size can be changed easily during the molding process as desired to vary closure timing for the water consumption requirements of particular toilet applications.
[0021] The bleed openings can have a special hooded configuration including a baffle that is spaced from the float bottom and connected thereto by one or more longitudinal legs between which are longitudinal windows that lead to the corresponding opening in the float bottom. The baffles obstruct flow longitudinally such that when the water enters and leaves the float it must turn and pass radially through the windows. This permits bleed water to pass into the float after a flush cycle is initiated, and then drain out of the float after the seal is reseated, but prevents water rushing into the float from spraying up through the float against the tank lid.
[0022] In still another aspect the invention provides a canister flush valve with a float having a seal retaining portion with a compound profile defined by at least one non-cylindrical annular surface. The seal has a peripheral surface mating with the compound profile of the float seal retaining portion to mount to the float for seating against the valve seat.
[0023] The float can extend along a longitudinal axis, and the seal retaining portion of the float holds the seal in a radial orientation, generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The compound profile is then defined by an annular longitudinal wall at the seal retaining portion of the float.
[0024] The seal can be an annular seal, and the seal retaining portion of the float can be a groove extending about the periphery of the float in the radial direction and opening outward. The annular wall at the closed end of the groove defines the compound profile. An inner periphery of the seal is disposed in the groove and an outer periphery is out of the groove so that the seal can seat against the valve seat. Preferably, the inner peripheral surface is defined by the inner diameter of the seal.
[0025] The compound profile of the seal retaining portion, or groove, and the mating inner periphery of the seal define at least inter-digitated joint, such as a tongue and groove. In particular, either the compound profile or the seal or both can have at least one annular projection or peak that meshes with a valley in the other part. The compound profile and/or inner periphery of the seal can be defined by a continuous, non-linear annular surface. In each case, the continuous curved surface can define one or more convex peaks and one or more concave valleys. For example, the annular wall of the seal retaining groove can define a convex annular peak longitudinally between two adjacent concave valleys, and the mating periphery of the seal can define an annular concave groove between two annular convex peaks. The resulting interface thus provides a continuous convoluted contact area that greatly resists the passage of liquid therebetween.
[0026] It should be noted that the precise seal interface configuration can be of any suitable complex geometry provided that at least a portion of the seal contact area is non-cylindrical. The interface configuration also preferably has at least two curved and/or linear portions which define an included angle therebetween other than 180 degrees. Thus, the float seat retaining portion profile and mating seal periphery can be formed by single convoluted surface as well as any number of linear and/or curvilinear surfaces such that at least a portion of the single surface or one of the plurality of surfaces is not parallel to the longitudinal axis of the float. Annular peaks and/or valleys with rectilinear cross-sections, such as square or V-shaped, could thus be used.
[0027] Moreover, it should be noted that both the seal and float need not be formed with a compound profile, but instead one of the components could be made of a flexible material that can conform to the compound profile of the other component. For example, in one preferred form, the seal is made of a flexible elastomer material that has a simple straight longitudinal profile at its inner diameter that upon being mounted to the float will conform to the compound profile of the float.
[0028] In still another aspect, the float/seal interface, the float can have an annular, generally radially extending, seal backing flange at a side of the seal and seal retaining portion opposite the valve seat of the valve body, e.g., longitudinally above the seal. The flange acts as a seal backstop by providing structural support to the outer periphery of the seal should it flex longitudinally away from the valve seat. It also acts to reduce drag on the seal in the longitudinally downward direction when the float is pulled up by the trip lever, and thereby helps maintain a tight connection at the float/seal interface.
[0029] The flange can include an opening, preferably multiple openings in the form of open-ended slots (for ease of manufacture) that are spaced apart along the flange. These slots better expose the non-sealing side of the seal to the tank water so that the water pressure head in the tank can act directly on the seal to assist in tightly seating the seal. By providing a backing flange to support the seal, the seal can be made of a soft, flexible material that conforms well to the valve seat. The soft seal also seats quietly, and since the flange is there to backstop the seal, there is no need for contact between two hard parts of the float and valve body, thereby reducing valve closure noise.
[0030] These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. What follows are one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention. To assess the full scope of the invention the claims should be looked to as the preferred embodiment(s) are not intended as the only embodiment(s) within the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] FIG. 1 is a partial sectional front view of a canister flush valve assembly according to the present invention mounted in a toilet tank;
[0032] FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the canister flush valve shown in FIG. 1 in its normally closed position;
[0033] FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 albeit with the canister flush valve shown in an open position to allow water in the toilet tank to enter a toilet bowl during a flush cycle;
[0034] FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along arc 4 - 4 of FIG. 2 showing the canister flush valve seal against the valve seat in the closed position of FIG. 2 ;
[0035] FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing a compound profile of a seal retaining groove with the valve seal removed;
[0036] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the canister flush valve float, seal, and valve body;
[0037] FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the float; and
[0038] FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line 8 - 8 of FIG. 7 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0039] Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a toilet 10 which includes a water tank 12 and a bowl section (not shown). The tank 12 has a horizontal bottom wall 16 with an outlet opening 18 , which leads to a channel in an upper rim of the bowl. Mounted inside the tank is the usual water supply pipe 20 with a float 22 operated supply valve 24 for controlling the flow of supply water into the tank 12 . A flush valve assembly 26 is mounted inside the tank 12 over the outlet opening 18 to control the flow of water from the tank 12 to the bowl during a flush cycle.
[0040] Referring to FIGS. 1 , 2 and 6 , the flush valve assembly 26 is mounted vertically upright in the tank 12 and primarily includes a valve body 28 , a float 30 and a seal 32 . The valve body 28 and float 30 are preferably a non-corrosive material, such as a suitable plastic. The seal can be made of a flexible material, for example a suitable elastomer, such as vinyl, EPDM rubber, or silicon, which has particularly good chemical/corrosion resistance properties. The lower end of the valve body 28 extends through the tank outlet opening 18 can has external threads that engages a gasket 33 and a threaded retaining nut 34 that threads tightly against an underside of the tank bottom wall 16 . The valve body 28 also has a flange 36 that clamps a suitable gasket 38 against an upper side of the bottom wall 16 and mounts the flush valve assembly 26 to the tank 12 .
[0041] In an alternate configuration not shown, the lower end of the valve body can have three prongs that engage the underside of the bottom wall 16 to mount the flush valve assembly to the tank. This connection is similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,446, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and the disclosure of which, particularly FIGS. 2 and 4 - 6 and the related description therein, is hereby incorporated by reference.
[0042] The valve body 28 defines a generally cylindrical flow path leading from a circular valve seat 40 at it is upper end through the tank outlet opening 18 . The valve body 28 and flow passage are generally concentric with a longitudinal axis 42 . Bracing 44 extend from the outer wall of the valve body to support a central opening 46 that receives a mounting stem 48 of a separate guide post 50 extending up from the valve body along the axis 42 . The opening 46 is generally oblong to allow two small ears (not shown) on the stem 48 to pass through the opening when the post 50 is oriented properly and with a ¼ turn the ears restrict separation of the post 50 from the valve body 28 . The post 50 has a generally x-shaped upwardly tapering cross-section with a central void 52 and ring 54 at an upper end. A lower part of the stop 56 fits down into the void 52 , again with notches and ears (not shown) allowing insertion and removal in one orientation but otherwise restricting separation of the stop 56 from the post 50 . The stop 56 has a large diameter flange section 58 that extends radially, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 42 , further than the post 50 . The flange section 58 backs a gasket 59 . The stop 56 is captured in the top of the post by a ¼ turn ear and notch arrangement (not shown). The stop 56 is hollow and open ended so that a bowl refill line (not shown) coming from the supply inlet valve can be attached to a fitting 55 of the stop 56 .
[0043] The float 30 is an upright, cup-shaped unitary body integrally formed with an outer longitudinal cylindrical wall 60 with an upper end open to the ambient air above the tank water, a radial bottom wall 62 and a central longitudinal overflow tube 64 that fits about the post 50 to mount the float 30 to the valve body 28 . Should the tank be filled above its water fill height, overflow water will spill over the open upper end of wall 60 to the interior of the float. The overflow water can drain from the float and out of the tank through the flow passage in the valve body 28 through small bleed openings 70 in the bottom wall 62 . If the overflow water enters the float faster than it is drained, it will begin to fill the float until it reaches the open upper end of the overflow tube 64 , after which it will drain through the overflow tube 64 (around the post 60 ) and exit through an opening 63 in the bottom wall 62 at the lower end of the overflow tube 64 . Also, after a flush, water from the refill line fills the bowl by passing from the line through the stop 56 and the overflow tube 64 (again around the post 50 and out the large, central opening in the bottom wall 62 ) and the flow passage of the valve body 28 .
[0044] The overflow tube 64 of a lesser longitudinal dimension than the post 50 so that the float 30 can travel longitudinally up and down the post 50 during a flush cycle. The float 30 is captured between the valve seat 40 and the large diameter section 58 of the stop 56 . The gasket 59 seats against the top edge of the overflow tube 64 and reduces associated contact noise. The float 30 is linked to the trip lever 66 of the toilet by a lever arm 67 and a chain 68 connected to one of two longitudinally spaced tabs 69 at each “side” of wall 60 .
[0045] As shown in FIGS. 2 , 4 , 7 and 8 , the bottom wall 62 has five spaced apart “hooded” bleed openings 70 . The hooded bleed openings 70 are integral structures including a radial baffle 72 spaced up from the bottom wall by three longitudinal legs 74 . Longitudinal windows 76 are formed between the baffle 72 , legs 74 and bottom wall 62 to provide access to the small openings 78 in the bottom wall. The bleed openings 70 allow for drainage of overflow water (as mentioned above), but primarily are used to control the closure timing of the float, and thereby the amount of water consumed in a flush cycle, by allowing a controlled amount of water to flow up into the interior of the float 30 during a flush cycle. The water inside the float 30 will add mass to the float so that it tends “sink” more rapidly than without it. This works to reseat the seal 32 quicker so that there is a minimum water level in the tank that provides a pressure head sufficient to firmly reseat the seal 32 . The baffles 72 of the bleed openings 70 obstruct the longitudinal path of the incoming bleed water, causing it to be redirected radially through the windows 76 after passing through the openings 78 in the bottom wall 62 . This allows the desired flow into and out of the float 30 , but prevents the incoming water from spraying up through the float and hitting the underside of the tank lid, thereby avoiding any associated noise and leakage around the tank lid.
[0046] As mentioned, the bleed openings are used primarily to control the closure timing of the valve, that is, to control the time the float is off of the valve body and the seal is unseated from the valve seat. The quantity and size of the bleed openings can be selected to vary the flow volume into the float, and thereby the overall mass of the float, during the flush cycle. In the preferred embodiment described herein, there are five bleed openings in the bottom wall 62 of the float spaced equally around the axis 42 , including two ¼″ openings, two 3/16″ openings and one ⅛″ opening. Since the preferred float is a unitary molded plastic structure, the openings can be easily formed closed or open during the molding process to achieve the desired closure timing. The smallest opening provides fine tuning of the closure time, with such a ⅛″ opening causing a delay in closure time corresponding to adding about 0.03 gallons to the flush. The other openings have a proportional effect on the closure time and water consumption.
[0047] Referring now to FIGS. 2-5 , the lower end of the float 30 defines an annular circumferential seal retaining groove 80 opening outwardly in a radial direction. The seal 32 fits about the float 30 concentric with axis 42 and is retained in the groove 80 in a generally radial orientation. Adjacent to the groove 80 is a circumferential, radially extending seal backing flange 82 located to a longitudinal side of the groove 80 opposite the valve seat 40 .
[0048] The backing flange 82 extends radially outward past that of the valve seat 40 about the distance of extension of the seal 32 . The backing flange 82 acts as a backstop for the outer portion of the seal 32 that is not retained in the groove 80 . Should the seal 32 be flexed away from the valve seat 40 , such as if the float were to become cocked, the rigid backing flange 82 will resist further movement so that the seal 32 will seat against the valve seat 40 . The presence of the backing flange 82 allows a softer, more flexible material to be used for the seal 32 , which can better conform to the valve seat and provide better sealing. The softer seal also reduces valve noise as the valve closes, since the contact is between the seal and the valve seat and no contact is required between rigid (plastic on plastic) structures of the float and the valve body to limit downward travel of the float. Moreover, the flange 82 shields the seal 32 to reduce the drag on the seal during the upstroke of the float 30 , which reduces loosening of the joint at the float/seal interface.
[0049] Another important feature of the backing flange 82 is that it has a number of slots 84 , see FIGS. 7 and 8 , spaced about the axis. In the preferred embodiment shown, there are six slots oriented in three parallel columns in the view shown in FIG. 7 . The slots serve to better allow the water pressure head in the tank to act directly in a longitudinal downward direction on the seal 32 so that the pressure head will apply a sealing force tending to seat the seal 32 on the valve seat 40 . The slots also break up any suction between the underside of the flange and the upper side of the seal should the seal be pushed back against the flange, thus allowing the seal to return to its normal position. While slots that open at the outer edge of the flange 82 are preferred because of the ease of manufacture, other through holes and opening orientations could be used.
[0050] Referring again to FIGS. 4 and 5 , the closed end of the seal retaining groove 80 is defined by an annular wall 96 having a compound profile. The term “compound profile” as used herein refers in general to a any profile defining a non-cylindrical annular surface when revolved about an axis, and more particularly to a profile defined by a single continuous curve or the combination of multiple intersecting linear and/or curvilinear segments. When formed of multiple linear/curvilinear segments, adjacent segments should form an included angle of other than 180 degrees. In the case of a single curve, at least two adjacent sections of the curve should have differing radii of curvature or intersect an inflection point so that the adjacent sections have different concavity. Thus, under one satisfactory meaning of compound profile, the profile would form a continuous curve defining one or more convex peaks and one or more concave valleys. Another satisfactory meaning of this term is a profile that defines a path which defines a bend or included angle of more than 90 degrees, for example a convoluted serpentine path. While various specific configurations fall within the meaning of the term, a compound profile will result in an annular float/seal interface with a contact area that resists the passage of liquid therebetween better than the contact area associated with a straight linear profile.
[0051] Since the seal 32 is preferably a flexible, stretchy elastomer, its inner periphery or diameter 98 will conform to the compound profile of the groove wall 96 . As such, it need not be machined or otherwise formed to have a permanent mating compound profile of its own. The seal 32 can thus have an inner diameter with a simple, linear profile defined by a cylindrical surface. However, if a less conformable material is used, the seal can also have a compound profile selected to mate with that of the groove wall 96 .
[0052] In the illustrated embodiment, the annular groove wall 96 defines a compound profile, when taken in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 5 , formed of a single continuous curve, with two inflection points, defining a concave valley 100 , a convex peak 102 and another concave valley 104 , the peaks and valleys extending in a radial direction and the valleys 100 and 104 being longitudinally above and below the peak 102 , respectively. As shown in FIG. 4 , the inner diameter 98 of the seal 32 conforms to the compound profile to create mating peaks and valleys.
[0053] The compound profile thus creates an inter-digitated joint, such as a tongue and groove, following a convoluted, serpentine longitudinal path. When revolved about the axis 42 , the convex peaks become annular ribs or peak surface and the concave valleys become annular grooves or valley surfaces. The seal contact area thus occurs between convoluted annular surfaces, resulting in a float/seal interface that is highly resistant to liquid migration.
[0054] Resistance to liquid migration through the float/seal interface is furthered by virtue of the contact area between the radial surfaces (at the top and bottom sides) of the seal 32 and the groove 80 . Moreover, the compound profile of the groove annular wall 96 includes an oblique angled linear segment, or chamfer, 106 that forms an annular oblique surface adding further complexity to the float/seal interface so as to even better resist liquid migration, as well as to serve as a ramp facilitating assembly of the seal 32 into the groove 80 . The top portion of the ramp also helps position the seal to ensure that the convex/concave surfaces are fully mated.
[0055] The peak 102 and the chamfer 106 thus provide multiple distinct pressure points creating multiple height seal contact locations spaced apart in the longitudinal direction. Thus, in the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, for tank water to migrate around the seal it would have to travel between the seal and float radially along the upper side of the seal, turn 90° and travel longitudinally through the valley 100 , turn 90° in the opposite direction around the peak 102 , turn back 90° through valley 104 , then turn along the chamfer 106 and finally travel radially past the underside of the seal.
[0056] Regarding the operation of the flush valve, prior to performing a flush operation, the flush valve is in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , with the float 30 and seal 32 seated on the valve seat 40 and the water level in the tank 12 being “full”. Actuating the trip lever pulls the float 30 upwardly sufficient to cause it to unseat the seal 32 from the valve seat 40 and be pulled up into the position shown in FIG. 3 . Since the float body is open at the upper end such that its interior is in communication with the ambient air above the tank water, the float is suspended not by a trapped air volume, but instead entirely by the buoyancy force of the water acting on the outer surfaces of walls 60 and 62 . Water in the tank 12 can flow through the valve body 28 and out through the tank outlet opening 18 to the bowl. Water and waste in the bowl are evacuated to plumbing waste lines in the usual manner through a trap (not shown). Tank water flows into the float 30 through the bleed openings 70 , and when sufficiently heavy and the tank 12 drains low enough, the weight of the float 30 causes it to fall under gravity and seat the seal 32 against the valve seat 40 . The flush cycle completes after the tank 12 is refilled with water sufficient to trip the supply valve.
[0057] It should be appreciated that merely preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above. However, many modifications and variations to the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, which will be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the described embodiments. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced.
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A canister type flush valve has an upright cup-shaped hollow float working under buoyancy forces without a captured air volume that controls the valve during a flush cycle. Hooded bleed openings at a bottom wall of the float can be sized and numbered to selectively control the closuring timing of the valve. Baffles of the hood bleed openings redirect water bleeding into the float to prevent the water from spraying up against the top of the tank. The geometry of a seal retaining groove is designed to reduce leakage at the float/seal interface. For example, the groove has an annular wall with a compound profile forming a non-cylindrical, preferably serpentine, seal contact area. The seal is backed by a slotted flange located just above the retaining groove.
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BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a fluid pumping system and, more particularly, to a fluid pumping system adapted for use with a natural gas dehydrating system of the type employed at a gas well head to remove water from a well stream composed of a mixture of gas, oil and water.
Examples of such gas dehydrating systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,094,574; 3,288,448; and 3,541,763; the disclosures of which are specifically incorporated herein by reference. In general, such systems comprise a separator means for receiving the gas-oil-water mixture from the well head and separating the oil and water liquids from "wet" (water vapor laden) gas; and a water absorber means, which employs a liquid dehydrating agent such as glycol, for removing the water vapor from the wet gas and producing "dry" gas suitable for commercial usage. The glycol is continuously supplied to the absorber means in a "dry" low water vapor pressure condition and is removed from the absorber means in a "wet" high water vapor pressure condition. The wet glycol is continuously removed from the absorber means and circulated through a reboiler means for removing the absorbed water from the glycol to provide a new supply of dry glycol. The glycol reboiler means usually comprises a still column associated with a gas burner for heating the wet glycol to produce hot dry glycol by removing the absorbed water by vaporization. The hot dry glycol passes through a heat exchanger, where the hot dry glycol is cooled and the incoming wet glycol is heated, to a dry glycol storage tank. A glycol passage means is provided to enable passage of wet glycol from the absorber means to the reboiler means and to pump dry glycol from the storage tank to the absorber means.
Prior to the inventions described in our copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 277,266, filed June 25, 1981 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,652 and our U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,929, the disclosure of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, motors for glycol pumps of natural gas dehydrating systems were designed to be operated by the energy of natural gas available at the well head due to the relatively high pressures and temperatures thereof. In addition, some prior art pumps used the energy of the wet glycol to drive a single piston pump for the dry glycol as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,122 to Sachnik dated June 11, 1963. The Sachnik pumping unit uses a fluid driven power piston, and a pilot valve driven by the same fluid controls the rate of operation of the master slide valve, which distributes fluid to the piston pump.
One of the problems with such prior pump designs is that the pressure of the gas stream from natural gas wells is highly variable and gas operated pumps often require large amounts of energy. Furthermore, changes in gas pressures during day to day operation have often caused stalling of the pump and interruption of the entire dehydrating system. Since the dehydrating systems are continuously operated at the well site without continuous monitoring by operating personnel, reliable continuous operation of the pump is of critical importance.
Another important performance factor is that the pump be self-regulating to automatically adjust the pumping rate in accordance with available gas pressure and flow rates. In addition, it is highly desirable to use energy sources available at the well site for operation of the pump with maximum efficiency and minimum energy loss.
The present invention provides a new improved glycol pumping system which is operated by an available energy source other than the saleable dry natural gas at the well head; which may be operated at relatively low speeds and pressures without stalling; and which is automatically continuously operable under a wide range of operating conditions.
The pumping system comprises a glycol operated motor-pump section and a gas operated motor-controller section. The glycol motor-pump section comprises a cylinder and a piston reciprocably movable therein which provides a variable volume glycol motor chamber on one side of the piston and a variable volume glycol pump chamber on the opposite side of the piston. The motor chamber is alternately connected to high pressure wet glycol from the absorber and to the reboiler through wet glycol flow control valve means. High pressure wet glycol in the motor chamber drives the piston in one direction during a pumping stroke and is exhausted from the one chamber during a return stroke of the piston. Low pressure dry glycol is drawn into the pump chamber from the dry glycol tank piston during the return stroke and is forced from the pump chamber to the absorber during the piston pumping stroke through suitable check valve means. The gas motor-controller section comprises a cylinder and a piston reciprocably movable therein which provide a pair of variable volume gas chambers on opposite sides of the piston. The glycol motor piston and the gas motor piston are connected to opposite ends of a piston rod which extends between the glycol cylinder and the gas cylinder. Dry gas at relatively high pressure is alternately connected to and exhausted from the gas chambers on opposite sides of the gas piston through gas flow control valve means whereby gas pressure acts on the gas piston to assist movement of the glycol piston during the pumping stroke and to act as the primary motivating force during the return stroke of the glycol piston.
In the presently preferred embodiment, the gas flow control valve means is a reciprocable spool type valve operable between opposite gas intake and exhaust positions relative to the gas chambers by alternate application of gas to opposite ends of the spool type valve controlled by the position of the gas piston in the gas cylinder. In addition, the wet glycol flow control valve means is a reciprocable spool type valve operable between spaced opposite glycol intake and exhaust positions by alternate application and exhaust of gas at opposite ends thereof which is controlled by the gas flow control valve means. Thus intake and exhaust of wet glycol at the glycol motor chamber of the motor-pump section is synchronized with intake and exhaust of gas in the gas chambers of the motor-controller section.
In the illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention, a gas operated piston and a glycol operated piston are concentrically mounted on opposite ends of a piston rod of substantially smaller diameter than the gas or glycol pistons. The gas and glycol pistons may or may not be of the same diameter, depending on the design requirements of a given application. The gas and glycol pistons move axially and are sealed within the bores of separate axially spaced gas and glycol cylinders, respectively. The gas and glycol cylinders are mounted on opposite ends of a centrally located seal plate through which the piston rod extends. A central fluid vent cavity is provided in the seal plate to receive any glycol or gas which may bypass seals mounted in the seal plate which normally prevent leakage of glycol and gas from the cylinders into the central vent cavity in the seal plate. Reciprocation of the gas piston is controlled by a four way gas operated shuttle valve of the spool type. Shifting of the gas spool valve is accomplished by a gas pilot system comprising a gas groove on the periphery of the gas piston which is alternately connected to shift ports at opposite ends of the gas cylinder and passages extending to opposite ends of the gas spool valve. Pump speed is generally controlled by a manual control valve mounted in the gas inlet line. Control of the wet glycol to and from the associated motor cylinder chamber is accomplished by a three-way spool type shuttle valve which is shifted by gas pressure signals from the gas shuttle valve which act through flexible diaphragms onto opposite end portions of glycol shuttle valve to thereby shift the glycol shuttle valve from the wet glycol intake position to the opposite wet glycol exhaust position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the pumping system in use in a natural gas dehydrating system.
FIGS. 2A & 2B are a cross-sectional side elevational view of an illustrative embodiment of the invention with some of the fixed parts displaced for purposes of illustration and with reciprocating piston parts of a motor-pump section and a motor-regulating section located in a leftward position relative to associated cylinder parts at the beginning of a dry glycol pumping stroke;
FIGS. 3A & 3B are a cross-sectional side elevational view of the apparatus of FIGS. 2A & 2B with piston parts located in a leftward shifted position at the end of a return stroke;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side elevational view of the motor-regulating section of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with the piston parts located in a rightward shifted position at the end of a pumping stroke; and
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side elevational view of the motor-regulating section of the apparatus of FIG. 1 illustrating a modification of the control system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In General
Referring to FIG. 1, a pump means 18 of the present invention comprises combined motor pump sections 19, 20 and a motor-regulator section 21 which are shown in association with the major components of a three-phased dual-contact conventional natural gas dehydration system comprising: a gas-liquid separator means 22 for removing oil and water liquids from water vapor laden well gas; a packed glycol-gas contactor means 24 for first stage removal of water vapor from the well gas by contacting the well gas with dry glycol during cocurrent downward flow thereof; an absorber means 26 for second stage removal of water vapor from the well gas, including an internal tray stack means 28 for providing a downward gravity flow of dry glycol with upward counter flow of the well gas therethrough and an internal gas-glycol heat exchanger means 30 for cooling of dry glycol prior to entry of the dry glycol into the stack tray means 28; an external gas-glycol heat exchanger means 32 for cooling the dry glycol prior to entry into the glycol-gas contactor means; a glycol reboiler means 34 for removing water from the wet glycol, including a gas burner means 36 for heating the wet glycol, a still column means 38 for separating the water and the glycol by vaporizing the water, a tank means 40 for holding hot dry glycol, and a firetube means 42 in the tank means 40 for heating the hot dry glycol; a dry glycol storage tank means 44 for storing the dry glycol prior to return to the absorber means; and a glycol-glycol heat exchanger means 46 for cooling the hot dry glycol from the reboiler means before entry into the storage tank means while preheating the wet glycol from the absorber means before entry into the reboiler means.
In operation of the system of FIG. 1, well gas under pressure enters separator means 22 through an inlet line 50. The well gas is separated into liquid oil, water and wet gas which includes the natural gas and water vapor. Liquid oil and water are removed from the separator through outlet lines 52, 54. Wet gas under pressure is transmitted through a line 56 to the packed glycol-gas contactor means 24 whereat dry glycol from a line 58 is mixed with the wet gas. The dry glycol and wet gas flow downwardly through contactor means 24 wherein the dry glycol absorbs a portion of the water vapor. Wet glycol and partially wet gas are removed from the contactor means through a line 60 which is connected to the lower end of absorber means 26 between a wet glycol sump 62 at the bottom of the absorber means and stacked tray means 28. Wet glycol from line 60 flows downwardly into the glycol sump 62. Wet gas flows upwardly in the absorber through the stacked tray means 28 which provides a downward flow path for dry glycol received from line 64 to the glycol sump. In this manner, additional amounts of water vapor are removed from the gas which then flows upwardly through heat exchanger means 30 to an outlet line 66 and then downwardly through heat exchanger means 32 to a pipeline 72 which contains dry saleable natural gas at relative high pressures of, for example, 50 psi to 1000 psi. The dry glycol is delivered from storage means 44 to the packed gas-glycol contactor means 24 and the absorber means 26 under pressure through a pump inlet line 73, pump 20, a main pump outlet line 74, branch lines 76, 78 extending through heat exchangers 30, 32, respectively, and inlet lines 58, 64. Wet glycol is exhausted from the glycol sump 62 to pump motor 19 through a line 80 and delivered to the still column 38 of reboiler means 34 through a line 82, glycol-glycol heat exchanger means 46, and a line 84. Wet glycol flows downwardly in the still column means 38 toward reboiler tank means 40 as indicated by dashed line 86. The water in the glycol is vaporized by heat obtained from gas burner means 36 through firetube means 42 which extends into the tank means 40. Vaporized water in the form of steam is removed from the upper end of still column means 38 through an outlet line 88. Hot dry glycol is collected in tank means 40, flows downwardly through a line 89 into the top of heat exchanger means 46 containing glycol heating coil means 83. Cooled dry glycol is transmitted from the bottom of the heat exchanger tank to the upper portion of dry glycol storage means 44 through a line 90. A gas reservoir means 91 is connected to dry gas line 72 by a regulator means 92 which maintains a supply of relatively low pressure (e.g., 15 psi) dry gas in reservoir means 91. Burner 36 is connected to reservoir 91 by a dry gas line 93 through a regulator means 94, which reduces the pressure of dry gas to approximately 10 psi. Gas reservoir 91 has a pressure relief valve 95 to control dry gas pressure therein. Pump regulator and secondary motor means 21 is operated by relatively low pressure (e.g., 60 to 80 psig) dry gas received through an operating line 96 connected to outlet line 72 through regulator means 97a, 97b and by relatively high pressure (e.g., 80 to 100 psig) dry gas received through a pilot line 97c. Dry gas in pump regulator 21 is exhausted to reservoir 91 or burner 36 through a line 98. An adjustable flow control valve means 99 in line 96 controls the rate of operation (i.e. speed) of the pump 19.
THE PUMP UNIT
In General
In general, as shown in FIGS. 2A & 3A, the motor and pump sections 19, 20 of the pump means unit 18 of the present invention comprise an integral one piece reciprocable piston means 100 mounted on one end of a reciprocal piston rod means 101 to provide fluid pump piston means surfaces 102, 104 and an oppositely facing drive motor piston means surface 106. A cylinder means 108 freely reciprocably slidably supports piston means 100. A variable volume pump chamber means 110 is provided on one side of piston means 100 and a variable volume motor chamber means 112 is provided on the opposite side. Fluid flow control means 114, 116, in the form of ball type check valve assemblies mounted on the periphery of cylinder means 108, control the flow of dry glycol fluid to and from pump chamber 110. A fluid flow control means, in the form of a reciprocable spool type valve member 118, slidably centrally mounted in a valve housing means 120 on one end of cylinder means 108, controls the flow of wet glycol fluid to and from motor chamber 112. The motor-regulator section 21 of the pump means unit 18, FIGS. 2B & 3B, comprises a piston means 122 connected to the other end of rod means 101 and freely reciprocably slidably mounted in a cylinder means 124 with variable volume fluid chambers 126, 128 on opposite sides thereof. A fluid flow control means 130, including reciprocable spool valve member 132, controls the flow of dry gas to and from chambers 126, 128.
The Pump Housing
The motor-pump-regulator sections 19, 20, 21 of the pump unit form an elongated multiple part generally cylindrical housing unit having opposite end plates 140, 142, and separated into combined motor-pump housing sections 19, 20 and a motor-regulator housing section 21 by a central cylinder seal plate member 144. The motor-pump housing section 19 & 20 and motor-regulator section 21 comprise axially spaced generally cylindrical members 146, 148 having coaxial cylindrical bores 150, 152 and located on opposite sides of and in abutting supporting coaxial sealed engagement with central cylindrical member 144 having coaxial cylindrical bores 154, 156 for receiving piston rod means 101. Flow control means 114, 116 are of identical construction. Each comprises a control valve block member 160 suitably mounted in fixed abutting sealed relationship on support surfaces on the periphery of cylindrical member 146. Flow control housing means 120 comprise a valve housing member 161 mounted in fixed coaxial abutting sealed relationship on end plate 140. Fluid control means 130 comprises a control valve block members 162, 164 mounted in fixed abutting sealed relationship with cylindrical member 148. The housing components are mounted in fixed abutting supporting sealed engagement by suitable bolt means (not shown) and suitable sealing means (not shown) are provided at fluid passage and chamber interfaces.
The Motor-Pump Section
Pump chamber 110, FIGS. 2A & 3A, is connected to dry glycol inlet line 73 through valve means 116 by an inlet port 166. When piston means 100 moves to the left, FIG. 3A, the volume of chamber 110 is increased and pressure is reduced whereby valve means 116 is opened and valve means 114 is closed to enable dry glycol to flow into chamber 110 from dry glycol storage line 73. When piston means 100 moves to the right, FIG. 2A, the volume of chamber 110 is decreased to increase the pressure of dry glycol in chamber 110 which forces valve means 116 to the closed position while causing valve means 114 to be moved to the open position to enable flow of dry glycol thereby to absorber line 74. Each of the valve means 114, 116 comprises a ball 167, a removable seat insert 168, a removable passage insert 170 and an insert retaining spring 172 mounted in a bore 174 in valve block 160. A pin member 176 on a threaded plug 178 limits movement of the ball valve.
The wet glycol inlet line 80 is connected to an inlet chamber 200 in housing member 161 and wet glycol outlet line 82 is connected to an outlet chamber 202 in member 161 to enable wet glycol to be alternately received in and discharged from motor chamber 112 through intake and exhaust passage means in valve spool means 118 as hereinafter described. An axial passage 204 in end plate 140 and an aligned co-axial passage 206 in member 161 connect chamber 112 to a central spool bore 208 in member 161 which slidably reciprocably supports a valve spool member 209. Flow of wet glycol from chamber 200 into central spool bore 208 is controlled by a central annular valve portion 210 on spool valve member 209. Valve portion 210 has an axial width greater than the diameter of passage 206 so as to close the passage in a central position of the valve spool member. Portions of the valve spool member on adjacent opposite sides of valve portion 210 are reduced in diameter to provide elongated axially extending equal length annular passages 212, 214 terminated by annular valve portions 216, 218. Passages 212, 214 alternately connect passage 206 to either of wet glycol inlet passage 220 or wet glycol outlet passage 222 which are connected to chambers 200, 202, respectively. Opposite end portions 224, 226 of valve spool 118 are of reduced diameter to provide elongated annular passages 228, 230. A central bore 232 in spool member 118 is connected to passages 214, 228 & 230 by radially extending passages 234, 236, 238. Piston members 240, 242 are fixedly mounted on end portions 224, 226 within chambers 244, 246 defined by enlarged counterbores 248, 250 in member 161 and covered by cap members 252, 254. Flexible resilient diaphragm members 256, 258 extend across chambers 244, 246 to provide sealed outer chamber portions 260, 262. Each outer chamber portion 260, 262 is connectable to a dry gas source through control valve means 132 by suitable passages 268, 270 to provide control means whereby the spool member 209 is positively shifted between wet glycol intake and exhaust positions as hereinafter described. In the position shown in FIG. 2A, the valve spool 209 is located in the intake position whereat high pressure wet glycol flows from port 200 through passages 220, 212, 206, 204 to motor chamber 112. Spool 118 is held in the intake position by gas pressure in chamber portion 260 acting against piston 240 through diaphragm 256. As piston 240 moves toward the retracted seated position on surface 271, glycol in chamber portion 244 is displaced through passages 236, 232, 234, 238, 222. And piston 242 and diaphragm 258 move to the extended position against cap surface 273 to exhaust gas from chamber portion 262 through gas passage 270.
After piston 100 is moved to the right during the pumping stroke, gas in chamber portion 260 is exhausted while gas under pressure is delivered to chamber portion 262 through passage 270. Gas pressure acts on piston 242 through diaphragm 258 to force piston 242 to move inwardly toward and then seat on shoulder 272 and move the spool 209 to the exhaust position FIG. 3A. The initial movement of piston 242 forces glycol out of chamber portion 246 through passage 238 to passage 232. Some of the glycol is forced into passage 228 and then into chamber portion 244 to exert force on piston 240 and diaphragm 256 to assist exhaust of gas in chamber portion 260 and movement thereof to the glycol exhaust position against cap surface 274. It is to be understood that the valve spool 209 is moved from the glycol exhaust position to the glycol intake position in a similar manner when chamber portion 260 is subsequently connected to gas under pressure while chamber portion 262 is connected to exhaust. In the presently preferred embodiment, passages 268, 270 comprise drilled holes extending through the unit components.
The Pump Regulator & Secondary Motor Section
The position of motor control valve spool member 209 relative to motor-pump piston means 100 is controlled by the position of regulator piston means 122, FIGS. 2B & 3B, which is reciprocably movable between end walls 300, 302 of chambers 126, 128 by pressurized dry gas alternately received and exhausted from dry gas inlet and outlet ports 304, 306. The flow of dry gas to and from chambers 126, 128 is controlled by spool valve means 132 which is reciprocably movable in a bore 308 in valve block 164, closed by plug members 310, 311, between oppositely displaced control positions whereat the end surfaces 312, 313 abut the adjacent ends of the plugs. Valve means 132 is positively alternately located in one or the other of the control positions by gas pressure control passage means 314, 315 operatively associated with piston 122. Spool valve means 132 comprises a pair of elongated reduced diameter fluid passage portions 316, 317 located between a central annular valve portion 318 and end valve portions 320, 322. When spool valve 132 is located in a rightwardmost position as shown in FIG. 2B, gas inlet 304 is connected to chamber 126 through passage 324 in valve blocks 162, 164, spool passage 317, passage 326 in valve block 164, and passages 328, 329 in cylinder member 148. Exhaust port 306 is connected to chamber 128 through passage 330 in valve blocks 162, 164, spool passage 316, passage 334 in valve block 164, and passages 336, 337, 338 in cylinder member 148. Thus, the pressurized dry gas exerts a force on piston surface 346 in the direction of arrow 348 and causes movement of the piston 122 in the direction of the arrow 348 while the motor-pump piston means 100 is being driven in the same direction by force being exerted on motor piston surface portion 106, FIG. 2A, by wet glycol in motor chamber 112. At the same time, passage 314 connects chamber 126 to spool valve chamber 340 whereby gas flows to chamber 340 to exert pressure on spool end surface 312 and maintain opposite spool end surface 313 in engagement with plug 311. In order to shift spool valve 132, a sealed groove 350 (FIGS. 2B, 3B, & 4) is provided on the periphery of piston 122 between suitable square cut sealing ring devices 351, 352. Groove 350 is continuously connected by a passage 356 in member 148 to gas line 97c and pressure regulator means 97b. Regulator means 97b maintains a relatively high gas pressure (e.g., 80 to 100 psig) compared to the pressure of the gas at inlet port 304 (e.g., 60 to 80 psig) with approximately a 20 psig differential being maintained therebetween. When piston 122 reaches the end of the glycol pumping stroke, FIG. 4, groove 350 is connected to passage 315 and relatively high pressure gas flows to spool valve chamber 358 to exert a greater force on spool end surface 313 than the force exerted on spool end surface 312 by gas from inlet port 304 and chamber 126 through passage 314. Thus, spool valve 132 is shifted to the leftward position of FIG. 3B. As the spool valve 132 is shifted to the left, spool passage 317 becomes aligned with exhaust passages 330 & 306 while spool passage 316 becomes aligned with intake passages 304, 354, 334, 336, 337, 338 to deliver gas to chamber 128 and drive piston 122 toward the left. At the same time, wet glycol spool control chambers 260, 262 are connected to high pressure gas intake and exhaust ports 304, 306 through passages 268, 270 in response to movement of valve spool 132 caused by flow of gas through passage 270 to chamber 258.
Piston rod sealing means 360, 362 are provided in center plate 144 to prevent leakage of dry glycol from pump chamber 110 and gas from gas chamber 126 along piston rod 101. A vent chamber means 364 is provided to receive any glycol or gas which leaks past sealing means 360, 362. Plugged passages 366, 368 enable removal of glycol or gas from vent chamber means 364. Seal means 360 comprises a lip type sealing ring member 370, a sleeve member 372, a lip type sealing ring member 374, a washer member 376, and a retaining ring member 378. Sleeve member 372 has inner and outer peripheral grooves 380, 382 connected by a radial passage 384. Groove 380 is connected to a passage 386 which connects to dry glycol line 73 downstream of check valve means 116 so as to create a suction effect causing dry leakage glycol received in groove 380 to be withdrawn therefrom through passage 384, groove 382 and passage 386 to line 73. Thus positive drainage means are provided to remove dry glycol from sealing means 360. Sealing means 362 comprises a lip type sealing ring member 388, a washer member 390 and a retainer ring member 392.
Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative shuttle control means embodiment of the invention is shown to comprise a pair of passages 400, 402 extending between opposite ends of the spool valve 132 and gas chambers 126, 128. Passages 400, 402 are axially spaced so as to be alternately connected to high pressure gas in chambers 126, 128 at the end of each stroke of piston 122 and to groove 350 during an intermediate portion of each stroke. Groove 350 is connected to a atmosphere or to low pressure line, such as line 98, or receptacle such as gas reservoir 91 through passage 356. Thus, high pressure gas is alternately exhausted from one of chambers 340, 358 through one of the passages 400, 402 to groove 350 and through passage 356 and high pressure gas will be alternately delivered to the opposite one of chambers 340, 358 to cause the spool valve to be shifted.
OPERATION
FIGS. 3a & b show the pistons 100, 122 moving to the left. The gas shuttle valve 132 is shown shifted to the left and high pressure gas is entering the right hand gas cylinder chamber 128 while the left hand gas cylinder chamber 126 is connected to low pressure. The high pressure gas is also imposed on the diaphragm 258 and to move spool valve 118 into the upward position shown in FIG. 3a. This connects motor chamber 112 with the wet low pressure glycol output line 82 to cause the wet glycol to be expelled from the motor chamber. Dry glycol simultaneously is drawn through the dry glycol suction check valve 116 into the dry glycol pump chamber 110. The action shown in FIGS. 3a & 3b is the low pressure cycle of the pump and all energy for this cycle is derived from the gas motor end.
FIGS. 2a & 2b show the high pressure cycle of the pump. The gas and glycol pistons 100, 122 are now moving to the right. The gas shuttle valve 132 is shifted to the right directing high pressure gas on the left end 346 of the gas piston 122 while the right end gas chamber 128 is connected to the low pressure gas outlet 306. High pressure gas acting on the upper valve diaphragm 256 has now shifted the glycol spool valve 118 into the downward position shown in FIG. 2a, and high pressure wet glycol line 200 is connected to the wet glycol motor chamber 112. The force of the gas differential pressure acting on the gas piston 122 plus the force of the wet high pressure glycol acting on the motor face 106 of the glycol piston 100 forces the pistons and piston rod to the right causing dry glycol to be forced out through the pump discharge check valve 114 at high pressure.
When the gas piston 122 reaches the right end of its stroke, FIG. 4, the square-out piston seal, 352, just clears the pilot shift passage 315, allowing pilot pressure in groove 350 to communicate with the right end chamber 358 of the gas shuttle valve 132. Since pilot gas pressure is greater than the pressure of gas imposed on the left end 312 of the gas shuttle valve, the valve shifts to the left. At the opposite end of the gas piston stroke, a similar action occurs shifting the gas shuttle valve back to the right.
The present invention has been heretofore described in connection with a presently particularly preferred embodiment. However, various modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art from this description. For example, it is apparent that the areas described herein as motor or drive areas may be designed as pumping areas, while those areas described as pumping areas may be designed as motor or drive areas. These and other modifications are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims except insofar as precluded by the prior art.
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A liquid motor is driven by pressurized wet glycol, received from an absorber of a natural gas dehydrating system, and utilizes the energy of the pressurized wet glycol to provide the primary source of energy for operating a pump for pumping of dry glycol from a reboiler to the absorber. A gas driven motor regulates the stroking rate of the glycol driven motor. The liquid motor and pump are provided by a single stage double acting piston in a cylinder with fluid intake and exhaust valving and passages to alternately fill and exhaust the motor side of the cylinder while the opposite pump side of the cylinder is simultaneously alternately filled and exhausted. A spool type valve rod, associated with the glycol driven motor, is operated by the gas driven motor to regulate the rate of reciprocation of the glycol driven motor and to provide a secondary source of energy therefor. Intake and exhaust of wet glycol to the motor side of the cylinder is controlled by gas applied to another spool type valve rod.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a linear ball bush comprising a cage with a cage axis and with a plurality of ball circuits.
In such a linear ball bush the problem exists of charging the balls into the respective ball circuit. This problem can be solved by way of example in a manner in which after the installation of the track plates the balls are pressed through radially outwardly open slots of the cage into the respective return ball row. Another possible solution consists in that before the installation of the track plate in each case the balls are charged into the respective ball circuit, and the track plate is fitted only subsequently.
STATEMENT OF THE PRIOR ART
In German Utility Model Specification No. 7,835,003 a linear ball bush is described in which apertures are situated in the cage material to both sides of the cage lips which radially inwardly secure the carrier ball row, namely close to one axial end of the carrier ball row. The lips are made yieldable by these apertures. The balls can then be pressed from the interior outwards into the carrier ball row with an automatic charging device. Since the introduction of the balls takes place from the internal space of the cage, but this internal space is limited according to the shaft diameter in each case, a complicated charging tube with a plurality of deflection bends must be used. Due to the springing open of the lips in the charging of the balls the danger exists that pressure points may occur there which interfere with the running of the balls.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The invention is based upon the problem, in a linear ball bush of the initially designated kind, of facilitating the introduction of the balls and especially of rendering possible the use of an automatic charging device, and in doing so of reducing or avoiding the danger of an interference with the ball circulation in operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A linear ball bush comprises a cage with a cage axis and with a plurality of ball circuits. Each ball circuit comprises two straight ball rows substantially parallel to the cage axis, namely a carrier ball row and a return ball row, and two curved ball rows connecting the straight ball rows. At least one straight ball row of a ball circuit rests radially outwards on a track plate which is inserted into a pertinent aperture of the cage and possesses an outer surface for abutment on an internal circumferential surface of a bearing housing bore accommodating the cage. A straight track section for at least one straight ball row of the respective ball circuit is formed on an inner face of the track plate. The respective carrier ball row radially inwardly partially penetrates a slot of the cage, in order to be able to abut on a shaft at least partially enclosed by the cage.
The aperture of the cage possesses a filling slope at least at one of its ends and approximately in alignment with the one straight track section, and/or the runner plate possesses a filling bevel in the region of at least one of its ends, in approximate alignment with the one straight track section. This filling slope and/or this filling bevel permit the filling of balls into the one straight track section when the runner plate is wholly or partially lifted out of the aperture at this one end.
In the formation in accordance with the invention the track plates need to be tilted out at their end facing the filling point in each case only by a small amount so that the balls positively come into order in filling. The distance between the bottom of the track in each case and the runner plate remains so small that it is not possible for two balls to slide one over the other and jam one another. Thus it is ensured that the balls are introduced in the correct number into the ball circuit in each case and that the runner plates can then be hinged back into the operational position.
In order to facilitate the automatic fitting of the linear ball bush and to avoid incorrect orientations of the cage and/or the runner plates, it is further proposed that filling slopes are provided at both ends of the aperture and/or that filling bevels are provided at both ends of the runner plate, on the inside thereof.
The idea of the invention is applicable, irrespective of whether only one straight track section or a closed track is formed on the inner face of the runner plate.
If only one carrier track section is fitted for the carrier ball row on the inner face of the runner plate, the filling slope and/or the filling bevel is fitted in alignment with this carrying straight track section.
If on the other hand a closed track is formed on the inner face of the track plate, with a carrying straight track section for the carrying ball row and with two curved track sections connecting the two straight track sections, then it is advisable for the filling slope and/or the filling bevel to be arranged in axial alignment with the returning straight track section, because in the returning straight track section as a rule the balls possess greater freedom of guidance and especially because the returning straight track sections, in relation to the axis of the cage, is laid radially further outwards, so that a filling is already possible with a smaller tilt-out angle of the runner plate.
For reasons of manufacturing technique in the production of the runner plates it is advisable for rectilinear prolongations of the straight track sections to be continued with substantially constant profile as far as the ends of the runner plate, intersecting with the curved track sections. These rectilinear prolongations of the straight track section to be filled in each case, in combination with the filling slope or the filling bevel, bring a further facilitation of the filling of the balls.
One particular advantage resides in that during the ball filling operation the end of the runner plate remote from the filling point is held approximately in the operational position within the aperture. This facilitates holding the runner plate in each case in the correct position in the filling operation.
If the runner plates are held operationally in the cage by pot-shaped end rings, then for the charging of the balls firstly it is possible to fit only one pot-shaped end ring, in order to be able firstly to hold the runner plates fast only at their ends placed remotely from the filling position and to tip them out in the ends close to the filling position. After the charging of the balls then the pot-shaped end ring close to the engagement points is fitted, after the runner plates have previously been tipped back into their operational position.
The invention further relates to a method for charging the balls into a ball circuit of a linear ball bush having a cage with an axis, in which each ball circuit comprises two straight ball rows substantially parallel to the cage axis, namely a carrier ball row and a return ball row, and two curved ball rows connecting the two straight ball rows, further in which at least one straight ball row of a ball circuit lies radially outwards against a runner plate which is inserted into a pertinent aperture of the cage and possesses an outer surface for abutment on an internal circumferential surface of a bearing housing bore accommodating the cage, further in which a straight track section for at least one straight ball row of the ball circuit concerned is formed on an inner face of the runner plate, and in which the respective carrier ball row radially inwardly partially penetrates a slot of the cage, in order to be able to abut on a shaft at least partially surrounded by the cage.
In filling here the procedure is adopted that with the runner plate tipped at one end out of the aperture the balls are introduced by way of a filling slope at the open end of the aperture and/or a filling bevel at the tipped-out end of the runner plate, into a respective straight track section and after completion of the balls of the ball circuit the track plate is tipped back into the working position and is secured in the working position.
It is pointed out that the filling slopes and the filling bevels are so dimensioned that the running of the balls is not disturbed, that is so that all necessary ball guide faces on the cage as well as on the runner plate are maintained.
The various features of the invention are discussed especially in the accompanying claims which form a part of the disclosure. For the better understanding of the invention, its working advantages and specific effects reference is now made to the accompanying drawings and the description, in which a preferred form of embodiment of the invention is discussed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying Figures explain the invention by reference to an example of embodiment.
FIG. 1 represents for the illustration of the overalltechnical relationships a longitudinal section through a linear ball bush according to the invention;
FIG. 2 represents a cross-section along the line II - II in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 represents a view of the inner side of a runner plate;
FIG. 4 represents an end view of a runner plate according to FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 represents a section along the line V--V in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 represents an enlargement of the zone VI in FIG. 5, in a section corresponding to that in FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 represents an enlargement of an end section of the runner plate according to FIG. 3;
FIG. 8 represents a section along the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 represents a section along the line IX--IX in FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 represents a section along the line X--X in FIG. 8;
FIG. 11 represents a section along the line XI--XI in FIG. 8;
FIG. 12 represents a plan of levels with tabular listing of the floor levels of the track in an end section of the runner plate according to FIG. 7;
FIG. 13 represents a cross-section through a cage along the line II--II in FIG. 1, but after removal of the runner plates and balls;
FIG. 14 represents a detail of FIG. 13 in enlarged form;
FIG. 15 represents a partial view of the cage in the direction of the arrow XV in FIG. 13;
FIG. 16 represents a longitudinal section through the cage along the line XVI--XVI in FIG. 13;
FIG. 17 represents a longitudinal section along the line XVII--XVII in FIG. 13;
FIG. 18 represents a partial view of a runner plate according to FIG. 7, but with an end bevel;
FIG. 19 represents a section along the line XIX--XIX in FIG. 15, in the charging of balls;
FIG. 20 represents a section through a linear ball bearing according to FIG. 1, but modified in so far as the cage is made in part ring form for the reception of a support for the shaft;
FIG. 21 represents a detail corresponding to the point XXI in FIG. 20, in enlargement;
FIG. 22 represents an end view of a linear ball bearing according to FIG. 20, where a likewise part-annular, pot-ring-shaped end ring is removed;
FIG. 23 represents an enlargement of the detail XXIII in FIG. 22;
FIG. 24 represents a section along the line XXIV--XXIV in FIG. 23;
FIG. 25 represents a section along the line XXV--XXV, in FIG. 23;
FIG. 26 represents a partial view in the direction of the arrow XXVI in FIG. 22, partially in section;
FIG. 27 represents a longitudinal sealing strip as detail of FIG. 26 and
FIG. 28 represents an illustration of the runner plate according to FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In FIGS. 1 and 2 a linear ball bush is designated quitegenerally by 10. It includes a cage 12 of hard-elastic synthetic plastics material. Into this cage 12 there are inserted runner plates 14 each possessing an external circumferential face 16 for abutment on a bearing housing bore receiving the linear ball bush 10, and an internal circumferential surface 18. The runner plates 14 consist of a hard material, especially hardened steel. By the cage 12 and the runner plates 14 in each case a guide is formed for a ball circuit. The balls are designated by 20. Each ball circuit forms a carrier ball row 22 and a return ball row 24. The carrier ball rows 22 extend through slots 26 of the cage 12 radially inwards to abut on a shaft (not shown). The return ball rows 24 are radially inwardly supported by the cage 12. Both straight ball rows 22 and 24 lie against the inner circumferential surface 18 of the respective runner plate 14. The carrier ball row 22 and the return ball row 24 are in each case connected by curved ball rows 28. The runner plates 14 are held in shape-engaging manner in the cage 12, but with a certain movement play.
In FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 a runner plate 14 is illustrated individually. This runner plate 14 is produced on the basis of a profiled bar the profile of which can be seen from FIG. 4. The runner plate 14 comprises a carrier straight track section 30 which possesses a first higher level in relation to the external circumferential surface 16, and a returning straight track section 32, which possesses a lower level in relation to the external circumferential surface 16. The carrier track section 30 serves to receive the carrier ball row 22 and the straight track section 32 serves to receive the return ball row 24. The two straight track sections 30 and 32 are connected with one another by curved track sections 36. However the straight track sections 30 and 32 extend with the end sections 30a and 32a with substantially constant profile as far as the ends of the runner plate 14. Between the straight track sections 30 and 32 there lies a middle rib 38. The middle rib 38 continues with end sections 38a as far as the ends of the runner plate 14 with constant profile, and is merely interrupted by the curved track sections 36. At its external circumferential surface 16 the track plate is curved, as shown in FIG. 6, so that it comes to abut in swinging manner on the internal circumferential surface of a bearing housing bore. As may be seen from FIG. 4, the straight track sections 30 and 32 are rounded with a radius of curvature which is equal to or a little greater than the radius of the balls 20.
In FIG. 5 turned apertures 40 and 42 are seen at the ends of the runner plate. The turned apertures 40 are intended to receive pot-shaped end rings 44 (FIG. 1) which secure the runner plate 14 and closure washers 46 on the cage 12. The turned apertures 42 are intended to receive securing rings for the axial securing of the ball bush in a receiving bore.
Further details on the formation of the tracks appear from FIGS. 7 to 11. The curved track sections 36 extend over approximately 180° and are of nearly circular curvature. The drop in level from the straight track section 30 to the straight track section 32 begins as early as an end section a of the straight track section 30. Thus the floor of the curved track section 36 in the region of intersection with the straight track section 30 lies lower than an imaginary continuation of the floor of the straight track section 30, and a lateral guidance of the balls is guaranteed in this intersection zone too. The level gradient in the end section a is represented by the angle indication 2° in FIG. 8. The level gradient in the directly adjoining region of the curved track section 36 amounts to about 5°, as likewise illustrated in FIG. 8. No jumps in level occur. .The gradient transitions are rounded. The longitudinal extent of the end section a is so large, even after grinding, that the loaded balls can be continuously relieved of load before entry into the curved track section 36 This is analogously also valid for the balls entering the load zone. By this measure a uniform and Jerk-free course is guaranteed At the point ○6 in FIG. 7 the curved track 36 possesses a level minimum which lies below the level of the returning straight track 32. In the end section b of the returning straight track section 32 a slow rise of level takes place. No jumps in level occur. The gradient transitions are rounded. The level minimum ○6 is still present even after the grinding of the returning straight track section 32. The gradient distances a and b of the straight track sections 30, 32 are swaged together with the curved track sections 36. The tapering of the rib width of the middle rib 38 in the region of the end sections a and b results in a funnel-shaped transition of the curved track section 36 into the straight track sections 30 and 32.
In FIG. 12 different measurement points, some of which were also entered in FIGS. 7 in order to clarify the relationships between FIG. 7 and FIG. 12, are designated by ○1 to ○7 . Different level values are allocated to these measurement points, by way of example, according to the table in FIG. 12 The level values designate the relative level height in millimetres in each case on the floor of the track in relation to the floor level of the carrier track section 30, to which the value zero is allocated
From the second column of the table it is readily seen that in the region ○5 to ○6 a minimum level is present and that starting from this minimum level a rise of level takes place to the height level of the floor of the returning straight track section 32. The reascent ○6 to ○7 lies substantially in the straight return line of the returning straight track section 32. Locus co-ordinates allocated to the individual points ○1 to ○7 are designated by the angle values in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 communicates, by the length statement 39.5 mm., an idea of order of magnitude too of the length of the ball bush. As supplement thereto let it be remarked that the external diameter of the cage 12 amounts in the case of the example to 40 mm., that in all 10 runner plates are provided, as represented in FIG. 2, that the peripheral extent of a runner plate amounts to 9.7 mm. and that the ball diameter amounts to 3.969 mm. Finally the radius of curvature of the track, measured at the floor (dot-and-dash line in FIG. 12) amounts to 2.04 mm. Finally in the table in the fourth column there are entered the radii in each case of the track sections in millimetres. It is seen that these radii are little larger than the ball radius, so that the balls are laterally guided It- is seen from FIG. 12 and the table that in the region ○1 to ○4 a lateral guidance is guaranteed; this lateral guidance is supplemented in the apex region ○4 by the continuation 38a of the rib 38. Even in the relatively uncritical region ○4 to ○7 a certain lateral guidance of the balls by the runner plate is still guaranteed, as indicated by the intersection line 50. It should be mentioned once more that the individual gradient distances from ○1 to ○7 merge into one another substantially steadily.
The guidance of the balls is supplemented by the cage 12. The guide faces in the cage 12 are manufactured with high precision so that they adjoin the guide faces of the runner plates without stagger.
The apertures 52 which can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 7 serve in part to receive material- in the swaging of the curved track sections 36; in other words. In swaging the runner plates 14 are laid with previously formed apertures into swaging moulds which rest on the external circumferential surface 16 and the end faces, but in the region of the apertures 52 leave so much clearance that the material displaced in swaging can flow in and then the geometry of the apertures according to FIG. 7 is produced.
In FIG. 13 the cage according to FIG. 2 is represented after removal of the runner plates 14 and the balls 20. The apertures 60 for the accommodation of the runner plates 14 from FIG. 2 are seen there. One further sees the slots 26 which in part permit passage of the balls of the carrier ball row 22 and one sees the track 62 for the return ball row 24 in FIG. 2. All this is represented in enlargement in FIG. 14 too. It is further seen from FIGS. 14 and 15 that at the ends of the apertures 60, namely adjoining the end faces 64 of the apertures 60, filling slopes 66 of channel form are arranged in alignment with the tracks 62, the significance of which slopes may be seen especially from FIG. 19. There a filler pipe 68 is fitted for the charging of the balls 20 of a ball circuit, so that the pipe is approximately in continuation of the filling slope 66 in each case. In this case the upper pot-shaped end ring 44 is removed, while the lower pot-shaped end ring 44 assumes its securing position in relation to the runner plates 14. Since the upper end ring 44 is absent, the runner plate 14 can be set obliquely, as may be seen from FIG. 19, so that in the region of the -entry slope 66 it permits admission of the balls 20. The oblique placing of the runner plates 14 is possible since the longitudinal defining faces 70, 72 of the aperture 60 are approximately parallel to one another, or the synthetic plastics material of the cage 12 is elastic in such a way that a setting out of the runner plate 14 under constraint is possible
The charging of the balls 20 into the track 62 of the return ball row is also facilitated by the fact that a bevel 74 is provided on the inner side of the runner plate 14, as may be seen from FIGS. 18 and 19.
It should be remarked that the nature to the charging, using the filling slope 66 and the bevel 74, is not bound to the fact that the two straight track sections 30, 32 and the curved track sections 36 are provided on the runner plate 14. The manner of filling would rather be conceivable even if the runner plates 14 were limited to the width of the straight track sections 30 of the carrier ball rows. In this case only the filling slopes 66 and the bevels 74 would have to be provided in alignment with the respective straight track section 30 of a carrier ball row.
In FIG. 20 there is seen a linear ball bearing in which the shaft 178 is supported by pedestals 180 and the cage 112 is made in part-annular form. The cage is again provided at its ends with end rings 144 which are made in part-annular form in accordance with the circumferential extent of the cage 112. Seals are provided to prevent the penetration of dirt into the region of the balls.
In FIG. 1 reference was made to the closure washers 46. There are the necessary sealing rings which are held on the cage by end rings 44 and come to abut with a sealing lip on the shaft (not shown there). These sealing rings are also needed in the form of embodiment according to FIG. 20, which is now under discussion, and these sealing rings are seen in FIGS. 22 to 25, where they are designated by 146 and are composed in each case of a basic body 1446a and a sealing lip 146b. The sealing lip 146b is here again intended to abut on the shaft 178n according to FIG. 20. The basic body 146a of the sealing ring 146 is here accommodated, as may be seen especially from FIGS. 23, 254 and 25, in an annular recess 184 of an end face 185 of the cage 112, which is defined by an axially directed face 184a and a radially inwardly directed face 184b, and is limited at its ends by end strips 184c. The basic body 146a lies with axial play between the axially directed face 184a of the cage 112 and an axially directed face 144a of the end ring 144 resting on the end face 185. The oversize of the aperture 184 compared with the diameter of the basic body 146a (FIG. 25) permits the basic body 146a radial play within the aperture 184. This radial play also exists in the form of embodiment according to FIG. 1, and there too is of essential importance, but has not there been mentioned hitherto. The radial play is necessary in order in a displacement in angle of the shaft 178 in relation to the cage 112 to render possible an adaptation of the sealing ring 146 to the altered geometry. While now in the form of embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 13 the sealing ring 46 (there called closure washer) is closed in circular form and therefore can be movable in the.-peripheral direction without this interfering with the bearing operation, in accordance with the invention the sealing rings 146 are of part-annular form, that is open. As before the necessity still exists of permitting radial play to the sealing rings 146, in order to render possible their adaptation to modified bearing geometry in the case of loss of alignment between shaft 178 and cage 112. However the necessity exists at the same time of avoiding a twisting of the sealing rings 146, since these sealing rings 146, in the case of a twistability, could protrude beyond the one or other end face 186 of the cage (see FIG. 22) or recede behind it.
In order to leave the sealing ring 146 movable in the radial direction, but to make it fast in the peripheral direction, an embodiment is foreseen as represented in detail in FIGS. 23 and 24. Above the axially directed surface 184a there rise dogs 188 which can also be seen in FIGS. 22 and 23. These dogs 188 pass through piercings 190, as may be seen from FIGS. 23 and 24. Here the piercings 190 have a radial dimensional excess over the radial width of the dogs 188, so that the sealing rings 146 again have a radial play, as before. It is here to be noted that according to FIG. 22 the dogs 188 are fitted only in the end zones of the sealing rings 146, that is close to the support bearing 180 in FIG. 20. It is further to be noted that the height of the dogs 188 opposite to the axially directed face 184a of the cage 112 is greater than the axial thickness of the basic body 146a in each case. The face 144a, that is the inner side of the pot bottom 144b of the pot-shaped end ring 144 lies against the end face 188a of the dog 188 in each case and is there screwed to the cage. The screw connection takes place by means of a countersunk screw 192 which is screwed into the dog 188. On account of the oversize of the axial height of the dog 188 compared with the axial thickness of the basic body 146, even when the countersunk screw 192 is fully tightened the basic body 144a is not clamped in between the faces 184a and 144a. Thus even to this extend the radial play of the sealing ring 146 is maintained. According to FIG. 24 it can also be seen clearly that the annular wall 144 engages in the turned recesses 140 of the runner plates 114 and rests on the bevelled outer circumferential face 187 of the cage 112, so that the runner plates 114 are held axially and radially in the cage. It is to be noted that the peripheral fastening of the annular seals can also be effected by projections 189 of the annular seals 146 against the end strips 184c (FIG. 23). Then the dogs 188 would nevertheless be needed for the fastening of the end rings 144. The dogs 188 could then however possess peripheral play in relation to the piercings 190, beside the still necessary radial play.
The sealing problem is not yet completely solved with the annular seals 146 alone. As may be seen from FIGS. 20 to 23 and 26 and 27, in the region of the gap limitation faces 186 in the cage 112 there are also provided longitudinal sealing strips 194 with a root part 194a and a tongue part 194b resting on the shaft 178.
The root part 194a is inserted in an axially extending and radially inwardly open groove 196 of the cage 112 close to its gap defining face 186 in each case. The grooves 196 extend in each case as far as the axially directed faces 184a and are peripherally widened in their end sections e, so that support shoulders 198 are formed (FIG. 26). The root parts 194a of the longitudinal sealing strips 194 comprise peripherally protruding projections 200 in the axial end zones, which rest against the support shoulders 198. The longitudinal sealing strips 194 possess continuations 202 of constant profile with root part 194a and tongue part 194b, which protrude beyond the projections 200 axially in the direction towards the bottom wall 144b of the end ring 144 into the annular recess 144 so that, as represented in FIG. 23, the sealing ring 146 comes to rest on the continuation 202. The end faces 146c, facing in the peripheral direction, are adapted to the profile of the sealing strips 194. Due to the mutual abutment of the continuations 202 and of the sealing rings 146 in the region of the aperture 184 the interspace between the shaft 178 and the cage 112 is completely sealed.
FIG. 27 shows the longitudinal sealing strip 194 before assembly. Axially outside the projections 200 grip elements 204 are fitted on the two ends of a longitudinal sealing strip 194, which grip elements render it possible, in the fitting of the longitudinal sealing strips 194, to stretch their sections placed between the projections 200 so that the projections 200 can be pushed forward over the shoulder faces 198 and supported on these. After assembly has taken place the grip elements 204 are cut away outside the continuations 202, the continuations 202 being left.
In FIG. 28 there is again seen a runner plate 14 the outer face 16 of which has already been indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 6. The outer face 16 comprises a middle rectilinearly extending longitudinal section f, which is adjoined, by way of transitional curvatures g with a radius gl of curvature in each case, by an axial longitudinal section h, which is likewise rectilinear. The longitudinal section h includes with the longitudinal section f an angle α of 35 minutes. The total length-of the carrying ball row is designated by i. Regarding the size ratios the following is valid :
The length i of the carrier ball row amounts to about 100% to 200%, preferably about 130% to about 180% of the diameter of the shaft 178; the length of the middle longitudinal section f amounts to about 2% to about 15%, preferably about 5% to about 10% of the diameter of the shaft 178; the radius gl of curvature of the transitional rounding g amounts to more than about 100%, preferably more than about 150% and for example 167% to 300% of the diameter of the shaft 178. The angle inclination α amounts to about 25 to 45 minutes of angle, in the case of the example about 35 minutes of angle.
It has appeared that if the stated dimensions are maintained a certain capacity for tilt or swing of the runner plates 14 is guaranteed, but on the other hand in normal operation due to the rectilinearity in the middle length region f the pressure per unit area compared with a surrounding bearing bore is reduced to such extent that the wear remains low. It has further appeared that if the stated dimensions are maintained in the range of the tilting movements to be expected in the case of loss of alignment between shaft axis and cage axis, the approach of diametrically mutually opposite runner plates 14 remains within acceptable limits and thus so does the pressure which the balls exert against the shaft 178 for one part and against the runner plates 14 for the other part. The form of embodiment of the runner plates according to FIG. 28 is as described above and also usable in all forms of embodiment of the linear ball bearing.
It is to be noted that the runner plates are rounded on their outer surface 16, as represented in FIG. 2, in conformity with the internal circumferential surface of a receiving bearing housing bore, so that a flat abutment of the runner plates in the region of the middle longitudinal section f on the bearing housing bore is guaranteed.
While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
The reference numerals in the claims are only used for facilitating the understanding and are by no means restrictive.
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A linear ball bush, wherein at least one straight ball row of a ball circuit bears radially outwardly against a running plate, which is inserted in an associated aperture of a cage and possesses an outer face for bearing against an inner circumferential surface of a bearing housing bore seating the cage, is filled in the manner that the balls, with the running plate tilted at one end out of the aperture, are introduced via a filling slope at the open end of the aperture and/or a filling chamfer at the outwardly tilted end of the running plate into a straight portion of a track, and that after the balls of the ball circuit have been completed, the running plate is tilted back into an operating position and is secured in the operating position.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to the protection of foundations from water leakage and earth subsidence around the walls. More particularly the present invention provides a protector for foundations that has a drainage space for moisture to escape from the foundations themselves.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Building structures that have foundation walls and floors made of concrete, concrete blocks, foam insulation and concrete composite blocks, wood or other materials are adversely affected over time by moisture, either moisture coming from the exterior or earth side of the foundations or alternatively, moisture that enters the foundations from the interior of the building. Most buildings have tile drains provided at the base of the foundation walls to remove water that penetrates the soil from above, but it is preferred to have waterproof protectors on the exteriors of foundation walls to prevent water entering the walls through cracks that occur over time.
[0003] One example of such a protector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,951 to Kannankeril and has an array of spaced-apart projections that provides drainage space between a foundation wall and the protector. In the past, such protectors have been attached to the foundation walls either by nails or adhesive sheets that attach directly to the exteriors of the foundation walls. It has been found that adhesive sheets having the same area as the protectors do not permit the foundation walls to breathe and any moisture that may be retained in these walls cannot escape. Also, the use of nails has been undesirable because of the difficulty of properly installing the nails and the lack of secure attachment of the protectors to the foundation walls by the nails.
[0004] One other problem that has occurred with these protectors with spaced-apart projections positioned on foundation walls is due to the earth on the exterior of the walls filling the projections from the outside. Thus, if and when the earth subsides, it tends to pull the protectors away from the foundation wall. This leaves gaps between the protectors and the walls, which defeats the purpose of the protectors.
[0005] It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel protector for a foundation wall that is easily installed and permits moisture in the foundation to escape into a drainage space between the protector and the foundation.
[0006] It is another object of the present invention to provide a substantially smooth surface on the exterior of the protector to prevent the protector itself moving when earth adjacent the protector subsides.
[0007] It is still a further object of the present invention to provide at least one adhesive strip extending across a protector and attached to protrusions to provide attachment of the protector to a foundation wall.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides a protector for a foundation wall, floor or other substantially flat foundation surface which includes protrusions extending from a base portion, the protrusions being for positioning adjacent the foundation surface and being spaced apart from one another to provide a drainage space between the foundation surface and the base portion of the protector, and an outer waterproof membrane on the base portion to cover recesses formed by the protrusions and provide a substantially smooth exterior surface to prevent movement of the protector due to earth subsidence.
[0009] The present invention also provides a concrete foundation protection system for providing drainage for foundation walls including a waterproof dimpled sheet with spaced-apart protrusions from a base portion, the protrusions for positioning adjacent the foundation walls to provide drainage space between the foundation walls and the base portion of the dimpled sheet, and an outer waterproof membrane on the base portion to cover recesses formed by the protrusions and provide a substantially smooth exterior surface to permit earth subsidence adjacent the membrane without movement of the dimpled sheet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] In drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the present invention:—
[0011] [0011]FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a foundation protector according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] [0012]FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a foundation protector according to one embodiment of the present invention showing attachment strips for attachment to a foundation wall or floor.
[0013] [0013]FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the foundation protector of FIG. 2 at line 3 - 3 positioned against a foundation surface.
[0014] [0014]FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a portion of an overlap seal between adjacent protectors as shown in FIG. 2 at line 4 - 4
[0015] [0015]FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a foundation protector according to one embodiment of the present invention positioned against a foundation wall of blocks of concrete with insulating foam on each side.
[0016] [0016]FIG. 6 is a detailed elevational view of a portion of a foundation protector showing protrusions.
[0017] [0017]FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of one of the protrusions shown in FIG. 6 at line 7 - 7 .
[0018] [0018]FIGS. 8 and 9 are partial perspective views showing other types of protrusions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] A waterproof foundation protector 10 according to one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and includes a waterproof dimpled sheet 16 which has a plurality of dimples or protrusions 12 spaced apart in a regular pattern as illustrated. The rows of protrusions 12 may be staggered or varied. The purpose of the protrusions 12 is to provide drainage space 14 . The protrusions 12 extend from a base portion 13 and are integral therewith. Ridges 17 are shown extending linearly between the protrusions to provide additional strength to the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 . In a preferred embodiment, the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 is formed from quasi-rigid high-density polyethylene or other suitable tough long-lasting plastic material. When the protrusions 12 are formed, then corresponding recesses occur behind the protrusions 12 and, as seen in FIG. 1, the underside surface of the base portions 13 is covered by an outer waterproof membrane 18 which is adhered to the sheet 16 so as to cover these recesses and provide a smooth exterior surface. The membrane 18 is preferably formed of medium density polyethylene, although any suitable long lasting plastic material may be used. The protrusions 12 have a substantially flat top surface 20 and, as shown in FIG. 1, a top adhesive strip 22 extends across the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 attached to the surface 20 of the protrusions 12 . The top adhesive strip 22 has a tear-off protective sheet 24 , which is removed before attachment to a foundation wall or other surface.
[0020] The waterproof dimpled sheet 16 and membrane 18 can, in one embodiment, incorporate UV protection in the form of 2% carbon black. The protector 10 may be of any desired color. Whereas the protector 10 is shown on a foundation wall, it may be used on concrete floors or on substantially flat surface where protection is desired.
[0021] A waterproof foundation protector 10 is shown in FIG. 2 with adjacent protectors 10 A and 10 B on either positioned on either side. A top adhesive strip 22 extends along the top edge of the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 attached to an offset flat portion 30 as shown in FIG. 3. When the top adhesive strip 22 is attached to the concrete wall 26 , it forms a seal to prevent water on the earth 32 entering the drainage space 14 in the dimpled sheet 16 . As can be seen in the drawings, the outer waterproof membrane 18 extends over the complete outside surface of the dimpled sheet 16 and thus provides a smooth surface and, if the earth 32 should subside downwards, it will not drag the dimpled sheet 16 down with it but the dimpled sheet 16 will remain affixed to the concrete wall 26 .
[0022] Vertical adhesive attachment strips 34 are shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 extending substantially perpendicularly downwards from the top adhesive strip 22 with a space 36 between strips 22 and 34 for moisture to escape from the concrete wall 26 . The vertical adhesive attachment strips 34 have vertical spaces 36 therebetween and extend down over the protrusions 12 of the dimpled sheet 16 . They may be fused to the surfaces 20 of the protrusions 12 or adhered by adhesive. Drainage can occur in the space 14 and any water that enters the drainage space 14 will not be retained therein.
[0023] A vertical overlap seal 40 is shown in FIG. 4 between the protector 10 and an adjacent protector 10 A as may be seen in FIG. 2. One vertical side edge 42 on the protector 10 has an offset vertical flat side portion 44 of the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 which is attached to the concrete wall 36 by a vertical adhesive strip 46 . The side edge 50 on the adjacent protector 10 A has an offset vertical adhesive strip 52 that is attached to the underside of the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 and forms a seal on the membrane 18 with the offset flat side portion 44 of the protector 10 . This offset vertical adhesive strip 52 extends under the adjacent row of protrusions 12 on the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 thus assuring that the adjacent protector 10 A is sealed to the protector 10 and the concrete wall 26 . Leakage is thus prevented between adjacent protectors. The strips 22 , 34 , and 52 may be double-sided adhesive strips or may be heat-fused at one side to the dimpled sheet 16 .
[0024] Another use of the protector 10 is shown in FIG. 5 wherein the protector 10 is attached to an insulating foam panel 54 which, with a second insulating foam panel 56 , contains a concrete foundation wall 58 . The foam panels 54 and 56 are interconnected in a known manner and provide forms during installation for forming the concrete wall 58 .
[0025] [0025]FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 illustrate protrusions 12 which are frusto-conical in shape and have an annular top surface 20 with an indented center aperture 60 which extends downwards to a base 62 level with the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 so membrane 18 remains flat when attached to the sheet 16 . FIG. 8 shows another type of protrusion 66 which is in the shape of a truncated pyramid, and FIG. 9 shows a further type of protrusion 70 which is L-shaped with sloping arms 72 at the ends. Protrusions 12 or dimples of other shapes may be used. Raised projections or patterns of vertical or inclined ribs or grooves may be used provided moisture can flow downwards or away from the foundation surface. In other embodiments dimples or protrusions may project from both sides of the waterproof dimpled sheet 16 . Such a sheet can provide increased strength. A permeable wicking material pad may be attached to the outside of the membrane 18 so that moisture may drain downwardly between the earth and the membrane.
[0026] Preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in the drawings and specification and, although specific terms are employed, it is to be understood and appreciated that they are to be used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for the purpose of limitation. The scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.
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A foundation protector for a foundation wall prevents moisture being retained in the foundation wall and also provides drainage for surface water so that water does not rest against the surface of the foundation wall. The foundation protector has a smooth exterior surface so that it remains attached to the foundation if earth subsidence occurs. The foundation protector includes a waterproof dimpled sheet with spaced-apart protrusions and an outer waterproof membrane which covers recesses formed by the protrusions and provides a substantially smooth exterior surface.
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This application is a continuation-in-part application of parent U.S. application Ser. No. 08/653,503 filed on May 24, 1996,now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to stand open satchel ("SOS") bags or sacks and a method of producing the sacks. The SOS type bags are typically produced by starting with a square or rectangular tube, scoring the side and top and bottom walls and forming a bottom by folding portions of the side and bottom walls inwardly and securing by gluing. Each longitudinal side of the sack has a gusset fold so that the sack can be folded flat, for storing. Typical SOS sacks are limited in their opening capacity by the area of the folded rectangular bottom.
Machinery for folded bottom bags has a size limitation for a particular folded bottom. It would be desirable to provide a SOS sack which provides additional volume and of the aforementioned type and is capable of being formed on existing machinery.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a SOS bag which has a rectangular formed and glued bottom but which is expandable above the bottom to hold oversized articles such as restaurant carry out trays.
It is an object of the invention to provide an expandable SOS bag which can be manufactured on existing machinery having a folded bottom size limit but which will produce a larger functional bottom size for that particular machinery.
The objects of the invention are achieved by providing a SOS bag construction, formed from a rectangular tube having on each side a longitudinal fold running on the longitudinal center line of each side, and two gussets one running along each edge of each side. A conventional rectangular folded bottom is formed having a width equal to the top and bottom sides of the rectangular tube and a depth equivalent to a distance between the gussets. At a short distance above the folded bottom, the sides of the bag can expand outwardly, unfolding the gussets to form an expandable bottom region slightly elevated from the folded rectangular bottom.
From the short distance above the folded bottom to the top of the bag, the generally rectangular tube expands outward in such a manner that each pair of opposed parallel walls of the rectangular tube expand outward relatively to one another and yet remain generally parallel to one another.
By using this multi-gusseted construction, a typical 6 inch depth bottom can be expanded to 10 inch depth functional bottom region. This bag can be formed in the same machinery that would be used to form single gusseted side bags limited to its 6 inch deep bottom.
According to the method of forming the bag, the bag can be constructed using the same machinery which forms a typical SOS folded bottom bag. The bag can be made on a multi-plate former. Spot or line glue is positioned between the minor gussets in lower areas of flap length when in the tube formation process. No special bottom folding parts are anticipated to be needed.
Although each side wall of the bag is described as having two gussets, one along each edge of the side walls, any number of gussets can be employed on the side walls, positioned on the edge as shown or possibly inward of the edge such as more centrally located on the side wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the sack of the present invention in a fully expanded condition;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the sack of FIG. 1, in an unexpanded condition;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tube which is manufactured into the sack of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a left side view of the tube shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 shows a top view of the tube shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a perspective bottom view of the tube of FIG. 3 with a bottom partially formed;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the tube of FIG. 6 in a further stage of bottom folding; and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the tube with a completed bottom.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 illustrates a sack 10 of the present invention in a fully expanded condition. The sack includes a front wall 12, a back wall 14, a first multi-gusset side wall 16, and a second multi-gusset side wall 18. The sack includes a rectangular folded and glued bottom 20 and an open top 22. Handles 24, 26 can be provided for using the bag in a vertically oriented hanging position, such as a shopping bag. The bottom 20 has a depth dimension a and a width dimension b. The side wall 12 also has the width dimension b but in a expanded condition under force from articles held within the bag, above a height h, the bag has a depth dimension a'. Also, depending on the force from the articles inside the bag, the bag can have an increased width dimension b'. By using the pleated side wall 16, 18, the bag can typically be expanded from, for example, a 6 inch dimension a at the bottom, to a 10 inch dimension a' above a height h.
FIG. 2 shows the bag 10 having V-shaped cross section gussets 30, 32 on the first side wall 16 in a loose, non-expanded condition wherein the gussets can be folded flat so that the overall depth dimension of the bag approximates a.
FIG. 3 illustrates a preliminary step of forming the bag wherein a tube 36 is fed to a folding and gluing machine. The tube is pre-formed having front wall 38, rear wall 40, first side wall 42, and second side wall 44. The first side wall 42 includes a longitudinal fold 48 and gussets 50, 52. The gusset 50 includes edge fold 54, median fold 56, and mating fold 58. The second gusset includes mating fold 60, median fold 62 and edge fold 64. The tubular bag, its folds, and its formation are mirror image identical about the axis x and the axis y and as such, only one corner needs to be described.
FIG. 4 shows a side view of the tube 36 with the gussets 50, 52 fully flared outwardly. Triangular folds 68, 70, 68', 70' which extend into the longitudinal fold 48 to the median folds 56, 62 provide strategic folding as will be described below. The partial fold lines 68', 70' terminate at the median folds 56, 62 and oblique folds 72, 74 extend in an opposite direction to the edge folds 54, 64. A bottom fold 80 extends completely across the bag side wall 42.
FIG. 5 illustrates the front wall 81 with a coplanar bottom fold 82, coplanar with the bottom fold 80 shown in FIG. 4. Extending from the bottom fold 82 toward an end 84 of the tube are a first oblique fold 86 and a second oblique fold 88. The folds 86, 88 are at 45° to the end 84 of the tube. Adhesive areas 90, 92 are provided on an outside of the oblique fold 86, 88.
As shown in FIG. 6, bottom rectangular portions 100, 102 are folded inwardly from the side walls 42, 44 having the depth a. The gusset 50 is folded flat on its median fold 56. The oblique fold 72 is folded onto the triangular fold 68' as the front wall is folded along its oblique fold 88. The folds 72, 68' and 88 align and fold over together. The gussets 50, 52 in the bottom region thereof are held tightly closed and adhesively secured by adhesive areas 104, 106.
As shown in FIG. 7, a thus formed trapezoidally shaped front flap 120 can now be folded down along the line 82 along the entire width of the bottom downwardly and a similar, mirror image rear wall trapezoidal flap 122 can be folded along a line 124 upwardly wherein the flap 120 overlies the flap 122 and is secured therein by an area of adhesive 126.
Thus, the bottom folded bag is complete as shown in FIG. 8. For ease of manufacture, it is noted that the gussets may need to be no less than 2 inches open size. Additionally, shown in FIG. 8 are side triangular folds 128, 130 which extend from corners 132, 134 toward the opposite open end and meet at an apex 136 on a longitudinal fold 138. A circumferential fold 140 also meets at this apex as well as at an identical apex on the side 42 (not shown). The circumferential fold 140 is located at the distance 1/2 a from the bottom fold 82. A further circumferential fold 150 is located a further distance 1/2 a from the fold 140. Both folds 140, 150 extend completely around the sack. The triangular folds 128, 130 and like folds on the side wall 42 allow the bottom to be collapsed, the side walls folded along their longitudinal folds 48, 138, and the bottom folded flat against the top wall 81. The triangular folds 128 and 130 permit the bottom of the bag to collapse upward as the fold 140 collapses on itself similar to a conventional bag. The bottom 20 may then be folded one way or the other about the fold 140 and then folded again about the fold 150 in order to reduce the size of the folded bag. This results in a flat folded sack for storage. As the bag of the invention is unfolded, fold 140 serves a second function. The fold 140 defines connecting panels 160 between the front and rear walls 12 and 14, respectively, and the bottom 20 and further defines connecting panels 162 between the side walls 16 and 18 and the bottom 20. When the bag is in an unexpanded condition, the connecting panels 160 and 162 remain parallel to the front, rear and side walls as shown in FIG. 2. As the bag expands, the connecting panels bend about the fold 140 and the folds 80 and 82 at the bottom 20 permitting the remaining portion of the front, rear and side walls to expand outward so that the bag increases in volume and retains its generally rectangular configuration as is illustrated in FIG. 1. The connecting panels 160 and 162 extend between the bottom 20 and the front, rear and side walls of the bag and assist in defining the height h illustrated in FIG. 1 above which the bag retains its rectangular configuration.
As described above, a multi-gusseted folded bottom bag is formed having a preselected bottom size but with expandable side walls. Thus, an increase in effective bag size and volume car be achieved without changing existing bag forming machinery which is size limited to the existing bottom size.
Additionally, although a sack with two edge gussets per side is shown, any number of gussets can be added to the side walls from one to a plurality more than two. The gussets can be edge located as shown or possibly located inward of the edge at a position located along the depth of the sack. Gussets can be provided on the front and back walls, in leu of or in addition to the side walls. The number of gussets per side wall need not be equal, in fact, one side wall can be provided with a gusset(s) and the other not provided with a gusset. All such combinations are encompassed by the invention.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, those of skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
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An expansible folded SOS type sack having a preselected rectangular bottom size and side walls having multiple folded portions including a longitudinal fold down the longitudinal center line and gussets along opposite edges. The gusseted side walls allow the bag to open to a depth greater than that defined by the bottom of the sack for carrying oversized objects.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally relates to the field of injection molding. More specifically, the present invention relates to the reduction of galling between mold components as they experience rotation relative to one another. In yet a further specific aspect, the present invention describes an improved method and apparatus for the manufacture of articles having internally disposed threads in which a thread-forming core is at least partially disengaged from the molded article under substantially full mold clamp pressure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The art of forming internally threaded plastic injection molded closures is generally well known in the industry. Injection molds of this type typically include a female mold housing which substantially surrounds at least a partially threaded core component. The mold cavity is generally defined by the void space between a female mold housing and an internally disposed core component. Molten plastic material is usually injected into the mold cavity to form the threaded article. After injection and molding of the plastic, coolant may then be introduced to circulate through channels in various mold components in order to accelerate cooling of the product article. Once the article has cooled, a general feature of injection mold systems is the application of an ejection mechanism for removal of the article. Because a plastic injection mold generally has a plurality of mold cavities, it is often generally the case that the ejection mechanism operates to dislodge the articles in a group for each product cycle of the mold.
In the case of prior art methods of forming and ejecting threaded, molded products, the female mold half and mold core half are separated to initiate removal of the article from the mold. Because of the engaging nature of the threads however, the article generally remains connected to the face of the stripper ring upon separation of the mold halves. Accordingly, an ejection mechanism is generally required for subsequent removal of the article from the outer surface of the mold core.
Depending on the design parameters of the thread-molded article, the product may be removed from the mold core in various ways. These parameters may vary according to the type of plastic used to form the article as well as the number and type of threads to be formed. If the molded article is flexible, and the thread type permits, the article may be removed from the threaded core by the action of a stripper ring. In this process, the plastic should be sufficiently resilient and elastic to return to its original conformation, within a specified tolerance, after the formed threads have been stretched over the threaded core during extraction. If the polymer material is not flexible, or if the thread profile is very deep, very thin or has a more cantilevered shape, stripping may damage the article. An additional complication may occur when the thread-molded product has inherently delicate features, such as a tamper evident ring, which may experience strip-ejection damage even if an otherwise suitable polymer were to be used.
Additional prior art methods and devices for removing internally threaded articles from a mold include, for example, separation of the mold halves prior to disengagement of the article from the threaded mold core. These methods generally involve first separating the mold halves and then rotating the threaded-core while a stripper grabber ring engages the molded article and translates axially along the core in timed relation to the rotation and pitch of the threaded core. In this regard, the stripper ring may often have structural features known as grabbers to hold the molded article and prevent it from turning with the rotation of the threaded core. Such methods generally known in the art, however, have previously been applied to mold timing cycles where rotational removal of the article is accomplished only after the article has suitably cooled and the mold halves have been separated. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,717 to Hynds, incorporated herein by reference, a moveable ejection mechanism, including a camming mechanism, which engages a stripper ring, is used to remove the article from the mold in an open-clamp configuration after the mold halves are separated.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,264 to Schroer, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus in which a plurality of thread-forming components are peripherally disposed around the core which translate on tracks to cause the core to collapse so that the thread-molded article may be pushed off. However, the collapse and expansion of the core in this device adds substantially to the overall complexity and cost of the injection mold apparatus as well as the production cycle time between mold injections. Additionally, the collapse of the core is typically engaged only after the additional step of separating the mold halves.
In the case of the manufacture of a tamper evident ring, U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,698 to Aichinger, incorporated herein by reference, generally discloses a device in which a first female cavity component surrounds a threaded component and is removed from the molded closure while a second female component adjacent to the tamper evident ring remains in place. However, this method, while generally effective, is uniquely adapted for the production of molded caps having an integral tamper evident ring and also typically includes separation of the mold halves prior to disengagement of the article.
Alternatively, when using a polymer which is generally too inflexible to be ejected by the action of a stripper ring without permanent stripping damage to the article, a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,227 to Hara, incorporated herein by reference, may be used. In the '227 patent to Hara, a rotationally displaced chuck is engaged over the molded article after the female component of the mold cavity is removed. The chuck engages the outer edge of the closure and rotates the closure as it translates backward to allow the rotational removal of the unscrewing article. This method, however, is often applied in mold timing cycles where the mold is separated prior to rotational removal of the article.
Thus, a need exists in the injection molding art for a method and apparatus for the molding and ejection of threaded articles in which the injection cycle time is substantially reduced while simultaneously preserving the thread integrity of the articles. As such, the need exists for a device capable of realizing a reduced in-mold product cooling time, the commencement of resolved rotational disengagement of the article from the threaded mold core under substantially full mold clamp pressure, and the achievement of a greater number of injection production cycles between periodic inspection and maintenance checks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the production and removal of threaded, molded articles from a plastic injection mold device. Articles having internally disposed threads are created by a thread-forming core, which may be rotationally disengaged from the article under substantially full mold clamp pressure. A cam system and linear drive/following gear mechanism are employed to engage a finely resolved retraction of the threaded core under substantially full mold clamp pressure prior to substantially complete rotational disengagement of the threaded core from the product article and subsequent separation of the mold halves.
Specifically, the mold halves are brought together to a closed-mold position to create a mold cavity for receiving molten plastic with the core in the set position. As plastic is injected into the mold, the liquid plastic fills the cavity to form the product part. The product part may then be partially cooled in preparation for removal from the mold. Thereafter, a linear drive system is engaged to partially retract the threaded core away from the metal-to-metal contact areas of the shutoffs under substantially full mold clamp pressure. After the threaded core is subsequently disengaged from the product part, still under substantially full mold clamp pressure, the mold halves are opened to expose the part for ejection from the mold. The molded part is then ejected, the mold halves are returned to a closed position, the cores are re-set and the mold is readied for the next production cycle. While the timing and order of these steps may be varied, many of the steps may occur substantially simultaneously at various points in the mold cycle, to reduce or otherwise optimize the production cycle time.
The present invention is additionally directed to reducing galling that may otherwise occur when mold components experience rotation with respect to each other without initial retraction of the core under pressure in closed-mold configurations. Moreover, the need for periodic maintenance and incident interruption of production is substantially reduced as well.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY DRAWINGS
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention are hereinafter described in the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to identify the same or similar apparatus parts and/or method steps in the similar views and:
FIG. 1 is an open-mold, side view of an exemplary prior art apparatus for the injection molding of internally threaded articles.
FIG. 2 is a closed-mold, side view of an exemplary prior art apparatus in accordance with the device depicted in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a closed-mold, end view of an exemplary prior art apparatus in accordance with the device depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is an open-mold, end view of an exemplary prior art apparatus in accordance with the device depicted in FIGS. 1-3 in a stripping position.
FIG. 5 is a closed-mold, end view of an exemplary apparatus for the injection molding of articles having internally disposed threads in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary mold in which the male and female halves have been engaged in their closed-mold configuration in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a forward perspective view of an exemplary linear drive mechanism for use with an exemplary mold as previously depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a rearward perspective view of an exemplary linear drive mechanism for use with an exemplary mold as previously depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a cut-away side view of the linear drive, camming and core-rotation delay mechanisms for use with an exemplary mold as previously depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a perspective depiction of an exemplary apparatus in accordance with the present invention wherein the mold halves have been separated to expose their inner surfaces of relative engagement and wherein the linear drive has been engaged with the rotary gears of the threaded core components (not shown) housed within the female mold half.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of mold components generally defining an exemplary mold cavity in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a plan view of mold components generally comprising an exemplary molding apparatus in accordance with one aspect of the present invention wherein stripper ring 110 is displaced to the stripping position for the dislodgment of article 160 from main core 115 .
FIG. 13 is a process schematic generally depicting the sequence of method steps for an exemplary mold production cycle according to one aspect of the present invention.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the detailed description that follows.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments of the invention only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description is intended to provide convenient illustrations for implementing various embodiments of the invention. As will become apparent, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, an exemplary prior art molding apparatus is depicted. In an exemplary injection stage of the molding cycle, mold halves 7 and 8 are brought together in relative engagement to a closed-mold position suitably adapted to receive molten plastic (as depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 ). A hot manifold 70 serves as a heating and distribution system for the plastic material to be injected into the mold and may be either standard or custom designed for the molding application of interest. Hot manifold 70 is generally employed to reduce runner waste and/or to deliver a more consistent melt temperature to distal portions of the mold in order to obtain better quality production of article parts 2 . Manifold 70 feeds from a central injection nozzle-locating ring 73 for engagement with injection nozzle 72 and carries the plastic to each molding cavity or secondary runner system.
A manifold sprue bushing 75 generally provides a seat for the injection nozzle-locating ring 73 to align with the hot manifold 70 of the mold apparatus. Hot drops 65 (also termed “hot nozzles”, “hot tips” or “hot probes”) may be used with a manifold 70 or singularly in place of a sprue bushing 75 . A hot drop 65 is generally comprised of a plastic feed hole, an electrical heating unit and a thermocouple and fits substantially flush to the hot manifold 70 in front of a mold cavity or a secondary runner system. Molten plastic material flows through the hot drop 65 to the outlet end or tip (“sharp point”) where it then enters the mold cavity or runner thereby generally leaving a small gate mark on the molded article 2 . Alternatively, a valve gate drop may be used in place of a hot drop 65 wherein a moving pin is interiorly disposed within the center of the drop whose backward and forward movement either hydraulically or pneumatically actuates the gate to open and closed positions. An exemplary reason for using a valve gate drop in place of a standard hot drop is to deliver higher plastic volume more rapidly into the mold cavity or to minimize gate vestige.
As molten plastic is injected into the apparatus, the liquid plastic flows to substantially fill the mold cavity thereby conforming the shape of the product article 2 to the design features of the mold. Thereafter, article 2 is cooled to allow the plastic to at least partially solidify, whereby the article 2 substantially retains the mold's design features and is suitably prepared for subsequent ejection from the mold. Coaxial bubbler tubes 50 are generally installed in the bottom clamp plate 32 to direct cooling water from the feed line 34 to the inside of core 35 to cool the article 2 prior to ejection from the mold. A water-cooled gate insert 60 , generally used on hot runner molds, provides direct cooling at the article 2 and gate interface. Cooling of the continually heated gate area is generally required in order to facilitate shorter mold cycle times, minimize gate vestige and/or realize quality production of article parts 2 .
After article 2 is suitably cooled, in exemplary prior art devices, mold halves 7 and 8 are separated to expose the article 2 (as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Cam followers 5 then engage and ride cam bars 1 to begin removal of the molded article 2 . Hydraulic cylinder 12 , mounted on top of the mold, actuates cam bars 1 to lift cam followers 5 and stripper (“grabber”) plate 9 . Cam followers 5 are attached to stripper plate 9 and generally provide a hard, matching, angular surface to ride on the cam bar 1 and actuate stripper plate 9 to subsequently eject the article 2 . Cam bars 1 generally are timed so that while the rotation of the unscrewing rack 25 operates to withdraw threaded core 35 from the article 2 , stripper plate 9 is actuating at a suitable rate to remain in sufficient contact with the base of molded article 2 until the threads formed inside the article 2 have been unscrewed. Rack 25 and cam bars 1 may be actuated by the same hydraulic cylinder 12 and can be attached to a common drive plate 13 . Rack 25 rotates the matching following gear 17 on threaded core 35 while the cam bars 1 lift stripper plate 9 . Rack wear plates 30 are generally mounted on the three surrounding sides of the rack 25 that are not operationally engaged with the following gear 17 of the threaded core 35 and generally define the recess 80 for receiving the rack 25 . The wear plates 30 provide a lubricated surface that may, in an exemplary preferred embodiment, be fabricated from non-ferrous material with grease-grooves machined into the plate 30 surfaces to allow rack 25 to move back and forth freely. Rack guide rails (not depicted) move independently of rack 25 to allow cams 1 to actuate core carrier plate 13 prior to rotational disengagement of threaded core 35 by action of engagement of rack drive 25 with core following gear 17 .
Threaded core 35 is actuated by engagement of a following gear 17 with the linear drive mechanism 25 . Threaded core 35 generally has threads exteriorly disposed on the molding end that form the interior threads of the article 2 and a matched pitch following thread on the opposing end of the threaded core and also generally incorporates a tapered shutoff seat as well as provisions for water cooling well known in the art of injection molding. Thrust-needle bearings 40 provide a smooth travel envelope for the core 35 to rotate inside. Each set of bearings 40 generally comprises two hardened thrust washers and one radial roller bearing. Generally, thrust washer thickness is critical in prior art devices for the accurate and resolved positioning of the threaded core 35 . Thrust-needle bearings 40 absorb injection pressure as pressure is applied to the top of the threaded core 35 during the closed-mold injection stage of the molding cycle. Roller bearings 45 are press fitted into the rack plate 30 and generally provide stability, smooth rotation and alignment to the threaded core 35 . While roller bearings 45 generally operate to hold the core 35 on its true centerline axis, thrust bearings 40 generally operate to stabilize the height position of the core 35 during rotation. Cam bar wear plates 55 generally surround the unengaged surfaces of the cam bars 1 to provide a lubricated surface for cam bars 1 to ride against in order to reduce metal-on-metal galling. Cam bar wear plates 55 may generally be fabricated in much the same fashion as rack wear plates 30 , wherein the wear surface is generally manufactured from a non-ferrous metal or metal alloy that may be easily replaced during periodic maintenance if required.
After the unscrewing operation is generally completed, cam followers 5 are subsequently engaged with the acceleration ramps 10 of the cam bars 1 to displace the stripper plate 9 , with a forward motion approximately normal to the interior face of the mold 7 , to provide the final jarring force to the molded article 2 , which dislodges the article 2 from the grabber teeth 20 (as depicted in FIG. 1 ). The grabber portion 20 of the stripper rings 15 generally form interrupted, ramping teeth annularly disposed around the perimeter, usually at the base of the molded article 2 . These teeth 20 are generally biased to provide suitable resistance to torque at the base of the article 2 to prevent the article 2 from turning with the rotation of the withdrawing threaded core 35 . The tapered portion of the grabber teeth 20 generally provides for easier final ejection of the molded article 2 after the unscrewing operation is completed.
After the article 2 is ejected from the mold, cam bars 1 are returned to their original position by reversing the hydraulic cylinder 12 before re-engaging the mold halves 7 and 8 into a closed-mold position, as depicted in FIG. 2, in preparation for the next injection molding cycle. For more information regarding injection molding, see “What is a Mold” (Len Graham, published by Tech Group, Inc., 2000), which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIGS. 5-12 depict an injection molding apparatus in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the injection stage of the molding cycle, mold halves 101 and 102 are brought together in relative engagement and secured by means of latch locks 175 to a closed-mold position (see step 202 depicted in FIG. 13) suitably adapted to receive molten plastic (as depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 ). Various exemplary methods of engaging the mold halves may include, but shall not be limited to: pneumatic means, hydraulic means, worm gear means, stepper-motor driven means, manual engagement means, camming mechanisms, electromotive means, etc. For example, a hot manifold heats and distributes molten plastic to mold cavity 99 (see step 201 depicted in FIG. 13 ). Mold cavity 99 is defined by, in an exemplary embodiment, the void volume between the threaded core 100 , the main core 115 and the mold jacket housing 105 (as depicted in FIGS. 5 and 11 ). As in prior art devices, a hot manifold may be generally employed to reduce runner waste and/or to deliver a more consistent melt temperature to distal portions of the mold in order to obtain improved quality production of article parts 160 . The manifold generally feeds from an injection nozzle (not shown) and carries the plastic to each molding cavity 99 by methods generally well known in the art of injection molding and previously described. Other methods of delivering plastic known in the art of injection molding, such as cold runner delivery systems, hot runners as well as combination methods such as cold-to-hot and hot-to-cold runner delivery systems, may also be used and shall be regarded as conceived and representative of alternative embodiments of the present invention.
As molten plastic is injected into the mold (see step 203 depicted in FIG. 13 ), the liquid plastic flows to substantially fill the mold cavity 99 thereby conforming the shape of the article 160 to the design features of the mold. Thereafter, the article 160 may be at least partially cooled to allow the plastic to solidify (see step 204 depicted in FIG. 13 ), whereby the article part 160 substantially retains the mold's design features and is suitably prepared for subsequent removal from the mold. Coaxial bubbler tubes 92 and 94 (as shown in FIG. 5) may be generally installed in the bottom clamp plates 106 and 107 of mold halves 101 and 102 respectively to direct cooling water from the feed lines 91 and 93 to the inside of threaded core 100 and main core 115 to cool the article 160 prior to ejection from the mold. A water-cooled gate insert may also be used on hot runner molds generally to provide direct cooling at the article 160 and gate interface. Other methods of cooling mold components and product parts known in the art of injection molding, such as thermal pins, bubbler tubes, barrels, drilled water lines, air jets, fans, heat sinks, insulation material, non-ferrous metals, etc., may also be used and shall be similarly regarded as conceived and representative of alternative embodiments of the present invention.
Threaded core receiver assembly 120 is mounted to threaded core carrier plate 108 . As linear drive mechanism 111 is actuated, in an exemplary embodiment, threaded core carrier plate 108 rides on cam bars 109 to retract threaded core receiver assembly 120 and threaded core 100 in a preferred exemplary range of about 0.005-0.007 inches from article 160 under closed-mold clamp pressure. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the closed-mold clamp pressure may be up to about 1*10 1 -1*10 3 tons. Acceptable retraction displacement values may range anywhere from about 0.001-0.015 inches depending on the desired product article geometry.
In one exemplary embodiment, after article 160 is optionally cooled, cam-actuated threaded core carrier plate 108 is engaged by cam bars 109 disposed on linear drive mechanism 111 (as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 ) to at least partially retract the threaded core 100 (see step 205 depicted in FIG. 13) from the main core 115 . Maintenance access to the threaded core carrier plate 108 may be had by removal of panels 180 . In another embodiment, core carrier plate 108 may be alternatively disposed on the opposing mold half to at least partially retract the main core 115 to substantially perform the same function and/or to substantially achieve a similar result of partial retraction of conical interlocks 145 and 171 of the threaded core 100 with the interlock recesses 150 and 142 of the main core 115 and the cavity sleeve 90 .
In the mold set position, threaded core 100 is engaged with main core 115 by means of an interlocking mechanism that, in an exemplary embodiment, is generally comprised of a conical interlock 145 for relative engagement with a conical interlock recess 150 ; additionally, conical interior surface 171 is relatively engaged with conical interlock recess 142 . The selection of a conical geometry for the interlocking features generally provides for suitably adapted alignment of the mold components with line-contact between the surfaces of engagement. This generally permits a free path of relative rotation of the threaded core 100 with respect to the main core 115 and cavity sleeve 90 as well as accurate and reproducible sealing of the shutoffs. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a spherical geometry for the interlocking features may also generally be used to provide a free path of relative rotation of the threaded core 100 with respect to the main core 115 ; however, use of a spherical geometry would generally provide for only point-contact between the surfaces of relative engagement. In yet other embodiments of the present invention, various polygonal geometries may be employed to provide surface contact between the surfaces of relative engagement, such as, for example, that of a tapered pyramidal section; however, not all polygonal geometries may provide a free path of rotation for the threaded core 100 with respect to the main core 115 . In general, the taper of a polygonal interlock feature should be correlated to the magnitude of the linear retraction of the threaded core 100 to provide a suitable free path of rotation. While line-contact may be generally regarded as inferior to surface-contact in terms of securing positive, relative engagement between mold components, line-contact has generally been shown to provide an adequate interlock between the threaded core 100 , the main core 115 and the cavity sleeve 90 while permitting linear retraction parameters to take on generally unconstrained values while providing a free path of rotation.
Threaded core following gear 130 engages linear rack 112 to begin unscrewing of threaded core 100 (see step 206 depicted in FIG. 13) from article 160 after the threaded core 100 has been at least partially retracted from engagement with main core 115 so as to reduce metal-on-metal galling that may otherwise result. In an alternative exemplary embodiment of the present invention, other methods of translational displacement of a core mold component under substantial closed-mold clamp pressure may also be used such as, for example: a spring actuated mechanism; a worm gear mechanism; electromotive and/or magnetically inductive means; etc.
Galling is generally defined as the undesirable stripping away of material, usually metal, when at least two bodies experience the application of relative force after the bodies have already come into contact with each other. In injection mold applications, galling of mold components may often be attributed to a physical property (e.g., the thermal expansion coefficient) of a metal or metal alloy used to construct the mold components. For example, the thermal expansion coefficient, which corresponds to the rate of linear growth of stainless steel λ as a function of temperature T, may generally be given as: ∂ λ ∂ T ≅ 0.0006 inches Γ × 100 ° F .
. . . where Γ is the linear dimension of interest (here, in inches) for a stainless steel component. More generally stated, a stainless steel mold component could be expected to grow by about 0.0006 inches for every inch of steel that comprises the component for every 100 degrees Fahrenheit that the component is heated. In a typically hot runner molding system, mold and manifold temperatures can reach up to about 550° F., corresponding to a growth of about 0.0029 inches of the steel mold components as compared to the same components' dimensions at room temperature. Conical seat shutoff 171 and conical interlock 145 will therefore expand against their surfaces of relative engagement in the mold set position. This expansion will generally result in galling of the mold components as they experience rotation relative to one another in prior art devices under full clamp pressure. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, galling of the conical interlock 145 of the threaded core 100 with the interlock recess 150 of the main core 115 and conical interlock 171 with cavity sleeve 90 is virtually eliminated, or otherwise dramatically reduced, with the partial retraction (i.e., 0.005-0.007 inches) of the threaded core 100 prior to rotational disengagement with the article 160 . This has the effect of substantially increasing the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) for these components and allows the mold apparatus to have a greater duty cycle between periodic maintenance and inspections procedures.
Because the threaded core 100 is partially retracted from main core 115 and cavity sleeve 90 , the internal threads formed on article 160 experience displacement as the threaded core carrier plate 108 retracts the threaded core 100 . In the case of a 0.005-0.007 inch partial retraction of the threaded core 100 , prior to rotational disengagement of the article 160 , it has been observed that suitable plastics (for example, but not limited to: nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate, high-impact styrene, etc., and mixtures thereof) retain a memory of the stretched displacement of the threads and substantially re-adopt the conformation of the originally molded thread design parameters after the threaded core 100 has been unscrewed and removed from the article 106 . Additionally, partial retraction of the threaded core 100 from the article 160 under substantial full, closed-mold clamp pressure allows for simultaneous cooling of the article 160 and commencement of removal of the same from the mold, which has the effect of substantially further reducing the mold cycle time allowing for improved rates of production of article parts 160 over time.
The linear drive unscrewing rack 112 and cam bars 109 attached to cam guide rails 85 are actuated by hydraulic cylinder 113 . In alternative embodiments of the present invention, pneumatic means, worm gear means, stepper-motor driven means, manual engagement means, camming mechanisms, electromotive means, etc., may be generally substituted for hydraulic means 113 to perform substantially the same function and/or to achieve a substantially similar result of actuating unscrewing rack 112 and cam bars 109 .
FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary mechanism to provide for the delayed linear retraction of threaded core 100 from main core 115 and conical interlock 171 with cavity sleeve 90 followed by subsequent rotational disengagement of threaded core 100 from the product article 160 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Hydraulic cylinder 113 is communicably connected and actuates rack drive plate 401 , which is connected to and further actuates cam drive plate 400 . Rack drive plate 401 and cam drive plate 400 are initially retained by at least one latch-lock 405 . As rack drive plate 401 moves down, rack drive 112 remains stationary while cam drive plate 400 actuates linear displacement of cam drive rails 85 and cam bars 109 . Cam bars 109 , in turn, actuate displacement of threaded core carrier plate 108 to linearly retract the threaded core 100 under substantially full mold clamp pressure. As hydraulic cylinder 113 continues to actuate downward movement, cam drive rail 85 moves to close the distance between follower-block stop 320 and rack follower-block 315 . As the distance between follower-block stop 320 and rack follower-block 315 is closed, latch-lock 405 disengages rack drive plate 401 from cam drive plate 400 and retaining block 300 engages retaining block recess 310 just prior to follower-block 315 making contact with follower-block stop 320 . As hydraulic cylinder 113 continues to actuate the further downward movement of guide rail 85 , engagement of retaining block 300 with the matched recess 310 assures that linear rack 112 does not return to its original position until the final set is made after the core re-set is complete in the upstroke. The continued downstroke of linear rack 112 actuates the rotation of following gear 130 to initiate rotational retraction of the threaded core 100 from the product article 160 . Threaded core following-threads 114 are pitch-matched to the molding threads 116 . Threaded core receiver assembly 120 is mounted to threaded core carrier plate 108 by means of mounting counter-bores 155 , which are adapted for precise adjustment of the engagement of threaded core 100 with the core set conical interlock features previously described. Threaded core receiver assembly 120 has internally disposed threads for receiving threaded core 100 and provides for mounting of the threaded core 100 to threaded core carrier plate 108 . As threaded core 100 rotates in response to the engagement of threaded core following gear 130 with linear rack 112 , the matched pitch of the molding threads 116 with the core mounting threads 114 generally permits rotational disengagement of the molding threads 116 from the product article 160 while minimizing any stripping damage that might otherwise result. At some point in the downward movement of linear rack 112 , threaded core 100 becomes substantially completely disengaged from product part 160 . Thereafter, mold halves 101 and 102 may be separated to expose product part 160 for subsequent removal from main core 115 . Either prior to reengagement of mold halves 101 and 102 , or after their relative reengagement, hydraulic cylinder 113 may be reversed to return the mold to a core-set position, suitably prepared for the next injection mold cycle, by means of substantially reversing the order of the downstroke steps described above.
Rack wear plates 96 are generally mounted on the three surrounding sides of the rack 112 that are not operationally engaged with the following gear 130 of the threaded core 100 . The wear plates 96 provide a lubricated surface that may be, in an exemplary embodiment, fabricated from non-ferrous material with grease-grooves machined into the plate 96 surfaces to allow rack 112 to move back and forth freely. Threaded core 100 is actuated by rotational engagement of following gear 130 with the linear rack mechanism 112 . Rotation of threaded core 100 is stabilized and lubricated by an annularly engaged, oil-impregnated bronze bearing 140 disposed within cavity sleeve 90 . Threaded core 100 generally has threads exteriorly disposed on the molding end that form the interior threads of the article 160 and also generally incorporates a tapered shutoff seat as well as provisions for water cooling well known in the art of injection molding.
Cam guide wear plates 97 are generally mounted on the three surrounding sides of the cam guide rails 85 , which define the cam guide rail recess 86 and generally do not comprise surface area attributable to the threaded core carrier plate 108 . The cam guide wear plates 97 also provide a lubricated surface that may be, in an exemplary embodiment, fabricated from non-ferrous material with grease-grooves machined into the plate surfaces to allow cam guide rails 85 to move back and forth substantially freely.
After the threaded core 100 is rotationally disengaged from the article 160 , the mold halves 101 and 102 are separated to expose the article 160 (see step 207 depicted in FIG. 13 ). A stripper ring 110 is then displaced along the axis of the main core 115 with a forward motion approximately normal to the interior face of the mold 102 , to dislodge the article 160 (see step 208 depicted in FIG. 13) from the mold (as depicted in FIG. 12 ). Other methods for ejecting a product part known in the art of injection molding, such as ejector pins, sleeve ejections, blades, air ejectors, post-mold ejectors, robotic ejectors, manual ejection means, etc., may also be used and shall be regarded as conceived and representative of alternative embodiments of the present invention.
In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, after product article 160 is ejected from the mold, cam bars 109 and linear rack 112 may be optionally returned to their original positions by reversing the hydraulic cylinder 113 (see step 209 as shown in FIG. 13) before re-engaging mold halves 101 and 102 into a closed-mold position (as depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 ) in preparation for the next injection molding cycle (returning to step 201 as depicted in FIG. 13 ). In an alternative embodiment, threaded core carrier plate 108 may be returned to the mold set position after re-engagement of mold halves 101 and 102 .
The present invention offers substantial advantages and improvements over existing injection mold technology. Testing of the disclosed preferred exemplary device, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, showed no detectable signs of pressure contact or wear of the shutoffs after more than 70,000 production cycles of the mold.
Various principles and applications of the present invention have been described by way of the preceding exemplary embodiments; however, other combinations and/or modifications of the above-described structures, arrangements, applications, proportions, elements, materials or components used in the practice of the present invention, in addition to those not specifically recited, may be varied or otherwise particularly adapted by those skilled in the art to specific environments, manufacturing or design parameters or other operating requirements without departing from the general principles of the same.
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The invention generally discloses an apparatus and method for removing threaded, molded articles from an injection mold. A cam system and linear drive/following gear mechanism engages a finely resolved retraction of a threaded mold core, under substantially full mold clamp pressure, prior to rotational disengagement of the core from the molded article. The invention also describes a system for the reduction of galling that may otherwise occur when mold components experience relative rotation with respect to each other. Moreover, the invention describes an apparatus and method for substantially reducing periodic maintenance checks and interruptions in production.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to the following applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/952,532, filed on Jul. 26, 2013, having Attorney Docket No. ALI-232, and titled “Radio Signal Pickup From An Electrically Conductive Substrate Utilizing Passive Slits”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/919,307, filed on Jun. 17, 2013, having Attorney Docket No. ALI-206, and titled “Determining Proximity For Devices Interacting With Media Devices”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/802,646, filed on Mar. 13, 2013, having Attorney Docket No. ALI-230, and titled “Proximity-Based Control Of Media Devices For Media Presentations”; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
FIELD
[0002] These present application relates generally to the field of personal electronics, portable electronics, media presentation devices, audio systems, and more specifically to a RF architecture that is reversibly switchable between a 2×2 MIMO mode and a 1×2 MIMO mode while maintaining dual band RF communications in either mode and receive only near field proximity detection in the 1×2 MIMO mode.
BACKGROUND
[0003] MIMO is an abbreviation for Multiple-Input Multiple Output RF devices that have the ability to simultaneously handle multiple RF data inputs and multiple RF data outputs. RF devices that include MIMO capability may use a RF antenna to send and receive more than one communication signal simultaneously. For example, transmitting a WiFi signal using a dual band antenna and receiving a Bluetooth (BT) signal using the same dual band antenna. A 2×2 MIMO architecture may provide two RF paths that use two RF chains with each chain configured for receiving and transmitting a RF signal. A 1×1 MIMO architecture, also called SISO, allows for one RF path with a single RF chain that is capable of transmitting or receiving a RF signal. MIMO systems that use multiple RF antennas can take advantage of multipath effects that result in improved range and capacity due to more reliable signal quality and increased bandwidth.
[0004] The MIMO architectures may utilize one or more antennas or a dual band antenna to transmit and receive RF signals. Those antennas are typically optimized for the intended RF bands the MIMO will be in communications with, such as WiFi (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz) and Bluetooth, for example. However, some systems that incorporate a MIMO architecture may include features that requires an antenna optimized for another function, such as near field proximity detection. In some applications, the antenna to be used for near field proximity detection may be subject to design constraints such as imposed by industrial design considerations (e.g., esthetic requirements), chassis/enclosure design, just to name a few. In other applications, the antenna to be used for near field proximity detection may be configured to not be optimized for any of the frequency bands used by the MIMO. For example, it may be desirable to have an intentionally detuned antenna for antenna for near field proximity detection because it will be less sensitive to signal strength (e.g., RSSI) generated by transmitting devices in the far field region (e.g., >0.5 meters from the antenna) and more sensitive to transmitting devices that are in the near field or very near field (e.g., <0.5 meters from the antenna) or are in direct contact with the antenna. Therefore an antenna that is detuned and/or not optimized for RF bands such as those used for WiFi or Bluetooth, may be desirable for some applications that also include a MIMO architecture.
[0005] Thus, there is a need for a RF architecture that takes advantage of MIMO while also incorporating antennas optimized for near field proximity detection into the MIMO architecture while maintaining the advantages of the MIMO architecture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Various embodiments or examples (“examples”) of the present application are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not necessarily to scale:
[0007] FIG. 1A depicts a block diagram of one example of a RF frontend architecture, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0008] FIG. 1B depicts a block diagram of the RF frontend architecture of FIG. 1A when set to a 2×2 MIMO mode, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0009] FIG. 1C depicts a block diagram of the RF frontend architecture of FIG. 1A when set to a 1×2 MIMO mode, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0010] FIG. 1D depicts a more detailed block diagram of one example of a RF frontend architecture, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0011] FIG. 1E depicts a block diagram of the RF frontend architecture of FIG. 1D when set to a 2×2 MIMO mode, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0012] FIG. 1F depicts a block diagram of the RF frontend architecture of FIG. 1D when set to a 1×2 MIMO mode, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0013] FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary computer system according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0014] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of one example of a method for multi-channel dual band wireless communication and wireless near field proximity detection, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0015] FIG. 4A depicts a top plan view of one example of an antenna and passive slits formed in a substrate of an electrically conductive material, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0016] FIG. 4B depicts a cross-sectional view along line AA-AA of FIG. 4A of an antenna and passive slits formed in a substrate of an electrically conductive material, according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0017] FIG. 4C depicts an example schematic diagram of electrical connections with the antenna, according to an embodiment of the present application; and
[0018] FIGS. 4D-4E depict examples of a live device generating a RF signal that may be detected by a system using an antenna and passive slits, according to an embodiment of the present application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] Various embodiments or examples may be implemented in numerous ways, including as a system, a process, an apparatus, a user interface, or a series of program instructions on a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network where the program instructions are sent over optical, electronic, or wireless communication links. In general, operations of disclosed processes may be performed in an arbitrary order, unless otherwise provided in the claims.
[0020] A detailed description of one or more examples is provided below along with accompanying drawing FIGS. The detailed description is provided in connection with such examples, but is not limited to any particular example. The scope is limited only by the claims and numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents are encompassed. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding. These details are provided for the purpose of example and the described techniques may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the examples has not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description.
[0021] FIG. 1A depicts a block diagram 100 a of one example of a RF frontend architecture 100 (RF 100 hereinafter). Unless otherwise stated, elements in RF 100 may be implemented using a variety of technologies including but not limited to an integrated circuit (IC), a mixed-signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a mixed signal ASIC, discrete electronic components, combinations of discrete electronic components and IC's or ASIC's, just to name a few. RF 100 includes RF circuitry 150 having circuitry for a 2×2 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) and a 1×2 MIMO. One or more signals (e.g., 157 , 155 ), either internal to RF 100 , external to RF 100 , or both may be used to set a 2×2 MIMO mode or 1×2 MIMO mode. For example, a mode signal 155 received by RF circuitry 150 may be used to determine with of the two MIMO modes is set. As one example, if the mode signal 155 is active high, then the 2×2 MIMO mode is set, and if the mode signal 155 is active low, then the 1×2 MIMO mode is set. In other examples, another signal or group of signals may set the MIMO mode or cause the mode signal 155 to be set to one of the two MIMO modes. For example, one or more signals on port 157 of RF circuitry 150 may be used to set the MIMO state or cause the mode signal 155 to be set to a particular value or voltage level (e.g., logic 1 or logic 0).
[0022] RF circuitry 150 may include two separate RF chains and their associated circuitry and antennas. For purposes of explanation, a dashed line 143 will be used to visually demark a first RF chain 151 from a second RF chain 152 so that the functionality of the two RF chains may be described with clarity. In the first RF chain 151 , circuitry 129 may be electrically coupled ( 125 , 127 ) with RF circuitry 150 and a RF switch 160 . Connections 125 and 127 may be for ports on RF circuitry 150 that support different RF bands such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and Bluetooth (BT), for example. Connections 125 and 127 may also be used to couple RF signals such as those associated with antenna 130 as will be described below. RF chain 151 may include two antennas such as antenna 120 and antenna 130 , both of which are electrically coupled ( 126 , 136 ) with RF switch 160 . RF switch 160 may select between antennas 120 and 130 based on a signal 153 received by the switch 160 from RF circuitry 150 . Antenna 120 may be a dual band antenna or a dual band chip antenna. The dual band chip antenna may be monolithically integrated with a semiconductor die that include some or all of the circuitry in RF 100 and/or RF circuitry 150 . The dual band chip antenna may be positioned (e.g., floor planned) at a specific location on the die such as at a corner or a side of the die. There may be multiple dual band chip antennas and those antennas may be positioned at opposing corners of the die or at opposing sides or edges, for example. Antenna 130 may be an antenna specifically configured for near field detection of external sources of RF signals. For example, antenna 130 may be a near field proximity detection antenna configured to generate a RF signal when a transmitting RF device is placed directly on or in contact with antenna 130 , or positioned in near field proximity or very close near field proximity of antenna 130 . Very close near field proximity may comprise a distance from the antenna 130 that is approximately 0.5 meters or less. More preferably, 50 mm or less. Even more preferably, 30 mm or less. Near field proximity may comprise a distance that is greater than 0.5 meters. The foregoing are non-limiting examples of what may define near field proximity or very close near field proximity and actual values will be application dependent. Antenna 130 may be configured to be intentionally detuned (e.g., to a lower frequency) from a target frequency, such as the frequency or frequencies of the external sources of RF signals and/or one or more of the dual band frequencies of RF 100 . For example, if the target frequency is 2.4 GHz, then antenna 130 may be detuned to a lower frequency that may be approximately in a range from about 0.5 GHz to about 1.0 GHz. Antenna 130 will be described in greater detail below. Examples of target frequencies include but are not limited to: 2.4 GHz; 2.4 GHz-2.48 GHz; from about 2.4 GHz to about 2.48 GHz; 5 GHz; unlicensed bands, licensed bands, cellular bands, bands used by 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G devices, Bluetooth bands, any of the 802.11 bands, military bands, just to name a few. Antenna 130 may be tuned to the target frequency or in some examples may be detuned to a frequency range that is below that (i.e., lower) of the target frequency or to a frequency range that is above (i.e., greater) that of the target frequency.
[0023] RF chain 152 includes circuitry 119 that may be electrically coupled ( 115 , 117 ) with RF circuitry 150 . Connections 115 and 117 may be for ports on RF circuitry 150 that support different RF bands such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and Bluetooth (BT), for example. RF chain 152 may include an antenna 110 that may be a dual band antenna or a dual band chip antenna as described above for antenna 120 . RF circuitry 150 may support multiple MIMO modes, such as a 2×2 MIMO mode and a 1×2 MIMO mode and RF circuitry 150 may reversibly switch between the multiple MIMO modes, such as between 2×2 MIMO and 1×2 MIMO modes (e.g., in response to signal 155 and/or 157 ). When the 2×2 MIMO mode is set, RF circuitry 150 is configured for dual band RF communication for both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) using both antennas ( 110 , 120 ). Moreover, the dual band RF communications may occur simultaneously such that RF chain 151 may use its antenna 120 to Tx/Rx on dual RF bands, such as WiFi 2.4 GHz and/or WiFi 5 GHz or Bluetooth and/or WiFi 5 GHz. Similarly, RF chain 152 may use its antenna 110 to Tx/Rx on dual RF bands, such as WiFi 2.4 GHz and/or WiFi 5 GHz or Bluetooth and/or WiFi 5 GHz. RF circuitry 150 may be configured so both of the RF chains ( 151 , 152 ) may Tx/Rx using Bluetooth, or only one of the RF chains ( 151 , 152 ) may Tx/Rx using Bluetooth (e.g., BT on RF chain 152 only). Ports 115 , 117 , 125 , and 127 may be configured for different frequency bands. For example, ports 115 and 125 may be assigned for a RF band such as 2.4 GHz, and ports 117 and 127 may be assigned to another RF band such as 5 GHz. In some applications, all of the ports ( 115 , 117 , 125 , and 127 ) may be simultaneously Tx/Rx RF signals over their respective RF bands and in other application some or all of the ports ( 115 , 117 , 125 , and 127 ) may be idle. Actual port traffic may be determined by a system or device that incorporates RF 100 .
2×2 MIMO Mode
[0024] In FIGS. 1A and 1B , for purposes of explanation, assume mode signal 155 is set to the 2×2 MIMO mode. In the 2×2 MIMO mode, RF switch 160 electrically couples 161 the antenna 120 with circuitry 129 and dual bandwidth RF communication using antenna 120 is enabled such that dual RF bands denoted as B1 and B2 may both simultaneously Tx 122 and Rx 124 RF signals via electrical coupling 128 between circuitry 129 and antenna 120 . Here B1 may be associated with port 125 and B2 with port 127 . While in the 2×2 MIMO mode, antenna 130 is electrically decoupled from circuitry 129 by switch 160 . Antenna 130 may be tuned to a fifth RF signal denoted as Rx 134 . However, in the 2×2 MIMO mode, if Rx 134 is incident on antenna 130 , then a resulting signal is not electrically coupled 136 with circuitry 129 because RF switch 160 is set to electrically couple 161 with antenna 120 thereby switching out B5 for Rx 134 . Furthermore, while in the 2×2 MIMO mode the circuitry 119 is electrically coupled with antenna 110 and dual RF bands denoted as B3 and B4 may both simultaneously Tx 112 and Rx 114 RF signals via electrical coupling 116 between circuitry 119 and antenna 110 . Therefore, four RF bands (B1-B4) may be active for Tx and Rx in the 2×2 MIMO mode and RF signal reception over B5 is blocked because antenna 130 is switched out.
1×2 MIMO Mode
[0025] Moving now to FIG. 1C , for purposes of explanation, assume mode signal 155 is set to the 1×2 MIMO mode. In the 1×2 MIMO mode, RF switch 160 electrically couples 163 the antenna 130 with circuitry 129 and dual bandwidth RF communication (B1, B2) using antenna 120 is disabled because the antenna 120 is switched out. Here, when antenna 130 has Rx 134 incident on it a signal may be electrically communicated ( 136 , 138 ) to circuitry 129 and that signal may be processed by RF circuitry 150 or other. The processing may be used to determine relative signal strength based on the signal, or to make received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements based on the signal. Furthermore, while in the 1×2 MIMO mode the circuitry 119 is electrically coupled with antenna 110 and dual RF bands (B3, B4) and both bands may simultaneously Tx 112 and Rx 114 RF signals via electrical coupling 116 between circuitry 119 and antenna 110 . Therefore, two RF bands (B3-B4) may be active for Tx and Rx in the 1×2 MIMO mode in RF chain 152 and RF signals may be received only in RF chain 151 via antenna 130 . Tx and Rx over B1 and B2 is blocked in the 1×2 MIMO mode because antenna 120 is switched out.
[0026] FIG. 1D depicts a more detailed block diagram 100 d of one example of RF 100 . In RF chain 151 , circuitry 129 may include a band pass filter (BPF) 191 coupled ( 125 , 195 a ) with the RF circuitry 150 and a diplexer 195 . Diplexer 195 may be electrically coupled 160 a with an output of RF switch 160 . A matching circuit 193 may be electrically coupled ( 120 a , 120 b ) with antenna 120 and an input to RF switch 160 . At least a portion of antenna 130 may be exposed (Exp) (see FIGS. 4A-4E ) to facilitate near field detection of external RF transmitting devices (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or pad). Additional circuitry may include an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit 190 , a matching circuit 192 , and an attenuator 194 electrically coupled ( 130 d , 130 c , 130 b , and 130 a ) between the antenna 130 and RF switch 160 . In RF chain 152 , BPF's 181 and 183 may be electrically coupled ( 115 , 117 , 180 a , and 180 b ) between a diplexer 185 and RF circuitry 150 , and a matching circuit 187 may be electrically coupled ( 110 a , 110 b ) between the diplexer 185 and antenna 110 .
[0027] In FIG. 1E , setting the mode signal to the 2×2 MIMO mode is operative to generate a signal on 153 that causes RF switch 160 to deselect antenna 130 for B5 (e.g., Rx on B5 is switched out) as denoted by a dashed line for input 130 d to RF switch 160 , and to select antenna 120 as denoted by a solid line for input 120 b . Therefore, in the 2×2 MIMO mode, B5 is blocked and B1, B2, B3 and B4 are all available for Tx/Rx in RF chains 151 and 152 .
[0028] In FIG. 1F , setting the mode signal to the 1×2 MIMO mode is operative to generate a signal on 153 that causes RF switch 160 to deselect antenna 120 thereby switching out Tx/Rx on B1 and B2 as denoted by a dashed line for input 120 b to RF switch 160 . Antenna 120 is selected as denoted by a solid line for input 130 d to RF switch 160 . Therefore, in the 2×2 MIMO mode, B5 is available for Rx only, B1 and B2 are blocked for both Tx and Rx, and B3 and B4 in RF chain 152 are both available for Tx and Rx.
[0029] FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary computer system 200 suitable for use in the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein. In some examples, computer system 200 may be used to implement circuitry, computer programs, applications (e.g., APP's), configurations (e.g., CFG's), methods, processes, or other hardware and/or software to perform the above-described techniques. Computer system 200 includes a bus 202 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, which interconnects subsystems and devices, such as one or more processors 204 , system memory 206 (e.g., RAM, SRAM, DRAM, Flash), storage device 208 (e.g., Flash, ROM), disk drive 210 (e.g., magnetic, optical, solid state), communication interface 212 (e.g., modem, Ethernet, WiFi), display 214 (e.g., CRT, LCD, touch screen), one or more input devices 216 (e.g., keyboard, stylus, touch screen display), cursor control 218 (e.g., mouse, trackball, stylus), one or more peripherals 240 . Some of the elements depicted in computer system 200 may be optional, such as elements 214 - 218 and 240 , for example and computer system 200 need not include all of the elements depicted.
[0030] According to some examples, computer system 200 performs specific operations by processor 204 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions stored in system memory 206 . Such instructions may be read into system memory 206 from another non-transitory computer readable medium, such as storage device 208 or disk drive 210 (e.g., a HD or SSD). In some examples, circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions for implementation. The term “non-transitory computer readable medium” refers to any tangible medium that participates in providing instructions to processor 204 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical, magnetic, or solid state disks, such as disk drive 210 . Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as system memory 206 . Common forms of non-transitory computer readable media includes, for example, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, SSD, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Blu-Ray ROM, USB thumb drive, SD Card, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer may read.
[0031] Instructions may further be transmitted or received using a transmission medium. The term “transmission medium” may include any tangible or intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such instructions. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including wires that comprise bus 202 for transmitting a computer data signal. In some examples, execution of the sequences of instructions may be performed by a single computer system 200 . According to some examples, two or more computer systems 200 coupled by communication link 220 (e.g., LAN, Ethernet, PSTN, or wireless network) may perform the sequence of instructions in coordination with one another. Computer system 200 may transmit and receive messages, data, and instructions, including programs, (i.e., application code), through communication link 220 and communication interface 212 . Received program code may be executed by processor 204 as it is received, and/or stored in a drive unit 210 (e.g., a SSD or HD) or other non-volatile storage for later execution. Computer system 200 may optionally include one or more wireless systems 213 in communication with the communication interface 212 and coupled ( 215 , 223 ) with one or more antennas ( 217 , 225 ) for receiving and/or transmitting RF signals ( 221 , 227 ), such as from a WiFi network, BT radio, or other wireless network and/or wireless devices, for example. Examples of wireless devices include but are not limited to: a data capable strap band, wristband, wristwatch, digital watch, or wireless activity monitoring and reporting device; a smartphone; cellular phone; tablet; tablet computer; pad device (e.g., an iPad); touch screen device; touch screen computer; laptop computer; personal computer; server; personal digital assistant (PDA); portable gaming device; a mobile electronic device; and a wireless media device, just to name a few. Computer system 200 in part or whole may be used to implement one or more systems, devices, or methods using the antenna and passive slits as described herein. For example, a radio (e.g., a RF receiver) in wireless system(s) 213 may be electrically coupled 231 with an edge of the antenna. Computer system 200 in part or whole may be used to implement a remote server or other compute engine in communication with systems, devices, or method using the antenna and passive slits as described herein. RF 100 may be included in the wireless system(s) 213 .
[0032] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram 300 of one example a method for multi-channel dual band wireless communication and wireless near field proximity detection. At a stage 301 a state of a MIMO mode signal (e.g., mode 153 ) is set to a 1×2 MIMO mode or a 2×2 MIMO mode. An external signal may be used to set and/or toggle a state of the MIMO mode signal. As one example, a user pressing or otherwise actuating a switch, button, capacitive switch, touch screen, or other device may trigger the generation and/or toggling of the MIMO mode signal. At a stage 303 a determination may be made as to whether or not the MIMO mode signal is set to a 1×2 MIMO mode. If the state of the MIMO mode signal is set to the 1×2 MIMO mode, then a YES branch is taken to a stage 305 where the RF chain 151 couples the antenna 130 for Rx only on B5 and RF chain 152 couples antenna 110 for both Tx and Rx on B3 and B4. At a stage 311 a determination may be made as to whether or not the MIMO mode signal has changed since being set to the 1×2 MIMO mode. If the MIMO mode signal has not changed, then a NO branch may be taken and flow 300 may end. If the MIMO mode signal has changed, then a YES branch may return flow back to a prior stage, such as the stage 303 , for example.
[0033] Back at the stage 303 , if the 1×2 MIMO mode has not been set, then a NO branch may be taken to a stage 307 where a determination may be made as to whether or not the MIMO mode signal is set to a 2×2 MIMO mode. If the state of the MIMO mode signal is set to the 2×2 MIMO mode, then a YES branch is taken to a stage 309 where the RF chain 151 couples antenna 120 for Tx and Rx on B1 and B2, antenna 130 is decoupled so that Rx on B5 is blocked, and RF chain 152 couples antenna 110 for both Tx and Rx on B3 and B4. If the 2×2 MIMO mode is not set, then a NO branch may be taken and the flow 300 may return to a prior stage, such as the stage 301 , for example. At the stage 311 , the flow 300 may end if there is no change in the MIMO mode signal or may flow back to a prior stage, such as the stage 303 , for example.
[0034] Table 1 below lists examples of which bands (B1-B5) may Tx or Rx depending on the state of the MIMO mode signal.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Band
2 × 2 MIMO Mode
1 × 2 MIMO Mode
B1
Tx and Rx on 120
NO Tx or Rx on 120
B2
Tx and Rx on 120
NO Tx or Rx on 120
B3
Tx and Rx on 110
Tx and Rx on 110
B4
Tx and Rx on 110
Tx and Rx on 110
B5
NO Rx on 130
Rx only on 130
[0035] Table 2 below lists examples of frequencies for bands (B1-B5) depending on the state of the MIMO mode signal.
[0000]
TABLE 2
Band
2 × 2 MIMO Mode
1 × 2 MIMO Mode
B1
2.4 GHz WiFi on 120
NO Tx or Rx on 120
B2
5 GHz WiFi on 120
NO Tx or Rx on 120
B3
2.4 GHz WiFi on 110
2.4 GHz WiFi on 110
B4
5 GHz WiFi on 110
5 GHz WiFi on 110
B1
BT on 120
NO Tx or Rx on 120
B2
5 GHz WiFi on 120
NO Tx or Rx on 120
B3
BT on 110
BT on 110
B4
5 GHz WiFi on 110
5 GHz WiFi on 110
B5
NO Rx on 130
Rx** only on 130
[0036] Although Table 2 lists both B1 and B3 as being enabled for Bluetooth Tx and Rx, as was stated above, in some configurations, both B1 and B3 may Tx and Rx using Bluetooth, and in other configurations only B1 or B3 may Tx and Rx using Bluetooth. In some configurations B1, B3, or both may switch between Tx and Rx on 2.4 GHz WiFi to Tx and Rx on Bluetooth as needed. For example, in 2×2 MIMO mode, B1 may initially Tx and Rx over 120 using 2.4 GHz WiFi and then switch to Tx and Rx on Bluetooth when a BT enabled device is paired with or otherwise establishes a BT communications link with RF 100 . While B1 continues to Tx and Rx on Bluetooth in the 2×2 MIMO mode, B3 may service the Tx and Rx 2.4 GHz WiFi traffic until B1 again becomes available for 2.4 GHz WiFi communications. The “**” in the column for 1×2 MIMO mode for B5 denotes that antenna 130 may be detuned for optimal performance at some frequency that is lower than those for (B1-B4) as described above.
[0037] Antenna Using Passive Slits
[0038] FIG. 4A depicts a top plan view 490 a of a substrate of an electrically conductive material 450 in which a plurality of separate apertures (e.g., holes or openings) are formed. Here, those separate apertures are depicted looking down on a surface 451 of the substrate 450 . Therefore, the separate apertures may be described as through holes formed in the substrate 450 and extending all the way through the substrate 450 as will be described in greater detail in FIG. 4B .
[0039] One or more of the separate apertures comprises an antenna 130 having a length dimension L that is substantially larger that a width dimension H. For example, if antenna 130 has the shape of a rectangle as depicted in FIG. 4A , then H is much less than L (e.g., H<<L), such that if L is 150 mm then H may be 10 mm or less (e.g., H=3.5 mm). Actual shapes and dimensions of the antenna 130 may be application dependent and are not limited to the configuration depicted in FIG. 4A or in any other figures herein. One edge 410 of antenna 130 is electrically coupled with a radio frequency (RF) system (e.g., RF 100 ) and an opposite edge 412 is electrically coupled with a ground potential (not shown) (e.g., a ground—GND or chassis ground). Edges 410 and 412 are along a length dimension of the antenna 130 . As one example, a node 411 on edge 410 may be electrically coupled with the RF system and another node 413 on the opposite edge 412 may be electrically coupled with the ground potential. In some examples, the electrical connections for nodes 411 and 413 may be reversed and node 413 electrically coupled with the RF system and node 411 electrical coupled with the ground potential. Although the position of the electrical connections to the edges 410 and 412 are depicted directly opposite each other, that is node 411 is directly opposite node 413 , the nodes may be positioned along their respective edges at other locations and the configuration depicted is a non-limiting example. Although one antenna 130 is depicted there may be a plurality of antennas as denoted by 421 .
[0040] Substrate 450 also includes one or more apertures that define a passive slit denoted as 401 and 403 . Although two passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are depicted there may be just a single passive slit or more than two passive slits as denoted by 423 . Moreover, the relative position on the substrate 450 of the passive slit(s) and the antenna(s) are not limited to the configurations depicted in FIG. 4A or in other figures herein and the actual size, shape, dimensions, and positions of the passive slit(s) and/or antenna(s) may be application dependent. Passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are not electrically coupled with circuitry, the ground potential, or the RF system. Passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are passive structures formed in the substrate 450 and may operate to modify current flow along substrate 450 generated by interaction of an external RF signal (e.g., Rx 134 ) with antenna 130 as will be described below. Passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are not driven by circuitry nor do they generate a signal that is coupled with circuitry (e.g., circuitry in RF 100 ).
[0041] Typically, dimensions of the passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) may be much less than similar dimensions of the antenna 130 . For example, if the passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are rectangular in shape as depicted in FIG. 4A , then a width dimension W of passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) may be less than the width dimension H of the antenna 130 . For example, if H is 5 mm, then W may be 1.5 mm. Moreover, if the length L of the antenna 130 is 150 mm then length D may be 53 mm for the passive slits ( 401 , 403 ). Passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) may be placed at various positions along surface 451 of substrate 450 , such as opposite ends of antenna 130 , for example. In that the plurality of apertures are spatially separate from one another, passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) may be spaced apart from antenna 130 by a distance S that may be the same or different for each passive slit ( 401 , 403 ).
[0042] In that the antenna 130 and passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are apertures formed in substrate 450 , a void in the opening defined by the apertures, denoted as 402 a for the antenna 130 and 402 b for the passive slits ( 401 , 403 ), may be occupied by air or some other electrically non-conductive material, medium, dielectric material, or composition of matter. Examples of suitable materials includes but is not limited to rubber, plastics, glass, wood, stone, a gas, paper, inert organic or inorganic materials, cloth, leather, a liquid, Teflon, PVDF, minerals, just to name a few. A material that occupies the void/opening may be selected for a functional purpose, an esthetic purpose, or both. In some applications a functional element such as a switch, button, actuator, indicator (e.g., a LED), microphone, transducer, or the like may be positioned in void/opening ( 402 a , 402 b ). In other applications the material disposed in the void/opening ( 402 a , 402 b ) may include a logo, a trademark, a service mark, ASCII characters, graphics, patterns, one or more esthetic features, instructions, or the like.
[0043] Moving on to FIG. 4B , a cross-sectional view 490 b of the substrate 450 depicts in greater detail the void/opening ( 402 a , 402 b ) of the apertures for antenna 130 and passive slits ( 401 , 403 ). Surfaces 451 and 453 of substrate 450 are depicted as being substantially parallel to each other; however, substrate 450 may have a thickness T that varies and need not be flat, planar, or smooth. Moreover, substrate 450 may have a shape including but not limited to an arcuate shape, curvilinear shape, an undulating shape, and a complex shape, just to name a few. Substrate 450 may be made from a perforate material such as a screen, mesh, or other material with perforations formed in it.
[0044] Attention is now directed to FIG. 4C where a schematic diagram 190 c depicts one example of how the opposing sides ( 410 , 412 ) along the length L dimension of the antenna 130 may be electrically coupled. Node 411 on side 410 is electrically coupled (e.g., 136 , 130 d , 463 ) with a RF 100 . The electrical coupling (e.g., 136 , 130 d , 463 to RF Switch 160 ) may be made using a variety of connection techniques including but not limited to a RF feed, coaxial cable, a wire, a shielded connection, an unshielded connection, a partially shielded connection, an electrically conductive trace, just to name a few. A node 465 of RF 100 may include a termination device 461 , such as a SMA connector or the like, configured to make an impedance matching termination, such as 50 ohms, for example. Node 413 on side 412 is electrically coupled 471 with a ground potential 470 . The ground potential 470 may include but is not limited to a chassis ground, circuit ground, and power supply ground, just to name a few. The actual selection of the appropriate ground potential may be application dependent and is not limited to the ground potentials described herein. The electrical coupling 471 may use any suitable electrical connection medium including but not limited to wire, a conductive trace, a cable, and a coaxial cable, just to name a few. RF 100 may one or more RF devices including but not limited to RF transceivers for WiFi, Bluetooth, Ad Hoc WiFi, RF transceivers, RF receivers, and RF transmitters. RF 100 may include a RF device configured for and/or devoted to operation with antenna 130 (e.g., a RF receiver). RF 100 may generate one or more signals on an output 469 in response to RF signals received by antenna 130 .
[0045] In FIG. 4C , an axis X of the antenna 130 is depicted as being orthogonal to an axis Y of the passive slits ( 401 , 403 ). However, the configuration depicted is just one non-limiting example and the axis of the antenna 130 and passive slits ( 401 , 403 ), if any, need not have a particular angular orientation. For example, angle α as measured between the X and Y axes need not be 90 degrees (e.g., a right angle) and other angular relationships may be used. Furthermore, any angular relationship between axes of the antenna 130 and the passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) may vary such that a for 403 may be different than a for 401 .
[0046] Turning now to FIGS. 4D-4E were examples of a live device 477 transmitting 134 a RF signal that may be detected by a system (e.g., RF 100 ) using the antenna 130 and passive slits ( 401 , 403 ) are depicted. In FIGS. 4D-4E , nodes 411 and 413 may be connected as described in reference to FIG. 4C above. Live device 477 is transmitting Tx a RF signal 134 . There may also be other RF sources in an environment in which the live device 477 and/or substrate 450 (and its associated system) reside and those RF sources are denoted as transmitting Tx sources 461 a - 461 n . RF signals from antennas 110 and 120 (e.g., from B1-B4) may also be present in the environment. For purpose of discussion, a live device is a device that is actively transmitting Tx a RF signal or may be activated (e.g., turned on, controlled or commanded) to transmit Tx a RF signal.
[0047] In the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4E , live device 477 is depicted in its most preferred placement, which is directly on the surface 451 of substrate 450 . Live device 477 may be positioned at a variety of locations on surface 451 and the position on surface 451 is not limited to the position(s) depicted herein. However, in some applications the live device 477 may be placed above the surface 451 at a distance 480 d that is in very close near field proximity of the surface 451 of the substrate 450 and its associated antenna 130 and passive slits ( 401 , 403 ). Although the received RF signal Rx 134 may be at its strongest when the live device 477 is at 480 =0 (e.g., directly on surface 451 ), there may be circumstances where the live device 477 is positioned in very close near field proximity of the surface 451 . In the very near field region, the power drop off of RF signal strength may be larger than the well understood 1/R 2 power drop off rate, and the power drop off may be 1/R 3 or even 1/R 4 . Therefore, even small distances from surface 451 may result in a large power drop off in RF signal strength as received by antenna 130 and detected by RF 100 . Distance 480 is preferably 0.5 meters or less, more preferably 50 mm or less, and even more preferably 30 mm or less. Actual distances for very close near field proximity will be application dependent and are not limited to the examples described herein. The live device 477 may comprise a wide variety of wirelessly enabled devices including but not limited to a smartphone, gaming device, tablet or pad, wireless headset or earpiece, a laptop computer, an image capture device, a wireless wristwatch or timepiece, a data capable strapband or wristband, just to name a few. In some examples, live device 477 may be positioned in near field proximity (e.g., from about 0.5 meters to about 1 meter) of surface 451 of the substrate 450 and its associated antenna 130 and passive slits ( 401 , 403 ). Actual distances for near field proximity will be application dependent and are not limited to the examples described herein. Here, near field proximity may be represented by a distance 481 from surface 451 , where the distance for near field proximity is greater than the distance for very close near field proximity (e.g., 481 > 480 ). Therefore, near field proximity may be regarded as a distance that begins approximately were very close near field proximity ends, as denoted by dashed line 482 , and extending to an approximate distance denoted by dashed line 483 .
[0048] In some examples, a user may trigger a mode switch from 2×2 MIMO mode to 1×2 MIMO mode by actuating or pressing a button or the like on a chassis or other structure that houses the substrate 450 , such as button 488 on surface 451 . Button 488 may be a capacitive touch switch or the like. Button 488 may be positioned at some other location and need not be on substrate 450 . The user may press button 488 to signal to a device or system that includes RF 100 that an attempt will presently be made to position a live device (e.g., device 477 ) directly on top of substrate 450 or into very close near field proximity of substrate 450 . RF switch 160 may be signaled 153 to decouple antenna 120 and couple antenna 130 (e.g., in 1×2 MIMO mode) in preparation for detecting Rx 134 from the live device (e.g., device 477 ). In other examples, an application (APP) or other form of software running on the live device 477 may signal RF 100 using one of its radios (e.g., WiFi or BT) that the live device will presently be positioned directly on or in very close near field proximity of substrate 450 . A user may activate the APP using a GUI or other interface provide on a touch screen display or the like on the live device 477 (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or pad).
[0049] In some examples, RF 100 may be configured to switch between 2×2 MIMO mode and 1×2 MIMO mode upon occurrence of some event that may be detected using antennas 110 and/or 120 . For example, RF 100 may recognize a RF signature (e.g., via packet sniffing or the like) of a previously recognized wireless device that is typically placed on the substrate 450 . RF 100 may upon recognizing the RF signature begin switching back and forth between 2×2 MIMO mode and 1×2 MIMO mode to see antenna 130 detects the proximity of the wireless device while the 1×2 MIMO mode is active. RF 100 or some other system or device in communication with RF 100 may take some action upon detection of a live device (e.g., device 477 ) including but not limited to establishing a wireless link with the live device, transferring content handling from the live device to another device or system, BT pairing with the live device, just to name a few.
[0050] The systems, wireless media devices, apparatus and methods of the foregoing examples may be embodied and/or implemented at least in part as a machine configured to receive a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions. The instructions may be executed by computer-executable components preferably integrated with the application, server, network, website, web browser, hardware/firmware/software elements of a user computer or electronic device, or any suitable combination thereof. Other systems and methods of the embodiment may be embodied and/or implemented at least in part as a machine configured to receive a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions. The instructions are preferably executed by computer-executable components preferably integrated by computer-executable components preferably integrated with apparatuses and networks of the type described above. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be stored on any suitable computer readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, Flash memory, EEPROMs, optical devices (CD, DVD or Blu-Ray), hard drives (HD), solid state drives (SSD), floppy drives, or any suitable device. The computer-executable component may preferably be a processor but any suitable dedicated hardware device may (alternatively or additionally) execute the instructions.
[0051] As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detailed description and from the drawing FIGS. and claims set forth below, modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of this present application as defined in the following claims.
[0052] Although the foregoing examples have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, the above-described inventive techniques are not limited to the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementing the above-described techniques or the present application. The disclosed examples are illustrative and not restrictive.
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A re-configurable RF architecture includes both a 2×2 MIMO mode and a 1×2 MIMO mode The 2×2 MIMO mode includes a first RF chain coupled with a first dual band antenna and configured to both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) using two different RF protocols. The 2×2 MIMO mode also includes a second RF chain coupled with a second dual band antenna and configured to both Tx and Rx using a single RF protocol. The first RF chain may be coupled with a third antenna configured for near field proximity sensing. The RF architecture is reversibly switchable from the 2×2 MIMO mode to the 1×2 MIMO mode when near field proximity detection is required. In the 1×2 MIMO mode the Tx/Rx capabilities of the second chain using the second dual band antenna are retained and the first chain is configured for Rx only capability using the third antenna.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods and compositions for preventing corrosion, and in particular, to methods and compositions for inhibiting corrosion on the surface of steel and other ferrous or metal materials. Most specifically, the present invention relates to a low VOC, water-borne, zinc-rich corrosion inhibitire coating for a wide variety of ferrous materials, and other metal materials more noble than zinc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Uncoated steel, and other ferrous or metal materials will begin to rust and corrode upon exposure to the atmosphere. The iron in steel and other ferrous materials electrochemically interacts with atmospheric oxygen to form a reddish corrosion product, ferric oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ). The reaction occurs most rapidly in moist air, indicating the catalytic activity of water. The formation of red rust is often times undesirable because it compromises the integrity of the iron product. The red rust can also undesirably stain or rub off on other materials with which the iron product may come into contact.
In order to prevent the problem of red rust formation, it has been known to coat the surface of the iron material with a zinc dust-containing coating. Once in electrical contact with the steel surface, the zinc metal then cathodically protects the steel by corroding sacrificially. This sacrificial corrosion is evidenced by the formation of desirable white rust.
Zinc is a fairly reactive metal, and in the presence of water, it can react to generate hydrogen. This outgassing consumes the zinc, lessening the protective capacity of the coating, and it can be a problem in and of itself. Until recently, most zinc-dust-loaded coatings for protecting steel were made utilizing organic solvents as carriers. Problems such as extensive outgassing, as well as rapid consumption of the active zinc did not occur because there was little or no moisture exposure in these hydrophobic environments to corrode the zinc. Hence, inhibitors of the zinc dust itself were usually not required.
Because of increasing concern over the detrimental effects of volatile organic emissions from metal finishing coatings, as well as the rest of the paint industry, water-borne coatings have substantially increased in popularity. However, the development of low VOC, water-borne, zinc-rich corrosion-inhibitive coatings has presented several problems which did not exist in the analogous solvent-borne systems. The addition of water to the zinc-containing coatings generates hydrogen gas which is highly undesirable in closed systems. Also, water-borne systems have shown inherently poorer capabilities to protect the steel against corrosion.
Currently, the most widely used inhibitors for permanently passivating most light, active metals in aqueous corrosive environments, and therefore eliminating the gassing problem, are the alkaline earth and zinc salts of hexavalent chromium. They vary mostly in their degree of water solubility (in the order of Mg>Ca>Sr≧Zn) and to a much smaller extent in their pH (Sr>Ca>Mg>). The chromate anion is the active species. For the most part, low solubility strontium and zinc chromates are what have been used in metal primer coatings. The use of hexavalent chromium is undesirable, however, because it electrochemically passivates the zinc metal, thus reducing the ability of the zinc to cathodically protect the steel. Furthermore, the use of hexavalent chromium is an environmentally unacceptable solution to this problem.
The chromate ion, which is an excellent corrosion inhibitor for many metals, has been one of the most widely used for almost a hundred years. It has been used extensively as a paint pigment in metal primer coatings. For the past ten years, however, it has also been recognized as toxic and carcinogenic, and because of its health risks, has become highly regulated. With pressure for elimination being exerted by government regulations, continued use of chromium is incurring ever increasing economic penalties. Hence, there is a need for non-toxic substitutes, both from an economic and an environmental standpoint.
The present invention overcomes all of the above problems of the various prior art approaches by minimizing the problem of hydrogen outgassing, while simultaneously improving the corrosion-inhibition capabilities of non-chromate-containing, water-borne, zinc-rich coatings.
The present invention provides for water-borne, zinc-dust-loaded coatings which can be used for the protection of steel and other metals more noble than zinc. These coatings will perform this function in an environmentally friendly manner that will comply with all the latest regulations for low VOC and freedom from heavy toxic metals. These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the description, discussion, and examples which follow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is disclosed herein a low VOC, water-borne, zinc-rich corrosion inhibitive coating. The coating composition comprises an aqueous polymer composition, a temporary inhibitor or combination of temporary and traditional corrosion inhibitors to stabilize zinc dust in the water-borne coating, and zinc dust.
In particular embodiments, the aqueous polymer composition comprises a reactive polymer emulsion. One particularly preferred polymer emulsion comprises water-reducible epoxy-based polymer emulsions. The temporary inhibitor is preferably an amine. One preferred group of amines comprises high base-strength, hydrophobic amines which stabilize zinc dust during storage in the aqueous medium, but become inactive during film formation so as not to impede the sacrificial corrosion of the zinc metal in the dried film. The composition may also include ancillary ingredients such as pigments, fillers, cross-linking agents, defoaming agents, flow control agents, plasticizers, solvents, or other corrosion inhibitive additives.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a zinc dust-loaded, aqueous coating for the prevention of red rust formation in ferrous and other metal materials. The invention is directed to the use of complexing agents to stabilize zinc dust in water-borne coatings. While in an aqueous phase, these temporary inhibitors serve to stabilize the zinc, and thereby prevent extensive outgassing from corrosion of the zinc on storage in the water-borne liquid medium. Upon drying and/or curing of the coating, these temporary inhibitors become fully or partially disassociated from the zinc, thereby allowing sacrificial corrosion of the zinc in the final dried film. This ultimate sacrificial corrosion of zinc in the "use environment" then cathodically protects the steel (or other metal less noble than zinc) to which the coating is applied.
In the broadest sense, the present invention includes a mixture of an aqueous polymer composition, a zinc dust or powder, and a temporary inhibitor of the zinc dust. Specifically, the zinc dust is dispersed as a fine particle size, preferably less than ten microns, and most preferably to less than five microns. For thick film applications, the zinc dust can be ground to a larger particle size, the size being dependent upon the film thickness, as is known in the art. The zinc is loaded to a level of 30-60% by volume in the dried film, preferably to a level of 40-50% by volume.
The zinc is carried in an aqueous polymer composition. The polymer composition can be any composition capable of existing in an aqueous phase such as aqueous polymer emulsions, dispersions, resins, water soluble polymers, and the like. The dispersed phase of the polymer composition is preferably a reactive polymer, more preferably an epoxy-based or acrylic-based polymer, and most preferably water-reducible resin. A reactive polymer is one which will dry and/or cure upon exposure to heat, irradiation, ambient atmospheric conditions, or through the addition of a chemical cross-linking or curing agent, and includes single and multi-component type systems, as is known in the art. In one preferred formulation, the polymer composition comprises a mixture of water, a glycol ether solvent, a water-dispersable epoxy-based resin and other additives suitable to allow appropriate film formation for a particular end use.
A temporary inhibitor for the zinc dust is added to the aqueous polymer composition in order to stabilize the zinc dust while in an aqueous phase. The temporary inhibitor comprises any complexing agent or combinations thereof, which will stabilize the zinc while in an aqueous phase, but will allow the zinc to sacrificially corrode in a dried film. A temporary inhibitor is one that will stabilize zinc dust during storage in an aqueous medium, but becomes inactive during film formation as a zinc inhibitor so as not to impede the sacrificial corrosion of the zinc metal in a dried film. Preferably, the temporary inhibitor comprises a medium volatility zinc-complexing agent such as an amine. The amine can be either hydrophobic, hydrophilic, or combinations thereof. More preferably, the inhibitor comprises a high base-strength amine. One preferable group of amines comprises those with pK>7. Another preferable group comprises tertiary, hydrophobic, aliphatic amines, or hydroxy-functional amines. In a multi-component system, the amine can comprise a polyamine which then functions as both a temporary zinc inhibitor and a curing agent for the coating composition. Some preferable amines comprise triethylamine, tributylamine, pyridine, dimethylaminoethanol, and combinations thereof. The relatively hydrophobic, high base-strength amine triethylamine is a most preferred temporary inhibitor.
The amount of a temporary zinc inhibitor to be added to a given coating is dependent upon the aqueous polymer composition. In a formulation utilizing a water-reducible epoxy-based resin, the presence of triethylamine at approximately 1% by weight of liquid paint (and approximately 66% by weight zinc powder) significantly reduced the outgassing of the zinc in the water-borne paint. Additionally, the triethylamine did not impede the dry film corrosion inhibition afforded by the zinc metal. Therefore, the steel corrosion inhibition of coatings utilizing this invention was improved. The addition of two to four times more than the 1% triethylamine did not further enhance these effects.
In another embodiment, the temporary inhibitor of the present invention can also be used in combination with chromate or other traditional inhibitors in a corrosion-inhibiting coating. Traditional inhibitors are commercially available materials such as metal phosphates, silicates, chromates, and borates, and/or benzo-thiazole derivatives. In one embodiment, a temporary and traditional zinc-inhibitor are combined such that part of the zinc surface in the dried paint is immediately opened for sacrificial corrosion in order to begin the protection of steel or other less noble metal substrates, while the rest of the zinc surface is more slowly exposed by other physical or chemical processes which are time- or environmental-dependent. The combination of temporary and traditional zinc-inhibitors can comprise a volatile amine and a non-volatile organic or inorganic corrosion inhibitor that will more gradually expose the zinc surface by time- or environment-dependent processes such as water-leaching or physical disruption from outgassing. In one preferred embodiment, the combination of temporary and traditional inhibitors comprises triethylamine or dimethylaminoethanol and an inorganic inhibitor such as a metal phosphate. In another formulation, triethylamine can be added to a coating containing low levels of strontium chromate to add additional stabilization to the coating. Other combinations of inhibitors are also contemplated by this invention.
The present invention further comprises the addition of other optional or ancillary materials such as pigments, fillers, cross-linking agents, defoaming agents, flow control agents, plasticizers, solvents, other corrosion inhibitive additives, and the like, as is known in the art.
The compositions of the present invention may be prepared by simply mixing the components together. Preferably, the polymer composition is first disposed within a mixing tank. Thereafter, the temporary inhibitor is added to the tank and mixing is begun utilizing a high speed disperser. Thereafter, the zinc dust is added and mixing is continued at high speed until adequate dispersion is achieved for the particular use.
The coating thus made is then used to coat steel and other ferrous or metal materials. The coatings are applied to the article in any conventional application method and drying is achieved through chemical cure, ambient air dry or other conventional means appropriate to the particular polymer chemistry, including heat or irradiation.
The present invention will thus be illustrated by the following series of examples. A series of compositions were prepared and were tested for outgassing and corrosion inhibition. Each of the compositions included zinc dust of approximately 4 micron particle size; together with a conventional water based resin, which in this case was an epoxy-based resin. The compositions also included a water-miscible solvent, which in this case comprised a butoxy ethanol/butanol blend. Data was gathered at 1.5, 3 and 7 day intervals. Corrosion inhibition tests were run using salt spray testing. This method involved coating steel strips, and then scoring the coatings to leave some uncoated area of the strip exposed. Visual evaluation was made with respect to white zinc rust formation and red steel rust formation.
SAMPLE 1
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 128.57 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 2.84 grams strontium chromate.
SAMPLE 2
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 134.75 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 2.84 grams strontium chromate.
SAMPLE 3
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; and 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent.
SAMPLE 4
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 0.05 grams triethylamine.
SAMPLE 5
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 1 gram triethylamine.
SAMPLE 6
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 2.50 grams triethylamine.
SAMPLE 7
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 5 grams triethylamine.
SAMPLE 8
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 10 grams triethylamine.
SAMPLE 9
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 4.60 grams tributylamine.
SAMPLE 10
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams glycol ether/alcohol solvent; and 2.20 grams dimethylaminoethanol.
SAMPLE 11
This sample was formed by mixing together the following components: 296.51 grams zinc dust; 131.66 grams water; 40.91 grams water-reducible epoxy-based resin; 25.32 grams ether/alcohol solvent; and 4.40 grams of dimethylaminoethanol.
__________________________________________________________________________ OUT GAS (cc)** SALT SPRAY***Inhibitor 1.5 3 7 1.5 day 3 day 7 dayID Formula* day day day WR RR WR RR WR RR__________________________________________________________________________1 0.6% SrCrO4 0 0 0 2 2 2 3 2 32 0.6% SrCrO4 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 23 None 8.4 10.9 18.6 4 0 4 0 4.5 0.54 0.01% TEA 8.4 11.0 19.2 4 0 4 0 4.5 0.55 0.2% TEA 5.4 7.1 12.8 3.5 0 3.5 0.5 3.5 0.56 0.5% TEA 1.1 1.7 3.9 3.5 0 3.5 0.5 3.5 17 1% TEA 0 0.3 1.9 3.5 0 3.5 0.5 3.5 1.58 2% TEA 0 0.4 2.2 3.5 0 3.5 0.5 3.5 19 0.92% TBA 6.5 8.4 14.0 4 0 4 0.5 4 0.5 (moles = 0.5% TEA)10 0.44% DMAE 3.8 5.3 10.3 3 0 3 0.5 3 1 (moles = 0.5% TEA)11 0.88% DMAE 1.9 2.9 6.8 3 0 3 0.5 3 1 (moles = 1% TEA)__________________________________________________________________________ *TEA = triethylamine TBA = tributylamine DMAE = dimethylaminoethanol SC = strontium chromate **Volume gas evolved from 15 g paint ***0 = none, 1 = trace, 2 = slight, 3 = some, 4 = much, 5 = very much WR = white zinc rust RR = red steel rust At 0.5 rating, microscope is required to observe red rust
As can be seen in the above table, the presence of chromate by itself in the aqueous, zinc-dust coating inhibited outgassing, but decreased the protective effects of the zinc. The presence of amine, particularly triethylamine, in an amount of at least 0.5% by weight, greatly reduced outgassing, but had no significant detrimental effect on corrosion protection.
The following are other preferable formulations. All are expressed in weight percentages.
______________________________________Formulation 1Araldite 3907 (epoxy-based resin 14%manufactured by Ciba Polymers)Cymel 303 (cross-linking agen 2%manufactured by Cytec)Ethoxy ethyl propanol 1%Zinc powder 65%Triethylamine 1%DI Water 17%Formulation 2Epirez 3540 (epoxy-based resin 20%manufactured by Shell USA)Cymel 303 2%Ethoxy ethyl propanol 2%Zinc powder 65%Triethylamine 1%DI Water 10%Formulation 3Rhoplex AC1803 (acrylic-based resin 25%manufactured by Rohm & Haas)Cymel 303 2%Ethoxy ethyl propanol 3%Zinc powder 65%Dimethylamino ethanol 0.2%Triethylamine 1%DI Water 2.8%Formulation 4Part AEpirez 5522-WY-55 (two-part epoxy-based 23%resin manufactured by Shell USA)Diacetone alcohol 0.3%Water 2.5%Part BEpi-cure 8292-Y-60 (polyamine curing agent 2.9%manufactured by Shell USA)Water 5.3%Triethylamine 1%Zinc powder 65%______________________________________
The two parts are mixed just prior to application of the coating.
The foregoing discussion and examples are merely meant to illustrate particular embodiments of the invention, and are not meant to be limitations upon the practice thereof. It is the following claims, including all equivalents, which define the scope of the invention.
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There is disclosed herein a storage-stable, water-borne, zinc-containing coating. The coating inhibits corrosion of steel and other ferrous or metal materials more noble than zinc. The coating composition includes an aqueous polymer composition, a temporary zinc-inhibitor or combinations thereof, and zinc powder. There is also disclosed a method of making an anti-corrosion coating, as well as a method of coating a metal material.
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DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to garments which lend support to the abdomen of the wearer. More specifically, the present invention discloses a garment which supports the abdomen of a pregnant woman and includes a panty and support straps which lift the abdomen and transfer weight from the abdomen to the shoulders via the back of the wearer.
2. Background Art
It has long been known that increased weight in the abdominal area, such as occurs during pregnancy, increases strain on the lower back, causing pain and stress on the musculature of the back. Commonly, as pregnancy develops, so, too, does lordosis, an abnormally exaggerated, forward curvature of the spine. The resulting posture and/or pain and its effects on life and work are expensive due to the need for rest, reduced activity, and even hospitalization, with accompanying lost income and psychosocial dysfunction.
In the past, efforts have been made to transfer the weight of the abdomen to other parts of the body, particularly the shoulders. Garments have been devised with straps leading from a pouch worn over the abdomen directly to the shoulders, in the front of the body of the wearer, thus hypothetically lifting the weight of the abdomen. In practice, such devices often pull the shoulders down rather than lifting the abdomen. Other devices attempt to transfer the weight of the abdomen to the back region of the wearer but can actually result in increased lordosis of the weight is not transferred properly.
There exists a need in the art for a garment which supports the abdomen and transfers the weight of the abdomen efficiently to the shoulders and back by way of the back of the wearer without increasing and, in fact, decreasing lordosis. The garment should lift the weight of the abdomen rather than merely pulling down the shoulders of the wearer.
3. Disclosure of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment which provides abdominal support to the wearer by transferring the weight of the abdomen through the back of the wearer and up to the shoulders of the wearer.
It is a further object of the present invention to achieve abdominal lift without pulling the shoulders of the wearer downward or causing the wearer to slouch.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment which decreases lordosis and alleviates pain in the lower back.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a garment which is comfortable to wear both in its fit and in its mechanical redistribution of the weight of the abdomen.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a garment which transfers abdominal weight to an outer portion of the wearer's shoulders and does not compress the portion of the wearer's shoulders near the wearer's neck.
The present invention achieves the foregoing objectives with a garment that includes a panty and two support straps. Each support strap has a first end and a second end. The first end of the first support strap is affixed to a center front portion of the panty. The first support strap extends upward over a shoulder of the wearer, across the wearer's lower back, and down over one of the wearer's hips. The second support strap also has a first end and a second end. The first end of the second support strap is affixed to a center front portion of the panty. The second support strap extends upwardly over the other shoulder of the wearer across the wearer's lower back and down across the opposite hip of the wearer. The second support strap further wraps underneath the abdomen of the wearer. The present invention also includes a means for connecting near their second ends of the first and second support straps to each other. The support straps extend across the wearer's back, and crisscross at the back of the wearer.
The present invention may also include first and second lateral straps, each having a first end, a second end, and a midpoint. The first and second ends of the first lateral strap are affixed to the first support strap. The midpoint of the first lateral strap is affixed to a side portion of the panty. The first and second ends of the second lateral strap are affixed to the second support strap, and the midpoint of the second lateral strap is affixed to a side portion of the panty. The lateral straps act to direct the support straps outward from the neck of the wearer.
The garment of the present invention may further include a reinforcing strap having two ends and designed to wrap under the abdomen of the wearer. The reinforcing strap also includes means for affixing the ends of the reinforcing strap to the two support straps near the hips of the wearer.
The panty of the present invention may further include at least one center reinforcing ribbon which extends from the center front portion of the panty to a crotch portion of the panty. The center reinforcing ribbon is attached to the panty at the center front portion and at the crotch portion. The panty may also include a pair of laterally positioned, lateral reinforcing ribbons. The first end of each lateral reinforcing ribbon extends from a side upper edge of the panty to the center reinforcing ribbon in an area near the crotch of the panty. The reinforcing ribbon lends structural support to the panty. The size of the panty of the present invention may be such that an upper edge of the panty extends above the navel of the wearer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an illustration of the panty of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows the two support straps in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates one of the two lateral straps of the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates the reinforcing strap of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a front view of the present invention being worn by a pregnant woman.
FIG. 6 is a rear view of the garment of the present invention being worn by a pregnant woman.
FIG. 7 is a side view of the garment of the present invention being worn by a pregnant woman.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the elements of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates panty 10, preferably constructed from an elastic fabric, such as cotton Lycra™. Two center reinforcing ribbons 12 are attached to the center front of the panty and extend from the upper edge of the panty to the crotch section 14 of the panty. Alternatively, one reinforcing ribbon which is centrally situated on the front portion of the panty may be used. The reinforcing ribbons are preferably constructed from nonelastic fabric and will not stretch along their longitudinal axis. The reinforcing ribbons lend structural support to the center front portion of the panty. The preferred embodiment of the present invention also includes lateral reinforcing ribbons 16, which extend from the side upper side edges of the panty in toward the center reinforcing ribbons in an area near the crotch of the panty. These lateral reinforcing ribbons are similarly constructed of non-stretching fabric and lend further structural support to the panty, particularly when used in conjunction with lateral straps 44 (discussed below). The preferred embodiment of the panty also has fasteners 18 and 20 located at the upper edges of the panty. Fasteners 18 are at the side upper edges of the panty, and fasteners 20 are at the center front upper edges of the panty. Fasteners 18 allow the wearer to detachably affix the midpoint of the lateral straps to the panty. Fasteners 20 allow the wearer to detachably affix the support straps to the panty. The fasteners shown in FIG. 1 are the eye portions of hook- and-eye and arrangements. Alternative fasteners, such as snaps or Velcro™, may also be used.
FIG. 2 illustrates the two support straps of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The first support strap 22 is shorter in length than the second support strap 24. The two support straps are connected along seam 26. This connection allows for ease of putting on and taking off the garment. The two support straps are also preferably joined at the crisscross junction 28, for example, by being sewn together. Each of the two support straps has fasteners 30 which are used to connect the two support straps to the connectors 20 at the front portion of the panty. The connectors shown in FIG. 2 are the hook portion of a hook-and-eye arrangement.
The first support strap further has connector 40, and the second support strap has connector 42, which allow the two support straps to overlap and connect to each other near their second ends. The connectors 40 and 42 are preferably long enough in length to allow the straps to be adjusted and fitted according to the needs and size of the wearer. The connectors shown in FIG. 2 are strips of Velcro™, but alternatively could be other connectors, such as strips of snaps. The two support straps are preferably constructed from a material which is elastic along its longitudinal axis.
FIG. 3 illustrates one of the two lateral straps in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The lateral strap 44 is constructed of fabric which is elastic along its longitudinal axis. The lateral strap has three points of connection. A connector 46 is located approximately at the midpoint along the longitudinal axis of the lateral strip. This connector 46 is used to attach the lateral strap to connector 18, located at an upper side portion of the panty. The lateral strap also has connectors 48 and 50, which are used to attach the lateral strap to the first support strap at connectors 32 and 34 or to the second support strap at connectors 36 and 38. The connectors 48 and 50, shown in FIG. 3, are patches of Velcro™, but alternative connectors could also be used.
The first support strap 22 has a connector 32 which is used to connect the first support strap to the first end of the first lateral strap. The first support strap 22 also has connector 34, which is used to connect the second end of the first lateral strap to the first support strap. Similarly, the second support strap 24 has connector 36, which is used to connect the second support strap to the first end of the second lateral strap, and connector 38, which is used to connect the second support strap to the second end of the second lateral strap. The connectors 32 through 38, shown in FIG. 2, are patches of Velcro™; however, other means of attachment, such as snaps, could alternatively be used.
FIG. 4 illustrates the reinforcing strap 52, which is preferably constructed of a material which is elastic along its longitudinal axis. The reinforcing strap has connectors 54, such as Velcro™, at its two ends which are used to connect the reinforcing strap to the two support straps at an area just above the hips. The reinforcing strap is used where extra lift and support are needed. Reinforcing strap 52 may prove particularly beneficial to women who have hyperlordosis or who are carrying twins or who experience severe lower back pain and discomfort.
FIGS. 5 through 7 illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention as being worn by a pregnant woman. Referring to FIG. 5, the panty 10 is worn as a normal panty. Preferably, the upper edge of the panty is situated well above the navel of the wearer for greater comfort and support. As can be seen in the figure, the two support straps 22, 24 are connected to the center front portion of the panty 10 to provide lift and support along the center line of the abdomen. The support straps 22, 24 then extend up and over the shoulders of the wearer. The lateral straps 44 are attached at their end fasteners 48, 50 to respective fasteners 32, 34 on the support straps in front of and in back of the axillae, or armpits, of the wearer. The center fasteners 46 on the lateral straps 44 are attached to respective fasteners 18 at the upper side edges of the panty 10. These lateral straps 44 direct the support straps 22, 24 outward from the neck of the wearer and thus prevent the support straps 22, 24 from resting on the wearer's neck muscles, where there are sensitive nerves and blood vessels. The lateral straps 44 also provide extra lift to the abdomen.
Referring now to FIG. 6, the support straps extend over the shoulders of the wearer down to a lower back region, where they crisscross at junction 28. Preferably, the support straps are sewn together at this junction. The support straps then extend out to the opposite hips of the wearer, where they pass over the hips of the wearer. Also shown in FIG. 6 are the second ends of the lateral straps 44, which attach to the support straps 22, 24 at 34, 38, respectively. As in the front of the body, the lateral straps 44 help to direct the support straps away from the neck region and provide added support to the abdomen.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the second support strap 24 extends beyond the hip area of the wearer and wraps under the abdomen, on toward the first support strap 22. The two support straps overlap each other near their second ends at the area of one hip of the wearer. The amount of overlap of the two support straps may be adjusted according to the comfort and support needed by the wearer. FIG. 7 also illustrates lateral strap 44, whose midpoint fastener 46 is attached to the upper side edge fastener 18 of the panty and whose first and second ends 48, 50 are attached to a support strap 24.
The garment of the present invention provides lift and support to the abdominal area of the wearer. In particular, the support strap lifts the abdomen and transfers the weight along the longitudinal axis of the support straps over the hips and toward the direction of the lower back region. The weight is then further transferred from the lower back region up along the back toward the shoulders. Thus, some of the weight of the abdomen is transferred to the back and shoulders by way of the crisscross junction at the lower back region. The present invention achieves lift of the abdomen but does not pull down the shoulders of the wearer, and does not cause the wearer's shoulders to slouch. Rather, the weight that is transferred is distributed in a biomechanically safe and comfortable manner to stronger regions of the body. By specifically redirecting the forces caused by an enlarged abdomen, the present invention reduces lordosis, thus improving posture, and eases lower back pain caused by muscle weakness, ligamentous overstretching, and spinal joint compression. The present invention may be particularly beneficial to women with weak back muscles or with pelvic or groin varicosities or with idiopathic pain at the symphysis pubis. The garment not only reduces lower back and pelvic pain, but can be helpful in prolonging sports and fitness activities later into normal, pain-free pregnancy.
Other variations of the present invention are also contemplated. For example, the garment may be worn without the lateral straps or the reinforcing strap when additional lift is not needed.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
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A garment for supporting the abdomen of a wearer is disclosed. The garment comprises a panty and two support straps which attach to the center front edge of the panty, over the shoulders, across the lower back in a criss-cross fashion, over the hips and under the abdomen. The garment may also include lateral straps to direct the support straps outward from the neck of the wearer, and a reinforcing strap to add extra support to the adbomen. The garment lifts the abdomen, transferring weight of the abdomen to the shoulders by way of the wearer's back. The garment decreses lordosis and improves posture.
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FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to processes and apparatuses for forced circulation evaporative crystallization. In particular, this invention relates to processes and apparatuses for prolonging the operational time of an evaporative crystallizer by reducing build up due to fouling deposits.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Evaporative crystallizers are used to produce valuable crystalline products, such as tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (“Na4EDTA”) and disodium EDTA. However, the operation of evaporative crystallizers is often limited in length of reliable operation due to the build-up of fouling deposits inside the evaporative crystallizer vessel. These deposits can interfere with the evaporative crystallizer equipment by partially or fully plugging pumps, transfer lines, and/or heat exchangers, thus requiring that the system frequently be shut down for cleaning
[0003] A typical design for a forced circulation evaporative crystallizer includes an outlet flow leaving the evaporative crystallizer at the bottom of the vessel and an inlet on the side of the vessel. Because fouling deposits accumulate at the bottom of the vessel, these deposits exit through the outlet and enter a circulation loop, thus partially or fully plugging the pumps, transfer lines, and/or heat exchangers in that loop. Thus, a need exists for a forced circulation evaporative crystallization system which allows for the accumulation of fouling deposits in order to avoid clogging of the circulation loop.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0004] In one aspect, an illustrative embodiment provides an apparatus comprising an evaporative crystallizer, wherein the evaporative crystallizer includes a deposit accumulation volume located at the bottom of the evaporative crystallizer. The apparatus further comprises a first inlet for supplying a first flow to the evaporative crystallizer; and an outlet, wherein the outlet is located above the deposit accumulation volume and wherein the first inlet comprises a particle exit positioned above the outlet.
[0005] In another aspect, an illustrative embodiment provides a process comprises providing a feedstock of a solvent and a solute to a recirculation loop and heating the feedstock with a heat exchanger to provide a heated feedstock. The process further comprises supplying the heated feedstock to an evaporative crystallizer through a first inlet to produce a slurry, wherein the evaporative crystallizer includes a deposit accumulation volume; and returning the slurry to the recirculation loop through an outlet.
[0006] In another aspect, an illustrative embodiment provides a process comprises providing a feedstock of a solvent and a solute to a recirculation loop; heating the feedstock with a heat exchanger to provide a heated feedstock; and supplying the heated feedstock to an evaporative crystallizer through a first inlet to produce a slurry, wherein the evaporative crystallizer includes a deposit accumulation volume, and wherein fouling deposits accumulate in the deposit accumulation volume. The process further comprises returning the slurry to the recirculation loop through an outlet; extracting a portion of the slurry from the recirculation loop; supplying a first portion of the extracted slurry to the evaporative crystallizer through a second inlet, wherein the first portion of the extracted slurry sweeps crystalline product away from the deposit accumulation volume; and recovering crystalline product in a recovery system.
[0007] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for evaporative crystallization.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a top view of an apparatus for evaporative crystallization.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for producing a crystalline product.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a graph showing the outlet flow over time for an apparatus for evaporative crystallization with a deposit accumulation volume.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a graph showing the outlet flow over time for an apparatus for evaporative crystallization without a deposit accumulation volume.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a graph showing the number of particles at various sizes for an apparatus for evaporative crystallization with a deposit accumulation volume and for an apparatus for evaporative crystallization without a deposit accumulation volume.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] In one aspect, an apparatus for producing a crystalline product through evaporative crystallization is provided. The apparatus may be structured to reduce the build-up of fouling deposits and may prolong the operational time of an evaporative crystallizer between cleanings.
[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus 100 for evaporative crystallization. The apparatus 100 may include a lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 , a first inlet 102 , an outlet 103 , a second inlet 104 , and a cone portion 105 allowing for the formation of a liquid-vapor interface. The first inlet 102 may enter the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 at a position offset from the center or lowest point of the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 , which may allow for complete drainage from the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 . The first inlet 102 may comprise a particle exit positioned above the outlet 103 . The outlet 103 may be positioned above the lowest point of the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 , thus forming a deposit accumulation volume 106 . Fouling deposits from the crystallization process may accumulate in the deposit accumulation volume 106 . For example, fouling deposits may form at the liquid-vapor interface and may fall to the deposit accumulation volume 106 . Collecting these deposits may prevent such deposits from clogging a recirculation line. The deposit accumulation volume 106 may have a volume of between about 1 and about 50 percent of the volume of the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 , more preferably between 2 percent and 10 percent of the volume of the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 . For example, the lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 may have a volume of about 11 cubic meters (about 3000 gallons) and the deposit accumulation volume 106 may have a volume of about 1.9 cubic meters (about 500 gallons).
[0016] The lower evaporative crystallizer section 101 may have a substantially vertical sidewall 107 . The second inlet 104 may be located at an angle of between about 45 degrees and about 90 degrees from the substantially vertical sidewall 107 . FIG. 2 shows a top view of apparatus 100 . The second inlet 104 may enter tangentially to or perpendicular to the substantially vertical sidewall 107 , preferably in the lower quartile range of the vessel or more preferably from about 10 degrees to about 50 degrees from a tangent line 108 . The second inlet 104 may provide a secondary flow that may sweep crystalline product particles away from the deposit accumulation volume 106 without sweeping the large fouling deposits out of the deposit accumulation volume 106 . The secondary flow may also be used for providing solvent to clean the evaporative crystallizer at the end of a product run. The secondary flow may be between about 0.1 percent and about 20 percent of the flow through the first inlet 102 , more preferably between about 0.5 percent and about 5 percent of the flow through the first inlet 102 . For example, the flow through the first inlet 102 may be about 15 cubic meters per minute (about 4000 gallons per minute) and the secondary flow may be about 0.15 cubic meters per minutes (about 40 gallons per minute).
[0017] FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus 200 for producing a crystalline product. A feedstock 201 is provided to a recirculation system 202 . The feedstock 201 may comprise a solvent and a solute. The solvent may be, for example, water. The solute may be, for example, tetrasodium EDTA or disodium EDTA. Other commonly known solvents and solutes may also be used. The recirculation system 202 may include a first inlet 203 , an outlet 204 , a heat exchanger 205 , and a recirculation pump 206 . Shell and tube, plate, finned, and other types of well-known heat exchangers may be used; such as, for example, the shell and tube type of heat exchanger with the process fluid residing within the tubes of the heat exchanger. The feedstock 201 may enter the recirculation system 202 , where the recirculation pump 206 may pump the feedstock 201 , plus recirculating fluid entering the circulation loop at crystallizer outlet 204 , to the heat exchanger 205 . The heat exchanger 205 may heat the recirculating fluid 201 above the solvent boiling point. Generally the recirculating fluid is heated to achieve a temperature rise of between 0.1° C. to 10° C. above the solvent boiling point, more preferably between 1° C. to 2° C. above the solvent boiling point at the vapor liquid interface. The heated feedstock 201 may then enter an evaporative crystallizer 207 through the first inlet 203 . The first inlet 203 may be offset from the center of the evaporative crystallizer 207 in order to allow for complete drainage from the evaporative crystallizer 207 . The feedstock 201 may form a slurry in the evaporative crystallizer 207 as a portion of the feedstock 201 plus recirculating fluid evaporates to form vapor, causing a portion of the solute content to precipitate out of solution in the form of solid particles. The slurry may exit the evaporative crystallizer 207 into the recirculation system 202 through the outlet 204 .
[0018] A portion of the slurry may be extracted from the recirculation system 202 as extracted slurry 208 . This extraction may occur before the feedstock 201 . Alternatively, this extraction may occur at another point of the recirculation system 202 , or, alternatively, a nozzle may be added to the crystallizer 207 in such a location as to allow the removal of a portion of the slurry contents. The non-extracted portion of the slurry may flow back to the recirculation pump 206 , the heat exchanger 205 , and return to the evaporative crystallizer 207 . The extracted slurry 208 may enter a first pump 209 . After the first pump 209 , the extracted slurry 208 may be divided into a first portion 210 and a second portion 211 . The first portion 210 may be supplied to the evaporative crystallizer 207 through a second inlet 212 . The first portion 210 may be introduced into the crystallizer at a direction sufficient to sweep crystalline product away from the deposit accumulation volume. The second portion 211 may be supplied to a recovery system 213 in order to recover a crystalline product. The second portion 211 may be about 10 percent of the flow of the first portion 210 . For example, the first portion 210 may have a flow rate of 0.15 cubic meters per minute (40 gallons per minute) and the second portion 210 may have a flow rate of 0.015 cubic meters per minute (4 gallons per minute). The recovery system 213 may comprise a cooling crystallizer 214 , a centrifuge 215 , a drier 216 , and a packaging apparatus 217 . The second portion 211 may be supplied to the cooling crystallizer 214 to produce cooled crystalline slurry 218 . The cooling crystallizer 214 may include a stirrer 219 . The cooling crystallizer 214 may cool the second portion 211 to decrease the solubility of the crystalline product in the solvent. The cooled crystalline slurry 218 may be supplied to a second pump 220 , then to the centrifuge 215 , and then to the drier 216 in order to produce a crystalline product 221 . The crystalline product 221 may then be sent to a packaging apparatus 217 . A portion of stream 218 can be returned to the cooling crystallizer 214 via stream 222 .
EXAMPLES
[0019] An evaporative crystallizer with an about 11 cubic meter operating volume (about 3000 gallons) that has a deposit inventory volume of approximately 0.28 cubic meters, or about 2.5 percent of the total working inventory is used. Steam is used to evaporate water from an approximate 40 percent solution of Na4EDTA to form Na4EDTA tetrahydrate crystals. The evaporative crystallizer includes a primary recycle with heating flowing at approximately 12.5 cubic meters per minute (about 3300 gallons per minute) and secondary tangential entry recycle that operates at approximately 0.28 cubic meters per minute (about 75 gallons per minute). The process is fed at a rate of approximately 2700 kg per hour (about 6000 pounds per hour) with an estimated 30 percent boil off rate.
[0020] The evaporative crystallizer operates continuously for nine days without plugging of the evaporative crystallizer primary or secondary recycle flows or the evaporator heat exchanger located in the primary flow recycle loop (as shown in FIG. 4 ). This compares to 4-5 days operation for comparable systems using agitation for mixing, internal coils for heat transfer, no equivalent primary flow, and a secondary recycle flow of approximately 0.21 cubic meters per minute (about 55 gallons per minute) (as shown in FIG. 5 ). The operational run time between required system washes for the system using the primary flow recycle loop is 338 hours. This compares to 150 hours of operational run time between required system washes for the system using agitation for mixing (as shown in FIG. 7 ). Table 1 below shows the calculations used in FIG. 7 .
[0000]
TABLE 1
Calculations used for analysis of run time (as shown in FIG. 7)
Means and Std Deviations
Std Err
Level
Number
Mean
Std Dev
Mean
Lower 95%
Upper 95%
New
5
338.000
55.5608
24.848
269.01
406.99
Old
15
150.133
65.0482
16.795
114.11
186.16
Means Comparisons
Comparisons for each pair using Student's t
t
Alpha
2.10092
0.05
Abs(Dif)-LSD
New
Old
New
−83.79
119.45
Old
119.45
−48.38
Positive values show pairs of means that are significantly different.
[0021] Impact on particle size distribution is also improved by decreasing the amount of small particles being generated. Particles sizes that are too small may create a particle dust, whereas particle sizes that are too large will not easily dissolve. A comparison of the number of particles at various sizes for a forced circulation system with a deposit accumulation volume (inventory) and for an agitated evaporative crystallizer utilizing internal heating coils is shown in FIG. 6 .
[0022] While the invention has been described above according to its preferred embodiments, it can be 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 the general principles disclosed herein. Further, the application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the following claims.
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Disclosed are processes and apparatuses for producing a crystalline product. The processes and apparatuses may extend the operational time of an evaporative crystallizer by providing an internal volume or large deposit inventory for fouling deposits to reside without impacting the unit operation.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is aimed at providing a durable marker for installation in the ground adjacent a grave site for holding a photograph or other memorabilia in memory of the deceased. More specifically, it is a marker made out of flexibly resilient clear polymer plastic with the photograph or the like secured in a framed area between two similar nested members.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are a number of prior art devices for holding photographs and the like in the form of ordinary picture frames and there are a number of prior art devices for placing signs, such as real estate signs or outdoor sale sign, upright using a stake or post inserted into the ground. These devices usually are made out of a combination of different materials. Some have members or attachments to protect the sign against weather elements and some are constructed so that the content of the sign can be changed from time to time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A pair of substantially similar nestable members are made out of flexibly resilient transparent plastic such as PVC, each member having a fairly shallow cavity defined by a generally planar floor surrounded by an enclosing wall. The floor has a slight indentation which is dimensioned with respect to the surrounding wall to define a framed area for a photograph or the like. One member is nested snugly within the cavity of the other member with the respective bottom walls in close proximity to securely hold the photograph in place between them within the framed area. A pointed stake extends out from an edge of one of the members for insertion into the ground to hold the marker upright at the gravesite. In addition, a flange may be provided which extends completely around each of the members extending outward from the walls which surround the cavities. The flange in combination with the nested members helps to seal off the interior area where the photograph is contained to protect it against damage from the weather. The two members can be disengaged or pulled apart if desired to remove and/or replace the photograph and then recoupled together.
In a preferred embodiment the members and the stake are made integral with one another as a single sheet of plastic with the two members joined together along an edge by a living hinge. Alternatively, the two members may be separate from one another.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 can be considered a plan or front view of an embodiment of the invention in the open condition;
FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a plan or front view showing an embodiment of the invention in closed or use position;
FIG. 4 is a sectioned view of FIG. 3 ; and
FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating another embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A pair of substantially similar members 10 A and 10 B are formed of flexibly resilient transparent polymer plastic such as PVC by a conventional thermo-forming process. Each of the members has a cavity, 11 A and 11 B, respectively, defined by a generally planar bottom or floor 12 A and 12 B, respectively, surrounded by an upstanding wall 13 A and 13 B, respectively. The respective cavity floors 12 A and 12 B each has a very slight outer indentation 14 A and 14 B, respectively, with the outer edges of the indentations defining a frame area 15 A and 15 B, respectively, with their corresponding cavities' surrounding walls 13 A and 13 B. Extending outward from each of the respective surrounding walls parallel to the cavity floor are enclosing flanges 17 A and 17 B, respectively. Attached to and formed integrally with an edge of one of the members, for example, 10 B, is a pointed arrow-like stake 18 . In one embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 1–4 , members 10 A and 10 B are joined together by an integrally formed living hinge 20 at an edge of the respective flanges.
In practice, a photograph or other similar flat or planer memorabilia is placed in the depression area 14 of one of the members, for example 14 B, and the other member 10 A is swung about living hinge 20 over member 10 B to nest member 10 B into cavity 11 A. The members are dimensioned and the materials of which they are made are such that member 10 A will nest snugly in cavity 11 B to hold the photograph or the like firmly between the two floors 12 A and 12 B in the framed areas 14 . The snug fit between the side walls 13 A and 13 B not only serve to hold the photograph firmly in place within the framed area but also provide a secure protective shield against weather elements. In addition the overlap of the flanges 17 A and 17 B serve as a further seal against outside weather elements reaching the interior location of the framed photograph. The stake 18 is inserted into the ground adjacent the gravesite to hold the marker upright in place. If desired, the marker can be removed from the ground and the two members 10 A and 10 B disengaged or pulled apart and the photograph removed and replaced in the same manner as described above.
Typically, with no limitation intended, a marker made according to the teachings of the invention is made of 0.030 in. clear PVC, an outer width (including flange 17 ) of about 6.25 in., a depth of cavity 11 about 0.38 in., the width of the frame 15 about 0.5 in., the depth of the shallow indentation about 0.08 in. and the dimension of the framed area about 3 in. by 5 in. to hold a conventional 3×5 photograph.
Alternatively, the two members 10 A and 10 B, may be formed of the same material but not connected by a living hinge, as illustrated in FIG. 5 . In all other respects the marker is identical to the above-described embodiment and functions the same and is used in the same manner with the same attendant benefits and features.
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A gravesite memory marker made of transparent flexibly resilient plastic having a pair of nestable members forming a weather resistant framed area for holding a photograph or other memorabilia and a pointed stake for insertion into the ground at the gravesite.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a Continuation-in-part Application of PCT application No. PCT/CN2013/087640 filed on Nov. 21, 2013, which claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201310471241.X filed on Oct. 11, 2013. All the above are hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes an apparatus based monolithic optical system, including imaging sensor that measures surface power, cylinder, axis and other optical characteristics of the polished surface of prescription ophthalmic spectacle lenses or molds with or without chuck during Rx production.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
During the prior arts ophthalmic spectacle lens Rx production, the lens production and measurement are irrelevant and cannot form a closed loop; the semi-finished lens should be first blocked with chuck, which will then be clamped on the generation machine for surface generating and grinding, and later moved to the polishing machine for surface polishing. After polishing, the polished lens will be engraved on the surface. Then the engraved lens should be de-blocked from the chuck, and its optical power and other optical characteristics will be measured on measuring machines, such as conventional Foci meter. If the power measured is out of tolerance, this lens should be rejected and discarded because it is impossible to reprocess the lens. Any lens that has been de-blocked from the chuck cannot be kept at the same position as before. Even a very tiny difference will cause the surface deform and make reprocess to fail. As a result, the rejected and discarded lens may lead to too much waste during Rx production and a large time delay for quality control.
A number of prior arts measuring apparatus exist that measures the power, cylinder, axis and other characteristics of ophthalmic lenses by transmission light and those lenses have to be removed from the blockers. Because of the transmission light structure, commercial instruments available for performing this job can only measure the lens transmission power and some characteristics, but not the surface power and other characteristics of surface. However, during the Rx production processing, it is more important to guarantee the surface power than other characteristics to be the same as the designed data. With compared results, the surface optical measurement apparatus will be better than lens meter. It is directly measuring the surface processed and getting direct results of the surface.
The prior arts measuring apparatus cannot calculate the power, cylinder, axis and other characteristics for ophthalmic lens or mold surface by reflect light or send feedback of correction data obtained from results comparison to the machines for correction processing. Commercial instruments available for performing this job such as Belgium Automatic and Robotics' Focovision SR2 and Dual Lens Mapper can only provide the result of surface power, cylinder, axis and other characteristic and display the optical difference between measuring results and design data. Checking lens power with chuck is even impossible for Focovision SR2. For de-blocked lenses, although whether the processing surface is qualified can be decided from the results, how to correct the fault surface cannot be provided to the machines.
The prior arts measuring apparatus has the disadvantage and drawback of bulkiness and immovability while measuring the power, cylinder, axis and other optical characteristics for ophthalmic lens or mold surface by reflect light. Commercial instruments available for performing this job such as Automatic and Robotics' Focovision SR2 and Dual Lens Mapper normally consists of separated optical components and industrial computer in the measuring system. The measuring system is normally a desktop device which consists of optical illumination source, optical path system, lens holder and detecting component, with all components not bonded with each other, so the measuring system is bulky and immovable for stable running. Industrial computer is used for data acquisition, analysis and display.
The prior arts measuring apparatus measuring the optical power, cylinder, axis and other optical characteristics for ophthalmic lens or mold surface can calculate the feedback correction data after comparing with designed data as a three coordinate machine which includes a measurement pin, encodes, at least three axis slideway, motors, and a movement control system. The optical power, cylinder, axis and other optical characteristics are calculated from the surface coordinate. However this measuring method is very time consuming and measuring one lens may take about 10 minutes. And also another disadvantage is that this apparatus is very huge and immovable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide an apparatus to evaluate surface of ophthalmic lenses or molds blocked on the chuck during Rx production.
The present invention also seeks to provide an apparatus for in-situ quality control of ophthalmic lens production, which overcomes the disadvantage and drawbacks of existing production method that does not have in-situ quality control and cannot do correction if lens surface power is out of tolerance.
The present invention also seeks to provide an improved lens surface measurement apparatus, which overcomes the disadvantage and drawbacks of existing measurement instruments that are not handheld and cannot be used anytime or anywhere.
A handheld measurement apparatus based on the present invention comprises a main control body and a monolithic optical measurement head which is integrated into the main control body. The main control body comprises at least a microprocessor data processing board such as DSP, smart phone, and a display screen. The monolithic optical measurement head comprises at least a light source, a ring-shaped aperture, an image sensor. During measurement, the surface of the ophthalmic lens or mold blocked with or without chuck is placed against the lens support. The light source projects a light beam onto the surface to be measured. The reflected light beam goes through the ring-shaped aperture and forms an image on the image sensor, wherein the formed image is subject to the surface power of the surface to be measured. The microprocessor processes the image data and displays the calculated surface power on the display screen.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the main control body is a present smart mobile phone, which includes a microprocessor, a display screen, an LED light, and a CMOS chip. The LED light is utilized as the light source and the CMOS chip is utilized as the image sensor.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the optical measurement head comprises a compact monolithic optical system in which all optical components are connected to each other by optical contact bonding or glue cement, and image sensor can be bonded to monolithic optical measurement head as complete monolithic measurement head system, or mounted separately. The alignment of the optical components is done during the bonding process and no further alignment is necessary during assembling or operation, which reduces the complexity and improves the stability and reliability of the apparatus. Thanks to complete monolithic optical system, the volume of the optical measurement head can be minimized so that the apparatus is easy to handle with one hand.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the main control body includes barcode or QR code reader via camera and a wireless communication module through which the designed surface shape can be achieved from the Rx server. The microprocessor of the main control body calculates the theoretical surface power according to the designed surface shape and determines if the measured ophthalmic lens or mold is ok or not.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The present invention will be understood and appreciated more from the following detailed description, along with the supplemental drawings in which:
FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 b illustrate an external view of a handheld apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows the principle of the surface power measurement apparatus;
FIG. 3 illustrates a monolithic optical system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 b show a handheld measurement apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, and is respectively a front view and a left-side view of the measurement apparatus in working status. As shown in FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 b , the handheld measurement apparatus includes a data processing unit (here we call it a smartphone) such as smart mobile phone 1 as the main control body and an optical measurement head 3 which is fixed on the back side of the smart mobile phone 1 . During Rx production, an ophthalmic lens blank or mold 5 is blocked on a chuck 7 via alloy or wax 6 . The surface generating machine and polishing machine clamp the chuck 7 on their work piece spindle and process the top surface of the lens blank or mold 5 . After polishing, the lens or mold 5 blocked on the chuck 7 is placed against the lens support 4 of the measurement head 3 and the local optical surface power, e.g., spherical power, cylinder power and cylinder axis, of the small surface area where the lens or mold 5 contacts the lens support 4 can be measured and displayed on the display screen 2 of the smart mobile phone 1 . The small surface area to be measured can be the center of a single vision lens or mold or the far-view and near-view reference points of a progressive lens or mold or any other point on the surface.
FIG. 2 shows the optical principle of the surface power measurement apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2 , an incident light beam 9 converges at a point A on the optical axis 13 . The surface to be measured is placed against a fixed lens support which intersects with the optical axis 13 at a point O. A ring-shaped aperture 11 with a fixed radius r and an image sensor 12 are fixed on the same side as the incident beam 9 and intersect with the optical axis 13 at points S and C. The incident beam 9 reaches the surface and is reflected. The reflected light beam 10 goes through the ring-shaped aperture 11 and forms an image on the image sensor 12 .
First assume that the surface 8 is a spherical surface with a radius of curvature R, then the reflected light beam 10 will also converge at a point A′ on the optical axis 13 , and the image formed on the sensor 12 will be a round ring with a radius c. In this illustrated optical system, an object at point A forms an image at point A′ by the reflective surface 8 . According to FIG. 2 , the object distance l and image distance l′ can be described by the following equations:
l= OA (1)
l ′=−( OS + SC + CA′ ) (2)
where OA , OS and SC are already known.
According to homothetic triangle theory, there is:
CA
′
_
SC
_
=
c
r
-
c
(
3
)
Thus equation (2) can be rewritten as:
l
′
=
-
(
OS
_
+
SC
_
+
c
r
-
c
SC
_
)
=
-
(
OS
_
+
r
r
-
c
SC
_
)
(
4
)
According to the imaging formula of a reflective sphere, there is:
1
l
+
1
l
′
=
2
R
(
5
)
Hence, the radius of curvature R of surface 8 is:
R
=
2
1
l
+
1
l
′
=
2
1
AO
_
-
1
OS
_
+
r
r
-
c
SC
_
(
6
)
The spherical power S of surface 8 can thus be calculated by:
S = n - 1 R × 1000 = 500 ( n - 1 ) ( 1 AO _ - 1 OS _ + r r - c SC _ ) ( 7 )
where n is the refractive index of the lens or mold 5 .
When the surface 8 is a cylinder surface with two radii of curvature R 1 and R 2 on its two orthogonal principal meridians, the image formed on the sensor 12 will be an elliptic ring with a major radius c 1 and a minor radius c 2 . The two spherical power S 1 and S 2 on the two orthogonal principal meridians of the cylinder surface can be calculated by:
S
1
=
n
-
1
R
1
×
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The cylinder power C can be calculated by:
C=|S 1 −S 2 | (9)
And the cylinder axis is the orientation of the major axis of the elliptic ring image on the sensor 12 .
FIG. 3 illustrates a monolithic optical system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the aid of which the above-described principle can be carried out. The smart mobile phone includes an LED flash light 14 and a CMOS image sensor 15 . The monolithic optical system comprises optical components including reflective prisms 16 , 17 , 18 and 19 , support prisms 20 , 21 and 22 , a converging lens 23 , a ring-shaped aperture 24 , and a beam splitter 25 and CMOS image sensor 15 . All the optical components and CMOS image sensor are fixed with each other by optical contact bonding or glue cement.
During measurement, the LED flash light 14 or additional separated LED works as the light source of the optical measurement head. The light beam emitted from the LED flash light 14 is redirected by the reflective prisms 16 , 17 and 18 , and goes along the optical axis 27 inside the monolithic optical system. A converging lens 23 converts the light beam from the light source into the desired beam which is reflected by a beam splitter 25 and is projected onto surface 26 of the lens or mold to be measured. The light beam reflected from surface 26 goes through the beam splitter 25 , a ring-shaped aperture 24 , and is then reflected by a reflective prism 19 to be projected onto the CMOS sensor 15 to form an image. The image is analyzed by the smart mobile phone and the surface power of the local surface where the lens support contacts is calculated and displayed on the display screen of the smart mobile phone.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the lens support includes a polished ruby, stainless steel or sapphire ring to contact the lens surface in order not to damage the surface to be measured.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the smart mobile phone includes a wireless communication module, e.g., GSM, GPRS, 3G, LTE, Bluetooth or WiFi or WLAN. When measuring a lens or mold, the smart mobile phone communicates with the Rx server via the wireless communication module and gets the designed surface data. The smart mobile phone calculates the theoretical local surface power and compares it with the measured result and tells if the lens or mold is ok or not.
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This invention discloses a handheld apparatus for measuring surface power or radius of prescription ophthalmic spectacle lenses, optical lenses or molds blocked with or without chuck during Rx production, and after comparing measurement results with designed data, providing correction data to the processing machines via wireless connection for correction processing if needed. The handheld apparatus integrates an optical measurement head into a monolithic optical system.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of head sets for supporting electrodes for connection to brain electrical activity monitoring apparatus and, in particular, to a head set that is adjustable so as to fit heads of different sizes and shapes and, also which incorporates means to adjust electrodes' positions on the head.
2. Description of Related Art
There are numerous head sets available for monitoring electrical activity of the brain of human beings, and, in particular, medical patients. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,934 "EEG Headpiece With Disposable Electrodes And Apparatus And System And Method For Use Therewith" by M. A. Imran discloses a "spider web" type head set that couples to a strap that extends about the chin and neck of the patent. While the straps are adjustable, there is no capability to adjust the webbing itself; thus it may not be comfortable for all persons, In addition, electrode position can not be significantly varied. Furthermore, because of its bulkiness and use of a chin restraint, it is unsuitable for monitoring a sleeping person during overnight sleep, especially when evaluating the sleeping person for a breathing disorder during sleep. In particular, chin straps necessarily affect jaw position and can influence breathing. This adversely effects sleep and thus must be avoided during sleep monitoring tests being carried on for medical evaluation of a patient.
Another example of a head set is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,696 "Electrode-Supporting Headset" by D. J. Henderson, et al. The Henderson, et al. design uses a metal wire frame to which are mounted adjustable length straps having electrodes mounted thereon. While providing for adjustment of the straps for a better fit and electrode placement on the patient's head, the metal wire frame would be uncomfortable for a person attempting to sleep. U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,196 "Electrode Cap" by S. Corbett discloses a cloth like skull cap that completely covers the head of the person. It is secured by straps to a belt assembly that fits about the upper torso of the patent. The main disadvantage of this design is that a snug fitting cap completely covering the head of the person could become hot after long periods of use. In addition, persons with long hair would also find it uncomfortable. Finally, there is no ability to adjust electrode position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,702 "Electroencephalographic Cap" by G. W. Sherwin discloses several types of head sets. One is in the form of a skull cap completely covering the head. The second includes a horizontal strap that extends completely about the head with a second vertical strap that extends over the top of the head and which is connected at its ends to the horizontal strap. Electrodes are mounted on both the vertical and horizontal straps. The use of under-the-chin restraining straps make them unsuitable for sleep monitoring. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,219 "Electronic Sleep Monitor Headgear" by J. A. Hobson, et al, also discloses a simple horizontal and vertical strap head set for mounting an eye monitoring sensor. However, there is no means for adjusting it to fit different size heads, nor, in fact, does the head set include means for mounting electrodes.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain electrical activity especially during sleep.
It is another primary object of the invention to provide a head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain electrical activity that is fully adjustable to accommodate different size heads.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain electrical activity that allows for the adjusting of electrode placement.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain activity that does not require a supporting strap under or on the chin.
It is another object of the invention to provide a head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain electrical activity that requires only minimal coverage of the head of the person thus exposing most of the head.
It is another object of the invention to provide a head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain activity that is comfortable to wear for extended periods of time without hindering a person's sleep.
It is another object of the invention to provide a means for holding the lead wires of electrodes and other sensors placed on the head as part of a sleep monitoring procedure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a head set for holding commercially available electrodes which measure the electrical activity of the brain of a person, most often a medical patient. In detail, the head set includes first and second mounting fittings for attachment about the ears of the person. A first flexible strap is adapted to fit about the forehead of the person and is connected by its ends to the first and second mounting fittings. A second flexible strap is adapted to fit about the rear of the head of the person and is also connected to the first and second mounting fittings. A plurality of sets of flexible guide members are also connected by their ends to the mounting fittings between the first and second straps and are adapted to fit over the top portion of the head of the person. Preferably, the guide members of each set are in a parallel spaced relationship with each other.
The first and second straps, as well as the pairs of flexible members, are adjustable in length. This is accomplished by having the ends of the straps and each of the guide members looped through individual openings in the first and second mounting fittings and back onto themselves, thus their length is determined by the amount of overlap. Fasteners, preferably, but not limited to, the form of hook and eye types (commercially sold under the trade name of VELCRO™) are used to secure the overlapped portions place.
A plurality of electrode mounts are movably mounted to each of the plurality of sets of semi-flexible guide members. The electrodes are removably mounted in the electrode mounts. The individual guide members are deformable in cross-sectional shape and pass through the "belt loops" in the guide members such that each of the guide members are deformed when passing therethrough. This deformation, as the guide member passes through the belt loop, produces sufficient friction so as to releasably hold the electrode mounts in any set position. Since all the electrodes have lead wires attached thereto for coupling to electrical recording apparatus, a flexible wire harness is detachably mounted to the rear strap to prevent them from becoming tangled. In addition, to insure that the electrodes remain in good contact with the head, the middle of the electrode mount can be formed into a shallow "U" shape with the electrode mounted in the bottom of the U. The electrode mount being semi-flexible, the U shaped portion acts as a spring to bias the electrode toward the head. In addition, different types of commercially available electrodes can also be mounted on the attachment fittings.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the presently preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of the head set flattened out.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the head set mounted on the head of a person.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the head set shown in FIG. 2, taken along the line 3--3 illustrating the construction of the front strap and the method of securing to the attachment fittings.
FIG. 4 is a view of the head set shown in FIG. 2, taken along the arrow 4 illustrating the method of securing the rear strap to the attachment fitting.
FIG. 5 is a enlarged perspective view of a portion of FIG. 2 illustrating the electrode mounts.
FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 6--6 illustrating the details of the electrode mount.
FIG. 7 is a section of FIG. 1 taken along the arrow 7 illustrating the wire harness releasably attached to the rear strap.
FIG. 8 is a partial side view of the head set shown in FIG. 2, illustrating a second embodiment of the head set.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 taken along the line 9--9.
FIG. 10 is partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 taken along the line 10--10
FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 taken along the line 11--11.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the head set, generally indicated by numeral 10, includes first and second ear attachment fittings 12A and 12B having ear openings 14A and 14B for fitting over the ears 15 of a persons head 18. Each of the fittings 12A and 12B incorporate a series of tabs: 20A and 20B that include slots 21A and 21B that extend therethrough; tabs 22A and 22B, that include slots 23A and 23B also extending therethrough. Each fitting 12A and 12B also include tabs 24A and 24B with slots 25A and 25B and slots 26A and 26B that extend therethrough. Finally, tabs 27A and 27B include slots 28A and 28B and slots 29A and 29B that extend therethrough. The fittings 12A and 12B are, preferably, made of a thin semi-stiff plastic material, such that they comfortably fit over the ear and will deform when the person's head 18 rests against a pillow while in bed. However they could be covered with padded cloth to provide a "softer feel".
Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 and additionally to FIG. 3, a first flexible and compressible strap 30, having a generally flat rectangular shape, is adapted to fit about the forehead 31 of the person's head 18. As particularly illustrated in FIG. 3, preferably, the strap 30 includes a flexible compressible foam core 32 bonded to cover sheets 33A and 33B made of cloth having a nap suitable as the eye portion of a hook and eye (VELCRO™) type fastener (hereinafter referred to as "eyes"). The strap 30 includes end portions 34A and 34B that are looped through slots 21A and 21B in the tabs 20A and 20B and back thereon. The end portions 34A and 34B include strips 36A and 36B that further include the hook portions of hook and eye type fasteners (hereinafter referred to as "hooks") thereon such that these strips can be joined to the cover sheet 33A of the strap 30. Thus the strap 30 can easily be adjusted to fit the head 18. In addition, pads 38A and 38B having hooks are bonded to the tabs 20A and 20B that act as additional securing means for the strap 30 upon engagement with cover sheet 33B.
Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 and, additionally, to FIG. 4, a second flexible and compressible strap 42, similar in construction to strap 30 is adapted to fit about the rear 44 of the head 18 of the person. The strap 42 includes end portions 45A and 45B that are looped through slots 23A and 23B on tabs 22A and 22B and back thereon. Pads 46A and 46B mounted on the end portions 45A and 45B that incorporate hooks used to secure the strap 42. Additionally, pads 48A and 48B mounted on the tabs 22A and 22B include hooks providing additional securing means. Thus the strap 42 also is fully adjustable.
A pair of identical sets 50A and 50B of flexible and generally parallel members 52A and 52B, and 54A and 54B, respectively, extend over the top 55 of the head 18. They are also adjustably connected between the fittings 12A and 12B in a manner similar to similar to strap 30 and have similar construction thereto. Thus for example, member 54A, includes end portions 60A and 60B that are looped through slots 29A and 29B in the tabs 27A and 27B and back thereon and releasably secured thereto by strips 64A and 64B (similar to strips 36A and 36B and in a similar manner). Therefore, the member 54A can also be easily adjusted to fit the head 18. The other members 52A and 52B of set 50A and 54A of set 50B are identical in construction to member 54B. Thus member 52A is looped through slots 26A and 26B, member 52B is looped through slots 25A and 25B, and member 54B is looped through slots 28A and 28B. Of course, the number of sets of guide members is not limited to two, more could be included when determined to be necessary.
Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, and additionally to FIGS. 5 and 6, a plurality of flexible electrode mounts 70 are movably mounted to each set 50A and 50B of guide members. The individual guide members 52A and 52B and 58A and 58B being deformable in cross-sectional shape pass through belt loops 72 on the electrode mounts 70 such that each of the guide members are deformed when passing therethrough. This deformation produces sufficient friction so as to releasably hold the electrode mounts 70 in any set position.
The electrode mounts 70 include a centrally located hole 76 in which is mounted a round insulation ring 78. The ring 78 includes an outer groove 80 that is engaged with the edge of the hole 76 and a centrally located electrode mounting hole 81. The electrode mounts 70 being flexible, it is an easy matter to push the rings 78 in place. The rings 78 also include a groove 82 in the inner edge of the hole 81 in which is mounted a electrical contact 84 that is coupled to a lead wire 86. An electrode 88, mounts in the hole 81 and makes electrical contact with contact 84. Suitable electrodes 88 and rings 78 are disclosed in the previously discussed U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,934 "EEG Headpiece With Disposable Electrodes And Apparatus And System And Method For Use Therewith" by M. A. Imran and are commercially available from Physiometrix, Inc. No. Billerica, Md. For example, a suitable contact 84 is Model No. 1500M and a suitable electrode is Model No. 1100.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and additionally to FIG. 7, the lead wires 86 are gathered together and extend into and through a wire harness 90 detachably mounted to the second flexible strap 42 by means of hook and eye type fasteners 92. To prevent the lead wires from moving about when the person tosses or turns in bed, hook and eye type fastener assemblies 94 are mounted on the tabs 20A and 20B, and 27A and 27B, so that the wires 86 can be restrained. Additionally, the wires 86 can also be passed under the strips 64A and 64B on the ends of the guide members 52A and 52B, and 54A and 54B to provide additional restraint. Additionally, lead wires from eye position and respiration rate sensors, etc. (not shown) could also be secured in a similar manner.
Illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 is a second embodiment of the invention wherein, for purposes of explanation, elements similar to those shown in FIGS. 1-7 are identified by the identical number, but having a "prime" added thereto. Here the attachment fitting 10' has a ear attachment fitting 12A', that incorporates a series of tabs: 20A' that include slots 21A' and 96A that extend therethrough; tab 22A'. A first strap 30', is adapted to fit about the forehead 31 of the person's head 18. The strap 30 includes an end portions 34A' that is looped through slots 21A and 96A in the tabs 20A' and back thereon. A pad 38' is bonded to the tab 20A' to which the end portion is secured thereto. A second (rear) strap 42', and sets 50A' and 50B' of guide members are joined to the tabs 24A' and 27A' in an identical fashion.
Still referring to FIG. 8 and additionally to FIGS. 10 and 11, it can be seen that the set 50B' includes guide members 54A' and 54B', to which are mounted electrode mounts 70'. As in the previous example, the individual guide members 54A' and 54B', being deformable in cross-sectional shape ,pass through belt loops 72' on the electrode mounts such that each of the guide members are deformed when passing therethrough. This deformation produces sufficient friction so as to releasably hold the electrode mounts 70' in any set position. The electrode mounts 70 include a centrally located hole in which is mounted commercially available bell shaped electrode 88' having a lead wire 86'. The one edge of the hole 76' incorporates a tab 104 that secures the electrode 88' in place. Additional retention is accomplished by sliding the lead wire 86' through a belt loop 108. Finally, the electrode mount 70', being made of a semi-flexible material, is permanently bent into the shape of a U. Thus when the head set 10' is mounted on the head 18 of a patient, the compression force on the electrode mount 70'; causes the mount to deform biasing the electrode 88' into contact with the head. Note that this U shaped electrode mount 70' could also be used with the electrode mount 70 illustrated in FIGS. 1-7. As shown in FIG. 8, electrodes 88' can also be mounted on the attachment fitting 14A' to provide additional monitoring of brain activity. Here they are positioned to monitor from the mastoid area behind the ear 15.
It is important to note that, while the use of hook and eye type fasteners are illustrated, the head set is not limited to their use. For example, snap type fasteners or button/button holes fasteners could also be used. In addition, the strap and guide member material could be significantly varied, all that is required is that it be flexible and compressible. However, the electrode mounts could be mounted to the guide members by snap type fasteners, or the like, only requiring that the material be flexible. In addition, while it is preferred to have the attachment fittings attach about the ears of the person, it could just as well be attached by other means, such as tape to temples of the patent (not shown).
Thus it can be seen that all the objects of the invention have been achieved. The head set for mounting electrodes for monitoring brain electrical activity is fully adjustable to the head of the person. It allows for the adjustment of the electrode placement. It also does not require restraints to be placed under the chin of the person and only requires minimal coverage of the head of the person when installed. Furthermore, the use of flexible and deformable (compressible) straps and guide members makes the head set more comfortable to wear for long periods. This feature, along with the others previously discussed, make the headset ideally suitable for overnight sleep studies. However, it should be noted that the head set is not limited to sleep studies. The headset can be used for any procedure pertaining to the monitoring and evaluation of brain electrical activity.
While the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are merely illustrative as there are numerous variations and modifications which may be made by those skilled in the art. Thus, the invention is to be construed as being limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
The invention has applicability to any industry where brain electrical activity studies are desired and, in particular to the medical apparatus industry.
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The invention is a headset for holding electrodes on the head of a person for measuring the electrical activity of the person's brain. In detail, the invention includes a pair of fittings for attachment about the ears of a person. A first flexible front strap is adapted to fit about the forehead of the person is connected to each fitting. A second flexible strap adapted to fit about the rear of the head of the person is also connected to each fitting. A plurality of sets of flexible members is connected to each fitting and which are adapted to fit over the top portion of the head of the person between the first and second straps. A plurality of electrode mounts are movably mounted to each of the plurality of sets of guide members. The head set's ear fittings also provides a means for holding the lead wires of electrodes placed on a person's face for monitoring such parameters as eye movement and facial muscle activity during routine sleep testing.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a control system for production wells, and more particularly, to a system and method for accurately determining fluid levels in a wellbore for optimum control of artificial lift systems employed to maintain production of the wells.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
During the production life of a well, typically, the natural reservoir pressure decreases as gases and liquids are removed from the formation. As the natural downward pressure of a gas well decreases, the well bore tends to fill upwards with fluids, such as oil and water, which block flow of the desired formation gas or fluid into the bore hole and reduce the output production of the well. In gas wells experiencing excessive fluid filling, artificial lift techniques are typically utilized to periodically remove the accumulated undesired fluids by artificial lift techniques which include plunger lift devices, gas lift devices and downhole pumps. In the case of oil wells within which the natural pressure has decreased to the point that formation oil does not flow under its own pressure to the surface, oil production is maintained by artificial lift methods such as downhole pumps and by gas injection lift techniques. Moreover, certain wells are stimulated into increased production by secondary recovery means employing the injection of water or gas into the formation to maintain reservoir pressure and to cause a flow of fluids from the formation into the wellbore. For oil and gas wells with insufficient reservoir pressure to force the fluid to the surface, plunger lifting and gas lifting based techniques are commonly used.
Plunger lift techniques include the use of a cylindrical plunger which travels through tubing extending from a location near the producing formation down in the borehole to surface equipment located at the open end of the borehole. Generally, fluids which collect in the borehole and inhibit flow of fluids out of the formation and into the well bore, are collected in the tubing. Periodically the end of the tubing is opened at the surface and the accumulated reservoir pressure is sufficient to force the plunger up the tubing. The plunger carries with it to the surface a portion of the accumulated fluids which are ejected out the top of the well thereby allowing the gas to flow more freely from the formation into the wellbore to be delivered to a distribution system at the surface. After the flow of gas has become restricted due to the further accumulation of fluids downhole, a valve in the tubing at the surface of the well is closed so that the plunger then falls back down the tubing and is ready to lift another load of fluid to the surface upon reopening the valve.
Gas lift techniques include a valve system for controlling the injection of pressurized gas from a source external to the well, such as another gas well or a compressor, into the borehole. The increased pressure from the injected gas forces accumulated formation fluids up a central tube extending along the borehole to remove the fluids and restore the free flow of gas or oil from the formation into the well. In wells where liquid fall back is a problem during gas lift, plunger lift may be combined with gas lift to improve efficiency.
Both the plunger lift and gas lift techniques require periodic operation of a motor valve at the surface of the well head to control either the flow of fluids from the well or the flow of injection gas in the well to assist in the production of gas and liquids from the well. These motor valves are conventionally controlled by timing mechanisms and are programmed based on length of time that a well should be shut in and restricted from flowing gas or liquids to the surface and the time that a well should be opened to freely produce. Generally, the criteria used for operation of the motor valve is strictly one of the elapse of a preselected time period. In most cases, measured well parameters, such as pressure, temperature, etc. are used only to override the timing cycle in special conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,279, entitled "PLUNGER LIFT SYSTEM", issued Jul. 8, 1980 to Isaacks, discloses a plunger catcher and trip assembly wherein a conventional timer or controller determines the interval during which gas lift is injected into the annulus between the casing and the tubing and the time interval during which the plunger is held within the well head by the catcher and trip assembly. The controller disclosed in Isaacks operates on preselected time intervals and is manually adjusted to vary the injection period and stabilization period for optimum production of formation fluids.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,954, entitled "WELL PRODUCTION CONTROLLER SYSTEM", issued Jan. 6, 1987 to Dixon et al, discloses a control system with provisions for monitoring tubing, casing and production flow line pressure for optimum control of production from plunger lift wells. The controller timing of operations is based on reservoir engineering principles relating certain pressure/flow relationships in a well to the optimum production from the well.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,789, entitled "METHOD FOR STARTUP OF PRODUCTION IN A WELL", issued May 14, 1991 to Clarke et al., discloses a method of controlling production in a well wherein flow rate is monitored and a flow regulating device in the flow path from the well is controlled in accordance with the monitored flow rate. The flow rate is reduced when the monitored flow rate is indicative of an onset of slugging, such as when an increase in flow rate is detected.
None of the above patents disclose the present invention of annular fluid level sensing and artificial lift control using annular fluid level. The annular fluid level being determined through the unique use of a piggy back line, a device sensing pressure in the piggy back line, a static pressure sensing device in the gas being fed through the piggy back line, and running the piggy back line to the bottom of the well bore where the production tubing ends.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for fluid level sensing in a well for controlling artificial lift systems used in the well.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention entails a method for determining the fluid level in a well casing for controlling artificial lift systems based on the determined fluid level. Through a piggy back line running along the tube leading to the bottom of the well, a gas is introduced at a very low flow rate so as to have negligible frictional flow. When the pressure of the gas overcomes the hydrostatic pressure from the fluid column, the gas bubbles up through the fluid column providing a steady pressure reading in the piggy back line. A pressure sensor detects any residual gas pressure in the annular space in the well casing not yet occupied by the fluid. A flow computer is provided the pressure of the piggy back line and any residual gas pressure, and the density of the fluid for determining the annular fluid level in the casing.
The flow computer in accordance with software configuration controls the artificial lift system based on the determined annular fluid level. Through wired connections to motor actuated valves and electrical switches in supply lines and production lines to the well casing, the flow computer can utilize the piggy back line method for detection of actual annular fluid level to control various artificial lift systems.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood with reference to the following illustrative and non-limiting drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a an artificial lift system employing annular fluid level sensing in accord with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a graph of the measured water level in a test well with an artificial lift system employing control based on the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a graph of the hourly production gas rate for the test well of FIG. 2
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Although the present invention can be used in many different applications where annular fluid level sensing is desired, the present invention is especially suited for use with artificial lift systems. Accordingly, the present invention will be described in conjunction with control of artificial lift systems in a production well based on annular fluid level sensing in the well.
Artificial lift provides additional energy to lift wellbore fluids from deep within the earth to the surface. In low pressure reservoirs, the goal is usually to keep wellbore fluids below the perforations in the well casing where formation fluid seeps into the well. This reduces backpressure on the formation and maximizes production in most wells. Wells that produce insufficient fluids for continuous lift utilize timers to cycle on and off artificial lift systems such as pumping units, progressive cavity pumps, and intermittent gas for gas lift wells. The problem is guessing the proper time cycles to obtain the maximum production with the minimum amount of energy. Since the goal is to keep fluid levels below the perforations, on and off time cycles are simply the operator's best guess rather than based on the actual fluid level int the wellbore. The present invention solves this problem by continually calculating the fluid level in a wellbore and cycling the lift on and off as needed to accomplish the goal of keeping the fluid level below the perforations
Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a modified gas lift system with well bore and surface connections for controlling lift operations based on determined annular fluid levels. A flow computer 11 is shown which receives information from various electrical pressure and temperature sensing devices and controls switches or valves to operate an artificial control lift system accordingly. Programmable controllers, well known in the art, can be utilized to implement the process controls of the flow computer. The flow computer is configured with software instruction sets for receiving sensed measurements and controlling switches and motor actuated valves for performing the desired process control. Optimal production from the well occurs when the fluid level 19 is below the perforations 20 in the well casing 18. With the fluid level 19 below the perforations 20, gas in the surrounding formation, not being restricted by any fluid, seeps through the perforations into the well casing for collection through the production gas line 15. Accordingly, for optimal operation of the artificial lift system, the flow computer 11, utilizing the fluid level sensing in accord with the present invention, cycles the artificial lift system to maintain fluid levels 19 in the well casing 18 below the perforations 20.
A pressure switch 1 is located in the water flow line. The flow computer monitors the pressure switch 1 and shuts off flow in the gas lift line when flow in the produced water line exceeds a set point pressure. An electrical temperature sensing device 2 monitors temperature in the gas flow line and sends the temperature readings back to the flow computer 11. A differential pressure and static pressure sensing device 3 that measures differential pressure across an orifice plate in the gas production line transmits data back to the flow computer where the static pressure and differential pressure are utilized to calculate gas flow rates. A gas turbine meter 4 on the gas lift line sends out electrical pulses each time the magnetized blade of the propeller passes a point on the housing. The flow computer 11 uses these pulses to calculate a gas lift injection rate. A timed relay 5 is used for intermittent gas lift operations. An analog input to pressure converter 6 receives electrical data from the flow computer and converts it to a pressure output to control gas lift through a motor valve 8 in the gas lift line. An electrical pressure sensing device 7 monitors pressure in the piggyback line and sends data back to the flow computer which uses the data and static pressure data from device 3 to calculate fluid levels in the well bore. The motor valve 8 regulates the rate of lift of injected gas into the gas lift line. A solenoid valve 9 fed by the timed relay controls the intermittent lift as a bypass circuit around the converter 6 which controls motor valve 8. A pressure regulator 10 drops the gas lift line pressure to the motor valve 8, and analog to input pressure converter 6, to the appropriate working pressures.
Annular fluid level sensing and artificial control using annular fluid level data requires the piggy back line 12, piggy back pressure sensing device 7, static pressure sensing device 3, and the bottom of the piggy back line where gas bubbles up through the annular fluid column 17 in the well casing 18. The flow computer calculates flow rates, fluid levels, monitors pressure, and calculates gas lift rates. The piggy back line 12 runs from the surface to the bottom of the well along with the tubing 16 which extends from the surface to the bottom of the wellbore.
The water flow line 13 takes water and lift gas from the tubing 16 back to the facility. The gas lift line 14, which extends from the surface to the bottom of the tubing 16, supplies pressurized gas to force accumulated water in the well up to the surface or collection. The gas lift line 14 is connected to the tubing 16 in a mandrel which ports all lift gas into the bottom of the tubing 16. The gas production flow line 15 takes production gas from the wellbore annular space to a facility on the surface. The bottom of the piggy back line 17 is where gas slowly bubbles out of the line and up through the fluid column in the annular space. The gas bubbling up through the fluid column relieves pressure in the piggy back line exceeding the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid column and any pressure due to residual gas in the annular space in the well casing 18 not filled with fluid.
Annular fluid levels are determined by injecting a very small rate of gas into the piggy back line 12. The electronic pressure sensing device 7 measures the pressure required to bubble up gas through the annular fluid column. Since friction is negligible for extremely low flow rates and since hydrostatic pressures created by a column of dry gas is very low, the pressure measured by the electronic pressure sensing device 7 is very close to the pressure at the bottom of the tubing 16 and the bottom of the piggy back line 17. It is well known under nodal analysis methodology that only one pressure and one temperature can exist at any one given point. Accordingly, the pressures at the bottom of the tubing and the bottom of the piggy back line are equal to the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the fluid and gas column in the annular space. Static pressure sensing device 3 measures the pressure in the annular space. Since the hydrostatic pressure generated by the gas is negligible, the difference between the pressure at the bottom of the piggy back line 17 and the pressure of any gas remaining in the well casing above the fluid column, as measured by the static pressure sensing device 3, is due to the pressure generated by the fluid column in the annular space. It is known that the pressure of a static fluid column at a given depth is equal to the given depth times the pressure gradient of the fluid. Therefore, the fluid column depth in the annular space can be determined from dividing the pressure at the bottom of the fluid column less any pressure from residual gas above the filled column by the pressure gradient of the fluid. The pressure at the bottom of the tubing or fluid column being the difference in pressure between the pressure at the bottom of the piggy back line, as indicated by sensing device 7, and the pressure of any production gas in the annular space, as indicated by pressure sensing device 3. Where the residual gas has not filled the annular space above the fluid column sufficiently or is vented from the well casing, the pressure at the bottom of the tubing or fluid column is due to the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid, as indicated by sensing device 7.
Once the fluid level is known, various control procedures can be programmed into the flow computer. The flow computer can be programmed to cycle progressive cavity pumps and pumping units on and off based on user set fluid levels. The flow computer can control the injection rate of continuous gas lift as well control intermittent gas lift for the remaining life of the well. For example, the flow computer can be configured for continuous gas lift operations for the first six months to a year, and then intermittent gas lift operations for the remaining life of the well. For continuous lift operations, the flow computer will calculate the fluid level and control the gas injection rate. The flow computer will monitor the fluid level for a set period of time, compare it to the previous period, and increase gas lift rate if the fluid level rises and decrease gas lift rate if the fluid level decreases. For intermittent lift operations the flow computer will monitor the fluid level and cycle the lift on when the fluid level reaches a set point. This type of process can also be utilized to turn pumping units on when the fluid level reaches a certain set point.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, there are shown graphs of data from test wells employing artificial lift control based on annular fluid level sensing in accord with the present invention. The graph in FIG. 2 relates the measured water level in feet above the bottom of the piggy back line over a twelve hour (12 hr) period at quarter hour (1/4 hr) intervals. The flow computer or controller is programmed with a set point of four hundred ten feet (410'). When the measured water level reaches 410' the controller opens a gas lift valve to allow lift gas to flow down the gas lift line and propel a plunger pushing water to the surface thereby lowering the annular fluid level. In some instances, the fluid level rises slightly above 410' due to timing relays in the control system which introduce some delay. The graph in FIG. 3 relates the hourly gas rates for the production well of FIG. 2 over the same 12 hour period. The constant hourly gas rate of FIG. 3 indicates that the controller is adequately maintaining the annular fluid level below the perforations in the well casing, thereby maximizing gas production. Were the fluid level to reach the perforations, the production gas from the surrounding formation would be held back by the fluid level resulting in a cycling of the gas rate.
It should be understood that the embodiment described herein is merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications to this embodiment utilizing functionally equivalent elements to that described herein. Any and all such variations or modifications as well as others which may become apparent to those skilled in the art, are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
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The artificial lift control system utilizes a piggy back line, flow computer, pressure transmitter, and software control to control artificial lift of wellbore fluids. The piggy back line is a medium to high pressure line strapped to the outside of the tubing. Supply, make-up gas or other fluids are pumped down the piggy back line at the lowest flow rate possible. Extremely low flow rates are utilized to minimize friction of flow in the piggy back line. A pressure or differential pressure transmitter is installed to monitor pressure on the piggy back line or to measure the differential pressure between the piggy back line and the casing pressure. The flow computer monitors pressures or differential pressures, utilizes software instruction sets to calculate fluid levels in the casing tubing annulus, and cycles artificial lift on and off based on parameters set in the flow computer software.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a roll-type insect screen assembly for covering a window or door opening in an insect-proof and air-permeable manner. The assembly comprises a flexible, preferably netlike insect screen which is guided in lateral guide rails mounted on the outside of the opening and which is adapted to be wound onto a roller. The roller is rotatably supported above the opening and is rotatable by means of an actuating device and adapted to be locked in a given rotary position. The assembly includes a weight bar at the lower end of the insect screen, with the weight bar having sufficient weight to cause the insect screen to automatically unwind upon release of the roller.
Various kinds of roll-type insect screen assemblies in the form of automatic blinds are known. As far as automatic blinds are concerned, the roller is connected to a torsion spring which is stretched when the insect screen is unwound, so that the insect screen can be wound up by resilient force. Automatic blinds have the disadvantage that they must be secured in the unwound position. This can be effected by means of a bar which is secured to the lower end of the insect screen and is snapped into a holding device mounted on the window sill. Prior to the rewinding of such insect screen, the screen must be unlocked, which is troublesome and might even be dangerous when performed by children or elderly people who have to lean out of the window for this purpose. Another disadvantage of automatic blinds is that the resilient force of the torsion spring diminishes after a relatively short service life, so that the unwound insect screen can no longer be stretched to a sufficient degree to ensure perfect covering of a window or door opening. Also, the automatic restoring effect is impaired. Furthermore, it is difficult to secure the bar mounted on the lower end of the insect screen to the window sill or door threshold in such a way that an insect-proof covering is ensured.
Roll-type insect screen assemblies are also known wherein the insect screen is pulled upwards and rolled up by hand by means of a pull strap or a pull cord which is unwound from a pull roll connected to the roller and possibly wound onto a counter-roll. The insect screen is made of thin, light weight gauze, is mounted in lateral guides for an insect-proof covering of the building opening. A pull cord, attached to the lower bar of the screen, is manually pulled to unwind the screen from the roller. Hence, it is also troublesome to handle roll screen assemblies of this type. Another disadvantage of such a roll-type insect screen assembly, which can be wound in the manner of a roller shutter, is that the screen is hardly stretched in the unwound state because of its light weight, so that special precautions have to be taken to prevent the thin gauze from being torn out of the lateral guide rails because of wind gusts. Despite all of these efforts, the gauze which is minimally stretched in the longitudinal direction of the insect screen will flap in a breeze, which is undesirable and impairs the service life of the gauze.
DE-OS 28 39 490 and DE-GM 18 20 012 disclose roll-type insect screen assemblies in which the lower end of the screen curtain roll is connected to a bar. The bar has sufficient weight to automatically pull the gauze curtain downward when the associated roll is unlocked. The weight bar is made from wood or metal, requiring a great cross-sectional dimension, to have sufficient weight. These screen assemblies, however, cannot be used in combination with an existing roller shutter because the lateral guide rails of the insect screen have to be arranged between the shutter and the window. The already known roll-type insect screen assemblies cannot be accommodated in this limited space. Moreover, insects may enter into the grooves of the guide rails and hence into the interior of the building.
US-PS 25 48 040 discloses an insect blind for windows having a lower bar on which guide pins of a considerable thickness are arranged and project beyond a plastic film which is provided as a cover. The exclusion of insects around the sides is also not possible with this configuration.
Although DE-GM 85 05 858 shows the possibility of mounting a lower flat section on a screen curtain, the necessary weight is insufficient for unwinding the antifly curtain automatically.
DE-GM 18 64 087 discloses a deformable cover strip as a lower end of an insect-screen roller shutter, the cover strip being adapted to be put on a window sill. This configuration has the disadvantage that the strip cannot adapt to irregularities of the contact surface to prevent entry of insects.
DE 39 36 343 C2 of A. Wildt, for which an application was filed Nov. 2, 1989, describes a roll-type insect screen assembly which ensures a virtually fully insect-proof covering of a window or door opening, the insect screen assembly being adapted to be combined with an already existing roller shutter.
In accordance with the above publication, the weight bar at the bottom of the screen consists entirely or partly of lead, and the weight thereof is at least 1 kg/m. With such a weight it is possible to overcome all sliding frictional forces between the screen edges and the lateral guide rails, so that the insect screen unwinds automatically and in an entirely smooth way. Also, the screen is held in such a taut state during the unwinding operation that the frictional forces acting from the guide rails onto the lateral edge portions are minimized. As a result of the vigorously stretched state of the insect screen, even great wind forces cannot make the lateral edge portions detach from the guide rails. Flapping of the netlike gauze is prevented.
Moreover, the weight of the bar ensures that the insect screen will be tightly wound onto the associated screen reel or roller, resulting in a compact coil of a very small diameter. It is, therefore, possible to accommodate the screen roller assembly in an existing roller shutter casing because the small space required by the assembly and operation of the device.
As a result of the material employed in the bar, the necessary weight can be achieved with a bar having only a height of about 25 mm at a width of 10 mm. It is thus possible to install the roll-type insect screen assembly in addition to an already existing roller shutter because the weight bar can be accommodated in a very small space between the roller shutter and the window or between the guide rails of the roller shutter and the architecture of the window or door.
Preferably, the lower end of the insect screen is mounted on a guide rail which is accommodated in a groove of the weight bar and projects at both sides, the weight bar being slightly shorter than the clearance between the lateral guide rails. The weight bar transmits its weight via the guide rail to the screen over the whole width thereof, in order to fully stretch the edges.
To provide additional protection against insects, an elastically deformable bristle strip is provided on the window sill or other opening and is engaged by the weight bar when the screen is closed. The bristle strip adapts to all uneven spots because of the very great number of deformable bristles, and a perfect seal against insets is ensured. Since the bristles can be bent easily and are resilient, even irregular recesses in a contact area are sealed against the entry of insects. The high weight of the bar insures that the screen will remain taught while providing a seal with the strip.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
All of the roll-type insect screen assemblies that have so far been known generally provide an insect-free environment, but offer no hinderance to intruders. In the case of an insect screen which automatically unwinds due to a weight bar, one needs only to push the lower weight bar in the lateral guide rails up to a suitable level, whereby the window or door becomes accessible. In the case of an automatic blind the lower bar of the roll-type insect screen need only be disengaged from its snap-type seat, which can also be easily accomplished. The screen can also be returned without evidence of intrusion.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide a roll-type insect screen assembly that deters unauthorized entry.
The insect screen may consist of a perforated metallic sheet which may communicate with an alarm system. This is also within the scope of the invention.
In previously known roll-type insect screen assemblies, foreign particles such as dust, lint, and dead insects deposit on the insect screen in the course of time, and the screen becomes darker and gradually looses its transparency. The attempt to clean the screen by brushing it with a hand brush becomes difficult because the gauze consists of a resilient flexible material and cannot be held or supported in an efficient way in the unwound state. The only alternative is to remove the screen and either replace or wash the screen.
It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a roll-type insect screen assembly in which the accumulation of foreign particles is minimized.
The roll-type insect screen assembly includes a clamping means for releasably securing the lateral edge portions of the screen in a locked position. As a consequence, the screen cannot be lifted by an intruder without visible evidence of entry, such as by ripping or cutting. Thus, the screen assembly provides a deterrent to unauthorized entry, especially when the window or door behind the screen is open.
Clamping of the lateral edge portions of the insect screen minimizes the possible tearing out of the screen, while also providing an effective seal against insect intrusion.
The clamping means may be provided with an automatically unwinding insect screen in both an automatic blind and a roll screen assembly. Preferably, the flexible screen is stretched by the weight bar, which also serves to lock the lateral edge portions.
The clamping means is movable between a release and a locking position. The clamping means comprises at least one flexible tube which can be enlarged by the supply of compressed air to firmly press the edge portion of the insect screen against a stop. The stop may comprise a bar made from a rubber or flexible tube.
The expandable tube and the stop may extend substantially over the whole length of the respective guide rail. The rubber tube may be secured or glued to a longitudinal side of the guide rail, while the stop may be mounted on the opposite longitudinal side of the guide rail.
In a preferred embodiment, the guide rail has a substantially rectangular shape including a slot having a width of about 1.3 mm and is defined by two parallel webs.
The distance between the tube in the relaxed state and the bar should at least be as wide as the slot of the guide rail.
The expandable tubes which are closed at their upper end and communicate with a source of compressed air at their lower end. A common source of compressed air may be provided for both tubes through a branching line. The upper ends of the flexible tubes may be closed by a plug or other suitable means.
The source of compressed air may comprise a hand operated pneumatic pressure pump. The pump may be of the bellows type and is small in size due to the small volume of air to be pumped. A check valve is interposed between the pump and flexible tube and is preferably of the push button type to easily allow release of pressure from the inflated tubes. An elbow is employed to connect the pump and valve from the interior of the building to the flexible tube in the guide rail.
The insect screen assembly may include a brush which extends substantially over the entire width of the insect screen and contacts the screen. The brush strip is preferably positioned near the roller on the inner outlet edge of the shutter casing.
The insect screen sweeps along the brush strip or over the whole length or height when being lowered and also when being wound onto the roller. As a consequence, foreign particles are removed from the screen. The brush strip which consists preferably of a strip-like base carrier and dense elastic bristles engages into the netlike or perforated recesses of the insect screen and efficiently maintains the screen fabric in a clean condition. The brush strip preferably mounted on the interior molding of the window or door.
The brush strip may be attached in any desired way, such as by gluing. Preferably, however, a rail secured to the transverse molding and accommodates the base of the brush strip in a clamping seat. This allows the brush strip to be easily removed for the purpose of cleaning or replacement.
As mentioned above, the bristles of the strip-like brush rest on the screen. The screen is slightly deflected by the brush to assure good contact and removal of debris.
The brush strip preferably has a contact width of about 1 to 2 cm and the bristles of the brush preferably have a length of about 5-15 mm. The bristles may be composed of a flexible plastic material. Thus, the brush strip does not unduly interfere or resist the winding and unwinding operations of the screen.
In addition to the interior brush strip, a second brush strip may be mounted at a suitable location to clean the outside surface of the screen.
In addition to the cleaning operation, the interior brush strip prevents entry of insets between the window molding and the screen and minimizes drafts through this space.
Due to this simple measure, the insect screen is kept clean and transparent over a long period of time. Furthermore, any gaps through the window or door opening are efficiently sealed to insects that have entered into the roller shutter casing, as well as drafts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a section through a roller shutter casing in which a roller for an insect screen is installed, in accordance with the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a window which is provided with both a conventional roller shutter and a roll-type insect screen assembly, seen from the inside of a room;
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic vertical section through an embodiment of a weight bar of the roll-type insect screen assembly in accordance with the prior art;
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic horizontal section through a lateral guide rail and the weight bar of FIG. 3 according to the prior art;
FIG. 5 is a vertical section through an embodiment of a cover according to the prior art;
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic horizontal section similar to FIG. 4, the guide rail being however provided with the clamping means of the invention;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lower end section of the guide rails for the insect screen and a roller shutter;
FIG. 8 a diagrammatic representation of the connection of the pressure-expandable tube with a pneumatic pressure pump;
FIG. 9 is a vertical section through a roller shutter casing and the roll-type insect screen assembly comprising the brush strip of the invention; and
FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic detail view of the insect screen and the brush strip mounted in accordance with FIG. 9.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a conventional roller shutter casing 1 in which a roller 2 of a large diameter is arranged for a roller shutter 3. Below the roller 2, there is sufficient space in the conventional roller shutter casing 1 for disposing another roller 4 for an insect screen 5 which is made of gauze and therefore very thin. The roller 4 has a very small diameter because screen fabric 5 is tightly wound. The two rollers are constructed and supported by their ends in a conventional manner.
FIG. 2 shows a window which is equipped with the assembly according to FIG. 1. A strap 6 which is wound onto a pull roll (not shown) and connected to the roller 2 is provided for operating roller shutter 3. A strap 7, which is wound in a corresponding way onto a pull roll (also not shown), is connected to roller 4 for operating an insect screen 5.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the insect screen 5 is arranged between the roller shutter 3 and the window, so that the lateral guide rails of the insect screen 5 are mounted between the guide rails for the roller shutter 3 and the interior molding of the window.
FIG. 3 illustrates a vertical section through the lower end portion of the insect screen 5. The lower end portion of the insect screen 5 is wound around a guide web 8 having a rectangular cross-section and secured or glued thereto. The guide web 8 is seated in a groove 9 of weight bar 10 consisting of lead, which, in turn, is surrounded by a plastic cover 11. The cover has an upper opening defined by a pair of resilient arms 12 to enable insertion and removal of the weight bar assembly, with the arms in contact with the screen 5.
A bristle strip 13 is mounted on the bottom side of cover 11. The bristles are deformable to allow the weight of weight bar 10 to stretch insect screen 5 after the screen has been lowered and the bristles are in contact with the window sill.
FIG. 4 is a horizontal section through a lateral guide rail 14 which has a slot 15 for the entry of an end section of guide web 8 projecting beyond the weight bar 10 and of the associated edge portion of the screen. Slot 15 is defined by two parallel webs 16 having outer ends 17 bent in a U-shape as shown.
Weight bar 10 terminates a small distance in front of guide rail 14 while guide web 8 extends almost down to the inner wall 18 of guide rail 14.
A lateral flange 19 extends from guide rail 14 and engages against the outer face of a conventional guide rail 20 of a roller shutter 3. The U-shaped guide rail 20 as well as a flange 19 are secured together, such as by the use of screws 21.
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic vertical section through cover 11 on which the lower bristle strip 13 is molded with very flexible bristles.
Upon installation, as shown in FIG. 3, the spring arms 12 snap together above weight bar 10 and clamp gauze 5 tightly thereinbetween, so that the entry of water is prevented.
FIG. 6 is a horizontal section through a lateral guide rail 14 which, in contrast to that of FIG. 4, comprises two parallel webs 21 that define slot 15 and whose head ends are not bent. A rubber stop 22 and an expandable tube 23 are mounted in a spaced relationship inside guide rail 14. The two members are adhered to the inner surfaces of the longitudinal sides 24 of guide rail 14. In the pressureless state of tube 23, which is illustrated in FIG. 6, the insect screen is freely movable together with the guide web mounted on the end section thereof between rubber stop 22 and tube 23, whereby it is possible to wind and unwind the insect screen.
FIG. 7 illustrates the clamped state of insect screen 5 in which tube 23 is expanded by the supply of compressed air to such an extent that it presses the edge of the screen 5 tightly against rubber stop 22, whereby the screen cannot be pushed upward. Also, the edge portions of the screen remain secure in the guide rails 14 even in case of very great wind forces.
FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the connection of a tube 23 with a pneumatic pump 24 which is mounted on the inside of the window. To this end, a lower elbow 24' is guided through molding 25 and guide rail 14 and inserted into the lower tube opening at 26. The pneumatic pressure pump 24 may have a diameter of a few centimeters, so that it is not very noticeable. The pump is pressed inwards by the thumb in order to introduce compressed air into tube 23 to clamp the screen 5. In order to release the air and raise the screen, a push button check valve 31 is employed.
FIG. 9 shows that a brush strip 27 is mounted in the area of the outer edge of the roller shutter casing in such a way that its resilient bristles rest on screen 5, so that during the upward and downward movement of screen 5 the bristles of the brush strip 27 sweep over the surface thereof and remove any adhering foreign particles. The brush strip 27 constitutes an insect barrier, as it reliably prevents insects which have passed into the roller shutter casing from getting into the interior of the room behind gauze 5 through the window or door opening. Moreover, the brush strip 27 seals and insulates a considerable cross-sectional part of the gap leading into the roller shutter casing.
The brush strip 27 is mounted on the front leading edge of a traverse member 28 which is flush with the front end face of the adjacent molding 29. The bristles of the brush strip 27 project to such an extent that the screen is slightly deflected.
FIG. 10 shows that the brush strip 27 extends over the whole width of screen 5, so that the latter is cleaned by the brush strip over the whole width as the screen moves up and down.
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A roll-type screen assembly is provided with lateral guide rails adjacent the sides of an opening with a window or door. The guide rails guide the lateral edges of the screen and contain an inflatable tube along the length thereof. A small hand pump with a release valve is employed to releasably lock the edges of the screen.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to smartphones and more particularly to a method and system for providing a lens assembly on a smartphone.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Smart phones are rapidly approaching a dominant posture in the cell phone marketplace worldwide. According to the Gardner Group for example, there will be 75 million iPhones and 425 million competing smartphones sold in 2012. One of the prime attributes of the smartphone is its built in camera that is somewhat compromised in contrast to its hand-held camera cousins owing to the limits volumetrically imposed by the cell phone's portable and wearable dimensions. Accordingly, what is desired is a method and system to overcome these issues. The present invention addresses such a need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A lens assembly for a smartphone and a method of use is disclosed. In a first aspect, a lens assembly comprises a rotatable wheel; wherein the wheel includes at least two lenses. The lens assembly includes a skin portion coupled to the rotatable wheel, wherein the skin portion is adjustable to cover a smartphone. The at least two lenses of the wheel are positioned such that when one of the lens of the assembly is properly positioned it covers the lens of a camera on the smartphone.
In a second aspect the method comprises providing a lens assembly over a camera lens of a smartphone chassis. The lens assembly includes a plurality of lenses that are rotatable. The method includes ensuring that the center of the smartphone lens is congruent with the center of the selected lens of the plurality of lens by referencing at least two surfaces of the smartphone chassis.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principle of the invention. One skilled in the art will recognize that the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1A-1E illustrates a lens/skin assembly.
FIG. 2 illustrates a light ray distortion.
FIG. 3 illustrates an image correction mechanism for the lenses of the assembly.
FIG. 4A-4E illustrate a portion of the assembly engaging the skin via the carousel wheel.
FIG. 5 shows a smartphone with location information relative to various features including the forward facing camera and a companion flash unit.
FIG. 6 illustrates a new lens position, which is selected by the users thumb applying a force on the carousel wheel.
FIG. 7 involves a minute displacement of the lens carousel in order to reduce contact with the annular receptor surface formed on the case.
FIG. 8 illustrates a depiction of the spring at the tip of arrow C.
FIG. 9 illustrates the backside of the iPhone 4 and the camera/Flash deployment.
FIG. 10 illustrates the lens carousel (wheel cover) with slots for lenses and the “Flash Guide” light-pipes.
FIG. 11 illustrates the bottom surface of the carousel's wheelbase in contact with the smartphone.
FIG. 12 illustrates the lens carousel assembly and case.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention relates generally to smartphones and more particularly to a method and system for providing a lens assembly on a smartphone. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
A lens assembly and method of use in accordance with the present invention has a plurality of features. They will be described in detail hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The overall goal of this present invention is to provide lens versatilities in a smartphone and to provide a non-invasive solution involving a plurality of lenses resolving close-up (macro), wide-angle and telephoto range limitations of the smartphone. The avoidance of diminishing portability (wear-ability) of the smartphone is important. Therefore, bulky lenses, awkward mounting and spatially challenged lens selection mechanisms are not to be utilized.
To address these issues the present invention provides the following features.
1. Lens system comprised of single or multiple polymer or glass molded lens(es) with appropriate geometry to allow movable lens placement congruent with camera lens aperture on smartphone.
2. Hole in lens carousel with dual diameters, a geometric assembly to allow “native” or smartphone lens without the aid of external optics on lens configuration.
3. Lens configuration with annular form to allow rotary selection of lens.
4. Alternative rectangular lens configuration of a slider geometry to allow lens selection by linear translation of lens.
5. Identifier marking on lens wheel with ring encoding, stamping or insitu molding.
6. Lens system with full or bifurcated companion case for mounting on smartphone.
7. Lens case assembly with aperture(s) to accommodate interface connections, speaker, microphone, and smart phone control switches.
8. A stiction release method to enable a smooth release of the carousel.
9. A solution for each lens position to enable the smart phone flash function.
10. A means for preventing flash generated light scatter from interfering with the smart phone camera.
11. A means for interchangeable lens carousels. There is also a mention of lens coating to prevent glare.
13. A small aperture in the lens Carousel with its azimuth congruent to the “Native” smartphone lens azimuth, its purpose to isolate an object of interest from the camera's field of view with a surrounding dark field providing a cameo effect.
To describe these features in more detail refer now to the following discussion in conjunction with the accompanying Figures. Findings show the integration of lenses on a smartphone non-lens geometric features in a common mold introducing flow stress and annealing stresses, present complex material problems that are difficult to consider for production solutions. These observations have led to a determination that lenses geometries are best behaved when molded as discrete elements in a mold cavity. A further issue for this determination is economic considerations of providing multiple lenses in the smartphone. Therefore, a technique in accordance with an embodiment is applied in a single-lens or multiple of lenses in a lens set, per lens location geometry that integrates the telephoto/wide-angle two-component lenses into a single monolithic lens structure. A single mold cycle with single or multiples of lenses per lens set gives a substantial economic advantage. Further consideration of the lens integration have recognized a multi-cavity of lenses of different design having similar volumes of plastic per lens can enable a single mold, in the molders profession's term-of-art this configuration is known as a “family mold”.
FIG. 1A-1E illustrates a lens assembly 100 placed on a skin 10 over a smartphone 14 in accordance with an embodiment. The assembly 100 is connected to a skin 10 . The skin 10 is placed over the smartphone 14 such that the lens on the smartphone 14 is covered by the assembly 100 . The assembly 100 includes a first and second lens 102 and 104 , each of which can be rotatably moved over the lens on the smartphone 14 . To ensure portability the lens thickness should typically be from 5-10 mm. As shown in FIG. 2 , a telephoto lens 202 and a wide angle photo lens 204 can be utilized as the two lenses. Where the lenses 202 and 204 optical paths are insufficient to resolve the correct image due to the thickness constraints, such resolution images may take the form of corrected barrel distortion. Note the grid pattern showing to the right of the wide angle lens 204 . The curvilinear shape grid (called “barrel distortion”) represents a three-color light ray pilot of the lens performance at the smartphone's camera's detector grid array. Software can be utilized to re-assign values from a map of the barrel grid to a rectilinear grid to correct the distorted image. In a similar manner other lens compensations may be corrected by grid element assignments from a distortion map, i.e., that of the telephoto lens of FIG. 2 .
Implementations described to correct lens resolutions through redistribution of chromic aberration and distortion can be provided. Grid element redistributions to a rectilinear grid format that may be accomplished through software or silicon based algorithms. The implementations can also be accomplished by locating a streaming media alterations corrections with the firmware intelligence to reorganize distortion grids to rectilinear grids in a live data stream in the smartphone, similar in function as the software approach. FIG. 3 illustrates an in data stream image correction mechanism for the lenses of the assembly 100 . As is seen in FIG. 3 , a camera 302 or image array can be provided as a video stream. Then a firmware chip 308 provides for image stream correction 312 which allows the video to be corrected. Then, the distortion grid map is dynamically assigned to a rectilinear grid format.
In another embodiment the lens correction software algorithms can be downloaded in the smartphone via developer applications by the phone provider or downloaded into the smartphone system to specifically apply corrections for each particular lens selected.
In a further embodiment, smartphone camera software application can be provided with selectable “smart tabs” (icons) to coordinate camera photo with selected lens. A smartphone software application will duplicate the smartphone's camera function complete with icon and camera's touch screen or physical switch photo-snap embellished with the added features of icon bars that associate a particular lens selection with the appropriate distortion grid array correction as shown in FIG. 2 . The application will allow lens selection and photo operation with the appropriate lens selected and corrected.
Method of Lens Selection
FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate a portion of the assembly engaging the skin via carousel wheel 404 . As is seen the carousel wheel 404 is interchangeable with other carousels. In addition, as is seen in FIG. 4B the lenses are recessed into the carousel wheel to protect the lens for abrasion and contact impingement. In this embodiment carousel wheel can be interchanged to offer the user flexibility of multiple lens functions. For example a carousel wheel 404 could include a fisheye lens, telescoping lens, coated lens, lens of different colors or filters. A critical feature is the selection of the appropriate lens. In an embodiment, a new lens position is selected by applying a force on the carousel wheel 502 typically via the thumb of a user. Referring to FIG. 4A the aperture 403 has a differential diameter D1/D2 where the radius of D1 is less than the radius of D2. This allows a release of the wheel 404 for rotation by moving it from D1 to D2, slots 504 on the carousel wheel 404 registers a lens stop 610 position, and may be accompanied with an audible (clicking) ratchet action, informing the user when a lens is in the desired position. Accordingly, as is seen the carousel wheel hole with a semi-annular slider surface and case edge margin cooperate to fix the carousel wheel position. A spring 408 seeking the lens stop slot 610 latches the wheel 404 at each lens position whose geometric location directly aligns the azimuth center of the smart phone's camera lens to the azimuth center of the carousel wheel 404 lens, within the appropriate camera lens to carousel azimuth positioning tolerances.
Method of Lens Location
FIG. 5 shows a smartphone 500 with location information relative to various features including the forward facing camera 502 and a companion flash unit 504 . The tooled case design utilizes the lens/flash feature coordinates as referenced to the smartphone chassis surfaces closest to the camera to insure maximum location accuracy to the auxiliary lens azimuth. For purposes of fabricating the case enclosure to the highest accuracy, attention to the mold design will focus on the “plastic compensation” design rules to optimize feature dimensions.
Note that uncertainty exists relative to the final size of the molded case enclosure thus demanding an over-sizing of critical case design features for “fine tuning” determined by observing first-article critical feature dimensions then determine final mold critical dimensions. This compensation consideration demands that the deliberate skewed for tuning dimensions, exacerbate the over-sizing compensations, to the case enclosure sides contacting the smart phone chassis opposite those chassis edges used as critical dimension reference edges 500 and 505 of FIG. 5 , see compensation edges located at the case bottom.
Referring back to FIGS. 4A-4E , the alignment is achieved through cooperation between a set-positioning receptor slot 410 on the carousel and the mounted-in-case companion deflection spring 408 . FIG. 6 illustrates a knurl and the lens stop slot on the carousel wheel 404 . When the user chooses to rotate the carousel's lens setting by gripping the knurl on the carousel when moving to a different lens, the previously described slight thumb force is applied on the carousel wheel 604 , creating a counter diametric force to the ratchet spring displacing the carousel wheel 404 from D1 to D2 freeing the carousel wheel for rotation. The formed spring appendage, for example a plastic or a metallic springs, is generally located on the inside of the annular formation with an annular shaped nib that engages lens stop 610 . Displacement of the carousel wheel against the spring displaces the carousel to D2, thereby breaking stiction and friction between the carousel wheel 404 and its annular well containment near the thumb wheel slot, allowing a free relocation of the lens positions, as shown in FIGS. 4A-4E .
The users thumb will apply a force towards the wheel releasing the wheel for rotation, Slots on the wheel allow a (click) ratchet action telling the user when the wheel is in position and latching the wheel at each lens position directly over the smart phones camera lens to the camera lens. The alignment is cooperation between the positioning slot on the carousel and the deflection spring that enables the carousel stiction release.
FIG. 7 involves a minute displacement of the lens carousel in order to reduce contact with the annular receptor surface formed on the case. When one chooses to displace the lens setting to a different lens, a slight thumb force is applied on the case at the tip of the arrow 702 , creates a counter diametric force causing displacement of the carousel towards a plastic appendage affixed somewhat diametrically opposed to the accessible slot in the carousel well, that performs the function of a spring-deflection. The formed plastic spring appendage is generally located on the inside of the annular formation on the case at the arrow tip 704 breaking stiction between the carousel and its annular well containment near the thumb wheel slot, allowing free displacement of the lens positions. See depiction of the spring at the tip of arrow 802 in FIG. 8 .
Method of Enabling Flash
Apple introduced its iPhone 4 in June of 2010, with a camera/flash nuance posing a challenge for the accessory carousel lens. The design solution to the lens/flash combination required a means for allowing each lens selection to allow the camera flash solution. FIG. 9 shows the backside of the iPhone 4 700 and the camera/flash deployment. The camera and flash unit 702 are located in the upper-left hand corner. The close proximity of the flash unit 702 to the camera requires careful innovation to enable each setting of the lens to enable the flash function without providing a leakage path between the flash unit 702 and the lens 704 .
FIG. 10 illustrates a lens carousel 800 which includes wheel cover 801 and a base 803 . The wheel base 803 includes slots 802 A- 802 D for holding light pipes 804 . The wheel cover 801 includes a wide view lens 806 A, a tele-photo lens 806 B. The material is either polycarbonate or COC plastic or other suitable optic grade plastics. In this case, however, certain materials such as acrylic and other plastics could be suitable. Alignment slots are formed in both the wheel cover 801 and the wheelbase 803 to accept the light pipes 804 . The flash guide solution represents an efficient conduit for the light providing low loss transmission of the camera's flash to the top surface of the lens carousel 800 . The wheel cover 801 and wheelbase 803 are black bodies eliminating light scatter into the camera lens.
Method of Preventing Flash Light Scatter Impingement to Camera.
FIG. 11 shows the bottom surface of the carousel's wheelbase 803 in contact with the smartphone. The bottom side of the carousel's wheelbase 803 features a disruptive surface design texture 1106 in the form similar to a metal file's surface, i.e., saw tooth like ridges, designed to inhibit light scatter from the smart phone's flash aperture/flash-guide interface from leaking into the camera 700 . The pattern features have angular surfaces facing light sources that inhibit light reflections 1104 (typically zig-zag trajectories) off the smart phone's body from reaching the camera lens.
Method of Interchangeable Carousel
FIG. 12 shows a lens carousel assembly 800 and case 900 . The carousel assembly 800 is designed to be replaceable and/or interchangeable with replacement lenses or alternative lenses with other feature applications such as gain variations, distortions, filters, coated lenses and/or special effects. The case top 1202 , and the case bottom 1204 form the top and bottom portions of the lens carousel. The carousel 803 “snaps” in and out of the case 900 aperture.
Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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A lens assembly for a smartphone and a method of use is disclosed. In a first aspect, a lens assembly comprises a rotatable wheel; wherein the wheel includes at least two lenses. The lens assembly includes a skin portion coupled to the rotatable wheel, wherein the skin portion is adjustable to cover a smartphone. The at least two lenses of the wheel are positioned such that when one of the lens of the assembly is properly positioned it covers the lens of a camera on the smartphone. In a second aspect the method comprises providing a lens assembly over a camera lens of a smartphone chassis. The lens assembly includes a plurality of lenses that are rotatable. The method includes ensuring that the center of the smartphone lens is congruent with the center of the selected lens of the plurality of lens by referencing at least two surfaces of the smartphone chassis.
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The present application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application number 61/379,579 filed on Sep. 2, 2010.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to installation of foam roof insulation sheets and, particularly to a method of installation for these insulation sheets using reinforced membrane covering in lieu of glue or screws.
[0002] Insulation for commercial roofs is generally in sheets about ½″ to 3″ thick or more. As usual, thicker insulation installed in a roof or wall of a building improves energy efficiency. The foam sheets of insulation used in a common commercial building roof are installed by laying the sheets on top of a roof deck, which may be comprised of concrete, steel or wood. In recent history the roofing industry has transitioned from using asphalt on flat roofs to using TPO membranes for commercial buildings. Thermoplastic Olefin or Polyolefin (TPO) membranes are single-ply roof membranes constructed from ethylene propylene rubber. They are designed to combine the durability of rubber with the proven weather-proofing and durable performance of seams that are welded using hot air. These membranes are often installed over the insulation sheets of commercial roofs.
[0003] In previous construction techniques, the insulation sheets installed in commercial roof decks are usually secured to the roof deck first to avoid shifting when wind blows under the overlying membrane roof covering material. Wind uplift is a major problem in roofing with respect to both the roof covering and the underlying insulation. The insulation is installed before applying the membrane roofing to the roof. The insulation generally comprises sheets that are 4′×8′ in size. The insulation sheets are installed by laying them side by side on the roof deck with the lap joints staggered. The joints of the insulation sheets are usually attached with screws and plates to the roof deck. Alternatively, it is common to glue the insulation sheets to a roof deck, or use hot asphalt where glue is unacceptable because of environmental hazards.
[0004] Existing means for securing insulation discussed above are both expensive and inefficient. For example, in the most common method of attaching insulation sheeting with screws and plates, the plates must be manually set and multiple screws must be installed in a multitude of plates. These screws and plates are difficult to remove in the case the roof needs the roof needs to be replaced. Hot asphalt is expensive, installation is energy-intensive, and it can be difficult to deliver to roof decks. Further, hot asphalt is not approved for installation of insulation directly to steel decks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It would be advantageous to attached insulation sheets without the need to use expensive screws, glue or hot asphalt. A method is also needed to fasten insulation to a roof deck using the membrane structure that will be installed over the insulation sheets. Another method is needed to attach insulation separately to a roof deck without the need for screws, glue or asphalt.
[0006] The present invention provides for holding a roof system down from the top without the use of screws, or at least very few compared to traditional methods for installing roof installation sheets. In this regard, additional methods for attaching cables to retain roofing membranes together with insulation sheets are provided by the invention. The system provides for installation of insulation sheets from above using a cable fastening system, as opposed to attachment of the insulation sheets with screws attached below the sheets.
[0007] In particular, cables are laid selectively over the insulation sheets or roofing membrane. The cable or reinforced elongate member comprising the cable may be fastened to the membrane covering the insulation or fasted directly to the insulation sheets. In addition the roofing membrane may be attached to the insulation sheets by an adhering means such as hook and loop fastener, snap-locking members, or adhesive substance. Once the membrane is stuck onto the insulation sheets, wind cannot get under the roofing materials and blow the insulation around once the membrane or insulation sheets are secured using a cable system. Attaching the membrane to the insulation sheets will be advantageous to prevent shifting of the insulation when the cable system secures the membrane.
[0008] An object of the present invention is to improve efficiency of installation for foam insulation sheets.
[0009] Another object of the invention reduces the need for attaching foam insulation sheets form to a structure below the sheets with screens, adhesive or hot asphalt.
[0010] Still another object improves efficiency for removal of foam insulation sheets.
[0011] Still another object improves efficiency of installation of roof systems through combination of installing foam insulation sheets with the step of installing thermoplastic membrane material.
[0012] Yet another object provides an improved method for securing foam insulation sheets to a roof substrate in a manner that exceeds requirements for wind and weatherproofing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an insulation sheet modified with adherent hook and loop material in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 a is a perspective view of a membrane material modified with an adherent hook and loop material in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 2 b is a perspective view of a membrane material modified with an adherent hook and loop material in an alternative embodiment of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an insulation sheet modified with adherent material in an alternative embodiment of the invention.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a method for installation of roof insulation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an alternative method for installing roof insulation according to the invention.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an alternative method for installing roof insulation according to the invention.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a side plan view illustrating installation of roof insulation according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] A new method of attaching insulation sheets 2 to membrane material 4 for securing the system with cable 6 is provided in the several embodiments depicted herein. Beginning now with FIG. 1 , the preferred embodiments of the method include putting an adherent material 8 , such as a hook and look fastener or heat activated glue on the top side of insulation sheets 2 like that shown in FIG. 1 for engaging and attaching to the membrane material 4 that is laid over the insulation sheets 2 .
[0022] For example, a hook and loop fastening material may be applied to the top side of the insulation sheets 2 in sections as shown in FIG. 1 or as a unitary layer of material as shown in FIG. 3 , and, then, sectional strips 10 of hook and loop attaching material may be manufactured into the rolls of membrane material 4 or as a unitary solid backing. Whereby, when the membrane material 4 is rolled out over the insulation sheets 2 , as depicted in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b , and the membrane material will attach itself to the insulation sheets 2 . The provision of adherent material on surfaces of both the membrane material and the insulation sheets is a first step toward providing a secure installation of the insulation sheets without the need for attaching the bottom side of the insulation sheets to a roof substrate with screws, adhesive or asphalt.
[0023] After the membrane material is attached to the insulation by contact of the adherent top surface of the insulation surface with adherent bottom surface of the membrane material, cable is used in a further step of the process to securing the membrane and insulation sheets. Elongate cable 6 may comprise any elongate cord or material of sufficient strength for stretching across membrane material 4 on a roof deck and securing the cable to the roof deck with sufficient force to retain the membrane material and resist wind and other weather or elements. In particular, the cable 6 may comprise an elongate member of membrane material, which may be reinforced by layering, fiber, or integrated cord or cable. It is further recognized that adherent material may only be required on either the top surface of the insulation sheet or bottom surface of the membrane material should heat activated glue or other adherent be used that only requires one surface contain adherent material. Whereas, when the preferred hook and loop fastener is used, it will be desirable for both the insulation sheet surface and membrane material surface to be treated with adhering material of the hook and loop nature.
[0024] Once the membrane is secured with cable 6 , the insulation sheets 2 would be unable to shift when exposed to windy conditions. Thus in one embodiment, the hook and loop fastening material is applied to the top side of the insulation sheets 2 in strips 12 , and the membrane material 4 is manufactured with a solid hook and loop backing 14 as shown in FIG. 2 a that attaches to these strips. In yet another embodiment, both the adherent material 8 applied to the top side of the insulation sheets 2 and the adherent material applied to the membrane backing are arranged in strips 10 , 12 that are aligned for attachment of each to the other.
[0025] Alternatively, these strips 10 , 12 may be crisscrossed for easier alignment, and, whereby the strips save material as compared with manufacturing a solid surface or backing of adherent material. A suitable material that will adhere the insulation sheets 2 to the membrane material 4 may be substituted for hook and loop fastener, such as snap-lock material, adhesive with pull off covering, or adhesive activated at the time of installation for securing the membrane material to the insulation sheets 2 .
[0026] The membrane material is secured using several sections of elongate cable 6 crossing the membrane 4 and also the underlying foam insulation sheets 2 . As the foam insulation sheets 2 are secured by the membrane material 4 layered thereon or the insulation sheets are secured from above by cross-bars 16 , 18 or tracks 22 as discussed below, the several sections of cable 6 that cross the insulation sheets will secure both the insulation sheets and the membrane material. In particular, once the membrane material is secured to the roof deck by any means, the insulations sheets when attached to the membrane material will in turn be secured and tolerant to wind and other weather conditions. In one preferred embodiment, the membrane material over the insulation sheets is attached by cable 6 , which will be fastened at or near to a perimeter edge of the building and then run in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the perimeter edge to which it is fastened. Several of these cables 6 will be a regular distance apart to secure the membrane, while crossing several insulation sheets as well.
[0027] In another embodiment depicted in FIG. 4 , the insulation sheets 2 are held in place on the roof deck by plates or cross-bars 16 , 18 that fit over top of each or several insulation sheets 2 and hold each insulation sheet in place by grabbing onto a cross-bar on the bottom of the sheet. A pair of cross-bar plates may be arranged to overlap on the top and bottom with the top cross-bar 16 grabbing the bottom cross-bar 18 to secure them together. The cross-bars fit between the insulation sheets 2 . One or more of the cross-bars may include adhesive for holding the insulation sheets 2 . The top cross-bar may include eyelets 20 , buckles, bracket or attachment means for the cable 6 or straps to engage or pass through to hold the top plate and thereby secure the plates and insulation sheets 2 in place. The system may be integrated with fitted pieces to provide a synergistic method for installation of insulation sheets 2 .
[0028] In another embodiment shown in FIG. 5 , H-shaped tracks 22 are provided within the roof deck for insertion of the insulation sheets 2 . The H-tracks hold the insulation sheets 2 in their general position so that the sheets can be secured by a cable 6 or strap system from above. Cables or straps 24 are run across the top of the tracks to secure the insulation sheets 2 . In a related embodiment of FIG. 6 , H-joints 26 are provided to secure the insulation sheets 2 , and the insulation sheets are attached to the joints, such as by screws 28 . The joints are attached to the bottom the membrane sheets to secure the position of the insulation sheets 2 within the roof deck. The membrane is then attached by cables, which secures the underlying joints and insulation sheets 2 .
[0029] In another embodiment cable 6 may be used to as an attachment point or used to secure membrane. Straps 24 cross the insulation sheets 2 to secure them in place and attach to a secure member 30 or to the cables 6 . Said cables may comprise reinforced members that act as cable structure, such as reinforced membrane sections. The straps 24 may wrap-around the cables and adhere to themselves. A system of straps provides a low profile structure for holding the insulation sheets 2 that will not cause water build-up on the roof.
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A method for installing roof insulation includes adhering the insulation to a covering membrane material or retaining the insulation by an overlapping cross-bar, track or joint. Elongate cables stretch across the insulation and membrane material to secure the insulation and membrane material to roof deck.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of pending international application PCT/EP2005/011364, filed Oct. 22, 2005, designating US, which claims priority from German patent application DE 10 2004 053 409.8, filed Nov. 5, 2004. The contents of the above-referenced applications are incorporated herein by this reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to methods for the targeted preparation of lysobactin derivatives by combined chemical and enzymatic modifications. In particular, the invention relates to a method for preparing lysobactin fragment 4-11 by chemical reduction and cleavage of the resultant product by chymotrypsin.
[0003] Lysobactin is a cyclic depsipeptide which originates from a screening program for finding novel antibiotics acting in the biosynthesis of bacterial cell walls (O'Sullivan J. et al., J. Antibiot . (1988) 41(12):1740-1744 and Bonner, D. P. et al., J. Antibiot . (1988) 41(12):1745-1751; Tymiak, A. A. et al., J. Org. Chem . (1989) 54:1149-1157). It shows strong activity against Gram-positive aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. An unusual feature is the high number of non-proteinogenic amino acids in the molecule. In addition to the three β-hydroxyamino acids (2S,3R)-β-hydroxyleucine, (2S,3R)-β-hydroxyphenylalanine and (2S,3 S)-β-hydroxyasparagine, the D-amino acids D-leucine and D-arginine as well as allo-threonine also occur. This complexity and the size of the natural product lysobactin are a great hurdle for targeted chemical modifications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide novel and alternative synthesis methods for the targeted synthesis of lysobactin fragments in order to make the preparation of novel antibiotics using lysobactin fragments possible.
[0005] A solution is offered by targeted enzymatic cleavage, targeted enzymatic production and subsequent linkage of lysobactin fragments in combination with chemical modification steps, for example hydrogenation.
[0006] Enzymatic digestion experiments of lysobactin and the open-chain form obtained by hydrolysis (“open-chain lysobactin”; compound of formula (I)) with enzymes such as pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin and mucosal peptidase showed no (such as in the case of pepsin, for example) or only inadequate enzymatic digestion (R. A. Blackburn et al., Drug Metab. Dispos . (1993) 21(4):573-579). Very slow inefficient enzymatic cleavage of lysobactin occurs only after the opening of the ring by hydrolysis in the buffer used. This leads as an unwanted side reaction to side-chain deamidation at the (2S,3S)-β-hydroxyasparagine. That is the β-hydroxyasparagine unit is converted into a β-hydroxyaspartate unit.
[0007] Surprisingly it has been found that the lysobactin fragment 4-11 can be produced highly efficiently and quantitatively by enzymatic cleavage with chymotrypsin from dihydrolysobactin (compound of formula (II)) and octahydrolysobactin (compound of formula (III)) as well as from a mixture of both components. The cleavage takes place so rapidly that the fragments 1-3 and 4-11 are formed virtually after the combination of the reaction partners (substrate and enzyme). Unwanted side reactions in the amino acid side chains do not take place.
[0008] Dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin are obtained by hydrogenolytic opening of lysobactin with hydrogen, whereby the (2S,3R)-β-hydroxyphenylalanine unit is converted into a phenylalanine or 3-cyclohexylalanine unit. The resulting lysobactin fragments dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin are then used for the enzymatic digestion.
[0009] Surprisingly, dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin are also good substrates for other enzymes, so that other fragments can also be produced in high yield by selection of the enzyme.
[0010] The invention relates to a method for preparing dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin, in which lysobactin is converted to dihydrolysobactin and/or ocatahydrolysobactin by hydrogenolytic ring opening with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst in a solvent.
[0011] Hydrogenation catalysts are, for example, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, iridium and platinum catalysts, or Raney nickel. These catalysts can be used as salts (for example platinum dioxide, rhodium(III) chloride) or as supported catalysts (for example palladium on carbon (5-30%) or rhodium on carbon (5%)). Suitable support materials for supported catalysts are, for example, activated carbon, kieselguhr, silica gel, bentonites, kaolin, pumice, aluminosilicates or aluminum oxide. A preferred support material is activated carbon.
[0012] Bimetallic catalysts or else multicomponent catalysts can also be used.
[0013] Preference is given to palladium catalysts, for example palladium on carbon (5-30%), particular preference is given to palladium on carbon (10%).
[0014] The hydrogenolytic ring opening generally takes place in a solvent, preferably in a temperature range from room temperature to 150° C., preferably in a temperature range from room temperature to 80° C., in an atmospheric pressure range from atmospheric pressure to 200 bar, preferably in a pressure range from 3 to 80 bar.
[0015] Solvents are, for example, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol, or mixtures of alcohols with water, or acetic acid or aqueous solutions of acetic acid, or THF-water mixtures, or dioxane-water mixtures, or else ternary mixtures of the abovementioned solvents, for example isopropanol-water-acetic acid. Preference is given to an isopropanol-water mixture.
[0016] The invention further relates to a method for preparing lysobactin fragment 4-11 and lysobactin fragment 1-3, in which dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin are enzymatically cleaved to give lysobactin fragment 4-11 and lysobactin fragment 1-3.
[0017] Preference is given to an enzymatic cleavage of dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin, whereby a eukaryotic serine protease or a microbial serine protease is used as enzyme.
[0018] Eukaryotic serine proteases are, for example, chymotrypsin, cathepsin G, chymase or other enzymes of the chymotrypsin family, or other eukaryotic serine proteases which cleave after aromatic amino acids, preference is given to chymotrypsin.
[0019] Microbial serine proteases are, for example, subtilisin, proteinase K, Streptomyces protease A or other enzymes which cleave after aromatic amino acids, preference is given to subtilisin.
[0020] The invention further relates to a method for the enzymatic cleavage of dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin to give smaller lysobactin fragments.
[0021] The invention accordingly further relates to a method for preparing lysobactin fragment 3-11 and/or lysobactin fragment 5-11 and/or lysobactin fragment 4-10 and/or lysobactin fragment 1-9, characterized in that dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin are enzymatically cleaved to give lysobactin fragment 3-11 and/or lysobactin fragment 5-11 and/or lysobactin fragment 4-10 and/or lysobactin fragment 1-9.
[0022] Preference is given to an enzymatic cleavage of dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin, whereby a metalloprotease or a cysteine protease is used as enzyme.
[0023] Metalloproteases are, for example, thermolysin or mycolysin.
[0024] Cysteine proteases are, for example, papain, bromelain or ficin.
[0025] The enzymatic cleavage generally takes place in an aqueous cleavage buffer with addition of a C 1 -C 4 alcohol or acetonitrile, preferably in a temperature range from 10° C. to 40° C., preferably in a pH range from 6 to 9 under atmospheric pressure.
[0026] An aqueous cleavage buffer contains, for example, ammonium hydrogencarbonate and urea, or sodium phosphate, cysteine and EDTA, or sodium tetraborate, or other additives with which a buffering range of pH 6 to 9 is covered, preference is given to ammonium hydrogencarbonate and urea.
[0027] The C 1 -C 4 alcohol is, for example, methanol, ethanol or isopropanol, preference is given to methanol.
[0028] Particularly preferably, the enzymatic cleavage takes place in a temperature range from 30° C. to 37° C.
[0029] The alcohol concentration in the reaction medium is 0% to 40%, preferably 10% to 15%.
[0030] The ratio of enzyme to substrate (dihydrolysobactin and/or octahydrolysobactin) is 1:1 to 1:4000, preferably 1:25 to 1:100.
[0031] The invention further relates to the use of lysobactin fragment 4-11 for the synthesis of lysobactin derivatives.
[0032] These lysobactin derivatives are derivatives in which one or more amino acids in the ring system of lysobactin are replaced.
[0033] The invention further relates to a method for preparing open-chain lysobactin derivatives, in which lysobactin fragment 4-11 is reacted with a tripeptide having a C-terminal aromatic or hydrophobic amino acid in a buffer medium with addition of a C 1-4 -alcohol, whereby the tripeptide is present in the form of the free acid or an ester and whereby the concentration of the C 1-4 -alcohol in the reaction medium is greater than 40%.
[0034] The C 1 -C 4 alcohol is, for example, methanol, ethanol or isopropanol, preference is given to methanol.
[0035] Preference is given to a method for the enzymatic synthesis of open-chain lysobactin derivatives from lysobactin fragment 4-11 and the tripeptide H-D-X-Y-Phe-OR or H-D-X-Y-(3-cyclohexyl)Ala-OR in a buffer medium with addition of methanol, whereby the methanol concentration in the reaction medium is greater than 40%,
[0036] R represents hydrogen or C1-C4-alkyl, preferably ethyl or methyl, particularly preferably methyl,
[0037] D-X represents a natural or synthetic (-amino acid in the D configuration and
[0038] Y represents a natural or synthetic (-amino acid in the L configuration.
[0039] Particular preference is given to a method for the enzymatic synthesis of open-chain lysobactin derivatives from lysobactin fragment 4-11 and the tripeptide H-D-Leu-Leu-Phe-OMethyl, H-D-Leu-Leu-Phe-OH, H-D-Leu-Leu-(3-cyclohexyl)Ala-OMethyl or H-D-Leu-Leu-(3-cyclohexyl)Ala-OH, whereby chymotrypsin is used as enzyme in a buffer medium with addition of methanol, whereby the methanol concentration in the reaction medium is greater than 40%.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Description of the Figures
[0040] FIG. 1 : Time course of a preparative enzymatic cleavage with chymotrypsin (Example 11). Superimposition of HPLC diagrams of a preparative enzymatic cleavage with chymotrypsin of a mixture of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin. The separation conditions are as reported in the description under Example 30 (UV detection 210 nm).
[0041] FIG. 2 : Time course of an enzymatic cleavage of octahydrolysobactin with chymotrypsin (Example 5). Superimposition of CZE diagrams of an enzymatic cleavage with chymotrypsin of octahydrolysobactin. The separation conditions are as reported in the description under Example 31 (UV detection 210 nm).
DEFINITIONS
[0042] Dihydrolysobactin: D-Leu-Leu-Phe-Leu(OH)-Leu-D-Arg-Ile-allo-Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
[0043] Octahydrolysobactin: D-Leu-Leu-Ala(3-cyclohexyl)-Leu(OH)-Leu-D-Arg-Ile-allo-Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
[0044] Lysobactin fragment 4-11: Leu(OH)-Leu-D-Arg-Ile-allo-Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
[0045] Lysobactin fragment 1-3: D-Leu-Leu-Phe or D-Leu-Leu-Ala(3-cyclohexyl)
[0046] The methods used in the course of the chemical and enzymatic reactions and analytical characterizations are listed hereinafter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Examples
Abbreviations
[0047] aq. aqueous
[0048] atm Atmosphere (pressure unit)
[0049] conc. concentrated
[0050] CZE Capillary zone electrophoresis
[0051] DCI Direct chemical ionization (in MS)
[0052] DCM Dichloromethane
[0053] DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide
[0054] EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
[0055] EI Electron impact ionization (in MS)
[0056] ESI Electrospray ionization (in MS)
[0057] h hour(s)
[0058] HPLC High pressure, high performance liquid chromatography
[0059] HR High resolution
[0060] LC-MS Liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectroscopy
[0061] LL(3-Cyclohexyl)A D-Leu-Leu-(3-Cyclohexyl)Ala
[0062] LLF D-Leu-Leu-Phe
[0063] min Minute/minutes
[0064] MS Mass spectroscopy
[0065] neg. negative
[0066] NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
[0067] Pd Palladium
[0068] Pd—C Palladium on carbon
[0069] pos. positive
[0070] PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene
[0071] quant. quantitative
[0072] RP-HPLC Reversed-phase HPLC
[0073] RT Room temperature
[0074] Rt Retention time (in HPLC)
[0075] TFA Trifluoroacetic acid
[0076] TOF Time of flight
[0077] UV Ultraviolet
[0078] Vis visible
REFERENCES
[0079] For the nomenclature of peptides and cyclodepsipeptides c.f.:
1. A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds (Recommendations 1993), 1993, Blackwell Scientific publications. 2. Nomenclature and symbolism for amino acids and peptides. Recommendations 1983. IUPAC-IUB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature, UK. Biochemical Journal (1984), 219:345-373, as well as cited literature.
[0082] General Methods, LC-MS, DR-MS and HPLC
[0083] Method 1 (LC-MS): instrument type MS: Micromass ZQ; instrument type HPLC: HP 1100 series; UV DAD; column: Phenomenex Synergi 2μ Hydro-RP Mercury 20 mm×4 mm; eluent A: 1 l of water+0.5 ml of 50% formic acid, eluent B: 1 l of acetonitrile+0.5 ml of 50% formic acid; gradient: 0.0 min 90% A→2.5 min 30% A→3.0 min 5% A→4.5 min 5% A; flow: 0.0 min 1 ml/min, 2.5 min/3.0 min/4.5 min 2 ml/min; oven: 50° C.; UV detection: 210 nm.
[0084] Method 2 (preparative HPLC; symmetry; trifluoroacetic acid): instrument: Gilson Abimed HPLC; UV detector 210 nm; binary pump system; column: SymmetryPrep™C 18 , Waters, 7 μm; 300×19 mm; eluent A: 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid in water, eluent B: 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid in acetonitrile; gradient: 0-5 min 5% B at flow rate 20 ml/min, 5-30 min gradient ramp from 5 to 60% B with the following increases in flow rate: 22 ml/min from 6 min, 23 ml/min from 10 min, 24 ml/min from 15 min; 30-35 min gradient ramp from 60% to 98% B with flow rate reduction to 21 ml/min from 38 min; 40-45 min 10% B.
[0085] Method 3 (Method for preparative separation of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin by HPLC): column: SymmetryPrep™C 18 , Waters, 7 μm 300×19 mm; flow 25 ml/min; RT; eluent A: 0.2% TFA in water, eluent B: acetonitrile, 0-10 min gradient: 80% A, 20% B to 35% A, 65% B; 10.01-15 min: 80% A, 20% B; detection 210 nm. Fractions monitored by means of LC-MS (Method 1), freed from acetonitrile on a rotary evaporator and lyophilized.
[0086] Method 4 (analytical HPLC 1100, ZQ2, Phenomenex, Synergi, Hydro-RP): instrument type HPLC: HP 1100 Series; UV DAD; column: Phenomenex, MercuryMS, Synergi 2μ Hydro-RP 20×4 mm; eluent A: water/0.05% formic acid, eluent B: acetonitrile; gradient: 0.0-2.5 min, 90-30% A, flow 1-2 ml/min, 2.5-3.0 min, 30-5% A, flow 2.0 ml/min, 3.0-4.5 min, 5% A; oven: 50° C.; UV detection: 210 nm.
[0087] Method 5 (TOF-HR-MS): TOF-HR-MS-ESI+ spectra are recorded using a Micromass LCT instrument (capillary voltage: 3.2 kV, cone voltage: 42 V, source temperature: 120° C., desolvation temperature: 280° C.). For this a syringe pump (Harvard Apparatus) was used for the sample introduction. Leucine enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu) is used as standard.
[0088] Method 6 (HPLC): instrument type HPLC: HP 1100 Series; UV DAD column: Zorbax Eclipse XBD-C8 (Agilent), 150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm; eluent A: 5 ml of HClO 4 /l of water, eluent B: acetonitrile; gradient: 0-1 min 10% B, 1-4 min 10-90% B, 4-5 min 90% B; flow: 2.0 ml/min; oven: 30° C.; UV detection: 210 and 254 nm.
[0089] Method 7 (HPLC): column: Kromasil RP-18, 60 mm×2 mm, 3.5 μm; eluent A: 5 ml of HClO 4 /l of water, eluent B: acetonitrile; gradient: 0 min 2% B, 0.5 min 2% B, 4.5 min 90% B, 9 min 90% B; flow: 0.75 ml/min; oven: 30° C.; UV detection: 210 nm.
[0090] Method 8 (HPLC): column: Kromasil RP-18, 250 mm×4 mm, 5 μm; eluent A: 5 ml of HClO 4 /l of water, eluent B: acetonitrile; gradient: 0 min 5% B, 10 min 95% B; flow: 1 ml/min; oven: 40° C.; UV detection: 210 nm.
[0091] Method 9 (HPLC): column: Kromasil RP-18, 250 mm×4 mm, 5 μm; eluent A: 2 ml of HClO 4 /l of water, eluent B: acetonitrile; isocratic: 45% B, 55% A; flow: 1 ml/min; oven: 40° C.; UV detection: 210 nm.
[0092] Method 10 (HPLC): instrument: Agilent 1100 with DAD (G1315B), binary pump (G1312A), autosampler (G1313A), solvent degasser (G1379A) and column thermostat (G1316A); column: Agilent Eclipse XDB-C8 4.6×150×5 mm; column temperature: 40° C.; eluent A: 0.05% of 70% perchloric acid in water; eluent B: methanol; flow: 2.00 ml/min; isocratic: 0-7 min 55% B.
[0093] Method 11 (HPLC): analytical HPLC method bromelain/chymotrypsin cleavage. About 20 μg of the enzymatic cleavage products or of the starting compounds are chromatographed on a 300SB-C18 column (4.6 mm×125 mm; 3.5 μm material; 300 Angström pore diameter). As eluent, an acetonitrile/TFA gradient is used. Eluent A: 0.1% TFA in water, eluent B: 0.1% TFA in 60% acetonitrile/40% water; gradient: 0 min 0% B, 2 min 10% B, 50 min 80% B, 52 min 100% B, 55 min 0% B, 60 min 0% B; flow: 0.7 ml/min; column temperature: 40° C.; detection: 210 nm.
[0094] Proteinchemical Characterization of Dihydro-, Ocatahydrolysobactin and the Enzymatic Cleavage Products
[0095] Instruments
[0096] The sequence analyses are carried out using a protein sequencer Procise™ from Applied Biosystems. The standard sequencing program is used. The sequencer, the various sequencing programs as well as the PTH detection system are described in detail in the operating handbook User's Manual Set, Protein Sequencing System Procise™ (1994), Applied Biosystems Forster City, Calif. 94404, U.S.A.
[0097] The reagents for operating the sequencer and the HPLC column for the PTH detection are obtained from Applied Biosystems.
[0098] The HPLC analyses are carried out using an HP1100 HPLC system from Agilent. A Zorbax 300SB-C18 column (4.6 mm×150 mm; 3.5 μm material; 300 Angström pore diameter) from Agilent (D-Waldbronn) is used for the separations.
[0099] The reagents used are of HPLC quality and are obtained from Merck (D-Darmstadt).
[0100] The capillary electrophoresis model 270A-HT is from Applied Biosystems. The samples are generally injected hydrodynamically over various time periods. The capillary column used (50 μm diameter×72 cm in length) is from Applied Biosystems. Separation programs and the function of the analyzer are described extensively in the handbook of the instrument (User's manual capillary electrophoresis system model 270A HT; Applied Biosystems Forster City, Calif. 94404, U.S.A.; 1989).
[0101] The reagents used are of biochemical quality and are obtained from Merck (D-Darm-stadt) or Sigma (D-Deisenhofen).
[0102] The amino acid analyses are carried out using an LC3000 amino acid analyzer from Eppendorf/Biotronik. A slightly modified standard separation program from Eppendorf/Biotronik is used. The separation programs and the function of the analyzer are extensively described in the instrument handbook (Handbuch des Aminosäureanalysators LC 3000 [handbook of the LC 3000 amino acid analyzer], Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH Biotronik, Maintal, 1996).
[0103] The reagents used are of biochemical quality and are obtained from Merck (D-Darmstadt), Fluka (D-Neu-Ulm) or Sigma (D-Deisenhofen).
[0104] The molecular weights are determined using a ZQ-1 system from Micromass (Manchester, UK). The fragments are thereby separated by means of RP-18-HPLC chromatography (HP1100 system) and the molecular weight is determined by electron spray ionization (ESI). External calibration is carried out. The calibration and functioning of the systems are extensively described in the handbook of the instrument.
[0105] The enzymes and chemicals used are of biochemical quality and are obtained from Fluka, Calbiochem (D-Heidelberg) and Sigma.
[0106] The material for the preparative chromatography source 15RPC is obtained from Amersham Bioscience (D-Freiburg). The preparative separation is carried out using an ÄKTA™ system from Amersham Bioscience.
[0107] The chemical compounds mentioned in the invention can also be in the form of salts, solvates or solvates of the salts.
[0108] Salts preferred for purpose of the present invention are physiologically acceptable salts of the compounds which can be prepared or are useable according to the invention. However, also comprised are salts which are not themselves suitable for pharmaceutical applications, but can be used, for example, for the isolation or purification of the compounds which can be prepared or are useable according to the invention, or mixed salts.
[0109] Physiologically acceptable salts of the compounds which can be prepared or are useable according to the invention comprise acid addition salts of mineral acids, carboxylic acids and sulfonic acids, for example salts of hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, methanesulfonic acid, ethanesulfonic acid, toluenesulfonic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, naphthalenedisulfonic acid, acetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, propionic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, citric acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid and benzoic acid.
[0110] Physiologically acceptable salts of the compounds which can be prepared or are useable according to the invention also comprise salts of usual bases such as, for example, and preferably, alkali metal salts (for example sodium and potassium salts), alkaline earth metal salts (for example calcium and magnesium salts) and ammonium salts, derived from ammonia or organic amines having 1 to 16 carbon atoms, such as, for example, and preferably ethylamine, diethylamine, triethylamine, ethyldiisopropylamine, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, dicyclohexylamine, dimethylaminoethanol, procaine, dibenzylamine, N-methylmorpholine, arginine, lysine, ethylenediamine and N-methylpiperidine.
[0111] Solvates, for the purpose of the invention refer to those forms of the compounds which can be produced or are useable according to the invention which, which in solid or liquid state, form a complex by coordination with solvent molecules. Hydrates are a special form of solvates in which the coordination takes place with water.
Example 1
D-Leucyl-N-1-{(3S,6S,12S,15S,18R,21S,24S,27S,28R)-6-[(1S)-2-amino-1-hydroxy-2-oxoethyl-]18-(3-{[amino(imino)methyl]amino}propyl)-12-[(1S)-1-hydroxyethyl]-3-(hydroxymethyl)-24-[(1R)-1-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl]-21-isobutyl-15-[(1S)-1 -methylpropyl]-2,5,8,11,14,17,20,23,26-nonaoxo-28-phenyl-1-oxa-4,7,10,13,16,19,22,25-octaazacyclo-octacosan-27-yl}-L-leucinamide Bistrifluoroacetate
D-Leucyl-L-leucyl-[(3R)-3-hydroxy-L-phenylalanyl)]-[(3R)-3-hydroxy-L-leucyl]-L-leucyl-D-arginyl-L-isoleucyl-L-allothreonyl-glycyl-[(3S)-3-hydroxy-L-asparaginyl]-L-serine-C1 0.11 -O3 0.3 -lactone bistrifluoroacetate} (Lysobactin)
[0112]
[0113] Fermentation:
[0114] Culture Medium:
[0115] YM: yeast-malt agar: D-glucose (4g/l), yeast extract (4g/l), malt extract (10g/l), 1 liter of Lewatit water. Before sterilization (20 minutes at 121° C.), the pH is adjusted to 7.2.
[0116] HPM: mannitol (5.4 g/l), yeast extract (5 g/l), meat peptone (3g/l).
[0117] Working preserve: The lyophilized strain (ATCC 53042) is grown in 50 ml of YM medium.
[0118] Flask fermentation: 150 ml of YM medium or 100 ml of HPM medium in a 1 l Erlenmeyer flask are inoculated with 2 ml of the working preserve and allowed to grow on a shaker at 240 rpm for 30-48 hours at 28° C.
[0119] 30 l fermentation: 300 ml of the flask fermentation (HPM medium) are used to inoculate a sterile 30 l nutrient medium solution (1 ml of antifoam SAG 5693/1). This culture is allowed to grow for 21 hours at 28° C., 300 rpm and aeration with sterile air of 0.3 vvm. The pH is kept constant at Ph=7.2 with 1 M hydrochloric acid. In total, 880 ml of 1 M hydrochloric acid are added during the culturing period.
[0120] Main culture (200 l): 15×150 ml of YM medium in 1 l Erlenmeyer flasks are inoculated with 2 ml of the working preserve and allowed to grow on the shaker at 28° C. for 48 hours and at 240 rpm. 2250 ml of this culture are used to inoculate a sterile 200 l nutrient media solution (YM) (1 ml of antifoam SAG 5693/1) and it is allowed to grow for 18.5 hours at 28° C., 150 rpm and aeration with sterile air of 0.3 vvm.
[0121] Hourly samples (50 ml) are taken to check the course of the fermentation. 1 ml of methanol (0.5% trifluoroacetic acid) is added to 2 ml of this culture broth and the mixture is filtered through a 0.45 μm filter. 30 μl of this suspension are analyzed means of by HPLC (Method 6 and Method 7).
[0122] After 18.5 hours, the culture broth of the main culture is separated into supernatant and sediment at 17 000 rpm.
[0123] Isolation:
[0124] The supernatant(183 l) is adjusted to pH 6.5 (7 using concentrated trifluoroacetic acid or a sodium hydroxide solution and loaded onto a Lewapol column (OC 1064, 60 l contents). Elution is subsequently carried out with pure water, water/methanol 1:1 and subsequently with pure methanol (containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid). This organic phase is concentrated in vacuo to a residual aqueous residue of 11.5 l.
[0125] The residual aqueous phase is bound to silica gel C 18 and separated (MPLC, Biotage Flash 75, 75×30 cm, KP-C18-WP, 15-20 μm, flow: 30 ml; eluent: acetonitrile/water containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid; gradient: 10%, 15% and 40% acetonitrile). The 40% acetonitrile phase which contains the main amount of Example 1A, is concentrated in vacuo and subsequently lyophilized (about 13g). This mixture of solids is separated in 1.2 g portions, first on a preparative HPLC (Method 1), subsequently by gel filtration on Sephadex LH-20 (5×70 cm, acetonitrile/water 1:1, in each case containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid) and a further preparative HPLC (Method 8).
[0126] This process yields 2250 mg of Example 1.
[0127] The sediment is taken up in 4 l of acetone/water 4:1, 2 kg of Celite are added, the mixture is adjusted to pH=6 using trifluoroacetic acid, stirred and centrifuged. The solvent is concentrated in vacuo and the residue is freeze dried. The lyophilizate obtained (89.9 g) is taken up in methanol, filtered, concentrated and separated on silica gel (Method 9). Example 1A is then purified by gel filtration (Sephadex LH-20, 5×68 cm, water/acetonitrile 9:1 (containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid), flow: 2.7 ml/min, fraction size 13.5 ml) to give the pure substance.
[0128] This process yields 447 mg of Example 1.
[0129] HPLC (Method 6): R t =6.19 min
[0130] MS (ESIpos): m/z=1277 [M+H] +
[0131] 1 H NMR (500.13 MHz, d 6 -DMSO): δ=0.75 (d, 3H), 0.78 (d, 6H), 0.80 (t, 3H), 0.82 (d, 3H), 0.90 (d, 3H), 0.91 (d, 3H), 0.92 (d, 3H), 0.95 (d, 3H), 0.96 (d, 3H), 1.05 (m, 1H), 1.19 (d, 3H), 1.25 (m, 2H), 1.50 (m, 4H), 1.51 (m, 2H), 1.55 (m, 1H), 1.61 (m, 1H), 1.65 (m, 1H), 1.84 (m, 1H), 1.85 (m, 11H), 1.86 (m, 1H), 1.89 (m, 1H), 1.95 (m, 1H), 2.75 (m, 2H), 3.40 (m, 1H), 3.52 (m, 2H), 3.53 (dd, 1H), 3.64 (m, 2H), 3.66 (m, 1H), 3.68 (dd, 1H), 3.73 (m, 2H), 4.00 (dd, 1H), 4.02 (br., 1H), 4.13 (br., 1H), 4.32 (dd, 1H), 4.39 (t, 1H), 4.55 (m, 1H), 4.75 (dd, 1H), 5.19 (t, 1H), 5.29 (d, 1H), 5.30 (br., 1H), 5.58 (m, 2H), 6.68 (m, 3H), 6.89 (d, 1H), 6.93 (m, 3H), 6.94 (br., 1H), 6.98 (d, 1H), 7.12 (br., 1H), 7.20 (br., 2H), 7.23 (m, 2H), 7.42 (m, 2H), 7.54 (d, 1H), 7.58 (d, 1H), 8.32 (br., 1H), 9.18 (br., 1H), 9.20 (m, 2H), 9.50 (br., 1H).
[0132] 13 C-NMR (125.77 MHz, d 6 -DMSO): δ=10.3, 15.3, 19.0, 19.2, 19.6, 20.0, 20.9, 22.0, 22.4, 23.0, 23.2, 24.3, 24.4, 25.0, 25.4, 26.0, 27.8, 30.9, 35.4, 39.5, 40.8, 40.9, 41.6, 44.1, 51.5, 52.7, 55.9, 56.2, 56.4, 57.9, 58.8, 60.2, 61.1, 62.6, 70.1, 71.6, 71.7, 75.5, 128.1, 128.6, 136.7, 156.8, 168.2, 170.1, 170.4, 171.2, 171.5, 171.9, 172.2, 172.4, 173.7.
[0133] The assignment of the signals was carried out according to the assignment described in the literature (T. Kato, H. Hinoo, Y. Terui, J. Antibiot. (1988) 61:719-725).
Example 2 and Example 3
D-Leu-Leu-Phe-[(3R)-Leu(3-OH)]-Leu-D-Arg-Ile-aThr-Gly-[(3S)-3-Asn(3-OH)]-Ser-trifluor-oacetate (Dihydrolysobactin) and
D-Leu-Leu-Ala(3-cyclohexyl)-[(3R)-Leu(3-OH)]-Leu-D-Arg-Ile-aThr-Gly-[(3S)-3-Asn(3-OH)]-Ser-trifluoroacetate (Octahydrolysobactin)
[0134]
[0135] Hydrogenation Method 1:
[0136] The compound from Example 1 (lysobactin, 250 mg, 170 μmol) is dissolved in isopropanol/water (2:1, 60 ml) and hydrogenated under 1 atm of hydrogen in the presence of 200 mg of Pd (10% on carbon). The course of the reaction is followed by means of LC-MS (Method 1). After virtually complete conversion (>95%), the catalyst is filtered off, washed with isopropanol and the filtrate is lyophilized. In this crude product, according to LC-MS, the products are distributed as follows: dihydrolysobactin about 74%, octahydro-lysobactin about 12%. The residue is purified by HPLC (Method 2). After lyophilization of the suitable fractions, the pure compound Example 2 is obtained (81.5 mg, 31% of theory).
[0137] LC-MS: (Method 1): R t =1.56 min ES + : m/z=1279 [M+H] + , 640.1 [M+2H] 2+ ; ES − : m/z=1277 [M−H] − , 638.1 [M−2H] 2− .
[0138] See Table 1 for the peptide sequences of the hydrolysobactins.
[0139] Hydrogenation Method 2:
[0140] By hydrogenation under a hydrogen pressure of 3 atm, in a method otherwise identical to hydrogenation method 1, the following distribution in the crude product determined by LC-MS is obtained: dihydrolysobactin about 80%, octahydrolysobactin about 17%. After HPLC purification (Method 2), the pure compound Example 2 is obtained (86 mg, 33% of theory).
[0141] Hydrogenation Method 3:
[0142] With a prolonged hydrogenation period at 3 bar hydrogen or using a higher pressure (up to 80 bar hydrogen pressure), proportionately more octahydrolysobactin can be obtained. In most cases, the crude mixtures of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin are not separated, but are used directly in the enzymatic cleavage.
[0143] Hydrogenation Method 4:
[0144] In the following case the compound octahydrolysobactin is also isolated in pure form:
[0145] Lysobactin (Example 1, 1.04 g, 0.69 mmol) is dissolved in isopropanol/water (2:1, 90 ml) and hydrogenated under 3 atm hydrogen for 7 days in the presence of 200 mg of Pd (10% on carbon). The catalyst is filtered off, washed with isopropanol and the filtrate is freed from isopropanol on a rotary evaporator and then lyophilized. In this crude product the products are distributed according to LC-MS (Method 1) as follows: dihydrolysobactin about 65%, octa-hydrolysobactin about 35%. The residue is purified by HPLC (Method 2, subsequently Method 3). Dihydrolysobactin (Example 2) (280 mg, 27% of theory) and octahydrolysobactin (Example 3) (212 mg, 20% of theory) are obtained.
[0146] LC-MS: (Method 1): R t =1.63 min ESIpos.: m/z=643.3 (100) [M+2H] 2+ ; ESIneg.: m/z=1283 [M−H] − , 641.2 [M−2H] 2− .
[0147] Hydrogenation Method 5:
[0148] As an example of a hydrogenation under high pressure hydrogen, after 4 days at 40° C. and 50 bar hydrogen, the following crude mixture is obtained according to LC-MS (Method 1): 45% dihydrolysobactin and 45% octahydrolysobactin.
[0149] Hydrogenation Method 6:
[0150] Lysobactin bistrifluoroacetate (Example 1, 500 mg, 0.33 mmol) is dissolved in isopropanol/water 2:1 (30 ml). Under an argon protective gas atmosphere, 10 percent palladium on carbon (100 mg) is added. The reaction mixture is stirred (after degassing) in a pressure autoclave at 80-70 bar hydrogen and RT for 48 h. 10% palladium on carbon (100 mg) is again added to the reaction. The reaction mixture is (after degassing) again stirred in a pressure autoclave at 80-70 bar hydrogen and RT for 48 h. Now no lysobactin is detectable any more by means of HPLC (for example Method 4). The reaction mixture is filtered through a glass frit (pore size 2 or 3), concentrated in vacuo, again taken up in methanol/0.2% glacial acetic acid, filtered through a syringe filter (Biotage, PTFE), concentrated in vacuo and dried under high vacuum. 496 mg (quant.) of product (80% dihydrolysobactin, 20% octahydrolysobactin) are obtained.
[0151] Hydrogenation Method 7:
[0152] Lysobactin monotrifluoroacetate monoacetate (5 mg, 3.45 μmol) is hydrogenated in a mixture of isopropanol (2 ml), water (0.25 ml) and acetic acid (0.05 ml) in the presence of platinum dioxide (20 mg) at 80 bar and 50° C. After 17 h, the pressure is relieved, the system is vented with argon and the suspension freed from the catalyst by means of a microfilter. LC-MS analysis of the filtrate (Method 4) shows 7% of theory octahydrolysobactin (R t =1.54 min, Method 4).
[0153] Hydrogenation Method 8:
[0154] Lysobactin bistrifluoroacetate (Example 1A, 10g, 6.65 mmol) is dissolved in isopropanol/water 9:2 (110 ml). Under an argon protective gas atmosphere, palladium on carbon (10%; 5g) is added. The reaction mixture (after degassing) is stirred in a pressure autoclave at 80-70 bar hydrogen pressure and 40° C. for 12 h. Palladium on carbon (10%; 5g) is again added to the reaction. The reaction mixture (after degassing) is again stirred in a pressure autoclave at 80-70 bar hydrogen pressure and 40° C. for 12 h. The reaction mixture (after degassing) is once again stirred in a pressure autoclave at 80-70 bar hydrogen pressure and 40° C. for 12 h. Now no lysobactin is detectable any more by means of analytical HPLC (Method 10). The reaction mixture is filtered through kieselguhr, concentrated in vacuo and dried under a high vacuum. 9.17 g (99% of theory) of product (60% dihydrolysobactin, 40% octahydrolysobactin) are obtained.
[0155] Hydrogenation Method 9:
[0156] Lysobactin bistrifluoroacetate (Example 1A, 5g, 3.32 mmol) is dissolved in isopropanol/water 9:2 (110 ml). Under an argon protective gas atmosphere, palladium on carbon (10%; 5g) is added. The reaction mixture (after degassing) is stirred in a pressure autoclave at 80 bar hydrogen pressure and 40° C. for 12 h. The reaction mixture is filtered through kieselguhr, concentrated in vacuo and dried under high vacuum. The hydrogenation is repeated a further three times each time using 5.0 g of lysobactin bistrifluoroacetate (in total: 4 passes). As combined product fraction 18.27 g of product (dihydro-lysobactin:octahydrolysobactin, about 5:4) are obtained.
Example 4
Chymotrypsin Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin, Enzyme/Substrate Ratio 1:50
[0157] 200 μg of dihydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 4 μg of chymotrypsin (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis by HPLC, capillary zone electrophoresis, sequence analysis, amino acid analysis, or MS study.
[0158] See Table 2 the for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 5
Chymotrypsin Cleavage of Octahydrolysobactin, Enzyme/Substrate Ratio 1:50
[0159] 200 μg of octahydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 4 μg of chymotrypsin (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0160] See Table 2 for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 6
Analytical Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro-/Octahydrolysobactin, Enzyme Substrate Ratio 1:25
[0161] 200 μg of dihydro- (59%) and octahydrolysobactin (34%) are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 8 μg of chymotrypsin (1:25) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0162] See Table 2 for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 7
Analytical Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro-/Octahydrolysobactin, Enzyme Substrate Ratio 1:400
[0163] 150 μg of dihydro- (59%) and octahydrolysobactin (34%) are dissolved in 15 μl of ethanol and then 126 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 0.38 μg of chymotrypsin (9 μl of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol/cleavage buffer, 0.2 mg/ml; 1:400) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 25 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 25 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0164] See Table 2 for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 8
Analytical Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro-/Octahydrolysobactin Substrate Concentration 6 mg/ml
[0165] 900 μg of dihydro- (59%) and octahydrolysobactin (34%) are dissolved in 15 μl of methanol and then 99 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 36 μg of chymotrypsin (36 μl of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 25 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 25 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0166] See Table 2 for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 9
Analytical Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro-/Octahydrolysobactin Solvent Concentration 30% Methanol
[0167] 150 μg of dihydro- (59%) and octahydrolysobactin (34%) are dissolved in 45 μl of methanol and then 99 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 6 μg of chymotrypsin (6 μl of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 25 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 25 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0168] See Table 2 for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 10
Analytical Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro-/Octahydrolysobactin Cleavage at Room Temperature
[0169] 200 μg of dihydro- (59%) and octahydrolysobactin (34%) are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 8 μg of chymotrypsin (8 μl of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25) are added and the reaction is carried out at room temperature (20-25° C.). Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of 30% acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0170] See Table 2 for the peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin cleavage products.
Example 11
Fragment 4-11
[(3R)-Leu(3-OH)]-Leu-D-Arg-Ile-aThr-Gly-[(3S)-3-Asn(3-OH)]-Ser Trifluoroacetate
[0171]
[0172] Preparative Chymotrypsin Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin Substrate Concentration 1 mg/ml
[0173] 2×80 mg of dihydrolysobactin (35.3 μmol and 33.8 μmol of pure peptide determined by amino acid analysis) are dissolved in 8 ml of methanol each and then 69 ml of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) each are added. Before the addition of enzyme, the solutions are warmed to 37° C. in a drying cabinet. 3.2 mg of chymotrypsin (3.2 ml of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25; preheated to 37° C.) are added and the reactions are carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 200 μl are taken after 0.5, 1 h and the enzyme cleavages are stopped with 200 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are analyzed by HPLC in parallel to the enzyme cleavages within 15 min (retention time fragment 4-11 about 3.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LLF) about 9.6 min, conditions: solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA, gradient: 0 min 30% B, 10 min 80% B, 11 min 100% B, 12 min 30% B, 15 min 30% B; flow 0.7 ml/min, 40° C., UV detection 210 nm). The enzyme reactions are stopped after about 70 min with 3 ml of acetonitrile and about 0.6 ml of TFA. The pH of the solution is between 1 and 2. The solutions can be stored at −20° C. until the preparative separation.
[0174] Preparative Separation of Fragments 1-3 and 4-11
[0175] 2× about 80 ml of the cleavage solutions are filtered through a filter (0.2 μm) and then combined. The solution is divided into four portions each of about 38.5 ml (total 154 ml) and each is chromatographed on a Source 15RPC column (3 ml) using an acetonitrile/TFA gradient. Conditions: solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 0.1% TFA/acetonitrile; gradient: 0% B to 45% B in 40 min; flow 2 ml/ min; UV detection 210 nm. The four runs are carried out sequentially and the fractions are collected in the same tube. The resultant chromatograms are identical.
[0176] Fragments 4-11 (Rt=about 15 min) and 1-3 (LLF) (Rt=about 25 min) are combined, diluted 1:1 with water and then lyophilized.
[0177] 200 μl aliquots of the respective pools are lyophilized separately for amino acid analysis, analytical HPLC, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), sequence analysis and mass spectrometry.
[0178] The yield of fragment 4-11 according to amino acid analysis is 68.3 μmol (99% of theory) and of fragment 1-3 67.4 μmol (98% of theory).
Example 12
Preparative Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro/Octahydrolysobactin 1 mg/ml
Batch 1
[0179] 2×700 mg of dihydro- (56%) and octahydrolysobactin (21%) (682 μmol of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin present as pure peptides determined by amino acid analysis) are dissolved in 70 ml of methanol each and then 602 ml of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) each are added. Before the addition of enzyme the solutions are warmed to 37° C. in a drying cabinet. 28 mg of chymotrypsin (28 ml of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25; 37° C. preheated) are added and the reactions are carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 200 μl are taken after 0.5, 1 h and the enzyme cleavages are stopped with 200 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are analyzed by HPLC in parallel to the enzyme cleavages within 15 min (retention time fragment 4-11 about 3.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LLF) about 9.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LL(3-cyclohexyl)A) about 11.3 min, conditions: solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA, gradient: 0 min 30% B, 10 min 80% B, 11 min 100% B, 12 min 30% B, 15 min 30% B; flow 0.7 ml/min, 40° C., UV detection 210 nm). The enzyme reactions are stopped after about 60 min with 30 ml of acetonitrile and about 6 ml of TFA. The pH of the solution is between 1 and 2. The solutions can be stored at −20° C. until the preparative separation.
Batch 2
[0180] 775 mg of dihydro- (45%) and octahydrolysobactin (48%) (468 μmol of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin present as pure peptides determined by amino acid analysis) are dissolved in 77.5 ml of methanol and then 667 ml of cleavage buffer (0.1M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5M urea pH 8) are added. Before the addition of the enzyme the solution is warmed to 37° C. in a drying cabinet. 31 mg of chymotrypsin (31 ml of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25; 37° C. preheated) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 200 μl are taken after 0.5, 1 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 200 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are analyzed by HPLC in parallel to the enzyme cleavage within 15 min (retention time fragment 4-11 about 3.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LLF) about 9.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LL(3-cyclohexyl)A) about 11.3 min) (solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA, gradient: 0 min 30% B, 10 min 80% B, 11 min 100% B, 12 min 30% B, 15 min 30% B; flow 0.7 ml/min, temperature: 40° C., UV detection 210 nm). The enzyme reaction is stopped after 60 min with 30 ml of acetonitrile and about 6 ml of TFA. The pH of the solution should be between 1 and 2. The solution can be stored at −20° C. until the preparative separation.
[0181] Preparative Separation of Fragments 1-3 and 4-11
[0182] The cleavage batches 1 and 2 are filtered through a filter (0.2 μm) and then combined. The solution is divided into several portions and each is chromatographed on a Source 15RPC column using an acetonitrile/TFA gradient as described above. The runs are carried out successively and the fractions collected in the same tube. The resultant chromatograms are identical.
[0183] Fragment 4-11 (Rt. about 15 min) is combined, diluted 1:1 with water and then lyophilized.
[0184] The yield of fragment 4-11, after lyophilization, is 1.1 g (1095 μmol). For a starting amount of 1150 μmol of cleavable material, the yield of fragment 4-11 is 95% of theory.
Example 13
Preparative Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro/Octahydrolysobactin Substrate Concentration 3 mg/ml
[0185] 2×0.995 g of a mixture of dihydro- (52%) and octahydrolysobactin (37%) are dissolved in 33 ml of methanol each and then 257 ml of cleavage buffer (0.1M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) each are added. Before the addition of the enzyme the solution is warmed to 37° C. in a drying cabinet. 39.6 mg of chymotrypsin (39.6 ml of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 1 mg/ml; 1:25; 37° C. preheated) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 200 μl are taken after 0.5, 1 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 200 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are analyzed by HPLC in parallel to the enzyme cleavage within 15 min (retention time fragment 4-11 about 3.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LLF) about 9.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LL(3-cyclohexyl)A) about 11.3 min) (solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA, gradient: 0 min 30% B, 10 min 80% B, 11 min 100% B, 12 min 30% B, 15 min 30% B; flow: 0.7 ml/min, temperature: 40° C., UV detection 210 nm). The enzyme reactions are stopped after 60 min with 30 ml of acetonitrile and about 2.5 ml of TFA each. The pH of the solution should be between 1 and 2. The solution can be stored at −20° C. until the preparative separation.
Example 14
Preparative Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro/Octahydrolysobactin Substrate Concentration 5 mg/ml
[0186] 10g of dihydro- (about 40%) and octahydrolysobactin (about 60%) are dissolved in 200 ml of methanol and then 1700 ml of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogen-carbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. Before the addition of the enzyme the solution is warmed to 37° C. in a drying cabinet. 400 mg of chymotrypsin (100 ml of chymotrypsin solution water/ethylene glycol 1:1, 4 mg/ml; 1:25; 37° C. preheated) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 200 μl are taken after 0.5, 1 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 200 μl of 30% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA. The samples are analyzed by HPLC in parallel to the enzyme cleavage within 15 min (retention time fragment 4-11 about 3.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LLF) about 9.6 min, fragment 1-3 (LLA(3-cyclohexyl)) about 11.3 min) (solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA, gradient 0 min 30% B, 10 min 80% B, 11 min 100% B, 12 min 30% B, 15 min 30% B; flow 0.7 ml/min, temperature: 40° C., UV detection 210 nm). The enzyme reaction is stopped after 60 min with 75 ml of acetonitrile and about 15 ml of TFA. The pH of the solution should be between 1 and 2. The solution can be stored at −20° C. until the preparative separation.
[0187] Fragment 4-11 is isolated as described above by preparative HPLC in several runs.
[0188] The activity of the chymotrypsin batch used (70 U/mg) is checked by a control cleavage using the protein interleukin-4 double mutein Arg(121)→Asp(121)/Tyr(124)→Asp(124) (BAYER Healthcare AG, D-Wuppertal).
Example 15
Subtilisin Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin
[0189] 200 μg of dihydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 4 μg of subtilisin (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0190] See Table 3 for the peptide sequences of the subtilisin cleavage products.
Example 16
Subtilisin Cleavage of Octahydrolysobactin
[0191] 200 μg of octahydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 4 μg of subtilisin (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0192] See Table 3 for the peptide sequences of the subtilisin cleavage products.
[0193] The activity of the subtilisin batch used (about 12 U/mg) is checked by a control cleavage using the protein interleukin-4 double mutein Arg(121)→Asp(121)/Tyr(124)→Asp(124) (BAYER Healthcare AG, D-Wuppertal).
Example 17
Thermolysin Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin
[0194] 200 μg of dihydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane/5 mM calcium chloride pH 7.45) are added. 4 μg of thermolysin (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0195] See Table 4 for the peptide sequences of the thermolysin cleavage products.
Example 18
Thermolysin Cleavage of Octahydrolysobactin
[0196] 200 μg of octahydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M ammonium hydrogencarbonate/0.5 M urea pH 8) are added. 4 μg of thermolysin (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0197] See Table 4 for the peptide sequences of the thermolysin cleavage products.
[0198] The activity of the thermolysin batch used (about 55 U/mg) is checked by a control cleavage using the protein interleukin-4 double mutein Arg(121)→Asp(121)/Tyr(124)→Asp(124) (BAYER Healthcare AG, D-Wuppertal).
Example 19
Papain Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin
[0199] 200 μg of dihydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M sodium phosphate/10 mM cysteine, 2 mM EDTA pH 6.5) are added. 4 μg of papain (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0200] See Table 5 for the peptide sequences of the papain cleavage products.
Example 20
Papain Cleavage of Octahydrolysobactin
[0201] 200 μg of octahydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M sodium phosphate/10 mM cysteine, 2 mM EDTA pH 6.5) are added. 4 μg of papain (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 b and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0202] See Table 5 for the peptide sequences of the papain cleavage products.
[0203] The activity of the papain batch used (about 11 U/mg) is checked by a control cleavage using the protein interleukin-4 double mutein Arg(121)→Asp(121)/Tyr(124)→Asp(124) (BAYER Healthcare AG, D-Wuppertal).
Example 21
Proteinase K Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin
[0204] 200 μg of dihydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M sodium tetraborate pH 9) are added. 4 μg of proteinase K (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0205] See Table 6 for the peptide sequences of the proteinase K cleavage products.
Example 22
Proteinase K Cleavage of Octahydrolysobactin
[0206] 200 μg of octahydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M sodium tetraborate pH 9) are added. 4 μg of proteinase K (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0207] See Table 6 for the peptide sequences of the proteinase K cleavage products.
[0208] The activity of the proteinase K batch used (about 30 U/mg) is checked by a control cleavage using the protein interleukin-4 double mutein Arg(121)→Asp(121)/Tyr(124)→Asp(124) (BAYER Healthcare AG, D-Wuppertal).
Example 23
Bromelain Cleavage of Dihydrolysobactin
[0209] 200 μg of dihydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M sodium phosphate, 10 mM cysteine, 2 mM EDTA pH 6.5) are added. 4g of bromelain (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0210] See Table 7 for the peptide sequences of the bromelain cleavage products.
Example 24
Bromelain Cleavage of Octahydrolysobactin
[0211] 200 μg of octahydrolysobactin are dissolved in 10 μl of methanol and then 190 μl of cleavage buffer (0.1 M sodium phosphate, 10 mM cysteine, 2 mM EDTA pH 6.5) are added. 4 μg of bromelain (1:50) are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0212] See Table 7 for the peptide sequences of the bromelain cleavage products.
[0213] The activity of the bromelain batch used (about 4 U/mg) is checked by a control cleavage using the protein interleukin-4 double mutein Arg(121)→Asp(121)/Tyr(124)→Asp(124) (BAYER Healthcare AG, D-Wuppertal).
Example 25
Enzymatic Synthesis of Dihydrolysobactin with Chymotrypsin
[0214] 800 μg of the peptide Leu-Leu-PheOMe and 100 μg of the peptide 4-11 are dissolved in 200 μl of methanol and then 200 μl of synthesis buffer (0.1 M sodium tetraborate pH 9) are added. 24 μg of chymotrypsin are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the synthesis is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0215] Dihydrolysobactin is detected using HPLC and CZE.
Example 26
Enzymatic Synthesis of Dihydrolysobactin Derivatives with Chymotrypsin
[0216] 800 μg of the peptide Boc-Leu-Leu-PheOMe are dissolved in 200 μl of tetrachloromethane and then 200 μl of synthesis buffer (0.1 M sodium tetraborate pH 9) which contains 100 μg of the peptide 4-11 are added. 24 μg of chymotrypsin are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the synthesis is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0217] Dihydrolysobactin derivatives are detected by HPLC and CZE.
Example 27
Enzymatic Synthesis of Octahydrolysobactin with Chymotrypsin
[0218] 800 μg of the peptide Leu-Leu-Ala(3-cyclohexyl)OMe and 100 μg of the peptide 4-11 are dissolved in 200 μl of methanol and then 200 μl of synthesis buffer (0.1 M sodium tetraborate pH 9) are added. 24 μg of chymotrypsin are added and the reaction is carried out at 37° C. Aliquots of 30 μl are taken after 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 24 h and the synthesis is stopped with 30 μl of acetonitrile/1% TFA. The samples are stored at −20° C. until analysis.
[0219] Octahydrolysobactin is detected by HPLC and CZE.
Example 28
N-Terminal Sequence Analysis
[0220] 3 nmol of fragments dissolved in 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA are loaded onto a sequencer sheet which is preincubated with PolybrenR. The proteins are sequenced using the usual sequencer cycle. The PTH-amino acids are identified by means of online HPLC using a 40 pmol PTH standard. The non-proteinogenic amino acids are identified by their relative position to the standard amino acids. The purity of the peptides is estimated from the amino acid of the 1st PTH cycle. The various peptides are sequenced over 4 to 12 stages. Tables 1 to 7 show the protein sequences determined.
TABLE 1 Peptide sequences of the substrates Peptides Determined peptide sequences of the substrate 1. Dihydro-lysobactin Leu-Leu-Phe-Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr- Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser 2. Octahydro-lysobactin Leu-Leu-PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl)*-Leu(OH)- Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
[0221]
TABLE 2
Sequence analysis of various peptides (1-3) or peptide fragments (1-3)
of the chymotrypsin cleavage
Deteremined peptide sequences of the chymotrypsin
Peptides
cleavage product
1. Peptide 4-11
Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
2. Peptide 1-3
Leu-Leu-Phe
3. Peptide 1-3
Leu-Leu-PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl)*
*PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl) is not detectable as a peak with the PTH system used.
[0222]
TABLE 3
Sequence analysis of various peptides and peptide fragments of the
subtilisin cleavage of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin (1-4).
The cleavage product 4-10 is only formed to a greater extent after 24 h.
Determined peptide sequences of the subtilisin
Peptides
cleavage product
1. Peptide 4-11
Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
2. Peptide 4-10
Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
3. Peptide 1-3
Leu-Leu-Phe
4. Peptide 1-3
Leu-Leu-PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl)*
*PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl) is not detectable as a peak with the PTH system used.
[0223]
TABLE 4
Sequence analysis of various peptides and peptide fragments of the
thermolysin cleavage of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin (1-3).
Determined peptide sequences of the thermolysin
Peptides
cleavage product
1. Peptide 3-11
Phe-Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
2. Peptide 3-11
PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl)*-Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-
(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)
3. Peptide 1-2
Leu-Leu
*PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl) is not detectable as a peak with the PTH system used.
[0224]
TABLE 5
Sequence analysis of various peptides and peptide fragments of the
papain cleavage of dihydro- (1, 2, 3, 4) and octahydrolysobactin (1, 2, 3,
5). Cleavage product 4-10 is only formed to a greater extent after 24 h.
Determined peptide sequences of the papain cleavage
Peptides
product
1. Peptide 5-11
Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
2. Peptide 5-9
Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly
3. Peptide 10-11
Asn(OH)-Ser
4. Peptide 1-4
Leu-Leu-Phe-Leu(OH)
5. Peptide 1-4
Leu-Leu-PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl)*-Leu(OH)
*PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl) is not detectable as a peak with the PTH system used
[0225]
TABLE 6
Sequence analysis of various peptides and peptide fragments of the
proteinase K cleavage of dihydro- (1, 2) and octahydrolysobactin (3, 4).
Determined peptide sequences of the proteinase K
Peptides
cleavage product
1. Peptide 4-11
Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
2. Peptide 5-11
Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)-Ser
4. Peptide 4-10
Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)
5. Peptide 5-10
Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly-Asn(OH)
6. Peptide 1-2
Leu-Leu
[0226]
TABLE 7
Sequence analysis of various peptides and peptide fragments of the
bromelain cleavage of open-chain lysobactin (1, 4), dihydro- (2, 4) and
octahydrolysobactin (3, 4).
Determined peptide sequences of the bromelain
Peptides
cleavage product
2. Peptide 1-9
Leu-Leu-Phe-Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly
3. Peptide 1-9
Leu-Leu-PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl)*-Leu(OH)-Leu-Arg-
Ile-(allo)Thr-Gly
4. Peptide 10-11
Asn(OH)-Ser
*PTHAla(3-cyclohexyl) is not detectable as a peak with the PTH system used.
Example 29
Amino Acid Analysis
[0227] Amino acid analysis is an important qualitative and quantitative parameter for characterizing proteins. In addition to the protein content, in the case of known primary structure, the number of the individual amino acids is determined. The amino acid analysis of lysobactin derivatives and peptide fragments is in good agreement with the theoretical values from the primary structure (Table 8). Non-proteinogenic amino acids are only quantified in the presence of corresponding standards.
[0228] 100 μg of the lysobactin derivatives and peptide fragments are dissolved in 200 μl of 6 N hydrochloric acid and hydrolyzed at 166° C. for 1 h. About 5 nmol of the samples are introduced into the amino acid analyzer. The amount of amino acid is determined via a 4 nmol amino acid standard.
TABLE 8 Amino acid analysis of dihydro-, octahydrolysobactin, dihydro- + octahydrolysobactin, fragment 4-11 and 1-3. The integers are based on Ile = 1 or Leu = 2. Dihydro- + Amino Peptide Theoretical Peptide Theoretical octahydro- Dihydro- Octahydro- Theoretical acid 1-3 numbers 4-11 numbers lysobactin lysobactin lysobactin numbers Asx(OH) n.d. 1 n.d. n.d. n.d. 1 Asx alloTHR 1.04 1 0.91 1.11 1.01 1 Ser 0.59 1 0.89 0.99 0.90 1 Glx Gly 1.11 1 1.15 1.17 1.12 1 Ala Val Met Ile* 1.00 1 1.00 1.00 1.00 1 Leu* 2.00 2 1.04 1 2.93 2.33 2.53 3 Tyr Phe 1.01 1 0.55 1.08 1 Ala(3- n.d. n.d. 1 cyclo- hexyl) Leu(OH) n.d. 1 n.d. n.d. n.d. 1 Lys Arg 1.06 1 1.05 1.18 1.15 1 Phe(OH) Sum AS 3.01 3 5.83 8 9.39 8.85 7.71
Example 30
Reverse-Phase Chromatography
[0229] In the HPLC chromatography of proteins on chemically bound reversed phases, a bond to the phase used is formed via a hydrophobic interaction of the proteins. The peptides are displaced by organic solvents (mobile phase) according to the strength of their bond to the stationary phase. For this reason, this method is a good criterion for assessing the purity of a peptide and for monitoring the rate of enzymatic cleavage and the resulting cleavage products. The peptides dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin elute from the RP-18 phase at about 35 min and about 38 min, fragment 4-11 at about 16 min, 1-3 (LLF) at about 31 min and 1-3 (LLA(3-cyclohexyl)) at about 37 min. FIG. 1 shows the time course of a preparative enzymatic cleavage with chymotrypsin (Example 11).
[0230] About 20 μg of the enzymatic cleavage products and the starting compounds dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin or the mixture are chromatographed on a Zorbax 300SB-C18 column (4.6 mm×150 mm; 3.5 μm material; 300 angstrom pore diameter). The eluent used is an acetonitrile/TFA gradient. Conditions: solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA; flow 0.7 ml/min, column temperature 40° C., UV detection 210 nm, solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 0.1% TFA/60% acetonitrile; gradient: 0 min 0% B, 2 min 10% B, 50 min 80% B, 52 min 100% B, 55 min 0% B, 60 min 0% B.
Example 31
Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE)
[0231] Capillary electrophoresis permits the separation of peptides and proteins on the basis of their charge in an electrical field. The quality of the separation depends on the buffer, the pH, the temperature and the additives used. The capillaries used are so-called fused silica columns having an internal diameter of 50-100 μm. This method is a very good criterion for assessing the purity of a peptide and for monitoring the formation of enzymatic cleavage products. The peptides dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin elute from the capillary column at about 21 min, fragment 4-11 at about 18 min, 1-3 (LLF) at about 24 min, 1-3 (LLA(3-cyclohexyl)) at about 22 min, the deamidated forms as a double peak at about 30 min (1-11) and 24 min (4-11). FIG. 2 shows the time course of an enzymatic cleavage of octahydrolysobactin with chymotrypsin (Example 5). The great increase in deamidated products after 24 h in the buffer can clearly be seen.
[0232] About 4 ng of the enzymatic cleavage products or the starting compounds dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin, or the mixture, are investigated by means of capillary electrophoresis on a glass column (length 72 cm, internal diameter 50 μm). Conditions: current 90 μA, column temperature 25° C., 100 mM phosphate buffer pH 3.0, UV detection 210 nm, loading under pressure 3 seconds.
Example 32
Molecular Weight Determined by HPLC-ESI-MS
[0233] Peptides and enzymatic cleavage products are separated by RP-18-HPLC chromatography and the molecular weight is determined by electron spray ionization (ESI).
[0234] About 100 μg of chymotrypsin cleavage of the mixture of dihydrolysobactin and octahydrolysobactin are separated with a Zorbax C18-HPLC column under the following conditions: solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 60% acetonitrile/0.1% TFA; flow 0.7 ml/min, column temperature 40° C., UV detection 210 nm, solvent A 0.1% TFA, solvent B 0.1% TFA/60% acetonitrile; gradient: 0 min 0% B, 2 min 10% B, 50 min 80% B, 52 min 100% B, 55 min 0% B, 60 min 0% B. The peptides are transferred to the atmospheric pressure ion source of the mass spectrometer and ionized there. From there the ions are transferred to the high vacuum region of the mass spectrometer and detected. Table 9 shows the molecular weights determined.
TABLE 9 Molecular weights of dihydrolysobactin, octahydrolysobactin and enzymatic cleavage products compared with the theoretical molecular weight (MW) in Dalton. MW Theoretical Peptides in Da MW in Da 1. Dihydrolysobactin 1279 1278.5 2. Octahydrolysobactin 1285 1284.6 3. Peptide 4-11 905 905 4. Peptide 1-3 (LLF) 391 391 5. Peptide 1-3 (LLA(3-cyclohexyl)) 397 397 6. Peptide 1-9 1062 1061.5 7. Peptide 1-9 (A(3-cyclohexyl)) 1068 1067.6
Example 33
Preparative Chymotrypsin Cleavage of the Mixture Dihydro/Octahydrolysobactin
[0235] 18.27 g of dihydro- and octahydrolysobactin (about 5:4) are dissolved in 365 ml of methanol and diluted to 3654 ml with chymotrypsin (731 mg) and cleavage buffer. The reaction is carried out for 30 min at 37° C. and then stopped with 20 ml of TFA and 150 ml of acetonitrile. Before the addition of the enzyme, the solutions are warmed to 37° C. in a drying cabinet. Aliquots of 200 μl are taken after 0 and 0.5 h and the enzyme cleavage is stopped with 200 μl of 0.1% TFA in 30% acetonitrile/70% water. The samples are analyzed by HPLC (retention time fragment 4-11 about 3.6 min., fragment 1-3 (LLF) about 9.6 min., fragment 1-3 (LL(hexahydro)F) about 11.3 min.) (eluent A: 0.1% TFA in water, eluent B: 0.1% TFA in 60% acetonitrile/40% water, gradient: 0 min 30% B, 10 min 80% B, 11 min 100% B, 12 min 30% B, 15 min 30% B; flow: 0.7 ml/min, column temperature: 40° C., detection: 210 nm). Alternatively, method 11 is used. The solution is divided into 9×500 ml portions and frozen at −70° C. until preparative RP separation. Fragment 4-11 is isolated by preparative HPLC in several runs.
[0236] Preparative Separation of Fragments 1-3 and 4-11:
[0237] About 800 ml of the cleavage solution are filtered through a cartridge (0.2 μm) and chromatographed in two portions of about 400 ml on a Source 15RPC column (column size: 2360 ml) using a methanol/TFA gradient. Eluent A: 0.1% TFA in water, eluent B: 0.1% TFA in 100% methanol; flow: 30 ml/min.; detection 215 nm. The gradient is run according to column volumes: after application, the column is washed with 3.6 column volumes of eluent A, and then in 18 column volumes to 45% B, in 0.67 column volumes to 100% B, 1.3 column volumes 100% B, in 0.67 to 0% B, 7 column volumes of eluent A for equilibration.
[0238] 10.36 g (77% of theory) of fragment 4-11 are obtained as product.
[0239] HPLC/UV-Vis (Method 4): R t =0.5 min.
[0240] LC-MS (Method 1): R t =1.0 min;
[0241] MS (ESIpos.): m/z (%)=453.6 (100) [M+2H] 2+ , 906 (10) [M+H] + .
[0242] MS (ESIneg.): m/z (%)=904 (100) [M−H] − .
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The invention relates to methods for the targeted production of lysobactin derivatives by combined chemical and enzymatic modifications. In particular, the invention relates to method for preparing lysobactin fragment 4-11 by chemical reduction and cleavage of the resultant product by chymotrypsin.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus or tool which is used to create a reamed hole for installing a conduit or pipe. The tool and method is well suited for use with directional boring machines, but can be adapted for use with other mechanical devices (such as a push rod machine) that are used to create subsurface excavations for the purpose of installing conduit or pipe.
Often in the past in order to install a new pipe or conduit it has been necessary to excavate from the surface down to the depth of the desired installation and then replace the material that was excavated. This method is often referred to as “open trench excavation” and is not desirable in many locations due to impact to the general public, to pass under obstacles such as roads, environmental concerns and other issues. Devices and tools have been developed in the past by others in order to allow for the installation of underground pipes and conduits without the necessity of open trenching. This method is generally referred to as “trenchless” installation and includes many varied techniques. The primary types of trenchless construction for new pipe and conduit installations involve directional boring machines, push rod machines, pipe ramming devices, auger boring machines, and tunneling methods all known in the art. There are tools and devices known in the utility construction industry for creating reamed holes for the purpose of installing conduits and pipes and, in particular, there are several apparatuses that are used in the directional boring industry. However, no devices are available that embody or use the aspects of the applied for apparatus. The and advantages of the applied for apparatus and method will significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of underground utility construction by establishing a better method for creating a trenchless reamed hole for installing pipe and providing a tool for use with the method.
The apparatus and method is best suited for use with directional boring machines, although it may be used with other devices as discussed later. Directional boring machines, in general, utilize a length of drill pipe with at least a small hole passing through longitudinally from one end to the other. Sections of drill pipe are connected and then advanced through the earth in segmental fashion. This segmented connection of drill pipe is called a drill string. Various methods and apparatuses are used to guide the drill pipe into the desired position. Directional boring machines are typically positioned at the surface and advance the drill pipe down to the depth of the desired bore. Often a fluid mixture is passed through the drill string in order to assist in the drilling process. After the initial drill string is in place a hole opening device, typically referred to as a reamer, is attached and used to create a hole that will accept the desired conduit or pipe.
In the past, in general, the primary methods of creating a reamed hole in directional boring applications has been to use a reamer fixedly mounted to the length of drill pipe. The reamer is then, typically, rotated and pulled through the ground. Often an aqueous solution is pumped through the drill string in order to help create a mixture of the existing soil and special added agents that assist in making a slurry that advantageously allows for easier installation of pipe or conduit product. A typical reamer's primary function is often to either chop up the existing soil in the path of the desired bore hole and mix it with the added agents or to compact the existing soil in the path of the desired bore hole. Sometimes reamers are used to combine both compaction and cutting/mixing. Since soil and earth conditions vary greatly, different tools are used and selected based on operator experience and anticipated conditions. Though there are existing tools available, none use a reaming mechanism that incorporates the dual mixing and cutting functions of the applied for apparatus.
Push rod machines incorporate some of the same overall characteristics as directional boring, but typically are placed in an excavation at one end of the desired bore instead of at the surface. Typically a section of pipe is connected in segmental fashion and advanced through the ground. Again, there are various methods to get the rods in the desired place. Often the overall efficiency of the machines and the machine tooling limits the overall length that can be done at one time. The use of push rod machines has diminished in the recent past, but they are still sometimes used and advances in push rod technology, such as ways to ream holes more efficiently, could lead to more prominent use in the future.
The apparatus utilized for practicing the method of installation of conduit or pipe is novel and unique in that it ideally uses either a plurality of stems or a mechanical drive mechanism in conjunction with a single stem to create a much more effective method of both mixing and reaming the soil. This better method and tool therefore decreases the time and increases the efficiency of the installation of conduits and pipe. In addition to these benefits, it is possible to utilize this method and the embodiments of the apparatus to create rectangular, ovoid or even irregularly shaped reamed holes which may be desirable for some installations. There are currently no available apparatuses in the directional boring industry that allow for the creation of other than a generally round reamed hole.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an improved apparatus and method of creating a bored hole below the surface of the earth. More specifically it is a method of creating a bored hole using a special backreaming device connected to a directional boring machine or push rod machine or other mechanical drive device. The method includes the use of a tool that incorporates a dual reaming device that is driven either by a plurality of drill stems or by using mechanical means to differentiate torque to drive mechanisms (ideally gears) from a single stem. The stems will ideally be connected to a directional boring machine but can be connected to another drive mechanism.
The apparatus consists of an exterior reaming part and an interior mixing part. In one preferred embodiment of the invention the exterior part of the apparatus is round and the interior portion of the apparatus is made up of a variety of mixing items. In the preferred embodiment, the outer shell of the apparatus can be turned at a lower speed (and generally with greater torque due to being connected to a larger drill pipe string) and the interior can be turned at a faster speed to increase mixing of fluid and soil. Sometimes it may be desirable to turn the exterior portion at a faster rate and the interior portion at a slower rate. This combination of a primary action of outer cutting and inner mixing provides several benefits over conventional reaming. Conventional reamers in general must both cut and mix the soil and fluids and therefore a sacrifice is typically made with respect to either the mixing efficiency of the device, the cutting efficiency of the device or both the mixing and cutting efficiency. The desired apparatus improves both the mixing capability of the reaming device and the cutting capability.
In another embodiment of the invention the interior mixing portion can be turned counter to the exterior shell portion. This, in effect, multiplies the rotational torque applied to the soil in the interior of the shell (by double the amount or more), allowing for better mixing capability and quality.
Another embodiment of the device incorporates different shapes for the outer shell. The preferred exterior shell shapes are round, polygonal and ovoid shaped, though other shapes can be used. The round shape will likely be the most common commercially used shape due to the nature of underground utility installations. The polygonal shape (often rectangular) can be used for utility construction in areas where maximizing the use of the available space is essential, such as in corridors that are extremely congested with other utilities, though there will likely be other uses. In particular a square shape can provide the maximum cross-sectional area for a reamed hole with the smallest bisected distance. This will allow for the installation of the maximum number of separate conduits in the smallest possible space. The ovoid shape, in the general form of egg shaped, is well suited for sewer main installations due to the flow characteristics of the installed pipe, though other uses can be found.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a directional machine in a typical application with a set of drill pipe in place;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the directional boring machine forming a bore hole using the present invention dual reaming apparatus in accordance with the method of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the round shell embodiment of the present invention apparatus connected to a dual stem directional boring machine;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the round shell embodiment of the present invention apparatus using a single stem directional boring machine;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the polygonal shell embodiment of the present invention apparatus connected to a dual stem directional boring machine.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the environment in which the apparatus and method is used with a directional boring machine. The boring machine is generally indicated by 1 and shown resting on the earth's surface 4 , typically on tracks 6 . By using the boring machine 1 the set of drill pipes 3 stored in a drill rack 2 are connected in a segmental fashion and advanced through the ground to a desired point 7 . For the purposes of the FIG. 1 , this point 7 is shown below the earth's surface 4 in an excavated pit 8 . This desired point 7 can be at a point at or near the earth's surface depending on the situation as shown in FIG. 2 . The dual reaming apparatus 5 is attached to the drill pipe string 3 and used to create a reamed hole 9 capable of accepting a desired pipe or conduit as shown in FIG. 2 .
Referring to FIGS. 1 , 2 and 3 , the boring machine 1 utilizes mechanical and hydraulic energy to turn the drill string 3 and thus the dual reaming apparatus 5 . A mixture of aqueous solution is forced down the drill string 3 . The dual reaming device 5 is then turned and pulled back through the earth causing the soil in the path of the dual reaming device to be mixed with the fluid being forced down the drill string. The outer shell 12 of the dual mixing device can be turned to cut the existing soil. This cut soil 20 falls into the interior of the outer shell and the inner section of the dual reaming device 13 increases the mixing of the existing soil 20 and fluid 23 that is added through a single or plurality of fluid jet holes 24 . The use of a single or plurality of assisting mixing wings 14 of various shapes and lengths extend off of the inner section of the device. The interior mixing device can be connected directly to the interior stem of a dual stem directional boring system and cantilevered without a connection such as that shown in 15 and 16 , but problems may arise due to torque and impact of soil and earth material. The preferred embodiment incorporates a connection utilizing a mechanical swivel 16 and sealed bearing assembly 15 . This allows the interior mixing portion 13 to turn independently of the outer shell 12 while still providing passive or active support of the interior mixing portion 13 .
Added efficiency can be achieved by the addition of multiple fluid jet ports 24 at various locations in order to concentrate the stream of fluid 23 to desired points. A distribution line 21 can be added to direct a portion of fluid 23 directly to an exterior point 22 of the outer shell 12 . Fluid lubrication holes 29 may be added to exterior shell 12 as well. Cutting teeth 11 added to the outer shell can add efficiency for the initial cut of the earth for the desired reamed hole. Pipe can be connected to a commercially available swivel and pull head and hooked directly to the reaming device via a plate 27 and connection 28 located at the rear of the device.
Connection of the apparatus to a dual stem directional boring machine can be accomplished by standard methods such as using threaded connections 19 and 31 for the exterior stem and slotted connections for the interior stem 30 or threaded connections for both the exterior and interior stems 32 .
FIG. 4 shows the apparatus utilizing a dual reamer apparatus connected to a single stem directional boring machine drill string 40 . Standard directional boring machines that use a single stem drill string 40 utilize threaded connections 41 . The apparatus is connected to the drill string 40 using a threaded end 42 . Torque provided to the drill string via mechanical power at the boring machine turns the exterior shell 43 of the apparatus. Ideally gears 50 (or a camshaft) in a planetary drive 46 ideally located in the interior of the apparatus convert the rotational torque provided by the revolving outer shell into usable energy to turn the interior mixing section 48 . A sealed connection 45 prevents intrusion of the fluid 56 and soil 54 into the planetary drive 46 . The interior section 48 can be gear so as to turn at various rotational speeds with respect to the outer section 43 and can be reversed with respect to the revolution of the outer section 43 if so desired. Various mixing wings are used to mix the soil 54 cut by the outer section 43 and the fluid 55 disbursed through nozzles 56 at various locations. Fluid is delivered via the drill string 40 and a connection that passes the fluid through the planetary drive 49 and 51 . Ideally a mechanical swivel 53 and bearing assembly 52 can be used to reduce problems associated with torque and impact for the interior section 48 , although the interior section could be cantilevered with the addition of a bearing assembly located near the planetary drive 46 .
FIG. 5 provides a sectional side view and front view of the apparatus that can be used to create a polygonal (in this case a square) reamed hole. This view shows the apparatus connected to a dual stem directional boring machine drill string 66 , although it may be attached to other drill strings with some modifications. The interior section of the device ideally rests on a bearing assembly 68 and is ultimately provided with torque via the drill string. Fluid 73 is forced down the drill string and out nozzles 72 at various locations. The outer shell 67 does not rotate and is kept in the desired position via the use of stabilizing wings 74 located at various positions on the exterior of the outer shell. The interior section is rotated and mixing/cutting wings 69 are used to cut and mix the soil. The configuration of the mixing/cutting wings may be varied based on anticipated soil types. The fluid 73 and soil 74 in the desired reamed path is mixed to a slurry for ease of installation of the desired conduit(s) or pipe(s). A bearing assembly 71 and swivel 70 at the rear of the apparatus should ideally be used to reduce impact and torque problems with the interior section.
From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with the other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure. It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.
Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative of applications of the principles of this invention, and not in a limiting sense.
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A method and apparatus for creating a reamed hole below the surface are disclosed. The reaming apparatus is arranged to be connected to one or more boring stems and has an interior section and an exterior section. The interior section is rotatable independently of the exterior section. Reamed holes of various cross-sections can be produced by appropriate selection of the cross-section of the exterior section.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 60/068,463 filed Dec. 27, 1997 and entitled REMOVABLE DOCTOR BLADE HOLDER.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to doctors used in papermaking machines, and is concerned in particular with the provision of a blade holder which is readily separable from the doctor back and removable from the papermaking machine for cleaning, inspection and repair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The main components of a doctor system include the doctor blade, the blade holder, the doctor back and the loading mechanism. The doctor blade keeps the roll clean and/or sheds the sheet. It must be perfectly flat, straight and parallel, and its composition must be compatible with the roll to be doctored.
The blade holder exerts a uniform, designated load pressure on the blade. It holds the blade firmly against the roll, accommodates roll irregularities and, within limits, compensates for thermal expansion.
The doctor back is in essence the backbone of the doctor. It serves as the support structure for the blade holder. The loading mechanism pivots the doctor back to load the doctor blade against the roll.
Doctor blade holder designs used in recent years are more complex and have more components than the simpler blade holders used in the past. As a result, the more recent holder designs require more routine cleaning and maintenance. The doctor blade holders are normally mounted to the doctor back rigidly with a series of fasteners. Maintenance and cleaning of the blade holder can take place while the doctor remains in the machine but only in installations where the holder is accessible. However, in many cases, papermachine framework or other equipment prevents access to the blade holder while it is in the papermachine. In these cases, the complete doctor structure including the doctor back and attached holder must be removed from the papermachine to perform any cleaning or maintenance work. This task involves removing heavy equipment which requires extensive manpower and machine downtime. After making the necessary repairs, the entire doctor assembly must be re-installed in the papermachine, consuming more valuable manpower and time. In addition to the re-installation, the doctor must be re-aligned to the roll surface for optimum doctor performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention avoids or at least significantly minimizes the above mentioned problems by providing a doctor blade holder which is readily separable from the supporting doctor back. Thus, while the doctor back remains undisturbed in the papermachine, operating personnel can remove the blade holder for cleaning and maintenance. Thereafter, the blade holder is returned to its operative position on the doctor back and locked in place. Certain embodiments of the invention further include the provision of a releasable clamping mechanism for clamping the blade holder in place on the doctor back during papermachine operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings; wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a doctor assembly in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the doctor blade holder shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A is a sectional view taken along line 3A--3A of FIG. 2 showing the blade holder in its operative position clamped to the doctor back;
FIG. 3B is a view similar to FIG. 3A showing the blade holder unclamped from the doctor back;
FIG. 3C is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 3C--3C of FIG. 3A;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing an alternative embodiment of a blade holder in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of a blade holder in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of a blade holder in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one of the dovetail washers employed in the arrangement shown in FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 illustrates still another embodiment of a blade holder in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of one of the stepped washers used in the arrangement shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a further modification to blade holders embodying the concepts of the present invention; and
FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of the blade holder and doctor back at one side of the papermachine.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference initially to FIG. 1, a doctor assembly in accordance with the present invention is generally depicted at 10 adjacent to a papermachine roll 12. Roll 12 is driven by conventional means (not shown) for rotation about an axis A 1 extending in the cross-machine direction. The doctor assembly includes a doctor blade 14, a blade holder 16, a doctor back 18, and a loading mechanism 20. The doctor back is mounted on the papermachine frame for pivotal movement about an axis A 2 extending in the cross-machine direction parallel to the rotational axis A 1 of roll 12. The loading mechanism 20 includes a piston-cylinder unit 22 acting through lever arm 24 to pivot the doctor back 18 about its axis A 2 in order to load the doctor blade 14 against the surface of the roll 12.
With reference additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3A-3C, it will be seen that the blade holder 16 includes a tray 26 with upstanding brackets 28 located between an unloading tube 30 and a loading tube 32. A top pressure plate 34 overlies the tubes 30, 32 and has depending brackets 36 which are connected to the brackets 28 by a rod 38 for pivotal movement about a third axis A 3 parallel to axes A 1 and A 2 .
Fingers 40 cooperate with the underside of the top pressure plate 34 to retain the doctor blade 14 in its forwardly extending position. The tubes 30, 32 are fluid actuated, with tube 32 serving to coact with the force being applied by the loading mechanism 20 to apply the blade 14 to the surface of the roll 12. Tube 30 serves to unload the blade from the roll surface, in addition to acting as a front seal.
A pair of L-shaped confronting mounting strips 42a, 42b are secured to the underside of the tray 26. The mounting strips have horizontal ledges 44a, 44b spaced one from the other to define a continuous slot 46 communicating with an interior recess 47.
A shelf 50 extends forwardly from and forms an integral part of the doctor back 18. Shoulder screws 52 are threaded into the shelf 50 at spaced locations along the length of the slot 46. A locking strip 54 in interposed between the ledges 44a, 44b and the heads of the shoulder screws 52. The locking strip is slotted as at 56 to accommodate the shoulder screws, and the slots 56 are partially bordered by resilient tabs 58 which are bent upwardly out of the plane of the locking strip.
The locking strip 54 is slidable longitudinally with respect to the shelf 50 of the doctor back and the mounting strips 42a, 42b on the underside of the tray 26. When in the locked position as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3C, the tabs 58 are deflected downwardly by the heads of the shoulder screws 52 into the plane of the strip 54, thereby exerting a downward force which clamps the ledges 44a, 44b against the shelf 50, thus fixing the doctor holder 16 in its operative position on the doctor back 18. As can be best seen in FIG. 3A, a pin 60 or the like at one side of the papermachine is employed to releasably fix the locking strip 54 in its locked position.
When it becomes necessary to clean or maintain the blade holder, the pin 60 is removed and the locking strip 54 is shifted to its unlocked position as shown in FIG. 3B. This relieves the clamping force exerted by the resilient tabs 58, thus allowing the blade holder and doctor blade to be extracted longitudinally as a unit out of the papermachine. After cleaning and maintenance, the blade holder is longitudinally reinserted into the papermachine, and the clamping strip returned to its locked position.
An alternative embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, where a mounting strip 62a is secured to the underside of the tray 26. A second mounting strip 62b is connected to strip 62a by means of shoulder screws 64 extending through angled slots 66. The strips 62a, 62b coact to define a dovetailed slot 68 for receiving a dovetail strip 70 secured to the doctor back shelf 50 by screws 72. Longitudinal movement of the strip 62b in direction A will urge it laterally against the dovetail strip 70, thus clamping the blade holder in place. Longitudinal movement of the strip 62b in the opposite direction B will shift the strip 62b laterally away from strip 70, thus freeing the doctor holder for removal from the doctor back. If the strip 62b is only shifted slightly laterally, the blade holder can be slid longitudinally into and out of its operative position, whereas a more pronounced lateral shifting of the strip will permit the blade holder to be lifted from and lowered onto the doctor back.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a male dovetail strip 74 is secured to the underside of the tray 26 and a female dovetail strip 76 is secured to the doctor back shelf 50. A set screw 78 at one side of the papermaking machine serves to fix male dovetail the strip 74 against sliding movement relative to the female dovetail strip 76. When the screw 78 is backed off as shown in FIG. 7, the blade holder is free to slide longitudinally into and out of its operative position on the doctor back.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a female dovetail strip 80 is secured to the underside of the tray 26, and frustoconical dovetail washers 82 are secured to and spaced along the length of the doctor back shelf 50.
In FIGS. 10 and 11, stepped washers 84 are secured at spaced locations along the underside of the tray 26, and a mounting strip 86 is secured to the doctor back shelf 50. The mounting strip 86 has an undercut channel 88 along which the stepped washers slide during longitudinal extraction and insertion of the blade holder.
FIG. 12 illustrates another embodiment where a mounting strip 90 with an undercut channel 92 is secured to the doctor back shelf 50. The channel 92 is interrupted as at 94 at spaced locations along its length. This allows either the stepped washers 84 of FIGS. 11 or 12 stepped strip segments 96 which are secured to the underside of the blade holder tray 26 to slide along the channel 92 to positions at which they may exit via the interrupted sections 94 either laterally in direction A or vertically in direction B.
In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, a locking means of some type is provided at one side of the machine to prevent removal of the blade holder from the doctor back during operation of the papermachine. As shown in FIG. 13, locking can be achieved by providing a bracket 98 on the tray 26 at one side of the papermachine which is detachably connected to the doctor back shelf 50 by a pin 100 or the like.
In light of the foregoing, it will now be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention provides for ready separation of the doctor blade holder from the doctor back for removal from the papermachine. The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 provide means for securely clamping the blade holder to the doctor back during operation of the papermachine. Other embodiments as illustrated in FIGS. 6-13 lock the blade holder in its operative position, but do not exert additional clamping forces. All arrangements are advantageous in that removability of the blade holder provides maintenance personnel with the opportunity to clean and perform maintenance outside of the papermachine, without disturbing the doctor back.
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An apatus for doctoring a roll in a paper machine, comprising a doctor blade and an integral blade holder including a support tray carrying fluid actuated tubes for applying the doctor blade to the roll. The blade holder is removably mounted on and releasably secured to the doctor back.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/705,906, filed May 6, 2015, which is a non-provisional application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/037,544, filed Aug. 14, 2014, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Technical Field
[0003] The present disclosure relates to fences, fence panels, modular components for forming fence panels, and related methods of forming fence panels.
[0004] Description of the Related Art
[0005] Fences are available in a variety of designs. In some cases, a fence can include fence posts and fence panels supported by and spanning between adjacent fence posts. Some fence panels are opaque structures, while others include lattice components for aesthetic or functional purposes. Some fence panels can be assembled on-site at an installation location, while others can be pre-fabricated and transported to an installation location. Many currently available fence panels are time consuming and expensive to construct, or are too large to easily transport.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0006] In some embodiments, a fence panel kit for constructing a fence panel to be installed between adjacent fence posts comprises: one or more packaged arrangements of fence panel components including a base element, a center rail, a top rail, a first side element, a second side element, a plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies each including a plurality of fence boards, and at least one lattice component, the base element, the center rail, the top rail, the lattice divider, the first side element, the second side element, each of the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies, and the at least one lattice component being disconnected from one another for storage and transport in the one or more packaged arrangements, and wherein the base element, the center rail, the top rail, the first side element, the second side element, each of the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies, and the at least one lattice component include interlocking features to assist in joining the fence panel components together to form the fence panel.
[0007] In some cases, the base element includes a bottom rail coupled to a bottom supporting element. In some cases, the plurality of fence boards of each of the interior sub-panel assemblies is at least partially bordered by a plurality of perimeter components. In some cases, the perimeter components include interlocking features to interlock with adjoining components. In some cases, the perimeter components of one or more of the interior sub-panel assemblies comprises a joint member that is configured to insertably receive a portion of an adjacent one of the interior sub-panel assemblies when the fence panel is constructed. In some cases, the base element, the center rail, the top rail, the first side element, the second side element, the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies and a lattice divider are packaged in a first packaged arrangement, and a plurality of lattice components are packaged in a second packaged arrangement separate from the first packaged arrangement.
[0008] In some cases, the lattice components are first lattice elements having a first latticework pattern, and the fence panel kit further comprises a third packaged arrangement of fence panel components including a plurality of second lattice elements disconnected from one another for storage and transport in the third packaged arrangement, and the plurality of second lattice elements have a second latticework pattern different from the first latticework pattern. In some cases, the second and the third packaged arrangements of fence panel components are alternatively combinable with the first packaged arrangement of fence panel components to form a complete fence panel with different lattice structures. In some cases, the base element includes a base male-female mating feature and each of the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies includes a male-female mating feature matching the base male-female mating feature.
[0009] In some cases, the first side element includes a first side male-female mating feature and the second side element includes a second side male-female mating feature, the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies includes a first end interior sub-panel assembly and a second end interior sub-panel assembly, the first end interior sub-panel assembly includes a first end male-female mating feature matching the first side male-female mating feature, and the second end interior sub-panel assembly includes a second end male-female mating feature matching the second side male-female mating feature.
[0010] In some cases, the first end interior sub-panel assembly includes an interior facing male-female mating feature and the second end interior sub-panel assembly includes an interior facing male-female mating feature matching the interior facing male-female mating feature such that one or more additional interior sub-panel assemblies with similar interlocking features can be received between the first end interior sub-panel assembly and the second end interior sub-panel assembly. In some cases, the fence panel components include at least four separate interior sub-panel assemblies arranged in a stack of interior sub-panel assemblies, and the base element, the center rail, the top rail, a lattice divider, the first side element, and the second side element are positioned adjacent the stack.
[0011] In some embodiments, a method to facilitate construction of a fence comprising a plurality of fence panels supported by fence posts comprises: providing one or more packaged arrangements of fence panel components including a base element, a center rail, a top rail, a lattice divider, a first side element, a second side element, a plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies, and a plurality of lattice components, the base element, the center rail, the top rail, the lattice divider, the first side element, the second side element, each of the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies, and each of the plurality of lattice components being disconnected from one another for storage and transport in the one or more packaged arrangements, and wherein the base element, the center rail, the top rail, the lattice divider, the first side element, the second side element, each of the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies, and each of the plurality of lattice components include interlocking features to assist in joining the fence panel components together to form the fence panel.
[0012] In some cases, the method further comprises packaging the base element, the center rail, the top rail, the lattice divider, the first side element, the second side element, and the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies in a first packaged arrangement and packaging the plurality of lattice components in a second packaged arrangement separate from the first packaged arrangement. In some cases, the method further comprises shipping the separated first packaged arrangement and the second packaged arrangement to a remote location for storage or use in constructing the fence panel.
[0013] In some embodiments, a method of constructing a fence panel comprises: assembling a fence panel from one or more packaged arrangements of fence panel components, the fence panel components of the fence panel including a plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies, a first side element, a second side element, a center rail, a bottom rail, a top rail, a lattice divider, and a plurality of lattice components, and the assembly of the fence panel comprising, joining the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies together laterally between the first and second side elements and longitudinally between the center rail and the bottom rail to form a panel main body, and joining the plurality of lattice components to the panel main body.
[0014] In some cases, joining the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies together laterally between the first and second side elements and longitudinally between the center rail and the bottom rail to form the panel main body includes fitting a male-female mating feature of a first interior sub-panel assembly into a male-female mating feature of a second interior sub-panel assembly. In some cases, joining the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies together laterally between the first and second side elements and longitudinally between the center rail and the bottom rail to form a panel main body comprises: coupling a first end interior sub-panel assembly to the first side element and to the bottom rail, coupling one or more intermediate interior sub-panel assemblies to the first end interior sub-panel assembly and the bottom rail, coupling a second end interior sub-panel assembly to the one or more intermediate interior sub-panel assemblies and to the bottom rail, and coupling the second side element to the second end interior sub-panel assembly.
[0015] In some cases, joining the plurality of lattice components to the panel main body comprises: coupling a first lattice structure to the first side element, coupling a second lattice structure to the second side element, and coupling the lattice divider between the first lattice structure and the second lattice structure. In some cases, coupling the first end interior sub-panel assembly to the first side element and to the bottom rail comprises coupling a first end male-female mating feature of the first end interior sub-panel assembly to a male-female mating feature of the first side element and a bottom male-female mating feature of the first end interior sub-panel assembly to a male-female mating feature of the bottom rail. In some cases, coupling the one or more intermediate interior sub-panel assemblies to the first end interior sub-panel assembly and the bottom rail comprises coupling a plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies together in a side-by-side arrangement.
[0016] In some cases, coupling the second end interior sub-panel assembly to the one or more intermediate interior sub-panel assemblies and to the bottom rail comprises coupling a first end male-female mating feature of the second end interior sub-panel assembly to a male-female mating feature of the one or more intermediate interior sub-panel assemblies and a bottom male-female mating feature of the second interior sub-panel assembly to a male-female mating feature of the bottom rail. In some cases, coupling the second side element to the second end interior sub-panel assembly comprises coupling a male-female mating feature of the second end interior sub-panel assembly to a corresponding male-female mating feature of the second side element.
[0017] In some cases, joining the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies and joining the plurality of lattice components includes: joining the top rail to the first side element, joining a first lattice component to the top rail and to the first side element, joining the lattice divider to the top rail and to the first lattice component, joining a second lattice component to the top rail and to the lattice divider, joining the center rail to the first side element, the first lattice component, the lattice divider, and the second lattice component, joining a first interior sub-panel assembly to the first side element and to the center rail, joining a second interior sub-panel assembly to the center rail and indirectly to the first interior sub-panel assembly, joining the second side element to the top rail, to the second lattice component, to the center rail, and to the second interior sub-panel assembly, and joining the bottom rail to the first interior sub-panel assembly, to the second interior sub-panel assembly, to the first side element, and to the second side element.
[0018] In some cases, joining the plurality of interior sub-panel assemblies and joining the plurality of lattice components includes: joining the bottom rail to the first side element, joining a first interior sub-panel assembly to the bottom rail and to the first side element, joining a second interior sub-panel assembly to the bottom rail and indirectly to the first interior sub-panel assembly, joining the center rail to the first side element, the first interior sub-panel assembly, and to the second interior sub-panel assembly, joining the second side element to the bottom rail, to the second interior sub-panel assembly, and to the center rail, joining a first lattice component to the first side element and to the center rail, joining the lattice divider to the center rail and to the first lattice component, joining a second lattice component to the lattice divider, to the center rail, and to the second side element, and joining the top rail to the first side element, to the first lattice component, to the lattice divider, to the second lattice component, and to the second side element.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a portion of a fence, according to one example embodiment, including a plurality of fence panels positioned between respective pairs of posts.
[0020] FIG. 2 is an isometric exploded view of a fence panel of the fence of FIG. 1 which illustrates a plurality of fence panel components thereof.
[0021] FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a fence panel of the fence of FIG. 1 taken along line 2 A- 2 A.
[0022] FIG. 2B is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2A .
[0023] FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view of the fence panel of the fence of FIG. 1 taken along line 2 C- 2 C.
[0024] FIG. 2D is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2C .
[0025] FIGS. 3A-3L illustrate one embodiment of a method of assembling a fence panel according to a top-down assembly methodology.
[0026] FIGS. 4A-4L illustrate another embodiment of a method of assembling a fence panel according to a bottom-up methodology.
[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates a packaged fence panel kit, according to one example embodiment, which includes all components for constructing a fence panel in a single packaged arrangement.
[0028] FIGS. 5A-5F illustrate one embodiment of stacking fence panel components to facilitate storage and transport of all components for constructing a fence panel in a single packaged arrangement.
[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates a packaged fence panel kit, according to another example embodiment, which includes all components for constructing a fence panel in a two packaged arrangements including a base panel kit and a lattice kit.
[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates different example embodiments of fence panel latticework patterns which may be provided in connection with the fence panels.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, features, devices and techniques associated with fences and fence constructing have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments. For example, although not illustrated in the Figures, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the fence panels described herein may be constructed with conventional fasteners, such as nails and/or screws, of suitable size and quantity to form a rigid fence structure. In addition, although example embodiments shown in the Figures are illustrated as wood fence panels, it is appreciated that fence panels may be formed of other materials, such as metal or vinyl, and that aspects of the embodiments described herein may be modified accordingly.
[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a fence 100 and more particularly a portion of a wood fence. Fence 100 is a completed, assembled fence built to stand in and rise vertically from the ground 102 . In different embodiments, the fence 100 can be built in various environments and the ground 102 can include different types of earth, dirt, soil, rock, etc. In some embodiments, the fence 100 may be supported above the ground 102 , such as, for example, by fence post supports extending above the ground 102 . Fence 100 includes a first fence panel 104 , a second fence panel 106 , and a third fence panel 108 all of similar construction. Fence 100 also includes a first fence post 110 and a second fence post 112 . The fence posts 110 , 112 are positioned and supported within respective post holes 114 , 116 formed in the ground 102 . The first fence panel 104 is supported at one end by the first fence post 110 , the second fence panel 106 is supported by and spans between the first fence post 110 and the second fence post 112 , and the third fence panel 108 is supported at one end by the second fence post 112 . The fence panels 104 , 106 , and 108 can be coupled to the fence posts 110 , 112 using nails, screws, bolts, or other mechanical fasteners.
[0033] The second fence panel 106 has a length extending from a first end of the second fence panel 106 (which is fixed to the first fence post 110 ) to a second end of the second fence panel 106 (which is fixed to the second fence post 112 ) along a first dimension X, which can be horizontal and aligned with the direction in which the fence 100 runs. The second fence panel 106 also has a height extending from a top of the second fence panel 106 to a bottom of the second fence panel 106 along a second dimension Y, which can be vertical and perpendicular to the first dimension X. The second fence panel 106 also has a width extending from a first major surface or side of the second fence panel 106 visible in FIG. 1 (e.g., a “front” of the fence panel 106 ) to a second major surface or side of the second fence panel 106 not visible in FIG. 1 (e.g., a “back” or “rear” of the fence panel 106 ) along a third dimension Z, which can be horizontal and perpendicular to the first dimension X and the second dimension Y. Fence panels can have various dimensions, such as a length of 6 feet or 8 feet, a height of 3, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.75, or 6 feet, and a width of 0.625, 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 inches.
[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates various components of a modular fence panel 200 that can be used to form the fence panels 104 , 106 , and 108 of the fence 100 shown in FIG. 1 . Fence panel 200 includes a horizontal base element or bottom supporting element 202 , a bottom rail 204 , a vertical first side element or column or post 206 , a vertical second side element or column or post 208 , a first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A, three central interior sub-panel assemblies 210 B, 210 C, 210 D, a second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E, a horizontal intermediate or center crossbar or rail 212 , two lattice components 214 , 216 , a vertical lattice divider post 218 , and an upper or top crossbar or rail 220 . The first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A, three central interior sub-panel assemblies 210 B, 210 C, 210 D, and second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E can be referred to collectively as interior sub-panel assemblies 210 . The lattice components 214 , 216 can each have a first latticework pattern. Although the two lattice components 214 , 216 are shown as two separate lattice assemblies separated by the divider post 218 , it is appreciated that a single latticework assembly may be provided without the divider post 218 .
[0035] The fence panel 200 can be assembled or constructed from its various components or modules, and thus can be referred to as a modular fence panel 200 which can be fabricated, shipped, and assembled modularly and can make use of fence panel construction techniques. Thus, individual components of the fence panel 200 can be interchanged or replaced with alternative components as desired, without the need to fabricate or obtain any additional components. To facilitate this aspect of the modular nature of the fence panel 200 , each of the components of the fence panel 200 can be provided with complementary and interchangeable coupling elements, as described further below. Each of the components of the fence panel 200 can have a first end (or edge), second end (or edge), top end (or edge), bottom end (or edge), first side, and second side, consistent with the use of those terms above with respect to FIG. 1 , fence panel 106 , and the dimensions X, Y, and Z.
[0036] With continued reference to FIG. 2 , the horizontal base element 202 includes a first end having a vertical key 202 A protruding therefrom and a second end having another vertical key 202 B protruding therefrom. The bottom rail 204 includes a first end having a vertical key 204 A protruding therefrom and a second end having another vertical key 204 B protruding therefrom. The top of the bottom rail 204 includes a keyway 204 C extending along the length of the bottom rail 204 . The bottom rail 204 can be wider than the base element 202 and the bottom rail 204 and base element 202 can be coupled to one another to form an elongate bottom crossbar having a generally T-shaped cross-sectional profile. The bottom rail 204 can be coupled to the base element 202 using various adhesives or mechanical fasteners. The elongate bottom crossbar may be pre-assembled or coupled together prior to receipt by an end-user. Although a two-piece bottom crossbar is shown, a single, unitary bottom crossbar having the same or different cross-sectional profile may be provided in some embodiments. The first end vertical key 202 A can have dimensions matching those of the first end vertical key 204 A, and the second end vertical key 202 B can have dimensions matching those of the second end vertical key 204 B, such that when the bottom rail 204 is coupled to the base element 202 , the first end vertical keys 202 A, 204 A have matching profiles and form a single vertical key that can engage with a corresponding keyway and the second end vertical keys 202 B, 204 B have matching profiles and form a single vertical key that can engage with a corresponding keyway.
[0037] With continued reference to FIG. 2 , the first side element or post 206 includes a first end having a planar face or surface such that it can bear against and be secured to a fence post, such as the fence posts 110 , 112 shown in FIG. 1 , and a second end having a vertical keyway 206 A formed therein for receiving a complementary key (e.g., a key having a matching profile). The first side element or post 206 also includes a top end having a horizontal key 206 B formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The second side element or post 208 includes a first end having a vertical keyway 208 A formed therein for receiving a complementary key and a second end having a planar face or surface such that it can bear against and be secured to a fence post, such as the fence posts 110 , 112 shown in FIG. 1 . The second side element or post 208 also includes a top end having a horizontal key 208 B formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway.
[0038] The first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A includes a plurality of fence boards 222 interlocked together and partially bordered by a first end perimeter component 224 , a top perimeter component 226 , and a bottom perimeter component 228 . The first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A of the illustrated embodiment includes five fence boards 222 , including partial fence boards, that are interlocked together, however, it is appreciated that in other instances more or fewer fence boards 222 may be provided and the fence boards 222 may abut each other or may be spaced apart. The first end perimeter component 224 includes a first end having a first end vertical key 224 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The vertical key 224 A can be complementary with and thus can engage the keyway 206 A. The top perimeter component 226 includes a top end having a horizontal key 226 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The bottom perimeter component 228 includes a bottom end having a horizontal key 228 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The horizontal key 228 A can be complementary with and thus can engage the keyway 204 C.
[0039] The first end perimeter component 224 also includes a second end having a vertical keyway (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) complementary to a first end of one of the fence boards 222 such that the first end of the fence board can engage with the first end perimeter component 224 , as shown best in FIG. 2D . The top perimeter component 226 similarly includes a bottom end having a horizontal keyway 226 B complementary to top ends of the fence boards 222 such that the top ends of the fence boards 222 can engage with the top perimeter component 226 . The bottom perimeter component 228 similarly includes a top end having a horizontal keyway 228 B complementary to bottom ends of the fence boards 222 such that the bottom ends of the fence boards 222 can engage with the bottom perimeter component 228 .
[0040] The top perimeter component 226 also includes a first end vertical key 226 C and the bottom perimeter component 228 also includes a first end vertical key 228 C. The vertical keys 226 C, 228 C can both have profiles matching the first end vertical key 224 A such that these three vertical keys can together form a single vertical key of the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A that can engage with the keyway 206 A. In one alternative embodiment, the first end of the top perimeter component 226 can be cut flush and have a planar surface instead of the key 226 C, and the first end of the bottom perimeter component 228 can be cut flush and have a planar surface instead of the key 228 C. The top perimeter component 226 and the bottom perimeter component 228 each extend in the direction of the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E a distance beyond the fence boards 222 , to accommodate a first end perimeter component of the central interior sub-panel assembly 2106 , as described in greater detail below.
[0041] With continued reference to FIG. 2 , each of the central interior sub-panel assemblies 210 B, 210 C, and 210 D can have the same structure to each other. Central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B is described in detail herein and can be considered as representative of the other central interior sub-panel assemblies 210 C, 210 D. Central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B includes a plurality of fence boards 222 interlocked together and partially bordered by a first end perimeter component 230 , a top perimeter component 232 , and a bottom perimeter component 234 . The central interior sub-panel assembly 2106 of the illustrated embodiment includes five fence boards 222 , including partial fence boards, that are interlocked together, however, it is appreciated that in other instances more or fewer fence boards 222 may be provided and the fence boards 222 may abut each other or may be spaced apart. The first end perimeter component 230 includes a first end having a vertical keyway 230 A complementary to a second end of one of the fence boards 222 (e.g., one of the fence boards 222 of the first end sub-panel assembly 210 A) such that the second end of the fence board 222 can engage with the first end perimeter component 230 , as shown best in FIG. 2D . The top perimeter component 232 includes a top end having a horizontal key 232 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The bottom perimeter component 234 includes a bottom end having a horizontal key 234 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The horizontal key 234 A can be complementary with and thus can engage the keyway 204 C.
[0042] The first end perimeter component 230 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B also includes a second end having a vertical keyway (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) complementary to a first end of one of the fence boards 222 such that the first end of the fence board 222 can engage with the first end perimeter component 230 , as shown best in FIG. 2D . The top perimeter component 232 also includes a bottom end having a horizontal keyway 232 B complementary to top ends of the fence boards 222 such that the top ends of the fence boards 222 can engage with the top perimeter component 232 . The bottom perimeter component 234 also includes a top end having a horizontal keyway 234 B complementary to bottom ends of the fence boards 222 such that the bottom ends of the fence boards 222 can engage with the bottom perimeter component 234 .
[0043] As noted above, the top perimeter component 226 and the bottom perimeter component 228 each extend in the direction of the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E a distance beyond the fence boards 222 , to accommodate the first end perimeter component 230 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 2106 and so that the second ends of the top perimeter component 226 and the bottom perimeter component 228 center on the first end perimeter component 230 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B. Similarly, the top perimeter component 232 and the bottom perimeter component 234 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 2106 each extend in the direction of the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E a distance beyond the fence boards 222 of the assembly 2106 , to accommodate a first end perimeter component of the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 C.
[0044] The top perimeter component 232 and the bottom perimeter component 234 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B each extend in the direction of the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A a distance short of the vertical keyway 230 A of the first end perimeter component 230 , so that a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 A can be received in the vertical keyway 230 A of the first end perimeter component 230 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 2106 such that the second end of the top perimeter component 226 is generally flush with the first end of the top perimeter component 232 and the second end of the bottom perimeter component 228 is generally flush with the first end of the bottom perimeter component 234 .
[0045] As noted above, central interior sub-panel assemblies 210 C and 210 D can have the same form or structure as the assembly 2106 . Thus, the first end perimeter component of the assembly 210 C can engage with a fence board 222 at the second end of the assembly 210 B and the first end perimeter component of the assembly 210 D can engage with a fence board 222 at the second end of the assembly 210 C.
[0046] The second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E includes a plurality of fence boards 222 interlocked together and partially bordered by a first end perimeter component 236 , a top perimeter component 238 , a bottom perimeter component 240 , and a second end perimeter component 242 . The second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E of the illustrated embodiment includes five fence boards 222 , including partial fence boards, that are interlocked together, however, it is appreciated that in other instances more or fewer fence boards 222 may be provided and the fence boards 222 may abut each other or may be spaced apart. The second end perimeter component 242 includes a second end having a second end vertical key 242 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The vertical key 242 A can be complementary with and thus can engage the keyway 208 A. The top perimeter component 238 includes a top end having a horizontal key 238 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The bottom perimeter component 240 includes a bottom end having a horizontal key 240 A formed therein for engaging with a complementary keyway. The horizontal key 240 A can be complementary with and thus can engage the keyway 204 C. The keys 228 A, 234 A, 240 A of the interior sub-panel assemblies 210 A- 210 E have matching profiles and can form a single horizontal key that is complementary to and thus can engage with the keyway 204 C of the bottom rail 204 . Although a single horizontal key may be provided, it is also appreciated that in other instances key portions may be intermittently spaced to collectively from the horizontal key.
[0047] The second end perimeter component 242 also includes a first end having a vertical keyway (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) complementary to a second end of one of the fence boards 222 such that the second end of the fence board 222 can engage with the second end perimeter component 242 . The top perimeter component 238 similarly includes a bottom end having a horizontal keyway (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) complementary to top ends of the fence boards 222 such that the top ends of the fence boards 222 can engage with the top perimeter component 238 . The bottom perimeter component 240 similarly includes a top end having a horizontal keyway (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) complementary to bottom ends of the fence boards 222 such that the bottom ends of the fence boards 222 can engage with the bottom perimeter component 240 .
[0048] The top perimeter component 238 also includes a second end vertical key 238 C and the bottom perimeter component 240 also includes a second end vertical key 240 C. The vertical keys 238 C, 240 C can both have profiles matching the second end vertical key 242 A such that these three vertical keys can together form a single vertical key of the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E that can engage with the keyway 208 A. In one alternative embodiment, the second end of the top perimeter component 238 can be cut flush and have a planar surface instead of the key 238 C, and the second end of the bottom perimeter component 240 can be cut flush and have a planar surface instead of the key 240 C.
[0049] The first end perimeter component 236 includes a first end having a vertical keyway 236 A complementary to a second end of one of the fence boards 222 (e.g., one of the fence boards 222 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 D) such that the second end of the fence board 222 can engage with the first end perimeter component 236 . The first end perimeter component 230 also includes a second end having a vertical keyway (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) complementary to a first end of one of the fence boards 222 such that the first end of the fence board 222 can engage with the first end perimeter component 236 .
[0050] The top perimeter component 238 and the bottom perimeter component 240 of the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E each extend in the direction of the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A a distance short of the vertical keyway 236 A of the first end perimeter component 236 , so that a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 D can be received in the vertical keyway 236 A of the first end perimeter component 236 of the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 E such that the second end of the top perimeter component of the assembly 210 D is generally flush with the first end of the top perimeter component 238 and the second end of the bottom perimeter component of the assembly 210 D is generally flush with the first end of the bottom perimeter component 240 .
[0051] With continued reference to FIG. 2 , the center rail 212 includes a bottom end or bottom face having a bottom horizontal keyway 212 A formed therein and a top end or top face having a top horizontal keyway 212 B formed therein. The horizontal keys 226 A, 232 A, 238 A can have matching profiles and can form a single horizontal key or intermittent key portions that is/are complementary to and thus can engage with the keyway 212 A. The center rail 212 also includes a first end having a first end key 212 C formed therein and a second end having a second end key 212 D formed therein.
[0052] The vertical lattice divider post 218 includes a first end or face having a first end keyway 218 A formed therein, a second end or face having a second end keyway 2186 formed therein, a top end or face having a top key 218 C formed therein, and a bottom end or face having a bottom key 218 D formed therein. The bottom key 218 D can be complementary to and thus can engage with the top horizontal keyway 212 B of the center rail 212 .
[0053] The top rail 220 includes a bottom end having a bottom keyway 220 A formed therein, a first end having a first end planar surface 220 B, a top end having a top planar surface 220 C, and a second end having a second end planar surface 220 D. When the fence panel 200 is assembled, the first end planar surface 220 B can be generally flush with the planar surface of the first end of the first side element or post 206 to form a flat surface that can bear against a fence post, such as the fence posts 110 , 112 shown in FIG. 1 , and the second end planar surface 220 D can be generally flush with the planar surface of the second end of the second side element or post 208 to form a flat surface that can bear against a fence post, such as the fence posts 110 , 112 shown in FIG. 1 .
[0054] The first lattice component 214 includes a first end perimeter element 244 having a first end key 244 A formed therein, a second end perimeter element 246 having a second end key 246 A formed therein, a top end perimeter element 248 having a top key 248 A formed therein, a bottom end perimeter element 250 having a bottom key 250 A formed therein, and latticework extending between the first end, second end, top, and bottom elements 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 . Similarly, the second lattice component 216 includes a first end perimeter element 252 having a first end key 252 A formed therein, a second end perimeter element 254 having a second end key 254 A formed therein, a top end perimeter element 256 having a top key 256 A formed therein, a bottom end perimeter element 258 having a bottom key 258 A formed therein, and latticework extending between the first end, second end, top, and bottom elements 252 , 254 , 256 , 258 .
[0055] The keys 250 A, 218 D, 258 A have matching profiles and can form a single horizontal key or intermittent key portions that is/are complementary to and thus can engage with the keyway 212 B of the center rail 212 . The second end key 246 A of the first lattice component 214 can be complementary to the first end keyway 218 A of the divider post 218 and the first end key 252 A of the second lattice component 216 can be complementary to the second end keyway 218 B of the divider post 218 . The keys 248 A, 218 C, 256 A have matching profiles that also match the profiles of the key 206 B of the first side element or post 206 and the key 208 B of the second side element or post 208 , such that the keys 248 A, 218 C, 256 A, 206 B, and 208 B can form a single horizontal key or intermittent key portions that is/are complementary to and thus can engage with the keyway 220 A of the top rail 220 .
[0056] The keys 202 A, 204 A, 228 C, 224 A, 226 C, 212 C, 244 A have matching profiles and can form a single vertical key or intermittent key portions that is/are complementary to and thus can engage with the keyway 206 A of the first side element or post 206 . The keys 202 B, 204 B, 240 C, 242 A, 238 C, 212 D, and 254 A have matching profiles and can form a single vertical key or intermittent key portions that is/are complementary to and thus can engage with the keyway 208 A of the second side element or post 208 .
[0057] In some embodiments, fence posts such as fence posts 110 and 112 can be provided with keys and keyways to engage with respective keys and keyways of the components of a fence panel such as fence panel 200 . In such embodiments, the fence panel can be provided without side elements or posts such as side elements or posts 206 and 208 , and the sub-panel assemblies 210 can be coupled directly to the fence posts 110 , 112 .
[0058] FIG. 2A illustrates a cross sectional profile of the fully assembled fence panel 200 taken along line 2 A- 2 A shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2B illustrates a portion of FIG. 2A at a larger scale. FIG. 2C illustrates a cross sectional profile of the fully assembled fence panel 200 taken along line 2 C- 2 C shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2D illustrates a portion of FIG. 2C at a larger scale. As illustrated in FIG. 2D , the fence boards 222 can have a first end including a key 274 and a second end including a keyway 276 complementary to the key 274 . When the interior sub-panel assemblies 210 are assembled, the keys 274 of the fence boards 222 can be engaged with corresponding keyways 276 of adjacent fence boards 222 . Thus, the fence boards 222 of an interior sub-panel assembly 210 can be interlocked with one another. In other instances, the fence boards 222 may lack the aforementioned keys 274 and keyways 276 and may have flat or blunt ends that may abut each other or may be spaced apart.
[0059] Any paired key and keyway that are complementary to one another such that they can fit together and engage with one another can allow the key to fit snugly or with some pre-selected clearance, or be received, within the corresponding keyway. The keys and keyways described herein are interlocking features that can assist in joining the various fence panel components together. The keys and keyways described herein can in some embodiments be tongues and grooves or tenons and mortises, and they can include surfaces that can interlock with one another. The keys and keyways described herein can have the same, similar, or different shapes as one another. The components of fence panel 200 are described as having keys and keyways in certain locations, though the locations can be modified as desired. In one simple modification, the locations of any keyway and its corresponding key(s) can be reversed. In some cases, the keys and keyways described herein can be referred to as first and second male-female mating features, where a first male-female mating feature can be a key and a complementary second male-female mating feature can be a complementary keyway, or a first male-female mating feature can be a keyway and a complementary second male-female mating feature can be a complementary key.
[0060] In some embodiments, many of the keys described herein can have the same structure, or matching profiles, as one another, such that the keys are standardized and interchangeable with one another. Similarly, many of the keyways described herein can have the same structure, or matching profiles, as one another, such that the keyways are standardized and interchangeable with one another. In such embodiments, manufacturing costs can be reduced and various components can be interchanged and re-arranged as desired. In some cases, the keys and keyways described herein can include recesses for receiving the heads of screws, nails, or other fasteners, and can include gap regions or other features for receiving glue or other adhesives, thereby allowing efficient installation and minimal seepage and expansion of the various components, such as seepage of an adhesive outside of a keyway.
[0061] FIGS. 3A through 3L illustrate one possible method of assembling a fence panel such as fence panel 200 via a top-down methodology. In the method illustrated in FIGS. 3A through 3L , the various components can be coupled or joined to one another in various ways, such as by using mechanical fasteners such as nails, screws, or bolts, or by using adhesives such as glue, such as glue rated for outdoor use, moisture activated PUR, epoxy, etc. Two components can be directly coupled or joined to one another, such that they are in direct contact, or can be indirectly coupled to one another, such that one or more other components are located between the two components. The top-down methodology illustrated in FIGS. 3A through 3L can be advantageous at least because it allows the user to obtain a relatively tight fit of the components at the top of the fence panel 200 .
[0062] In FIG. 3A , the second side element or post 208 can be coupled to the top rail 220 to form a partially assembled fence panel, illustrated lying on the ground in FIG. 3A . For example, the key 208 B can be engaged with the keyway 220 A, and screws can be used to secure the second side element or post 208 to the top rail 220 . In FIG. 3B , the partially assembled fence panel can be stood upright and the second lattice component 216 can be coupled to the top rail 220 and the second side element or post 208 . For example, the key 256 A can be engaged with the keyway 220 A and the key 254 A can be engaged with the keyway 208 A.
[0063] In FIG. 3C , the divider post 218 can be coupled to the top rail 220 and to the second lattice component 216 . For example, the key 218 C can be engaged with the keyway 220 A, the key 252 A can be engaged with the keyway 218 B, and screws can be used to secure the divider post 218 to the top rail 220 . In FIG. 3D , the first lattice component 214 can be coupled to the top rail 220 and to the divider post 218 . For example, the key 246 A can be engaged with the keyway 218 A and the key 248 A can be engaged with the keyway 220 A. In FIG. 3E , the center rail 212 can be coupled to the second side element or post 208 , the second lattice component 216 , the divider post 218 , and the first lattice component 214 . For example, the key 212 D can be engaged with the keyway 208 A, the keys 258 A, 218 D, 250 A can be engaged with the keyway 212 B, and screws can be used to secure the center rail 212 to the divider post 218 and to the second side element or post 208 .
[0064] In FIG. 3F , the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E can be coupled to the second side element or post 208 and to the center rail 212 . For example, the key 242 A can be engaged with the keyway 208 A and the key 238 A can be engaged with the keyway 212 A. In FIG. 3G , the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 D can be coupled to the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E and to the center rail 212 . For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 D can be engaged with the keyway 236 A and the key 232 A of the assembly 210 D can be engaged with the keyway 212 A. In FIG. 3H , the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 C can be coupled to the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 D and to the center rail 212 . For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 C can be engaged with the keyway 230 A of the assembly 210 D and the key 232 A of the assembly 210 C can be engaged with the keyway 212 A. In FIG. 3I , the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B can be coupled to the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 C and to the center rail 212 . For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 2106 can be engaged with the keyway 230 A of the assembly 210 C and the key 232 A of the assembly 2106 can be engaged with the keyway 212 A. In FIG. 3J , the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A can be coupled to the central interior sub-panel assembly 2106 and to the center rail 212 . For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 A can be engaged with the keyway 230 A of the assembly 2106 and the key 226 A of the assembly 210 A can be engaged with the keyway 212 A.
[0065] In FIG. 3K , the first side element or post 206 can be coupled to the top rail 220 , the first lattice component 214 , the center rail 212 , and the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A. For example, the key 206 B can be engaged with the keyway 220 A, the keys 244 A, 212 C, 226 C, 224 A, and 228 C can be engaged with the keyway 206 A, and screws can be used to secure the first side element or post 206 to the top rail 220 and to the center rail 212 . In FIG. 3L , the base element 202 can be coupled to the bottom rail 204 (e.g., using screws) to form the elongate bottom crossbar, and the elongate bottom crossbar can be coupled to the first side element or post 206 , the second side element or post 208 , and the sub-panel assemblies 210 A- 210 E. For example, the keys 202 A and 204 A can be engaged with the keyway 206 A, the keys 202 B and 204 B can be engaged with the keyway 208 A, the keys 228 A, 234 A, and 240 A of the sub-panel assemblies 210 A- 210 E can be engaged with the keyway 204 C, and screws can be used to secure the elongate bottom crossbar to the second side element or post 208 and to the first side element or post 206 .
[0066] In the method illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3L , each of the sub-panel assemblies 210 and each of the lattice components 214 , 216 can be pre-assembled. That is, the components of each sub-panel assembly 210 and each lattice component 214 , 216 can be secured to one another prior to packaging the sub-panel assembly for storage or shipment. In alternative embodiments, however, these components can come disassembled instead of pre-assembled. The elongate bottom crossbar may be pre-assembled or coupled together prior to receipt by an end-user. Although a two-piece bottom crossbar is shown, a single, unitary bottom crossbar having the same or different cross-sectional profile may be provided in some embodiments.
[0067] In the method illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3L , the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , top rail 220 , second side element or post 208 , divider post 218 , first side element or post 206 , lattice components 214 , 216 , center rail 212 , and sub-panel assemblies 210 A- 210 E can be disconnected from one another when packaged for storage and shipment. That is, no mechanical fasteners or adhesives can fasten or affix these components to one another when they are packaged for storage or shipment.
[0068] As described above, screws or other fasteners can be used to secure (i.e., fasten or directly couple) the second side element or post 208 , top rail 220 , divider post 218 , center rail 212 , first side element or post 206 , base element 202 , and the bottom rail 204 to one another. In some embodiments, the pilot holes 260 shown in FIG. 2 or indentations or depressions indicating fastener locations can be provided in these components prior to packaging for storage and assembly to facilitate the use of screws or other fasteners in this way during assembly of the fence panel 200 . In some embodiments, screws (or alternate fasteners) can be the only mechanism fastening the components of the fence panel 200 to one another. That is, the sub-panel assemblies 210 and the lattice components 214 , 216 can be secured to the other components of the fence panel 200 only by way of the keys and keyways of the components of the fence panel 200 . That is, they can be held captive within the completely assembled fence panel 200 by the keys and keyways of the various components of the fence panel 200 . Thus, the fence panel 200 can be assembled, for example at an installation location, using a minimal number of mechanical fasteners and no adhesives, minimizing material costs and time required to assemble the fence panel 200 .
[0069] FIGS. 4A to 4L illustrate another possible method of assembling a fence panel such as fence panel 200 via a bottom-up methodology. In the method illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4L , the various components can be coupled to one another in various ways, such as by using mechanical fasteners such as nails, screws, or bolts, or by using adhesives such as glue, epoxy, etc. In FIG. 4A , the base element 202 can be coupled to the bottom rail 204 (e.g., using screws) to form the elongate bottom crossbar, and the first side element or post 206 can be coupled to the elongate bottom crossbar to form a partially assembled fence panel. For example, the keys 202 A, 204 A can be engaged with the keyway 206 A, and screws can be used to secure the first side element or post 206 to the elongate bottom crossbar.
[0070] In FIG. 4B , the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A can be coupled to the first side element or post 206 and to the elongate bottom crossbar. For example, the key 224 A can be engaged with the keyway 206 A and the key 228 A can be engaged with the keyway 204 C. In FIG. 4C , the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B can be coupled to the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A and to the elongate bottom crossbar. For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 A can be engaged with the keyway 230 A and the key 234 A of the assembly 210 B can be engaged with the keyway 204 C. In FIG. 4D , the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 C can be coupled to the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B and to the elongate bottom crossbar. For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 B can be engaged with the keyway 230 A of the assembly 210 C and the key 234 A of the assembly 210 C can be engaged with the keyway 204 C. In FIG. 4E , the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 D can be coupled to the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 C and to the elongate bottom crossbar. For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 C can be engaged with the keyway 230 A of the assembly 210 D and the key 234 A of the assembly 210 D can be engaged with the keyway 204 C. In FIG. 4F , the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E can be coupled to the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 D and to elongate bottom crossbar. For example, a fence board 222 of the assembly 210 D can be engaged with the keyway 236 A of the assembly 210 E and the key 240 A of the assembly 210 E can be engaged with the keyway 204 C.
[0071] In FIG. 4G , the center rail 212 can be coupled to the first side element or post 206 and to the sub-panel assemblies 210 A- 210 E. For example, the key 212 C can be engaged with the keyway 206 A, the keys 226 A, 232 A, and 238 A of the assemblies 210 A- 210 E can be engaged with the keyway 212 A, and screws can be used to secure the first side element or post 206 to the center rail 212 . In FIG. 4H , the second side element or post 208 can be coupled to the elongate bottom crossbar, the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E, and to the center rail 212 . For example, the keys 202 B, 204 B, 242 A, and 212 D can be engaged with the keyway 208 A and screws can be used to secure the second side element or post 208 to the elongate bottom crossbar and to the center rail 212 . In FIG. 4I , the first lattice component 214 can be coupled to the center rail 212 and to the first side element or post 206 . For example, the key 244 A can be engaged with the keyway 206 A and the key 250 A can be engaged with the keyway 212 B.
[0072] In FIG. 4J , the divider post 218 can be coupled to the center rail 212 and to the first lattice component 214 . For example, the key 246 A can be engaged with the keyway 218 A, the key 218 D can be engaged with the keyway 212 B, and screws can be used to secure the divider post 218 to the center rail 212 . In FIG. 4K , the second lattice component 216 can be coupled to the center rail 212 and to the divider post 218 . For example, the key 228 A can be engaged with the keyway 212 B and the key 252 A can be engaged with the keyway 218 B. In FIG. 4L , the top rail 220 can be coupled to the first side element or post 206 , the first lattice component 214 , the divider post 218 , the second lattice component 216 , and the second side element or post 208 . For example, the keys 206 B, 248 A, 218 C, 256 A, and 208 B can be engaged with the keyway 220 A and screws can be used to secure the top rail 220 to the first side element or post 206 , divider post 218 , and second side element or post 208 .
[0073] In the method illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4L , each of the sub-panel assemblies 210 and each of the lattice components 214 , 216 , can be pre-assembled. That is, the components of each sub-panel assembly 210 and each lattice component 214 , 216 , can be secured to one another prior to packaging the sub-panel assembly for storage or shipment. In alternative embodiments, however, these components can come disassembled instead of pre-assembled. The elongate bottom crossbar may be pre-assembled or coupled together prior to receipt by an end-user. Although a two-piece bottom crossbar is shown, a single, unitary bottom crossbar having the same or different cross-sectional profile may be provided in some embodiments.
[0074] In the method illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4L , the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , top rail 220 , second side element or post 208 , divider post 218 , first side element or post 206 , lattice components 214 , 216 , center rail 212 , and sub-panel assemblies 210 A- 210 E, can be disconnected from one another when packaged for storage and shipment. That is, no mechanical fasteners or adhesives can fasten or affix these components to one another when they are packaged for storage or shipment.
[0075] The components of a fence panel such as fence panel 200 can be referred to collectively as a fence panel kit. A fence panel kit can be packaged in various ways for storage and transportation from a manufacturing or packaging location to an installation location or other location, such as, for example, home improvement and hardware stores for sale to individual consumers, contractors, fence builders or others. FIG. 5 illustrates that in some embodiments, a fence panel kit 300 can include a plurality of fence panel components 302 packaged within external packaging 304 such as cardboard or plastic to form a single packaged arrangement 306 of fence panel components 302 . In some embodiments, the fence panel components 302 include the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , first side element or post 206 , second side element or post 208 , sub-panel assemblies 210 , center rail 212 , lattice components 214 , 216 , divider post 218 , and top rail 220 , and each of these components 302 can be disconnected from one another in the single packaged arrangement 306 of the kit 300 . Fasteners may also be included such that an entirety of a fence panel can be constructed or erected from the single packaged arrangement 306 .
[0076] FIGS. 5A through 5F illustrate one method of efficiently stacking the fence panel components 302 for packaging within the external packaging 304 . In particular, FIG. 5A illustrates that many of the components, including the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , first side element or post 206 , second side element or post 208 , center rail 212 , divider post 218 , and top rail 220 can be positioned in a first, bottom layer 330 with these components generally aligned longitudinally in a side-by-side manner, and the first and second lattice components 214 , 216 can be positioned in a second layer stacked on top of the first layer. FIG. 5B illustrates that the second end interior sub-panel assembly 210 E can be positioned in a third layer stacked on top of the second layer.
[0077] FIG. 5C illustrates that the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 D can be positioned in a fourth layer stacked on top of the third layer, such that the first end perimeter component 230 of the sub-panel assembly 210 D is positioned at a first side of the stack of the components 302 . FIG. 5D illustrates that the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 C can be positioned in a fifth layer stacked on top of the fourth layer, such that the first end perimeter component 230 of the sub-panel assembly 210 C is positioned at a second side, opposite to the first side, of the stack of the components 302 , such that the bottom perimeter component 234 of the assembly 210 C is adjacent to and offset from the top perimeter component 232 of the assembly 210 D, and such that the top perimeter component 232 of the assembly 210 C is adjacent to and offset from the bottom perimeter component 234 of the assembly 210 D.
[0078] FIG. 5E illustrates that the central interior sub-panel assembly 210 B can be positioned in a sixth layer stacked on top of the fifth layer, such that the first end perimeter component 230 of the sub-panel assembly 210 B is positioned at the first side of the stack of the components 302 , such that the bottom perimeter component 234 of the assembly 2106 is adjacent to and offset from the top perimeter component 232 of the assembly 210 C, and such that the top perimeter component 232 of the assembly 2106 is adjacent to and offset from the bottom perimeter component 234 of the assembly 210 C. FIG. 5F illustrates that the first end interior sub-panel assembly 210 A can be positioned in a seventh layer stacked on top of the sixth layer, such that the first end perimeter component 224 of the sub-panel assembly 210 A is positioned at the second side of the stack of the components 302 , such that the bottom perimeter component 228 of the assembly 210 A is adjacent to and offset from the top perimeter component 232 of the assembly 2106 , and such that the top perimeter component 226 of the assembly 210 A is adjacent to and offset from the bottom perimeter component 234 of the assembly 210 B.
[0079] Thus, the fence panel components 302 can be stacked in a nested configuration with each assembly 210 interlaid with the adjacent assemblies 210 such that the orientations of the assemblies 210 alternate within the stack of the components 302 . This nested stacking configuration can be particularly efficient, and can allow the stack of fence panel components 302 for constructing a fence panel having overall dimensions of about 72 inches wide by 72 inches tall to have a height of about 9 inches or less than 10 inches, a width of about 16 inches or less than 17 inches, and a length of about 72 inches or less than 73 inches, and be packaged in a single box or external packaging 304 having a height of about 9 inches or less than 10 inches, a width of about 16 inches or less than 17 inches (e.g., 16.25 inches), and a length of about 72 inches or less than or equal to 73 inches.
[0080] FIG. 6 illustrates that in other embodiments, a fence panel kit 310 can include a plurality of fence panel components 312 packaged within external packaging 314 such as metallic or plastic bands wrapped around the components 312 to hold them against one another to form a first packaged arrangement 316 of fence panel components 312 . In some embodiments, the fence panel components 312 include the components of a main body of a fence panel, that is, the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , first side element or post 206 , second side element or post 208 , sub-panel assemblies 210 , center rail 212 , divider post 218 , and the top rail 220 , as well as the fasteners such as screws that allow the components to be fastened to one another, and each of these components 312 can be disconnected from one another in the first packaged arrangement 316 of the kit 310 . The first packaged arrangement 316 can be referred to as a main body packaged arrangement 316 .
[0081] The fence panel kit 310 can also include a plurality of fence panel components 318 packaged within external packaging 320 such as metallic or plastic bands wrapped around the components 318 to hold them against one another to form a second packaged arrangement 322 of fence panel components 318 . In some embodiments, the fence panel components 318 include the first and second lattice components 214 , 216 , and each of these components 318 can be disconnected from one another in the second packaged arrangement 322 of the kit 310 . The second packaged arrangement 322 can be referred to as a lattice packaged arrangement. In such embodiments, a consumer (e.g., individual homeowner, contractor, fence builder, etc.) can purchase a main body packaged arrangement, and can select a lattice packaged arrangement from a plurality of different lattice packaged arrangements based on their preference for latticework patterns. Additional lattice components having different latticework patterns, such as copper lattice, solid slate filling in the lattice area, stamped tin lattice components, and lattice components having engraved figures such as stars, fish, etc. can also be made available for purchase by the consumer. Some examples of alternate lattice components are shown in FIG. 7 .
[0082] FIG. 6 illustrates a first configuration of the main body packaged arrangement 316 that includes a stack of the sub-panel assemblies 210 stacked on top of the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , first side element or post 206 , second side element or post 208 , center rail 212 , and top rail 220 . The divider post 218 can be adjacent to the stack of sub-panel assemblies 210 on top of the rest of the components 312 . In a second possible configuration, however, at least two sub-panel assemblies 210 are stacked on one another in a first stack, at least two sub-panel assemblies 210 are stacked on one another in a second stack, the first stack and the second stack are longitudinally adjacent to one another, and the first stack and the second stack are positioned on top of the rest of the components of the main body packaged arrangement 316 . In such a configuration, the rest of the components of the main body packaged arrangement 316 span across and hold the first and second stacks together.
[0083] Both of these configurations of the main body packaged arrangement are compact and space-efficient. In particular, a main body packaged arrangement 316 having the second configuration can have overall dimensions of about 99″ by about 16″ by about 6″, and can weigh about 65 lbs. or less. The lattice packaged arrangement can have overall dimensions of about 47″ by about 13″ by about 3″, and can weigh about 13 lbs. or less. A complete fence panel having a height of about 69″ and a length of about 72″ can be assembled from these two packaged arrangements of fence panel components.
[0084] As explained above, the lattice components 214 , 216 each have a first latticework pattern. FIG. 7 illustrates that fence panels can include various other lattice components that have various other latticework patterns. The components of the fence panels described herein other than the lattice components, e.g., the base element 202 , bottom rail 204 , first side element or post 206 , second side element or post 208 , sub-panel assemblies 210 , center rail 212 , divider post 218 , and top rail 220 , can be referred to collectively as a main body of the fence panel when assembled, and various different lattice components can be provided and can be interchangeably combined with the main body to form a fully assembled fence panel.
[0085] For example, FIG. 7 illustrates that some lattice components 262 , 264 can have a generally diagonal latticework pattern that is different from the latticework pattern shown in FIG. 1 and can be combined with a fence panel main body to form a fully assembled fence panel. As another example, FIG. 7 illustrates that some lattice components 266 , 268 can have a generally horizontal and vertical latticework pattern that is different from the aforementioned latticework patterns and can be combined with a fence panel main body to form a fully assembled fence panel. As yet another example, FIG. 7 illustrates that lattice components 270 , 272 can have a solid latticework pattern that is still yet different from the other illustrated latticework patterns and can be combined with a fence panel main body to form a fully assembled fence panel.
[0086] FIG. 7 illustrates that individual components of the fence panels described herein (e.g., the lattice components) can be interchanged or replaced with alternative components as desired, without the need to fabricate or obtain any additional components. FIG. 7 illustrates that the lattice components are interchangeable or replaceable, although all of the components of the fence panels described herein are similarly interchangeable or replaceable. For example, the sub-panel assemblies 210 can be replaced with sub-panel assemblies of another style or design. In some cases, the sub-panel assemblies 210 can be replaced with interior lattice elements having a latticework pattern matching the latticework pattern of one of the lattice elements described herein.
[0087] In some embodiments, any of the fence panels described herein can include a cable or wire such as a ⅛″ galvanized wire rope coupled to and spanning between the first side post and the second side post to provide tension between the side posts, such as to add lateral wind load stability for longer fence panels such as 96″ long fence panels. In some cases, the cable can be coupled to the first and second side posts using threaded bolts, which can be turned to adjust the tension in the cable. In some cases, additional coupling elements such as clips can be used to structurally tie the cable to an interior portion of the fence panel to reduce frictional wear of the fence panel caused by motion of the cable. Such an embodiment can be used to provide additional wind strength if desired in high wind load areas.
[0088] Any of the fence panel components described herein can be fabricated from any suitable material or materials, such as various wood materials, plastic materials, vinyl, or metal materials. The fence panels and fence panel components described herein can have any suitable dimensions. The fence panels described herein can have any number of lattice components and any number of interior sub-panel assemblies. For example, a fence panel can have two lattice components and five interior sub-panel assemblies. In other embodiments, a fence panel can have 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, or more lattice components, and the fence panel can have 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more interior sub-panel assemblies.
[0089] Moreover, the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/037,544 is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety. Aspects of the embodiments described herein can be combined with any additional aspects shown or described in the '544 application to provide yet further embodiments.
[0090] These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
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A fence panel can include a plurality of modular fence panel components that can be assembled modularly to form the fence panel. The fence panel components can include a system of keys and keyways that allow the components to interlock with one another when the fence panel is assembled to lock the components to one another to simplify the assembly process and to minimize the number of mechanical fasteners needed to assemble the fence panel.
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RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/550,612, filed on Sep. 23, 2005, which is a national stage application of PCT/IB2004/001284, filed on Mar. 24, 2004, which in turn is a continuation of PCT/EP03/03052, filed on Jul. 29, 2003; and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/502,241, filed on Jan. 28, 2005, which is a national stage application of PCT/EP02/10692, filed on Sep. 24, 2002, all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to a treatment composition and methods for exfoliating skin.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0003] A great many toothpaste compositions have been developed and marketed for several years now.
[0004] It is known that toothpaste formulations may contain various components, in particular water, a wetting agent (for example glycerol, sorbitol, xylitol or polyethylene glycol, etc.), a thickener (for example xanthan gum), a source of fluoride (usually sodium fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate (anti-tooth-decay), a colorant, a flavouring, a sweetener, a fragrance, a preserving agent, a surfactant and/or additive, etc.
[0005] They generally also contain an abrasive agent which must, by its mechanical action, remove dental plaque while at the same time not subjecting the teeth themselves to unacceptable abrasion.
[0006] Among the abrasive agents usually employed, mention may be made of sodium bicarbonates and calcium phosphates, sodium metaphosphates, aluminas and, in recent years, silicas.
[0007] However, the agents of the prior art, in particular silica and alumina abrasive agents in toothpaste compositions, are not always of desirable refractive index or porosity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is an object of the invention to overcome at least some of the above disadvantages.
[0009] According to the invention, there is provided a treatment composition which comprises a particulate erasing agent, the particles of the erasing agent being dimensioned to roll along a surface. In one embodiment, the treatment composition is a personal care treatment composition, such as, for example, a dental care treatment composition. Other types of personal care treatments include skin exfoliation and personal washing.
[0010] In this specification, the term “particulate erasing agent” should be understood as referring to a multiplicity of relatively soft particles which are dimensioned to be rolled along a surface and which, during such a rolling action, pick up debris, stains, plaque, tartar or the like from the surface, especially dental and gum surfaces, in a manner similar to which an eraser rubs pencil markings off a page.
[0011] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the dental treatment composition comprises a toothpaste or a toothgel. Typically, the particulate erasing agent comprises between 20% and 40% of the toothpaste or toothgel composition. In an alternative embodiment, the dental treatment composition comprises particulate erasing agent in a powder form, along with instructions explaining how the composition is administered to the teeth.
[0012] The invention also relates to the use of a particulate erasing agent in a dental treatment composition, wherein the particles of the erasing agent are dimensioned to roll along a surface.
[0013] The invention also relates to a method of treating teeth comprising the steps of:
[0014] applying a suitable amount of a dental treatment composition according to the invention onto a suitable applicator for the composition;
[0015] using the applicator to rub the composition onto a surface of the teeth such that at least some of the particles of the erasing agent roll along at least a portion of the teeth; and
[0016] optionally rinsing the composition off the teeth.
[0017] Typically, the applicator is a toothbrush, interdental brush, or soft rubber cup. When the applicator is a brush, it may be manually, mechanically or electrically operated.
[0018] The invention also relates to the use of the process of the invention in one or more dental applications selected from the group comprising: teeth brushing; teeth whitening; teeth cleaning; plaque and tartar removal; and general cleaning or polishing of the teeth. In this specification, the term teeth should be taken to include gums and mucous membranes of the buccal cavity, and prosthetic parts such as crowns, bridges and complete or partial dentures. As such, the process may involve either blast application using some form of particle accelerator, or manual application, of the treating agent. Manual application includes conventional brushing, rubbing, polishing or the like.
[0019] The invention also relates to the use of the process of the invention in treating bone or in skin exfoliation treatment.
[0020] In another embodiment, the treatment composition is a household care treatment composition. Thus, for example, the treatment composition may be a hard surface cleaner which may take the form of a particulate solid, a gel or a fluid such as a cream. In one embodiment, the hard surface treatment composition is suitable for use in cleaning surfaces such as baths, showers, sinks, tiled surfaces and the like. In another embodiment, the hard surface treatment composition is suitable for cleaning kitchen utensils such as pots, pans and other cooking and eating utensils. In another embodiment, the hard surface treatment composition is suitable for cleaning and/or polishing brassware, silverware and other metallic objects.
[0021] The invention also relates to a method of treating a hard surface comprising the steps of:
[0022] applying a suitable amount of a hard surface treatment composition according to the invention onto a suitable applicator for the composition;
[0023] using the applicator to rub the composition onto a hard surface such that at least some of the particles of the erasing agent roll along at least a portion of the hard surface; and
[0024] optionally rinsing the composition off the hard surface.
[0025] The invention also relates to a method of exfoliating skin comprising the steps of:
[0026] applying a suitable amount of an exfoliating treatment composition according to the invention onto a suitable applicator for the composition;
[0027] using the applicator to rub the composition onto skin such that at least some of the particles of the erasing agent roll along at least a portion of the skin; and optionally rinsing the composition off the skin.
[0028] In one preferred embodiment, exfoliating treatment composition is applied by hand and in such cases the applicator may be a users hand. Otherwise, a particle accelerator may be used to apply the composition.
[0029] The invention also relates to the use of precipitated or aggregated alkali metal carbonate as an erasing agent in personal and household care treatment compositions, especially personal and household care cleaning compositions.
[0030] The invention also relates to the use of precipitated or aggregated alkali metal carbonate in dental treatments, personal washing, skin exfoliating, and household cleaning, compositions.
[0031] Typically, the precipitated or aggregated alkali metal carbonate is precipitated or aggregated calcium carbonate (PCC). Typically, the PCC has an average particle size between 30 and 1000 microns. Preferably, the PCC has an average particle size between 30 and 500 microns, more preferably between 30 and 100 microns. Typically, the PCC has an average particle size between 70 and 90 microns. Suitably, the PCC has an average particle size which is preferably more than 50 microns, particularly when it is used for dental treatment. Methods of sizing the particles will be well known to those skilled in the art. For example, vibrating sieves may be employed to separate out particles within a given range, for example, 70 to 90 microns.
[0032] In one embodiment of the invention, the dental treatment composition comprises at least 3% water (W/W), generally at least 5% water (W/W).
[0033] Preferably, the particles of the erasing agent comprise a precipitate or aggregate of an insoluble alkali metal salt. Typically, the salt is a carbonate. Suitably, the alkali earth metal is calcium. Most preferably, the particles of the erasing agent comprise a precipitate or aggregate of insoluble calcium carbonate. Typically, the precipitate or aggregate of insoluble calcium carbonate is obtained by a nitric acid method or a calcium oxide method. In one preferred embodiment, the particles of the erasing agent comprise an aggregate of calcite crystals formed into a round shape during crystallisation.
[0034] Preferably, the particles are generally round. In this specification the term “generally round” as applied to particles should be understood to mean any shape which of particle which enables the particle to easily assume a rolling motion when moved along a surface. As such, while the term is primarily intended to refer to spherical particles, in one aspect it is not intended to exclude other types of spheroids such as spheres having an oblong or elliptical shape. Ideally, the particles are round. Typically, the particles will have an irregular surface configuration.
[0035] Ideally, the particles are relatively soft. Generally, the particles have an average hardness of less than 10 Mohs, typically less than 8 Mohs, and preferably less than 6 Mohs. Typically, the particles will have an average hardness of at least 1 Mohs, and preferably of at least 2 Mohs. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the particles will have an average hardness of about 3 Mohs. Typically, the particles have an average maximum diameter of between 30 and 1000 microns. Suitable methods of measuring Mohs hardness will be well known to those skilled in the field.
[0036] In one embodiment of the invention, the particles have an average maximum diameter of between 30 and 1000 microns, preferably between 60 and 120 microns, and most preferably between 70 and 80 microns.
[0037] Typically, the particulate erasing agent comprises between 1 and 75% of the total composition (W/W). Preferably, the particulate erasing agent comprises between 20 and 40%, most preferably between 25 and 35%, of the total composition (W/W).
[0038] In one embodiment of the invention, the dental treatment composition comprises a paste or a gel. Preferably, the dental treatment composition is a toothpaste. Alternatively, the dental treatment composition may comprise a teeth whitening composition, a plaque removal composition, a toothgel, a polishing paste, or the like.
[0039] In one embodiment of the invention, the dental treatment composition comprises a powder which, optionally, is used as an additive in a further component or components.
[0040] The invention also relates to the combination of a dental treatment composition according to the invention contained within a dispenser for the composition. Typically, the dispenser comprises a deformable tube. Other types of dental care composition dispensers are also envisaged such as, for example, piston pumps.
[0041] The invention also relates to a use of a particulate erasing agent in a dental treatment composition, wherein the particulate erasing agent comprises particles which are dimensioned to roll along a surface and which ideally have an average maximum diameter of between 30 and 1000 microns.
[0042] The invention also relates to the use of an alkali metal carbonate, typically precipitated or aggregated alkali metal carbonate, as a liquid hydrocarbon absorbing agent.
[0043] The invention also relates to a process for absorbing liquid hydrocarbon comprising the steps of bringing an alkali metal carbonate into contact with the liquid hydrocarbon, allowing the alkali metal carbonate absorb the liquid hydrocarbon, and removing the alkali metal carbonate.
[0044] In this specification, the term “liquid hydrocarbon” should be understood as including oil, petroleum and diesel.
[0045] Suitably, the process and use is suitable for cleaning up spilled oil.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0046] The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the following figures in which:
[0047] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a particle of a treating agent according to the invention; and
[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates the process of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0049] Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIG. 1 , there is illustrated a particle, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 , which is used in the process of the invention. The particle is a particle of precipitated calcium carbonate and has a generally round, and slightly irregular, shape and a rough, irregular, surface configuration.
[0050] Referring to FIG. 2 , the process of the invention is illustrated in which the particle 1 is rubbed along a surface 2 of a tooth having a coating 3 of plaque to be removed. Due to the nature and the round shape of the particle 1 , upon impact the particle 1 rolls along the surface, rubbing the surface and absorbing the coating 3 onto a surface of the particle. This has the net effect of removing the coating from the surface without causing any damage to the surface.
EXAMPLE 1
[0000] Method of production of particulate erasing agent (Calcium Oxide Method)
[0051] Production of insoluble calcium carbonate particles is carried out by providing free Ca ++ in a liquid with a pH over 7 by dissolving calcium oxide in water.
[0052] Addition of CO 2 results in the precipitation CaCO 3 .
Ca ++ +2OH − +CO 2 →CaCO 3 +H 2 O
[0053] Various other methods of production of particles forming part of treating agents according to the invention have been investigated using various types of substrates including plastic, metal and polymer. Examples of these methods include:
[0000] Chemical
[0054] There are numerous chemical methods for producing particulate erasing agents. Generally, chemical methods result in very fine powder particle sizes. Such methods include Sol Gel, chemical precipitation, Reaction, reduction (hydrogen in an autoclave to reduce metal salts to the metal), decomposition (e.g. metal carbonyls) and Electrolysis.
EXAMPLE 2
[0055] One specific method includes the steps of dissolving apatite in nitric acid (Nitric Acid Method). The thus formed liquid is cooled to crystallise out calcium nitrate. Calcium nitrate crystals are then separated from the thus-formed slurry by centrifugation or filtration. NH 3 and CO 2 is then added to the calcium nitrate, resulting in precipitation of CaCO3 and ammonium nitrate liquid. The precipitated CaCO 3 is then separated by filtering.
[0000] Spray Drying
[0056] This is the most widely used industrial process involving particle formation and drying. It is highly suited for the continuous production of dry solids in either powder, granulate or agglomerate form from liquid feedstocks as solutions, emulsions and pumpable suspensions.
[0000] Aggregation
[0057] The most common method of aggregation is where the constituents are physically mixed together with an organic binder. The solvent is then driven off and the resultant material sized. The binder should be burnt off during spraying. This process is used in the manufacture of NiAl, AlSi or polyester powders.
[0058] The most common method of agglomeration is where the constituents are physically mixed together with an organic binder. The solvent is then driven off and the resultant material sized. The binder should be burnt off during spraying. This process is used in the manufacture of NiAl, AlSi-polyester powders.
[0059] The use of spray drying has become another common method for the aggregation of powders. Here, a slurry is formed with the constituents and this is then fed into a rotary spray head. Here, the slurry forms an atomised cloud which is solidified by an opposing warm air stream to produce a powder. This method is used for ceramics such as zirconia and cermets such as WC-cobalt. The powder is largely spherical but in the as spray dried state can be porous and friable. The material is often densified and stabilised by sintering and/or spray densification.
[0060] There are also methods of mechanical aggregation (e.g. the Hosakawa method) where for example a hard constituent is mechanically driven into a softer matrix particle to form a composite powder. Indeed, simple ball grinding can be used to mechanically alloy two or more constituents together.
[0061] Although sintering can be used as part of the spray drying process it can also be used alone as a method to manufacture powders. The constituents are mixed together and heated to get some solid state diffusion going and then the resultant product is crushed. A number of repeated cycles can be used to promote further alloying in which case the powder is called a “reacted” powder.
[0000] Atomisation
[0062] There are a number of atomisation techniques which all rely on the production of a molten pool as the source. Atomisation methods include Rotating Electrode, Vibrating Electrode (arc), Centrifugal (from a melt) and Rapid Solidification (e.g. aluminium ribbon). However, by far the most commonly used methods are either water or gas atomisation.
[0000] Others
[0000]
Solid State Reduction
Electrolysis
Electrodeposition
Mechanical Comminution
[0067] The sources of commercially available precipitated calcium carbonate, and one means of manufacture, are listed in the paper entitled “Fine-Ground and Precipitated Calcium Carbonate” by Larisa Gorbaty, Andreas Leder and Yuka Yoshida, published in the Chemical Economics Handbook (1996—SRI International).
[0000] Toothpaste Compositions
[0068] As described above, the dental treatment composition of the invention may take the form of a toothpaste. In this regard, particulate erasing agent (precipitated calcium carbonate as formed in Example 2) may be added to a toothpaste composition in an amount of 30% of the toothpaste composition (w/w). Prior to addition of the erasing agent it is sized using vibrating sieves to ensure that the particles have an average diameter of about 70 microns. Other suitable sizing methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Details of toothpaste formulations will be well known to those skilled in the field dental treatment compositions and will not be described in any detail in this specification.
[0000] Personal Wash Compositions
[0069] The particulate erasing agent as produced in Example 2 (precipitated calcium carbonate) may be used in the formulation of personal wash compositions such as, for example, soap, shower gel, body wash, and the like. The amount of particulate erasing agent added to the compositions can be varied depending on the type of product. Otherwise, the composition of such personal wash composition will be known to those skilled in the field of personal wash formulation. Personal wash composition according to the invention are particularly suitable for washing oil and hydrocarbon-based soil from the skin and from other objects.
[0000] Skin Exfoliating Compositions
[0070] The particulate erasing agent as produced in Example 2 (precipitated calcium carbonate) may be used in the exfoliation of skin in compositions such as, for example, soap, shower gel, body wash, and the like. The amount of particulate erasing agent added to the compositions can be varied depending on the type of product. Otherwise, the composition of such skin exfoliating compositions will be known to those skilled in the field of personal wash formulation objects.
[0000] Household Care Composition
[0071] The formulation of household care composition, including hard surface cleaners in the forms of creams and particulate solids, will be well known to those skilled in the field of household cleaning and polishing composition formulation.
[0000] Liquid Hydrocarbon Absorbing
[0072] Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) having a particle size of about 70 microns (as prepared above) is used to remove oil spilled on the ground. The PCC is poured onto the oil in an amount sufficient to cover the oil. The PCC is then left to absorb the oil. After a suitable amount of time, the PCC is then swept up thereby removing the oil.
[0073] The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and process step without departing from the invention.
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The invention relates to a treatment composition for exfoliating skin comprising a particulate erasing agent, the particles of the erasing agent being dimensioned to roll along a surface. The particles have an average maximum diameter of between 30 and 1000 microns and consist of a precipitate of calcium carbonate. A method of skin exfoliation which employs the treatment composition of the invention is also disclosed.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present invention application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-251064 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Nov. 9, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Power consumption of portable electric devices has been on the increase in recent years. Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries used as the power sources of these devices are also increasingly required to achieve higher capacities.
[0006] Lithium-containing layered oxides such as LiCoO 2 , LiNiO 2 , and LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 have been studied to date as a positive electrode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery. However, for example, when Li 1-a CoO 2 is used, its crystal structure collapses when charging is conducted until a 0.6. Thus, a high positive electrode potential range remains unused and it has been difficult to increase the capacity. There has been the same problem with other positive electrode active materials.
[0007] In contrast, lithium-excess transition metal oxides such as Li 2 MnO 3 (Li[Li 1/3 Mn 2/3 ]O 2 ) and solid solutions thereof have a layered structure as with LiCoO 2 , and contain lithium in transition metal layers as well as a lithium layer. Thus lithium-excess transition metal oxides contain a larger amount Li contributing to charging and discharging and have drawn much attention as prospective positive electrode materials that can help achieve high capacities (U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,082 (Patent Document 1)).
[0008] However, nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries that use lithium-excess transition metal oxides as a positive electrode active material rarely achieve high cycle characteristics, which has been a problem.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that has high capacities and good cycle characteristics.
[0010] A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material, and a nonaqueous electrolyte solution containing a nonaqueous solvent. The positive electrode active material contains a lithium-containing transition metal oxide represented by general formula (1), Li 1+x Mn y M z O 2 (where x, y, and z satisfy 0<x<0.4, 0<y<1, 0<z<1, and x+y+z=1; and M represents at least one metal element and contains at least one of Ni and Co). The nonaqueous solvent contains a fluorinated cyclic carbonate having two or more fluorine atoms directly bonded to a carbonate ring.
[0011] According to this structure, a coating film is formed on a surface of the positive electrode active material. Thus, the reaction between the positive electrode active material and the electrolyte solution can be suppressed and the cycle characteristics can thereby be improved.
[0012] In general formula (1), x preferably satisfies 0.12<x<0.40, y preferably satisfies 0.4<y<1, and z preferably satisfies 0<z<0.6.
[0013] The lithium-containing transition metal oxide is preferably represented by general formula (2) Li 1+x Mn y Ni z1 Co z2 O 2 (where x, y, z1, and z2 satisfy 0<x<0.4, 0.4<y<1, 0 23 z1<0.4., 0≦z2<0.4, 0<z1+z2, and x+y+z1+z2=1). In particular, when z2 is within the above-described range, generation of gas caused by the reaction between the positive electrode active material and the fluorinated cyclic carbonate is suppressed.
[0014] The fluorinated cyclic carbonate content is preferably 5% to 50% by volume and more preferably 10% to 40% by volume relative to the total amount of the nonaqueous electrolyte solution. When the fluorinated cyclic carbonate content is smaller than the above-described range, the effect of suppressing the reaction between the positive electrode active material and the electrolyte solution is diminished. In contrast, when the fluorinated cyclic carbonate content is larger than the above-described range, the coating film formed on the negative electrode becomes too thick and the effect of improving cycle characteristics is diminished.
[0015] The fluorinated cyclic carbonate may be a single fluorinated cyclic carbonate or two or more fluorinated cyclic carbonates used in combination. At least one of the fluorinated cyclic carbonates is preferably difluoroethylene carbonate and more preferably 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate. 4,5-Difluoroethylene carbonate has a cis isomer and a trans isomer and either isomer may be used.
[0016] The nonaqueous solvent preferably further contains at least one of ethyl methyl carbonate, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methyl carbonate, or methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate.
[0017] When a boron-containing oxide and/or a boron-containing hydroxide adhere to surfaces of particles of the positive electrode active material, decomposition of the electrolyte solution is suppressed at a high charging voltage. As a result, the cycle characteristics are further improved.
[0018] The lower limit of the amount of the boron-containing oxide, the boron-containing hydroxide, or both relative to the total amount of the positive electrode active material is preferably 0.05% by mass or more and more preferably 0.1% by mass or more. The upper limit is preferably 5% by mass or less and more preferably 3% by mass or less. When the adhered amount is less than the lower limit, the effect of further improving the cycle characteristics is diminished. When the adhered amount is more than the upper limit, the effect of increasing the capacity is diminished.
[0019] As for the form of adhesion, the boron-containing oxide or boron-containing hydroxide having a protruding shape is preferably evenly dispersed and adhered to surfaces of the lithium-containing transition metal oxide. The lithium-containing transition metal oxide preferably contains a structure that belongs to space group C2/m or C2/c. The lithium-containing transition metal oxide preferably further contains a structure that belongs to space group R-3m.
[0020] The negative electrode active material preferably contains silicon since not only the battery capacity per unit volume is increased compared to carbon negative electrodes of related art but also generation of gas caused by a reaction between the negative electrode and the fluorinated cyclic carbonate can be suppressed.
[0021] The potential of the positive electrode is preferably 4.5 V or more on a metallic lithium basis since the battery capacity per unit mass and per unit volume is increased. The potential of the positive electrode is more preferably 4.7 V or more on a metallic lithium basis to further increase the battery capacity. Although the upper limit for the potential of the positive electrode is not particularly set, the upper limit is preferably 5.0 V or less. This is because an excessively high potential induces decomposition of the electrolyte solution and other problems.
[0022] In synthesizing the lithium-containing transition metal oxide, a method usually employed for synthesizing a lithium-containing transition metal oxide, such as a solid phase method, can be employed. For example, the lithium-containing transition metal oxide can be synthesized by mixing a lithium salt, a manganese salt, a cobalt salt, and a nickel salt with one another at a particular molar ratio and firing the resulting mixture at 700° C. to 900° C.
[0023] The negative electrode active material is preferably a material that can occlude and release lithium. Examples thereof include lithium, silicon, lithium alloys, carbonaceous materials, and metal compounds. These negative electrode active materials may be used alone or in combination.
[0024] Examples of the lithium alloys include a lithium aluminum alloy, a lithium silicon alloy, a lithium tin alloy, and a lithium magnesium alloy. Examples of the carbonaceous materials include natural graphite, synthetic graphite, coke, vapor-grown carbon fibers, mesophase-pitch-based carbon fibers, spherical carbon, and resin-baked carbon.
[0025] Each of the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material may be mixed with a conducting agent and a binder and used as a mix. A conductive aunt is not needed when the conductivity of the active material is high. A conductive agent is preferably mixed when the conductivity of the active material is low. The conductive agent may be any material having conductivity and may be at least one selected from oxides, carbides, nitrides, and carbon materials having high conductivity. Examples of the oxides include tin oxide and indium oxide. Examples of the carbides include tungsten carbide and zirconium carbide. Examples of the nitrides include titanium nitride and tantalum nitride.
[0026] When the amount of the conductive agent mixed is excessively small, the conductivity of the mix may become insufficient. In contrast, when the amount of conductive agent mixed is excessively large, the fraction of the active material in the mix is decreased and a high energy density may not be achieved. Accordingly, the amount of the conductive agent is preferably more than 0% by mass and 30% by mass or less, more preferably 1% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, and most preferably 2% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less relative to the total amount of the active material.
[0027] Examples of the binder include polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl acetate, polymethacrylate, polyacrylate, polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl alcohol, styrene-butadiene rubber, and carboxymethyl cellulose.
[0028] When the amount of the binder mixed is excessively small, the contact between the mix and the collector may become insufficient. When the amount of the binder mixed is excessively large, the fraction of the active material in the mix is decreased and a high energy density may not be obtained. Accordingly, the amount of binder relative to the total amount of the active material is preferably more than 0% by mass or more and 30% by mass or less, more preferably 1% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, and most preferably 2% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less.
[0029] Examples of the fluorinated cyclic carbonate include 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate, 4,4-difluoroethylene carbonate, 4,4,5-trifluoroethylene carbonate, and 4,4,5,5-tetrafluoroethylene carbonate.
[0030] The nonaqueous solvent may further contain a cyclic carbonate ester, a linear carbonate ester, an ester, a cyclic ether, a linear ether, a nitrile, and/or an amide.
[0031] Examples of the cyclic carbonate include ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, and butylene carbonate. Some or all of the hydrogen atoms of these compounds may be fluorinated.
[0032] Examples of the linear carbonate ester include dimethyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, methyl propyl carbonate, ethyl propyl carbonate, and methyl isopropyl carbonate. Some or all of the hydrogen atoms of these linear carbonate esters may be fluorinated.
[0033] Examples of the ester include methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, methyl propionate, ethyl propionate, and γ-butyrolactone.
[0034] Examples of the cyclic ether include 1,3-dioxolane, 4-methyl-1,3-dioxolane, tetrahydrofuran, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, propylene oxide, 1,2-butylene oxide, 1,4-dioxane, 1,3,5-trioxane, furan, 2-methylfuran, 1,8-cineol, and a crown ether.
[0035] Examples of the linear ether include 1,2-dimethoxyethane, diethyl ether, dipropyl ether, diisopropyl ether, dibutyl ether, dihexyl ether, ethyl vinyl ether, butyl vinyl ether, methyl phenyl ether, ethyl phenyl ether, butyl phenyl ether, pentyl phenyl ether, methoxy toluene, benzyl ethyl ether, diphenyl ether, dibenzyl ether, o-dimethoxy benzene, 1,2-diethoxyethane, 1,2-dibutoxyethane, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, diethylene glycol diethyl ether, diethylene glycol dibutyl ether, 1,1-dimethoxymethane, 1,1-diethoxyethane, triethylene glycol dimethyl ether, and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether.
[0036] Examples of the nitrile include acetonitrile. Examples of the amide include dimethyl formamide.
[0037] These nonaqueous solvents may be used alone or in combination.
[0038] The electrolyte added to the nonaqueous solvent can be a lithium salt generally used as the electrolyte in existing nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries. Examples thereof include LiPF 6 , LiBF 4 , LiAsF 6 , LiClO 4 , LiCF 3 SO 3 , LiN(FSO 2 ) 2 , LiN(C 1 F 2l+1 SO 2 )(C m F 2m+1 SO 2 ) (l and m are each an integer of 1 or more), LiC(C p F 2p+1 SO 2 )(C q F 2q+1 SO 2 )(C r F 2r+1 SO 2 ) (p, q, and r are each an integer of 1 or more), Li[B(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ](lithium bis(oxalate)borate (LiBOB)), Li[B(C 2 O 4 )F 2 ], Li[P(C 2 O 4 )F 4 ], and Li[P(C 2 O 4 ) 2 F 2 ]. These lithium salts may be used alone or in combination.
Nonaqueous Electrolyte Secondary Battery
[0039] A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode active material, a nonaqueous electrolyte solution, and other battery components such as a separator, a battery case, and a collector that supports the active materials and collects power. No particular limitations are imposed on components other than the positive electrode active material and the nonaqueous solvent. Various components known in the art can be freely selected.
[0040] The present invention provides a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that has high capacities and excellent cycle characteristics.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041] The FIGURE is a schematic diagram of a battery prepared in Examples and Comparative Examples.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0042] The present invention will now be described in further detail by using examples. The present invention is not limited by the examples described below and modifications and alterations thereof is possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.
EXAMPLES
Experiment 1
Example 1
Preparation of Positive Electrode
[0043] Lithium hydroxide (LiOH) was mixed with Mn 0.67 Ni 0.17 Co 0.17 (OH) 2 prepared by a coprecipitation method so that the stoichiometric ratio of Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 was satisfied. The mixed powder was pelletized and fired for 24 hours at 900° C. in air to synthesize a positive electrode active material. The positive electrode active material was dipped in a 1 mass % H 3 BO 3 solution, dried in air at 80° C., and fired for 10 hours at 300° C. in air.
[0044] The resulting positive electrode active material was analyzed by powder X-ray diffractometry to identify phases. As a result, a mixed phase of a structure belonging to space group R-3m and a structure belonging to space group C2/m was found.
[0045] The resulting positive electrode active material, acetylene black, and polyvinylidene fluoride were mixed at a mass ratio of 92:4:4, and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was added to the mixture to prepare a slurry. The slurry was applied on both sides of a collector composed of an aluminum foil, dried in air at 120° C., rolled, and cut into a particular size. Then a positive electrode tab 1 composed of aluminum was attached to an uncoated part of the electrode to prepare a positive electrode 2 as shown in the FIGURE.
Preparation of Negative Electrode
[0046] Silicon, carbon, and polyimide were mixed at a mass ratio of 86.4:3.6:6.5 and NMP was added to the resulting mixture to prepare a slurry. The slurry was applied on both sides of a collector composed of a copper foil, dried in air at 120° C., and rolled. The resulting electrode was heat-treated for 10 hours at 400° C. in an argon atmosphere. Then the electrode was cut into a particular size and a negative electrode tab 3 composed of nickel was attached to an uncoated portion of the electrode to prepare a negative electrode 4 as shown in the FIGURE.
Preparation of Nonaqueous Electrolyte Solution
[0047] In a nonaqueous solvent prepared by mixing 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate at a volume ratio of 2:8, 1 mol of LiPF 6 was dissolved per liter to prepare a nonaqueous electrolyte solution 5 as shown in the FIGURE.
Preparation of Battery
[0048] The positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 4 were wound with a polyethylene separator 6 therebetween and inserted into a battery can 7 . The nonaqueous electrolyte solution 5 prepared as above was poured into the battery can 7 and a lid was sealed to prepare a battery A 1 shown in the FIGURE.
Example 2
[0049] A battery A 2 was prepared as in Example 1 except that the nonaqueous electrolyte solution was prepared by dissolving 1 mol of LiPF 6 per liter of a nonaqueous solvent prepared by mixing 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate and methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate at a volume ratio of 2:8.
Comparative Example 1
[0050] A battery X 1 was prepared as in Example 1 except that the nonaqueous electrolyte solution was prepared by dissolving 1 mol of LiPF 6 per liter of a nonaqueous solvent prepared by mixing 4-fluoroethylene carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate at a volume ratio of 2:8.
Evaluation of Cycle Characteristics
[0051] Each of the batteries A 1 , A 2 , and X 1 was charged at a constant current of 0.5 It until the battery voltage was 4.45 V and then charged at a constant voltage of 4.45 V until the current value was 0.05 It. The potential of the positive electrode at this stage was 4.60 V on a metallic lithium basis. Then discharge was conducted at a constant current of 0.5 It until the battery voltage was 1.50 V and the initial discharge capacity Q 1 of the battery was measured. Charge-discharge cycles were conducted under the charge/discharge conditions of this experiment and the discharge capacity Q 2 of the 100th cycle was measured. The 100th-cycle capacity retaining ratio was determined as the ratio of Q 2 to Q 1 (Q 2 /Q 1 )×100. The results are shown in Table 1.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Initial
100th-cycle
discharge
capacity
capacity
retaining
Nonaqueous solvent
(mAh)
ratio (%)
Battery A1
4,5-Difluoroethylene
1180
76.9
carbonate/ethyl methyl carbonate
Battery A2
4,5-Difluoroethylene
1180
90.9
carbonate/methyl 3,3,3-
trifluoropropionate
Battery X1
4-Fluoroethylene carbonate/ethyl
1200
0
methyl carbonate
[0052] The results from the batteries A 1 and X 1 in Table 1 show that adding 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate to the electrolyte solution significantly improves the cycle characteristics. Although the reason for this is not clear, the following can be presumed. When general formula (1) is satisfied, oxygen is released from the positive electrode active material during initial charging. 4,5-Difluoroethylene carbonate reacts with the oxygen released from the positive electrode active material and forms a coating film on a surface of the positive electrode active material. As a result, the reaction between the positive electrode active material and the electrolyte solution can be suppressed. Presumably, the cycle characteristics of the battery A 1 were better than those of the battery X 1 since this coating film is more stable than a coating film formed by 4-fluoroethylene carbonate.
[0053] The results from the batteries A 1 and A 2 show that adding methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate to the nonaqueous solvent further improves the cycle characteristics. One of the reasons for this is presumably that the viscosity of methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate is lower than that of ethyl methyl carbonate and thus methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate has a higher penetrability to the mix of the electrolyte solution. Another possible reason is that the oxidation resistance of methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate at a high potential is higher than that of ethyl methyl carbonate.
Experiment 2
Example 3
[0054] A battery A 3 was prepared as in Example 2 except that the composition of the positive electrode active material was changed to Li 1.04 Mn 0.32 Co 0.32 Ni 0.32 O 2 .
Comparative Example 2
[0055] A battery X 2 was prepared as in Example 3 except that the nonaqueous electrolyte solution was prepared by dissolving 1 mol of LiPF 6 per liter of a nonaqueous solvent prepared by mixing 4-fluoroethylene carbonate and methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate at a volume ratio of 2:8.
[0056] Evaluation of Cycle Characteristics
[0057] Each of the batteries A 3 and X 2 was charged at a constant current of 0.5 It until the battery voltage was 4.45 V and then charged at a constant voltage of 4.45 V until the current value was 0.05 It. The potential of the positive electrode at this stage was 4.60 V on a metallic lithium basis. Then discharge was conducted at a constant current of 0.5 It until the battery voltage was 2.50 V and the initial discharge capacity Q 3 of the battery was measured. Charge-discharge cycles were conducted under the charge/discharge conditions of this experiment and the discharge capacity Q 4 of the 150th cycle was measured. The 150th-cycle capacity retaining ratio was determined as the ratio of Q 4 to Q 3 (Q 4 /Q 3 )×100. The results are shown in Table 2.
[0000]
TABLE 2
Initial
150th-cycle
discharge
capacity
capacity
retaining
Nonaqueous solvent
(mAh)
ratio (%)
Battery A3
4,5-Difluoroethylene
1100
81.6
carbonate/methyl 3,3,3-
trifluoropropionate
Battery X2
4-Fluoroethylene carbonate/
1100
32.4
methyl 3,3,3-trifluoropropionate
[0058] The results from the batteries A 3 and X 2 in Table 2 show that adding 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate to the electrolyte solution significantly improves the cycle characteristics. The results from the battery A 2 in Table 1 and the battery A 3 in Table 2 show that the cycle characteristics are further improved when x in general formula (1) satisfies 0.12<x<0.40.
Experiment 3
Comparative Example 3
[0059] A positive electrode active material, LiCoO 2 was prepared as in Example 1 except that Li 2 CO 3 and Co 3 O 4 were used. A battery X 3 was prepared as in Example 1 except that this positive electrode active material and the following nonaqueous electrolyte solution were used.
Preparation of Nonaqueous Electrolyte Solution
[0060] A nonaqueous electrolyte solution was prepared by dissolving 1 mol of LiPF 6 per liter of a nonaqueous solvent prepared by mixing 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate and methyl propionate at a volume ratio of 2:8.
Comparative Example 4
[0061] A battery X 4 was prepared as in Comparative Example 3 except that the nonaqueous electrolyte solution was prepared by dissolving 1 mol of LiPF 6 per liter of a nonaqueous solvent prepared by mixing 4-fluoroethylene carbonate and methyl propionate at a volume ratio of 2:8.
Evaluation of Cycle Characteristics
[0062] Each of the batteries X 3 and X 4 was charged at a constant current of 1.0 It until the battery voltage was 4.20 V and then charged at a constant voltage of 4.20 V until the current value was 0.05 It. The potential of the positive electrode at this stage was 4.35 V on a metallic lithium basis. Then discharge was conducted at a constant current of 1.0 It until the battery voltage was 2.75 V and the initial discharge capacity Q 5 of the battery was measured. Charge-discharge cycles were conducted under the charge/discharge conditions of this experiment and the discharge capacity Q 6 of the 100th cycle was measured. The 100th-cycle capacity retaining ratio was determined as the ratio of Q 6 to Q 5 (Q 6 /Q 5 )×100. The results are shown in Table 3.
[0000]
TABLE 3
Initial
100th-cycle
discharge
capacity
capacity
retaining
Nonaqueous solvent
(mAh)
ratio (%)
Battery X3
4,5-Difluoroethylene
900
77.3
carbonate/methyl propionate
Battery X4
4-Fluoroethylene carbonate/
900
74.2
methyl propionate
[0063] The results from the batteries X 3 and X 4 show that when the positive electrode active material is LiCoO 2 , the effect of improving the cycle characteristics achieved by 4,5-difluoroethylene carbonate is not so significant compared to 4-fluoroethylene carbonate. The results from batteries A 1 to A 3 and X 3 show that a high initial discharge capacity can be obtained when general formula (1) is satisfied.
[0064] Accordingly, the present invention can provide a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that has high capacities and excellent cycle characteristics.
[0065] While detailed embodiments have been used to illustrate the present invention, to those skilled in the art, however, it will be apparent from the foregoing disclosure that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing description of the embodiments according to the present invention is provided for illustration only, and is not intended to limit the invention.
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A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material, and a nonaqueous electrolyte solution containing a nonaqueous solvent. The positive electrode active material contains a lithium-containing transition metal oxide represented by general formula (1), Li 1+x Mn y M z O 2 (where x, y, and z satisfy 0<x<0.4, 0<y<1, 0<z<1, and x+y+z=1; and M represents at least one metal element and contains at least one of Ni and Co). The nonaqueous solvent contains a fluorinated cyclic carbonate having two or more fluorine atoms directly bonded to a carbonate ring.
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CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0111413, filed Sep. 16, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
Technical Field
[0002] The disclosure relates to a touch window.
[0003] A touch window is installed on a display surface of an image display device such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an electro-luminescence device (ELD), so that a user inputs predetermined information into an electronic appliance by pressing the touch panel while viewing the image display device.
[0004] Due to the static electricity or ESD (Electric Static Discharge) generated from such a touch window, electrical signal interference is caused so that the accuracy of a touch is deteriorated.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] The embodiment provides a touch window having the improved reliability.
[0006] A touch window according to the embodiment includes a cover substrate; a ground electrode on the cover substrate; and a circuit substrate on the cover substrate, including a ground connecting part connected with the ground electrode and an open area to expose the ground connecting part, wherein the ground electrode is electrically connected to the ground connecting part through the open area.
[0007] The ground electrode is disposed on the cover substrate included in the touch window according to the embodiment. The ground electrode prevents static electricity or ESD in the touch window. That is, the static electricity or ESD moves along a path of the ground electrode, an that the static electricity or ESD can be prevented from being introduced into the touch window. The ground electrode is disposed along the edge of the cover substrate, so that the static electricity or ESD can be effectively prevented from being introduced into the touch window. The ground electrode is connected to the circuit substrate so that the ESD in the touch window can be discharged as an electrical signal.
[0008] Thus, signal interference is prevented, so that accuracy and reliability of a touch can be improved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an exploded touch window according to an embodiment.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along tine A-A′ of FIG. 1 .
[0011] FIGS. 3 to 7 are perspective views showing exploded touch windows according to other embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] In the following description of the embodiments, it will be understood that, when a layer (or film), a region, a pattern, or a structure is referred to as being “on” or “under” another substrate, another layer (or film), another region, another pad, or another pattern, it can be “directly” or “indirectly” on the other substrate, layer (or film), region, pad, or pattern, or one or more intervening layers may also be present. Such a position of the layer has been described with reference to the drawings.
[0013] The thickness and size of each layer shown in the drawings may be exaggerated, omitted or schematically drawn for the purpose of convenience or clarity In addition, the size of elements does not utterly reflect an actual size.
[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.
[0015] First, a touch window according to an embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 . FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an exploded touch window according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ of FIG. 1 .
[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the touch window includes a cover substrate 100 , an electrode substrate 200 and a circuit substrate 300 .
[0017] The cover substrate 100 is disposed at the uppermost position of the touch window, An input device such as a finger may be touched to a top surface of the cover substrate 100 . The cover substrate 100 may protect various elements disposed below the cover substrate 100 . For example, the cover substrate 100 may include strengthened glass, half-strengthened glass, sodalime glass or strengthened plastic.
[0018] A first area 1 A and a second area 2 A surrounding the first area 1 A are defined in the cover substrate 100 . The first area 1 A may include a display area in which a real user performs a touch instruction input.
[0019] The electrode substrate 200 may be disposed at a position corresponding to the first area 1 A. That is, the electrode substrate 200 may be disposed to overlap the first area 1 A. Therefore, a touch and an information input may be performed through the first area 1 A.
[0020] The ground electrode 130 may be disposed in the second area 2 A. In detail, the cover substrate 100 may include one surface 100 a through which a real user performs a touch instruction input and the opposite surface to the one surface 100 a, and the ground electrode 130 may be disposed at an edge of the opposite surface 100 b. Thus, the ground electrode 130 may be disposed in the remaining area except for the area in which the electrode substrate 200 is disposed. The ground electrode 130 may be disposed such that the ground electrode 130 does not make contact with the electrode substrate 200 . The ground electrode 130 may not overlap the electrode substrate 200 .
[0021] The ground electrode 130 may be disposed along a border of the second area 2 A. The ground electrode 130 may have various line widths to the extent that the ground electrode 130 does not overlap with the electrode substrate 200 .
[0022] Meanwhile, an outer dummy layer may be formed in the second area 2 A such that the ground electrode 130 , a wire and a circuit substrate are not seen from an outside, The outer dummy layer may be formed by coating a material having a predetermined color. The outer dummy layer may have a color suitable for an outer appearance. For example, the outer dummy layer may include a black pigment to present a black color. The outer dummy layer may be formed through a depositing, printing or wet coating scheme. In this case, the ground electrode 130 may be disposed on the outer dummy layer.
[0023] The ground electrode 130 prevents static electricity or ESD in the touch window. That is, the static electricity or ESD moves along a path of the ground electrode 130 , so that the static electricity or ESD can be prevented from being introduced into the touch window, The ground electrode 130 is disposed along the edge of the cover substrate 100 , so that the static electricity or ESD can be effectively prevented from being introduced into the touch window. The ground electrode 130 may be disposed along the entire edge of the cover substrate 100 . The ground electrode 130 is connected to the circuit substrate 300 , so that the ESD in the touch window can be discharged as an electrical signal. Thus, signal interference is prevented, so that the accuracy and reliability of a touch can be improved,
[0024] The ground electrode 130 may include metal. The ground electrode 130 may include low-resistance metal. For example, the ground electrode 130 may include silver (Ag), copper (Cu) or nickel (Ni).
[0025] Meanwhile, the ground electrode 130 may include a carbon group material. Thus, the cost may be reduced and the circuit corrosion may be prevented. Therefore, the ground electrode 130 is usable for a touch device having various use environments.
[0026] Specifically, when the ground electrode 130 includes a silver-carbon material, the ground electrode 130 may have a gray tone color. Therefore, this is useful in terms of design.
[0027] The ground electrode 130 may be formed by printing metallic paste or a carbon group material.
[0028] Meanwhile, a sensing electrode 210 and a wire 220 are disposed on the electrode substrate 200 .
[0029] The sensing electrode 210 may sense an input device. Although the sensing electrode 210 is depicted in a bar shape in FIG. 1 , but the embodiment is not limited thereto. Thus, the sensing electrode 210 may be formed in various shapes capable of sensing a touch of an input device such as a finger.
[0030] The sensing electrode 210 may include a transparent conductive material allowing electricity to flow therethrough without interrupting the transmission of light. To this end, the sensing electrode 210 may include various materials such as indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, copper oxide, carbon nano tube (CNT) or an Ag nano wire.
[0031] Although the sensing electrode 210 extending in one direction is depicted in FIG. 1 , the embodiment is not limited thereto. The sensing electrode 210 may include two types of sensing electrodes, one of which extends in one direction and the other extends in another direction crossing the one direction.
[0032] If the input device such as a finger is touched on such a touch window, a difference in capacitance is caused in the portion touched by the input device, and the portion having the difference in capacitance may be detected as a touch position.
[0033] The wire 220 may be disposed on the electrode substrate 200 for the purpose of an electrical connection of the sensing electrode 210 . The wire 220 may include a material having excellent electrical conductivity. For example, the wire 220 may include Cr, Ni, Cu, Al, Ag and Mo, and the alloy thereof. Specifically, the wire 220 may include various metallic paste materials which may form the wire 220 through a printing process.
[0034] A pad part 230 is disposed at an end of the wire 220 . The pad part 230 may be connected to the circuit substrate 300 . The pad part 230 may be connected to a connecting part 310 of the circuit substrate 300 .
[0035] Various types of circuit substrates may be applied as the circuit substrate 300 . For example, a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) may be applied as the circuit substrate 300 .
[0036] Although not shown in the drawings, a connector and a driving chip may be mounted on the circuit substrate 300 ,
[0037] The circuit substrate 300 may include a top coverlay 360 and a bottom coverlay 340 . The wire and ground connecting parts 310 and 320 may be formed in the circuit substrate 300 . In detail, wire and ground connecting parts 310 and 320 may be formed in the bottom coverlay 340 .
[0038] The wire and ground connecting parts 310 and 320 may be disposed on mutually different surfaces of the bottom coverlay 340 . That is, the wire and ground connecting parts 310 and 320 may be disposed on both surfaces of the bottom coverlay 340 , respectively. The wire connecting part 310 may be disposed to face the electrode substrate 200 . The ground connecting part 320 may be disposed to face the cover substrate 100 ,
[0039] The wire connecting part 310 may be connected to the wire 220 . In detail, the wire connecting part 310 may be connected to the pad part 230 disposed at the end of the wire 220 . Thus, the wire connecting part 310 may be electrically connected to the pad part 230 so that the wire connecting part 310 may be transferred to the pad part 230 ,
[0040] The ground connecting part 320 may be connected to the ground electrode 130 . The ground connecting part 320 may be connected to the ground electrode 130 through an adhesive layer 400 and an open area OA.
[0041] In detail, the circuit substrate 300 includes the open area OA. The open area OA is disposed at a portion of the circuit substrate 300 . The open area OA is disposed in the top coverlay 360 . The open area OA is disposed over the ground connecting part 320 .
[0042] The ground connecting part may be exposed through the open area OA. In addition, the open area OA may expose a portion of the adhesive layer 400 . Thus, the ground connecting part 320 , the adhesive layer 400 and the ground electrode 130 may be connected to each other through the open area OA. In this case, the adhesive layer 400 may include a conductive material.
[0043] Although the ground connecting unit 320 , the open area OA of the circuit substrate 300 and the adhesive layer 400 are depicted in FIG. 2 as spaced apart from each other, the ground connecting part 320 , the adhesive layer 400 and the ground electrode 130 may really make contact with each other through the open area OA. Titus, the ground connecting part and the ground electrode 130 may be electrically connected to each other,
[0044] Therefore, while the adhesive layer 400 adheres to the cover substrate 100 and the circuit substrate 300 , the adhesive layer 400 may electrically connect the ground electrode 130 to the ground connecting part 320 .
[0045] Hereinafter, a touch window according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7 In the following description about the touch window according to another embodiment, the parts similar or identical to those of the previously described embodiment will be omitted for the purpose of clear and brief description.
[0046] Referring to FIG, 3 , the ground electrode 130 , which is disposed on a lower surface of the cover substrate 109 , may have a ring shape. That is, the ground electrode 130 may include a curved line. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and the ground electrode 130 may have various shapes.
[0047] Referring to FIG. 4 , a first ground electrode 130 is disposed on the lower surface of the cover substrate 100 , First and second electrode substrates 201 and 202 are disposed on the lower surface of the cover substrate 100 .
[0048] A first sensing electrode 211 is disposed on the first electrode substrate 201 and a second ground electrode 249 is disposed adjacently to the first sensing electrode 211 . In detail, the second ground electrode 240 may be disposed at the outmost portion of the first sensing electrode 211 . That is, the second ground electrode 240 may be disposed at an outer portion of the first electrode substrate 201 . Meanwhile, the second ground electrode 240 may be disposed in the first area 1 A which is a display area. Similarly with the first ground electrode 130 , the second ground electrode 240 prevents static electricity or ESD in the touch window. in addition, the second ground electrode 249 may prevent signal interference of the first sensing electrodes 211 .
[0049] The second ground electrode 240 may be disposed to surround an outer portion of the first electrode substrate 201 . However, differently from those depicted in the drawings, when long and short sides of the first electrode substrate 201 are defined, the second ground electrode 240 may extend along the long side of the first electrode substrate 201 . That is, the first ground electrode 130 may extend in the same direction as the first sensing electrode 211 .
[0050] A pad part 250 may be disposed at an end of the second ground electrode 240 , so that the pad part 250 may be connected to a connecting part 350 of the circuit substrate 300 .
[0051] Meanwhile, the second electrode substrate 202 may be disposed on a lower surface of the first electrode substrate 201 . In addition, a second sensing electrode 212 is disposed on the second electrode substrate 202 and a third ground electrode 241 is disposed adjacently to the second sensing electrode 212 . In detail, the third ground electrode 241 may be disposed at the outmost portion of the second sensing electrode 212 . That is, the third ground electrode 241 may be disposed at an outer portion of the second electrode substrate 202 . Similarly with the first ground electrode 130 , the third ground electrode 241 also prevents static electricity or ESD in the touch window. in addition, the third ground electrode 241 may prevent signal interference of the second sensing electrodes 212 .
[0052] The third ground electrode 241 may be disposed to surround an outer portion of the second electrode substrate 202 . However, differently from those depicted in the drawings, when long and short sides of the second electrode substrate 202 are defined, the third ground electrode 241 may extend along the long side of the second electrode substrate 202 . The first ground electrode 130 may extend in a direction crossing the extension direction of the second sensing electrode 212 .
[0053] A pad part 251 may he disposed at an end of the third ground electrode 241 , so that the pad part 251 may be connected to a connecting part 351 of the second circuit substrate 301 .
[0054] Next, referring to FIG. 5 , sensing electrodes 210 may be disposed on the electrode substrate 200 and second ground electrodes 240 may be interposed between the sensing electrodes 210 . In this case, the second ground electrodes 240 may be transparently formed. Thus, the second ground electrodes 240 may he prevented from being seen in the first area IA which is a display area. In addition, a width of a bezel may be reduced, so that a wider display area may be achieved, thereby overcoming a limitation in terms of design.
[0055] Referring to FIG. 6 , the first sensing electrode 211 may be formed directly on the lower surface of the cover substrate 100 . Thus, an electrode substrate for forming the first sensing electrode 211 may be omitted, so that the thickness of the touch window may be reduced.
[0056] In this case, the top coverlay 360 may include the first and second open areas OA 1 and OA 2 .
[0057] The ground connecting part 320 and the wire connecting part 310 may be disposed on the same plane on the bottom coverlay 360 . Meanwhile, the second wire connecting part 311 may be disposed on an opposite surface of the bottom coverlay 360 . The second wire connecting part 311 may face the second electrode substrate 202 .
[0058] The first open area OA 1 may expose the ground connecting part 320 . Thus, the ground connecting part. 320 and the ground electrode 130 may be connected to each other.
[0059] The second open area OA 2 may expose the wire connecting part 310 . Thus, the wire connecting part 310 and the pad part 230 may be connected to each other. Referring to FIG. 7 , the first sensing electrode 211 may he disposed on an upper surface of the electrode substrate 201 and the second sensing electrode 212 may he disposed on a lower surface of the electrode substrate 200 . Thus, the sensing electrodes 211 and 212 may be formed on a single electrode substrate, so that the thickness of the touch window may be reduced.
[0060] Such a touch window may be disposed on a display panel which is a driving part. The touch window and the display panel may be combined with each other so that a touch device may be produced.
[0061] The touch window may be applied to a vehicle as well as a touch device of a mobile terminal. That is, the touch window is applied to a dashboard as well as a PND (Personal Navigation Display) such as a vehicle navigation, so that a CID (Center Information Display) may be implemented. However, the embodiment is not limited to the above, and the touch device may be used for various electronic appliances.
[0062] Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.
[0063] Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.
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Disclosed is a touch window. The touch window includes a cover substrate; a ground electrode on the cover substrate; and a circuit substrate on the cover substrate, including aground connecting part connected with the ground electrode and an open area to expose the ground connecting part, wherein the ground electrode is electrically connected to the ground connecting part through the open area.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/760,133, COMPACT SNAPSHOT MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING SYSTEM, filed on Jun. 8, 2007, which claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application 60/811,889, SNAPSHOT HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGER, filed on Jun. 8, 2006, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all purposes.
BACKGROUND
These teachings relate to compact snapshot multispectral imaging systems.
A multispectral or hyperspectral imaging system (the terms multispectral and hyperspectral are used interchangeably here) is commonly used to observe objects or scenes, whereby light emitted or reflected by a given object or scene is imaged by some means onto a detecting element or array of detecting elements, where multiple images with different spectral content can readily be observed or recorded.
Due to the short temporal duration of many events, it is necessary to capture multispectral data in a short amount of time. A snapshot multispectral imaging system is a multispectral imaging system that captures all desired spectral images at a single moment, rather than relying on either spatial or spectral scanning of the object or scene.
In many designs incorporating snapshot multispectral imaging systems, there is a need for the overall system to be compact. Such needs stem from weight and space constraints in the application in which the system is used. Conventional snapshot multispectral imaging systems are typically large in size due to their large single aperture optics or optical relay subsystems.
Recent advances in snapshot multispectral or hyperspectral imaging systems have been made using Computed Tomography Imaging Spectrometer (CTIS) devices. In these devices, the image is dispersed across multiple dispersive orders using a computer generated hologram and onto a single detector or detector array, analogous to integrated slices through the 3D data cube at various angles across the two spatial dimensions. Using reconstructive techniques similar to those used in CT scans in the medical field, they used computed tomography to build up the 3D data cube from the two dimensional detector. In this manner, spatial and spectral information is captured in a single integration time. Unfortunately, this technique has limitations on the spatial and spectral resolutions that can be captured due to the limited number of dispersive orders that can be generated. Furthermore, these systems tend to be fairly large.
There is therefore a need for a snapshot multispectral imaging system that is more compact in physical size than current multispectral imaging systems.
Furthermore, there is also a need for a snapshot multispectral imaging system that has greater spatial and spectral resolution than current imaging systems.
Furthermore, there is also a need for a snapshot multispectral imaging system that has a greater degree of image co-registration than current imaging systems.
Still further, there is a need for an imaging system that provides a combination of the characteristics described above with superior trade-offs than have been previously attainable.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The needs for the teachings set forth above as well as further and other needs and advantages of the present teachings are achieved by the embodiments of the teachings described hereinbelow.
In one embodiment, an optical system of these teachings includes an array of filters with varying spectral transmission characteristics capable of receiving electromagnetic radiation from a source and transmitting at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation received from the source, an array of micro-optic imaging subsystems capable of receiving electromagnetic radiation from the array of filters and imaging at least a portion of the received electromagnetic radiation onto an image plane.
In another embodiment, the optical system of these teachings includes a filter capable of substantially operating as a filter array.
Various other embodiments of the optical system of these teachings and embodiments of the method of these teachings of are also disclosed.
In one embodiment of the present teachings the array of micro-optic imaging subsystems are miniaturized and tiled into an array, which is placed behind a filter with an array of spectral transmission characteristics and in front of an image plane, detector, or detector array. These arrays can comprise, but are not limited to, micro-optic elements that are arranged in proximity to one another. In this manner, an array of spectrally varying images can be generated at the image plane.
For a better understanding of the present teachings, together with other and further needs thereof, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and detailed description and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with an embodiment of the present teachings taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 2 a is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 2 b is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 3 is an isometric quarter cutaway view of the embodiment of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 2 a;
FIG. 4 a is a schematic sectional view of a portion of the embodiment of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 2 a taken along the optical axis;
FIG. 4 b is schematic sectional view of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 2 a taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 5 is a front facing view of the filter array component of the embodiment of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 2 a;
FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 7 a is a front facing view of the filter array component of the embodiment of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 6 ;
FIG. 7 b is a further front facing view of the filter array component of the embodiment of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 6 ;
FIG. 8 a is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 8 b is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes;
FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the embodiment of the present teachings illustrated in FIG. 8 b;
FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes.
FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a further embodiment of the present teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes.
FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view of a compact snapshot multispectral imaging system in accordance with a still further embodiment of the present teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Compact snapshot multispectral optical systems are disclosed hereinbelow.
The terms “micro-optics” and “micro-optical component” as used herein, refer to optical components having apertures substantially smaller than the entrance pupil of the conventional optical imaging subsystems discussed herein. The micro-optical components can be refractive, diffractive or reflective or any combination thereof. Exemplary micro-optical components include, but are not limited to, diffractive, refractive, and hybrid micro-lenses, GRIN rod lenses, micro-mirrors and micro-prisms.
The term “gradient index rod lens” as used herein, refers to radial gradient index optical components.
Reference is made to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of these teachings 100 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. Electromagnetic radiation, typically in, but not restricted to, the ultraviolet, visible, and/or infrared bands, hereinafter referred to generally as light, emitted or reflected by a given object, either real or virtual, hereinafter also referred to as a source, is incident upon a filter capable of substantially operating as a spectral filter array 110 (hereinafter referred to as spectral filter array 110 ) which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of lenses 120 , in this embodiment consisting of the refractive microlens elements 122 , and imaged onto an image plane 150 . In this manner, an array of images with varying spectral characteristics is generated at the image plane 150 that are highly co-registered with one another due to the monolithic design of the imaging optics.
The individual filters of the spectral filter array 110 can be, but are not limited to, colored glass or gelatin filters, a substantially bandpass filter, a substantially low-pass filter (also referred to as a long pass filter), a substantially high-pass filter. (also referred to as a short pass filter), or an interference filter.
In some applications, although not a limitation of these teachings, a CCD array, CMOS imager, phosphorescent screen, photographic film, microbolometer array, or other means of detecting light energy, hereinafter referred to generally as a detector or detector array, is substantially located at the image plane. The detector arrays typically consist of many individually readable light detecting pixels or elements. In one embodiment, a detector or detector system, capable of substantially operating as a detector array of the detector elements, is substantially located at the image plane.
In another embodiment, the detector system comprises an array of detector subsystems, each of a detector subsystem being, for example, but not limited to, one of the detectors described above. In one instance, detector system comprises a number of detector subsystems wherein a spectral sensitivity of at least some of detector subsystems is different from a spectral sensitivity of at least some of the other detector subsystems. In this detector system, the multiple detector arrays or subsystems can be different, for example, to cover different spectral bands. In another type of detector system, the detector arrays or subsystems can be similar or identical and used to increase the number of pixels in the imager.
In one embodiment, the detector system is a pixellated detector such as, but not limited to, a CCD array or a CMOS array. In that embodiment, in one instance, each detector element from the detector array includes a number of pixels.
It should be noted that, although in the embodiments of the present invention described here, specific numbers of miniaturized (micro-optic) lens systems are shown, this is not a limitation of these teachings and any pre-determined number of miniaturized (micro-optic) lens systems can be utilized in any one-dimensional or two-dimensional pattern.
Reference is made to FIG. 2 a , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment of these teachings 200 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a spectral filter array 110 which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of lenses 120 , in this embodiment consisting of the refractive microlens elements 122 . The light is then imaged by the array of lenses 120 onto the image plane 150 , passing through an array of apertures, or field stops, 240 .
Reference is made to FIG. 2 b , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment of these teachings 300 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a spectral filter array 110 which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of lenses 120 , in this embodiment consisting of the refractive microlens elements 122 . The light is then imaged by the array of lenses 120 onto the image plane 150 , passing through an array of baffles 340 , in this embodiment consisting of the baffle elements 342 .
Reference is made to FIG. 3 , which is an isometric quarter cutaway view of the embodiment of the present teachings 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 a.
Reference is made to FIG. 4 a , which is a schematic sectional view of a portion of the embodiment of the present teachings 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 a , taken along the optical axis. At each location in the array of lenses 120 , light is incident upon the spectral filter array 110 which substantially transmits a portion of the light to the refractive microlens element 122 . The light is then imaged by the microlens element 122 onto the image plane 150 , passing through the aperture, or field stop, 242 .
Reference is made to FIG. 4 b , which is a schematic sectional view of the embodiment of the present teachings 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 a.
Reference is made to FIG. 5 , which is a front facing view of the filter array component 110 of the embodiment of the present teachings 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 a . In this embodiment, the spectral filter array consists of a pre-determined arrangement of tiled smaller filter windows 112 .
Reference is made to FIG. 6 , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment of these teachings 400 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a linearly varying spectral filter 410 , adapted so that the linearly varying spectral filter substantially operates as a two-dimensional filter array (in one instance, the orientation of the linearly varying filter is in client with respect to an axis of the array of lenses) which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of lenses 120 , in this embodiment consisting of the refractive microlens elements 122 . The light is then imaged by the array of lenses 120 onto the image plane 150 , passing through an array of apertures, or field stops, 240 .
Reference is made to FIG. 7 a , which is a front facing view of the linearly varying spectral filter component 410 of the embodiment of the present teachings 400 illustrated in FIG. 6 . The direction of variation 412 of the spectral characteristics of the linearly varying filter 410 is oriented relative to the plane containing a column of optical axes 124 in the array of lenses 120 with angle θ.
Reference is made to FIG. 7 b , which is another front facing view of the linearly varying spectral filter component 410 (in one instance, a wedge filter) of the embodiment of the present teachings 400 illustrated in FIG. 6 . The orientation of the linearly varying filter 410 (in one instance, the orientation of the direction of linear variation) relative to the plane containing a column of optical axes 124 in the array of lenses 120 creates an array of filter regions 416 consisting of individual filter regions 418 . In this embodiment, the angular orientation θ of the linearly varying spectral filter component 410 is determined according to the following equation:
θ=arctan [(Δ y )/( nΔx )]
where Δx and Δy represent the horizontal and vertical spacing of the refractive microlens elements 122 of the array of lenses 120 , and n represents the number of microlens elements 122 in a single row of the array of lenses 120 . In this orientation, the individual filter regions 418 will have spectral characteristics that vary linearly from element to element by a shift in wavelength Δλ across the first row and continuing onto the next row, one row after the other, such that the first element in each row has a shift in wavelength equal to nΔλ. This implementation provides a very effective and inexpensive method to separate the image data into a series of images with linearly variable spectral characteristics.
Reference is made to FIG. 8 a , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment of these teachings 500 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a spectral filter array 510 which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of lens systems 520 , in this embodiment consisting of the lens arrays 532 and 534 , each consisting of the refractive microlens elements 522 and 524 respectively. The light is then imaged by the array of lens systems 520 onto the image plane 550 , passing through an array of apertures, or field stops, 540 .
Reference is made to FIG. 8 b , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment of these teachings 600 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a spectral filter array 610 which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of gradient index rod lenses 620 , in this embodiment consisting of the gradient index rod lens elements 622 . The light is then imaged by the array of gradient index rod lenses 620 onto the image plane 650 , passing through an array of apertures, or field stops, 640 .
Reference is made to FIG. 9 , which is an isometric quarter cutaway view of the embodiment of the present teachings 600 illustrated in FIG. 7 b.
Reference is made to FIG. 10 , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment 700 of these teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a substantially a focal lens system 720 , in this embodiment consisting of refractive elements 722 and 724 , which provides angular magnification to the incident light, which is substantially transmitted to the previous embodiment of the present teachings 200 . In this manner, the angular resolution can be increased.
Reference is made to FIG. 11 , which is a schematic sectional view of a further embodiment 800 of these teachings, taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a substantially a focal lens system 820 , in this embodiment consisting of refractive elements 822 and 824 , which provides angular de-magnification to the incident light, which is substantially transmitted to the previous embodiment of the present teachings 200 . In this manner, the field of view can be increased.
Reference is made to FIG. 12 , which is a schematic sectional view of a still further embodiment of these teachings 900 , taken along a plane containing a column of optical axes. In operation, light is incident upon a spectral filter array 910 which substantially transmits various portions of the light to an array of gradient index rod lenses 920 , in this embodiment consisting of the gradient index rod lens elements 922 . The light is then imaged by the array of lenses 920 onto the array of image planes 950 , in this embodiment consisting of image plane elements 952 , and passing through an array of apertures, or field stops, 940 .
The form of the miniaturized imaging lens systems that make up the array of lenses or imagers can be any combination of refractive, diffractive, gradient index, or other optical element known in the art. These components need only be miniaturized and placed into arrays to form the miniaturized (micro-optic) lens arrays described above.
It should be noted that, although the arrays of miniaturized (micro-optical) imaging systems disclosed above comprise one or two planar array elements, the number of planar array elements is not a limitation of these teachings.
In one instance, during use of one embodiment of the system of these teachings, electromagnetic radiation incident and to one lens (or optical element) from the array of lenses 120 , or, more generally, the array of optical elements), is spectrally filtered into substantially one spectral band having a predetermined central wavelength and, the filtered electromagnetic radiation is imaged by the lens onto one detector element from a detector array (or a portion of a detector system that substantially operates as a detector element from a detector array). In one instance, the spectral filtering is obtained by means of a filter capable of substantially operating as a filter array. The filtered electromagnetic radiation imaged by the lens is detected. In another instance, crosstalk between the electromagnetic radiation imaged onto one detector by one optical element and electromagnetic radiation image onto another detector by another optical element is substantially limited. In still another instance, the limitation of crosstalk is obtained by providing a spatial array of apertures or baffles.
Although the teachings have been described with respect to various embodiments, it should be realized that these teachings are also capable of a wide variety of further and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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Systems and methods for multispectral imaging are disclosed. The optical system includes 1) an array of optical elements, each optical element optically disposed to receive incident electromagnetic radiation; 2) a filter capable of substantially operating as a filter array, each filter element spectrally filtering electromagnetic radiation substantially into a spectral band having a predetermined central wavelength; and 3) a detector system capable of substantiality operating as a detector array of detector elements.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This Patent Application claims priority to United Kingdom Patent Application No. 0508970.1 filed on May 3, 2005, entitled, “RHYTHM ACTION GAME APPARATUS AND METHOD”, the contents and teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to rhythm action games, and in particular, to rhythm action games capable of detecting the beats within an arbitrary music track chosen by a user and providing a suitable sequence of cues for response based on the detected beats.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Known rhythm action games, otherwise known as dance mat games, have up to the present time used pre-selected music tracks. By using such pre-selected music tracks, the dance cue sequences used within the game can be designed specifically for each music track, and associated with the music track, ready for scanning at the same time as the music is streamed for playback.
In some cases, the developer might create a number of different sequences for a particular track, the choice of which dance cue sequence to use when playing the game being either up to the player directly by being dependent upon the difficulty setting selected, else indirectly, for instance dependent on the player's past performance.
Furthermore, some rhythm action games use music that is especially made for the game itself, often by use of a software sequencer, therefore the developer has access to accurate beat sequences for the particular tracks used which significantly aids the development of a suitable dance cue sequence.
However, there is often a desire by the player of such games to be able to use their own specific choice of music, and more specifically the use of the latest popular music track of that time. Up until now, this was not possible due to the fixed nature of the music tracks within all previous rhythm action games.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention addresses these and other problems and limitations of the related prior art.
Generally, the invention provides a rhythm action game apparatus adapted to analyze an audio signal provided by a user and to generate a sequence of cues for responses on the basis of that analysis. The invention also, in general, provides a method of producing cues for responses in a rhythm action game, comprising analysing a music track to provide rhythm data corresponding to detected beats within the music and generating a sequence of game play cues for response according to said rhythm data.
More particularly, the invention provides a rhythm action game apparatus, comprising an audio analyser adapted to analyze a music track and provide corresponding rhythm data and a sequence generator adapted to generate game play cues according to said rhythm data.
The invention also provides a music processor comprising an equivalent audio analyser adapted to analyze a music track and provide corresponding rhythm data and an audio post processor adapted to reconfigure the music track controlled by the rhythm data. This music processor may then be used within a rhythm action game, for example, to indicate success in a task to a user.
The invention also provides a computer readable medium, such as a DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, game cartridge, static memory card, or the like, carrying computer program code adapted to provide equivalent functions of apparatus described. The computer program code, when executed on a suitably equipped computer hardware device, such as a personal computer or game console, carries out the described functions using attached peripheral devices, such as controllers and cameras.
The invention also provides corresponding methods of operating such computer equipment.
In any of the above cases, preferably the audio analyser further comprises at least one beat detector.
In any of the above cases, preferably each beat detector further comprises at least one frequency filter adapted to provide a filtered portion of said music track by isolating a predetermined frequency band of said music track.
In any of the above cases, preferably the at least one frequency filter is an Infinite Impulse Response filter.
Preferably, the beat detector further comprises a beat resonator adapted to detect beats within the filtered portion of the music track and to determine a beat period of the detected beats of the filtered portion of the music track.
Preferably, the beat resonator is further adapted to detect a phase difference between the detected beat period and further successive detected beats within the filtered portion of the music track.
Preferably, the beat resonator is further adapted to provide a confidence factor, said confidence factor being indicative of the correlation between the detected beat period and further successive detected beats within the filtered portion of the music track.
Preferably, the beat resonator further comprises a phase locked loop.
Preferably the audio detector further comprises a plurality of beat detectors.
Preferably, the audio analyser further comprises at least one section detector, said section detector being adapted to detect discrete sections within the music track.
Also preferably, the section detectors detect sections using the confidence factor of the at least one beat resonator.
Alternatively or additionally, the section detectors may detect sections using the direct output of a frequency filter.
Preferably, the audio analyser further comprises a correlator, adapted to provide a plurality of outputs for use in generating a dance or other sequence of cues for response, dependent upon weighted values of the outputs of the plurality of beat detectors and the at least one section detector.
Preferably, the correlator further comprises a neural network.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises a dance controller, adapted to alter parameters of the at least one beat detector dependent upon the plurality of outputs from the correlator.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises a memory adapted to store predetermined dance data, and wherein the sequence generator generates cues for responses from said dance data stored in said memory according to said rhythm data.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises an audio input device, for supplying music tracks to said audio analyser for analysis.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises an audio pre-processor, adapted to process the music track prior to input into the beat detectors.
Preferably, the audio pre-processor processes the music track to produce a delta wave output corresponding to the difference between a left and a right stereo channel of said music track.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises an input device adapted to detect inputs from a user and a comparator, adapted to compare said input from a user with the generated cues for responses and provide an output dependent upon the difference between the two.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises an audio post processor adapted to reconfigure the music track controlled by the rhythm data in response to the comparison of the input data with the generated cues for responses.
Preferably, the audio post processor filters the left and right stereo channels to produce a rotating sound field.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises means for detecting an unique identification parameter of said music track and a static memory for storing said unique identification parameter.
Preferably, the rhythm action game apparatus further comprises an identification comparator, adapted to compare a plurality of stored unique identification parameters with a detected unique identification parameter of a selected music track.
Preferably, the unique identification parameter is any one of a checksum of a music track data file, a hash value derived from a table of contents of a source medium containing the music track, or a catalogue number embedded in said source medium.
The invention also provides a music processing system comprising an audio analyser, adapted to analyze a music track and provide corresponding rhythm data, wherein the audio analyser comprises at least one Infinite Impulse Response filter, a resonator uniquely associated with a one of the at least one frequency filter, and a correlator for providing rhythm data on the basis of the outputs of the frequency filters and resonators.
The above preferred features of the rhythm action game apparatus are also applicable to the other apparatuses provided by the invention.
The present invention makes use of information about the beats and other periodic characteristics in a selected audio signal to select and synchronise cue sequences in time with the audio. A cue sequence is a pattern of cues for responses on the part of the player. The responses are typically in the form of indicated button presses, joystick directions or other discrete inputs capable of being made on some sort of controller, camera or other type of input device that is attached to the gaming device.
Whilst the following description is described in terms of a dance mat game played in time to a musical track, the invention may equally be applied to any audio input signal with regular components capable of being detected, in combination with any form of input from which signals can be correlated with the result of the audio analysis. Regular components of an audio signal include beats, individual instrument noises, sections of a song, bars and the like.
All rhythm action games hitherto have been limited to working only with music that has been provided with the rhythm action game, and stored together on the same medium. The present invention seeks to enable rhythm action games to work with any music or other audio signals that the player wishes to use. The present invention, therefore, seeks unique and repeatable sets of patterns of cues for responses, corresponding to a given track, depending upon the settings chosen by the player.
When the selected music track is played, the invention compares patterns generated in response to periodic structures detected within the music track with responses, such as button presses, movements detected by a camera or mat or similar input device, to measure player performance for the purpose of entertainment, training, exercise or testing (for example, for the training/testing of reactions or fitness). The results of this comparison are used to indicate how successful the player has been, for example by changes to a score or delivery of some proportional reward in the form of sounds, graphics changes, or similar feedback to the player.
Whilst the preferred embodiment is described in terms of using music tracks derived from a music Compact Disc (CD), other embodiments may make use of music information derived from such sources as DVD media, Super Audio discs (SACD), MP3s, digitally captured analogue sources, directly streamed music information or any other equivalent source that is capable of providing audio signals for playing music, and in particular, repeatable audio signals.
Rhythm action games are typically played using dedicated dance mat input hardware, incorporating switching points activated by the pressure exerted by a player when they place a body part, for example a foot, on the switching point during a dance sequence. These dedicated dance mat input hardware devices are well known in the art and their description will not be expanded upon here. However, it is to be noted that in the absence of such dedicated dance mat input hardware, the player may also utilise a standard controller, with each button mapped to an equivalent active switching point on the dedicated dance mat, else use a video camera as an input device, with portions of the video capture area or gestures detected by a motion detection system being equivalent to button presses when movement is detected within that area. Furthermore, a standard controller, a video camera, or both may be used in conjunction with a dedicated hardware mat to allow a greater combination of button or active switch point combinations, to thereby increase the complexity of a dance game.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention may be put into practice in a number of ways. Some embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a system suitable for putting an embodiment of the present invention into practice.
FIG. 2 shows a high level schematic of the component parts of a system according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a more detailed schematic of the overall system of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 shows a typical frequency response of the set of frequency filters of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 shows a low level schematic of an example resonator.
FIG. 6 shows an exemplarily embodiment of a correlator of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 7 shows one example of post-processing of an audio signal in time with the detected beats of the audio signal.
FIG. 8 shows examples of typical cue sequence patterns.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows the setup of a typical system for putting the present invention into practice.
In the preferred embodiment, a computer readable medium 10 , containing the program code embodying the invention, is loaded into a suitable generic computer hardware device 30 . However, in other embodiments, the computer hardware device 30 may be dedicated to the running of the rhythm action game, with the software for running the program being stored in an embedded memory or other suitable storage medium. Equally the invention may be put into practice using dedicated electronics hardware, such as specifically programmed microprocessors together with other requisite electronic components or a combination of discrete analogue and digital components.
The computer hardware device 30 of FIG. 1 loads the software in the known way, storing the necessary computer code into a dynamic memory 130 , for later processing by the microprocessors within the computer hardware device 30 . Typically, the computer hardware 30 will be a console, containing, amongst other things, static memory, dynamic memory and microprocessors for handling the audio and video generated during game play and inputs from input devices 50 and 60 .
Once loaded, the program disc 10 containing the software component of the rhythm action game may be removed and replaced by a music CD 20 containing the music tracks the player wishes to use within the rhythm action game. The program disc 10 may also contain some music tracks to allow instant game play in the absence of the user's own music CD 20 at the time of play.
In the case of a dedicated hardware rhythm action game only the music CD 20 needs to be loaded, since the computer program code is loaded directly from the static memory of the dedicated device, else where dedicated electronics hardware is used, it is usually capable of operating instantly from first switch on.
The computer hardware device 30 is connected to a video display device 40 , for displaying the cue sequence and any associated in-game graphics. The video display device may also include an audio playback capability, thereby becoming an audio and video display device 40 . Equally, the computer hardware device 30 may be connected to dedicated audio output devices, such as amplified speakers 60 for playing back the selected music track at an improved fidelity level. The audio that is played back during the execution of the rhythm action game may also include further audio cues or other effects either overlaid over the music track, or in place of the music track for selected periods of the game.
Input devices 50 are also connected to the computer hardware device 30 . These can be in the form of a dedicated dance mat device 50 a, a standard controller 50 b, a video camera 50 c, or a combination thereof.
FIG. 2 shows a high level schematic of the principal parts of a system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
In this preferred embodiment, the music track used during operation of the rhythm action game is derived from a music CD 20 placed within an optical disc drive contained within the computer hardware device 30 . The optical disc drive may any of the currently available types, such as a CD drive, DVD drive, or the like. Typically, the music CD 20 used will contain a number of different tracks, with only some or all of the music tracks being used with the rhythm action game. Selection of which tracks to use is done by the player, using a selection screen within a menu system accompanying the game.
The music tracks selected for use with the rhythm action game are analysed by an analyser 110 . The analyser 110 incorporates beat detection components, for detecting beats within the track, as well as ancillary information such as frequency, amplitude, phase differences between different beats and the like. The analyser 110 may also include section detection components for detecting transitions between sections within the music track. A section of a music track is a contiguous part of the input music track, such as the introduction, verse, chorus, middle 8 , bridge or finale of the song.
The analyser 110 may also incorporate an ability to detect a unique characteristic of the selected track on the inserted music disc 20 , for storage in a static memory 140 . This unique characteristic may be stored together with any generated data for that disc or track, such as a generated cue sequence. This enables the system to recall previously derived data to reduce load times, to allow consistency within the game over non-consecutive plays, to call up pre-computed dances or cue sequences which may have been manually optimised to enhance play, and the ability to move cue sequences between similar devices 30 capable of playing the rhythm action game, for such things as competitive play between friends.
The above information may also be stored in the dynamic memory 130 for quick access during the current instance of the game, in non-volatile memory within the console such as a hard drive, else stored in a network database, separate from the computer device 30 but remotely contactable via any available networking protocol.
The output of the analyser 110 is fed into a dance generator and controller 120 which includes a cue sequence generator. The sequence generator creates the cue sequences using pre-defined cue components stored in the dynamic memory 130 , derived from the original game disc 10 , utilising the output of the analyser 110 to choreograph the sequence in time with the music track being played.
The generated sequences of cues for response are then outputted to the video and display device 40 , for display to the user, who in turn reacts to these cues with inputs being made via the input device 50 .
FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of the component parts of the system according to the present invention. In particular, there is shown a more detailed view of the analyser 110 of FIG. 2 . In the example shown, only three beat detectors 111 are shown for simplicity.
The beat detection portion of the analyser 110 consists of a number of individual beat detectors 111 , each providing inputs to a correlator 115 and a section resonator 114 . The correlator 115 uses the outputs from the beat detectors 111 and section resonators 114 to provide the necessary information for the sequence generator 260 to decide on a suitable cue sequence to provide to the user during game play. The cue sequence is created using pre-defined modular components of a dance that are combined to form the sequence as a whole.
Each beat detector 111 consists of a frequency filter 112 and beat resonator 113 . The frequency filters 112 are bandpass filters that allow a portion of the music signal through to the resonators 113 at a predetermined frequency and bandwidth. These serve to isolate the frequency bands of interest, which are the frequency bands containing the rhythmic components of the music track that the beat is contained within. For example, the bass line, high hat cymbal noises, or any other periodic component that can be characterised by its pitch and volume fluctuation, as found in all music.
For example, a low-pass filter set to attenuate frequencies above 80 Hertz is an effective way to isolate bass drumbeats. These typically occur on the first and third beats of a bar, or every beat, depending on the musical genre. Bass notes and other musical emphasises that are predominant at low frequencies are also typically synchronised with beats in a bar.
In the same manner as above described, a band pass or high pass filter 112 , for instance one set to emphasise frequencies above 4 KHz, can isolate and identify rhythms associated with eighth beats (quavers) in typical music, such as high hat cymbal patterns. Impulse response filters are again faster in this context than those that use spectrum analysis, and, moreover, generate data which is more directly applicable to beat and section detection, being a single value for any time of measurement corresponding to a contiguous range of frequencies.
Ideally, the frequency filters 112 are adjustable to allow the selected frequency and bandwidth to be moved/altered according to the music track selected, or even during the course of analysis to lock onto the most appropriate frequency range.
FIG. 4 shows an example of the response curves of three bandpass frequency filters 112 , one with a centre frequency f 1 of 100 Hz, another centred on a frequency f 2 of 400 Hz and the last with a centre frequency f 3 of 3 kHz. They each have adjustable pass bandwidths of β 1 , β 2 and β 3 respectively. In the preferred embodiment, these filters are infinite impulse response filters that enable arbitrarily adjustable frequency band positions (f 1 , f 2 and f 3 in FIG. 4 ) and bandwidths (β 1 , β 2 and β 3 in FIG. 4 ). Infinite impulse response filters are preferred due to the ease in which the pass band may be selected, and their rapid and efficient implementation in software or suitable hardware. In this example, β 3 is wider than for the other two bands, as the Q factor of the filter is adjusted to make it pass a wider range of frequencies from the input signal; the optimal bandwidth β and frequency f depends on the characteristics of the sounds the filter sets out to isolate.
The optimal filter frequency depends on the audio signal under analysis, and is determined by comparing the output of a multiplicity of filters 112 and resonators 113 which have been preset using data derived from an analysis of expected input. The initially chosen frequencies may then be adjusted later to produce more suitable results, dependent upon the expected period and regularity of output signals.
Filters designed around the impulse response technique of signal processing are preferable to spectrum analysis techniques (e.g. Fourier and Hartley transforms) because they have far more easily and accurately specified responses to low frequencies for a given computational effort. This results in the same performance at lower computation levels when compared to spectrum analysis methods.
Spectrum analysis only becomes appropriate when very large numbers of input bands are to be analysed, as the output for all bands is generated at once and can be selectively summed for input to many resonators. However, accurate bass resolution requires the computation of thousands of bands, including overlapping or ‘windowing’, to compensate for the lack of symmetry in sections of audio selected for fast spectrum analysis by the ‘butterfly’ optimisation techniques well known in the art. Windowing increases the computational expense of this approach, and is further compounded by the preference of embedded system hardware, such as game consoles and digital signal processors, to use a small data set in order to make best use of fast, but limited, local memory space.
The other part of the beat detector 111 , the beat resonator 113 , takes the output of the filter 112 and detects the dominant beat period of that portion of the music track. The period is a measure of the typical time between consecutive rhythmic events, or pulses, at the requisite frequency. The period is detected using the time between transitions of the slope of the filtered output, adjusting for the frequency-dependent delay associated with the filter 112 . In some embodiments, each filter 112 may have a block of beat resonators 113 acting on the output of the filter 112 , as shown for frequency filter f 3 in FIG. 3 .
In the preferred embodiment, the beat resonator 113 utilises a phase lock loop (PLL) 310 to detect the beat period. An example of a beat resonator 113 is shown in FIG. 5 . The PLL 310 uses feedback to lock onto the dominant beat frequency. The period is then the reciprocal of the frequency. The PLL also outputs a phase value indicative of the phase difference between the currently locked on frequency and a reference frequency. The reference frequency can be a set frequency, the output from another of the beat resonators 113 , a composite of such other beat resonator outputs, a pulse otherwise generated by the system, or even the player. It can also be a frequency that has been confidently detected by earlier analysis of the track.
The control parameters are derived from inputs from the dance controller 117 , depicted as R( 1 , 2 , . . . n) in FIG. 5 . In such a system the control parameters R(l, 2 , 3 .. n) set for each beat resonator may determine filter band frequencies and level thresholds, and the allowable drift in tempo and level for that resonator, corresponding to how specific it is to a given level or tempo and hence the rate at which deviation in those properties as measured by the resonator reduces the confidence output Cn. These are in turn derived from inputs received by the dance controller 117 from the Splitter 116 , which distributes the outputs from the correlator 115 . The outputs from the correlator 115 may include the direct outputs from each of the beat 113 and section resonators 114 , which have bypassed the correlation operation, as well as the correlated data from these devices, and a confidence factor proportionate to the extent to which the input matches the period of the resonator in question, and which is inversely proportional to the feedback correction signal on a phase locked loop 310 , for example.
These beat resonator parameters include the detection beat period to be used by a particular beat resonator 113 , threshold levels and valid period ranges. An example of a typical beat period range for use in the beat resonators 113 is 0.8 to 0.4, which reflects a beat frequency range of 75 to 149 beats per minute. Threshold levels are a proportion of the total average volume of the track, which may be weighted according to Fletcher-Munson or similar equal loudness curves, to reflect perceived audibility.
The section resonators 114 use longer time measures, arithmetically related to those of the preceding beat resonators 113 , in order to detect longer periods within the audio input, such as bars, pairs of bars and longer sequences to which dance or action data can be mapped by the sequence generator 260 .
The section resonators 114 serve to identify periods of the audio signal input which match the length of sequences in the dance data, so that such periods can be used to make the dance or other expected input easier to learn and more closely correlated with the structure of the audio as experienced by the listener (i.e. by verse, chorus, etc). This is done by time and frequency analysis to identify the presence or absence of overdubs, or large volume variations in certain frequency ranges such as those associated with presence or absence of vocals, solos, or the like.
This may be done in real time, by building up a map of sections in the audio identified previously together with the cue sequence data generated for that section. Equally, this may be done by building a map of the sections in a fast initial pass over the audio and then assigning suitable cue sequences, of appropriate duration, for each section. The cue sequence, or dance, data may be new, or repeated if the current section is identified as being similar (or the same) to previously detected sections by the section resonators 114 . The section maps of the music track are typically constructed using start and end timings and the correlated responses from multiple resonators 114 . This may, for example, involve matching the onset signals from longer period resonators 114 with those of ones tuned to detect bar boundaries from the heavier initial beat or snare backbeat, biased to favour typical section lengths, e.g. an even number of bars long or typically a multiple of four or eight bars, by heuristics chosen to suit the expected audio.
By making a map of the track in memory as the beat analysis is performed, it is also possible to make a subsequent scan of the map to more reliably find sections in the music track. This would be typically done by detecting tonal balance variations, or similar, over period lengths of one or more bar lengths.
Tonal variations that denote sections are often applied differentially to left and right channels of a stereo track. Typically these are ‘overdubs’ panned to either side of the mix. Rather than process left and right channels separately to identify overdubs which commonly denote sections (e.g. a shaker panned to one side in a chorus, or a chord sequence known as a ‘synth pad’ used to fatten the sound within a section, or double-tracking of instruments either side, or panned backing vocals) it is most efficient to analyse just the difference of left and right stereo channels to get extra section cues, exploiting the way the stereo mix changes in typical tracks between introduction, verses and choruses. So some of the filter channels used in the map could be devoted to the channel delta rather than the mono sum filter outputs. The mono sum is still useful to detect vocal sections, changes in high hat patterns, and other data that only confuses beat analysis but remains a strong characteristic of sections. Preferably, both methods are used in conjunction with each other to add confidence to the result achieved.
The player is informed of the accuracy of his or her responses through the action of the Scoring System 45 which serves to correlate signals from the input device 50 with expectations generated by the Sequence Generator 260 and shown in advance on the Display Device 40 , such that if a response is received as expected, the score is enhanced, in proportion to the accuracy of the timing of the response, and the player may be penalised or simply not rewarded if the signals from the input device 50 do not match the time or type of a required response.
The Scoring System 45 may trigger actions in the Audio post-processor 240 to augment or alter the audio track as delivered to the player to provide further feedback about relative success or failure, for instance by emphasising beats with extra sounds or audible filter effects or periodic adjustments to the stereo image. The cumulative score may also affect aspects of subsequent play, such as the availability of configuration options to the player, or the choice of expected responses so as to encourage a struggling player and reward an expert.
The control parameters R( 1 , 2 , . . . n) are decoded by the parameter decoder 300 , and are used to control the PLL 310 and control logic/encoder 330 . The Lock output from the PLL 310 is proportional to the feedback signal in the PLL used to maintain the phase lock. This feedback is denoted by the word ‘loop’ in the phrase Phase Locked Loop. The output is proportional to the difference between the expected and predicted frequency, and hence allows the generation of a confidence-factor, as described below.
The control logic/encoder 330 takes the output of the PLL 30 , and encodes the currently detected beat, its phase relative to the reference frequency and the below described confidence-factor, for output to the correlator 115 . The control logic also includes divider/multipliers for use in dividing or multiplying the detected beat frequency, according to the control parameters, to keep their values within wanted ranges.
The beat resonator 113 also produces a confidence-factor output (C n ). The confidence-factor is a measure of the extent to which successive rhythmic components correlate with the currently detected period. Since music is written to a time signature, with beats in the music generally falling on the beat, or on subdivisions of the beat, with regular emphasis on certain beats, for example the first beat of the bar or the back beat (beats two and four in common time) , the confidence-factor (C n ) is adjusted according to how well the currently detected frequency falls on this beat. For instance pulses at multiples or fractions of the period e.g. four times the period, corresponding to the first beat of a bar in common time, twice the period, corresponding to the down beat, or half the period (eighth or quaver beats) would boost the confidence factor, whilst irregular events or pulses not at such defined intervals will reduce it. The beat resonators 113 may also be pre-configured to detect or even ignore off beat pulses, depending upon how far they diverge from expected timing, should this be appropriate given the style of the music being used. This would typically require a pre-analysis of the music track in question, prior to the real-time detection of the beat. This pre-analysis method is described in more detail later.
The detected pulses at multiples of the beat period may have weights applied to give more control over how each of them effect the output of the beat resonators 113 , for example, to allow specific beat resonators 113 to respond to common rhythms and time signatures such as waltz time (emphasising a multiple of three of the period, corresponding to three beats per bar) or one third or two thirds of the period (associated with triplet time). The number of beat resonators 113 and their weights is chosen to match properties of the anticipated signals. In “on-the-fly” implementations, the signals may be anticipated from what has been seen previously, however, in the case of the music track having been scanned fully prior to proper beat detection being carried out, the signals likely to be encountered are anticipated from this pre-scanned data.
The ‘weight’ is a scale factor (i.e. transfer function) relating any measure inferred by one part of the system to the output, or to later parts of the system. For instance a weight of 0 would make the measure irrelevant to the output, whilst higher weights increase the influence of the associated measure on the output.
The beat resonators 113 may also include components to halve or double the period information from the PLLs, in order to derive a regular pulse that falls within a defined range suitable for further use in selection and synchronisation of the cue sequences to the selected music track. For instance, dance step patterns might be defined presuming a rate of between 75 and 149 pulses per minute, whereas the music track has pulses occurring outside this range. Accordingly, such detected pulses are multiplied or divided until they fall within the desired range. For example, data from a beat resonator 113 generating fewer than 75 pulses per second might be progressively doubled until the information is in the presumed range. Likewise, the output of a beat resonator 113 generating more than 149 pulses of a second might be progressively halved in rate (doubled in period) to bring it into the expected range. This ensures a consistent density of events in the pattern, and prevents dance cue sequences being generated with beats that are too fast for a player to respond to.
By making use of a number of frequency filters 112 and beat resonators 113 , beats occurring at different frequencies, and at different rates may be detected and utilised in the generation of the cue sequences for a particular music track. Beats with closely correlated frequencies combine to make predictions for the track more accurate, while those which are not in time with most of the others are ignored, according to the characteristic behaviour of a perceptron or neural network set to dynamically adjust weights to emphasise patterns in the input and sift out noise, in this case identified by low confidence factors and poor correlation with other detected beat frequencies.
The beats detected by the above described beat detectors 113 are all, at this stage, candidate beats only. This is to say, they are all beats that are to be found in the music track, however, to the human listener, some would not be considered the “main beat”. Equally, some might be considered part of the “main beat”, but are too fast for a player to be able to follow, therefore are not suitable for inclusion in the cue sequence for this particular music track at the selected difficulty level.
The present invention therefore makes use of an adaptive weighting system, or correlator 115 . Correlation of the outputs of all the beat detectors 111 , each comprising beat resonators 113 and frequency filters 112 variously configured, is carried out by means of a perceptron, neural net or similar adaptive weighting system.
An example of a typical perceptron system, as used in the correlator 115 , is shown in FIG. 6 . The total output of the correlator 115 is a combination of a number of individual inputs to the correlator 115 , including a beat periods, beat phases and confidence-factors, derived from the multiple inputs from the beat detectors 111 and section resonators 114 . These inputs are combined after being, for example, statically or dynamically weighted to match expected utility. The static weight may be set by testing beat detectors 111 with various characteristics with a typical input. The dynamic weight may be derived from the confidence factor (C n ) computed on the fly, as previously described. Equally, the correlator 115 may make use of simpler rules, such as majority selection, or a combination of any number of different rules, applies in series, parallel or otherwise.
The outputs of the correlator 115 ,are used to synchronise pre-defined cue segments stored in memory into patterns that fall in time with the audio of the music track. Examples of the sort of pre-defined cue patterns include indications to press a particular directional key, or separate button, and are shown in FIG. 8 . Each box corresponds to a bar of four beats. Each arrow corresponds to an expected step or other directional gesture associated with that direction and beat time. The number of subdivisions per bar, or possible gestures, and the combinations used, determine the skill needed to play the game. Patterns make the dance easier to learn, especially when they correspond to repeated patterns and changes of emphasis in the music.
Dance or similar input sequences are chosen from a database of pre-defined cues to reflect such things as the difficulty level indicated by the player, the computed tempo of the audio, the length of sections identified by analysis, and the relative strength of odd and even beats detected within a section.
In order to add variety without sacrificing repeatability, there will typically be more than one sequence that matches these parameters. When several candidate sequences match the parameters, one will be chosen using a pseudo-random method seeded by the unique characteristic calculated for the track, such that different characteristics typically yield different sequences even if selection parameters otherwise match.
Rather than build up sequences from single bar patterns, which would be varied but hard to learn, or provide ready made cue sequences to suit every length and structure of track, the cues for a track are compiled from sections chosen to match human gestures at the desired difficulty level and of durations typical of those found in sections expected in the audio genre used. Longer sections may be built up by concatenating such cue sections to the desired length, choosing them pseudo-randomly or from sets within the database.
The resultant cue sequence may also be associated with a music track map and stored in memory for later use.
Sections are contiguous parts of the input music track, such as the introduction, verse, chorus, middle 8 , bridge, and finale of a song. Each section is, in terms of the beats that apply through out that section, quite distinct from other sections. In essence, each section will most likely require a separate dance cue pattern, and the music track as a whole might be thought of a combination of the cue patterns for each section. Section detection is used to select and place cue patterns in sequences that fit the current section of the song.
Section detection is carried out by section resonators 114 , which are similar to the beat resonators 113 , only they use much longer comparison periods. These section resonators 114 identify the changes in the confidence-factor outputs from the beat resonators 113 , or other outputs from the beat detectors 111 , or changes in the weighted average output of the frequency filters 112 , consistent with the change of input associated with a section transition.
Sections are identified by their duration, start time and intensity, which are all derived from appropriate outputs from the beat resonators 113 or frequency filters 112 such as relative output level or tempo. This information is used, in conjunction with the unique identifying characteristic of the music media or music track, as described later, and indications from the user (in the form of menu or similar selections) to select appropriate predefined cue patterns held in the memory.
Whilst the above described beat detection may be carried out on-the-fly, in some cases, where the player decides that a more accurate dance is desired, the player may choose to carry out a pre-analysis of the music track or tracks. In particular, this pre-analysis aids the detection of sections, and allows the detection of the music type, for example, swing, jazz or electronic music.
Pre-analysis utilises the same basic method as the on-the-fly implementation, except that it is carried out at the limits of the media reading capability and/or processing capability of the computer hardware device 30 , rather than in real-time. When using such pre-analysis, the results may be fed back to alter the parameters in control of the frequency filters 112 , beat resonators 113 , section resonators 114 and correlator 115 . When pre-analysis is used, the data derived from the music to aid the beat detection and cue sequence generation may be stored in memory, and in particular a static memory 140 , so that it may be re-loaded on re-insertion of the same music track source 20 . Equally, even in on-the-fly implementations, the data from the first on-the-fly analysis can be stored in a similar manner. In this way, a first on-the-fly analysis may be considered a pre-analysis.
Depending on the complexity of the input and the required degree of accuracy in the required cue sequence, the pre-analysis may be performed more than once, with different initial parameters (e.g. for different time signatures, polyrhythms or genres of music) in order to trade time spent preparing the cue sequence against the perceived quality of the resultant dance. The decision to repeat the pre-analysis may be under the control of the player, tailored to suit the game mode, or influenced by the variability of the confidence factors generated during previous analyses. Low confidence factors, or a manual request to ‘try harder’, predispose the system to repeat the analysis. The number of times this may happen depends on the number of initial parameter sets with which the beat detector is furnished. Default parameters suit the majority of tracks chosen by the expected users. Additional sets accommodate other users and less common types of music.
If sufficient processing power is available, multiple parameter sets may be tested concurrently and the most confident results used thereafter, for all of or sections within a track.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the music track source 20 , or the music track itself is analysed to produce a unique identification characteristic from properties of the source CD 20 . This characteristic can then be stored, together with any data generated for that source, such as a dance cue sequence, and used to uniquely identify the source again when it is reloaded. By storing the data generated previously together with the characteristic, there is no need for another detailed re-analysis of the music source 20 on re-insertion.
The association between unique characteristics of the track and disc, and the generated data is potentially many to one, i.e. the same generated data might be associated with a number of unique characteristics. This might happen in the case where the same (or an audibly equivalent) track might come from several places, e.g. an album, single, compilation, MP3 file or network audio stream. Therefore, since the audio is equivalent, the recall of any set of ‘previously derived data’ could be appropriate for more than one unique characteristic. In this case, each unique characteristic will be associated with the generated data.
Generation of an unique characteristic for a particular music source 20 from its properties can be done in a number of ways, depending on what type of source is used and how long a determining period is desired. Shorter determination periods result from methods which do not require a traversal of the whole music track. For example, this might be the generation of a hash value, or checksum, computed from a Table of Contents and track number of a source music CD 20 . The UPC/EAN catalogue number (bar code) from the mode 2 Q subcode words of a commercially mastered Compact Disc may also be used for this purpose.
An example where a traversal is required is to use a checksum of the audio samples or the data from which they are decoded (e.g. an MP3 file).
The above described characteristic may also be used to seed a pseudorandom number generator or otherwise to select a repeatable set of patterns when there are several suitable for the beat and sections identified.
Any dance cue sequence data pre-computed in the above way may be stored in static memory 130 , thereby removing the need to repeat analysis.
Almost all music tracks currently available are released in at least stereo form, i.e. they contain at least two distinct audio channels. These two channels, whilst the same on both sides in the majority, are slightly different to provide the intended stereoscopic effects when the music is played back. These include panning of the beats between the channels, centring of the vocals in the stereo space, and the like.
Therefore, in embodiments of the present invention, the audio signal that is used by the beat detectors 111 may be pre-processed to optimise the beat detection. The pre-processing can take many different forms, however typical examples include down-mixing to a monaural combination audio signal, or subtracting channels to create a difference, or delta, audio signal. The delta signal has a particular benefit of removing the speech/lyrical component of the music in most cases, since the vocal part of a music track is more often than not equal on both left and right channels, therefore the subtraction process results in its cancellation. As described earlier, both the down-mixed mono signal, and the delta wave signal can also be used to detect sections within the selected music. The type of audio pre-processing may also be altered on the fly, to best suit the track in question.
Whilst the above is described in terms of two channels, with the advent of higher capacity storage devices, such as DVD-Audio, and better audio compression techniques, music is also being recorded and released with a greater number of discrete channels. The pre-processing may, therefore, make use of these additional channels, such as the pre-filtered sub-bass channel in a 5.1 channel surround mix.
Since, in the preferred embodiment, the rhythm action game is carried out using software, executing on suitable computer hardware 30 , such as a console, and encoded to carry out the above described functions, there is the ability to setup an arbitrary number, or instances, of each of the different components of the system, such as the beat detectors 111 .
The actual number of instances of each component will depend on the available resources, which in turn depends on the particular computer hardware 30 used. However, there is also the ability to vary the number of each component, for example beat detector 111 , in time. This allows dynamic re-allocation of the resources during the analysis. Also, in the case of pre-analysis being used, there is less need to have section resonators 114 as well as beat detectors 111 . This is because section analysis could have been fully performed already, with the start and end times relative to the track length now being known, i.e. already mapped. In this case, the resources that would otherwise be allocated to running the section resonators 114 are now free to carry out further filtering, or the like. However, section analysis may still be used if it is decided that the section changes are useful in generating the cue sequence. This might be in the case where sections are short and change rapidly.
Further embodiments of the invention may also make use of the data used to derive the cue sequences to control post-processing of the audio, in time with the detected beats. In the form of a game, the present invention seeks to test the player and reward that player for correct/accurate responses to dance cue sequences derived from the music track selected. This is typically in the form of points accompanied by graphics. However, this may also be in the form of amendment of the music itself.
The audio post-processing can make use of similar routines to those used in the pre-processing of the audio, to alter the audio before it is played out on the video and audio display device 40 .
Whilst the range of audio effects that may be used is large, an example of one such audio effect is shown in FIG. 8 . In this example, when a complex sequence is completed by the player with an above average accuracy, the left and right audio channels are band-pass filtered with frequency varying sinusoidally in opposite phase for left and right channels, so the left band falls as the right rises, and vice versa, therefore the audio sound stage perceived by the player will appear to circulate around the room. Similar techniques, such as Dolby Pro Logic™ encoding by phase switching to suit the required angle, can be employed in conjunction with a surround sound encoder to take advantage of any extra speakers, if present.
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A rhythm action game apparatus comprising an audio analyzer adapted to analyze a music track and provide corresponding rhythm data, and a sequence generator adapted to generate game play cues according to said rhythm data. There is also disclosed a music processor comprising an audio analyzer adapted to analyze a music track and provide corresponding rhythm data, and an audio post processor adapted to reconfigure the music track controlled by the rhythm data.
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This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/096,105 filed on Jul. 22, 1993 now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to phosphites, and more particularly relates to cyclic bisphenyl phosphites and thermoplastic resin compositions stabilized therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cyclic biphenyl and bisphenyl monophosphites and their use as stabilizers in thermoplastic compositions are known, see Haruna U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,326 and Spivack U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,759, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Many of these cyclic bisphenyl and biphenyl monophosphites experience less than desirable levels of thermal and/or hydrolytic stability.
Consequently, there is a need to provide cyclic bisphenyl and biphenyl phosphites that exhibit enhanced levels of thermal and/or hydrolytic stability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Neo alkyl alkylidene-2,2'-bisphenyl and biphenyl phosphite esters are provided. The phosphites may be represented by the general formula: ##STR1## wherein each R is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyls having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, each R 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyls having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyls having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and R 3 is selected from the group consisting of alkyls having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, alkylethers having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and an aliphatic carboxylic acid ester having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, and R 4 is selected from the group consisting of alkylenes having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms and arylenes having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, and n is 0 or 1. When n=1, R 4 is such that no more than one carbon atom separates the aryl groups connected by R 4 , and when n=0, a carbon to carbon direct bond connects the two aryl groups. The phosphites are useful as additives in thermoplastic compositions to improve the thermal oxidative stability thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The compounds of the present invention may be represented by the general formula: ##STR2## wherein each R is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyls having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, each R 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyls having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, preferably each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyls having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, and R 3 is selected from the group consisting of alkyls having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, alkylethers having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, alkyls having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and an aliphatic carboxylic acid ester having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and R 4 is selected from the group consisting of alkylenes having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms and arylenes having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, and n is 0 or 1. Wherein R is preferably straight-chain or branched alkyl with 1-8 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, 2-ethylhexyl and n-octyl and tert-octyl, and α-branched alkyl radicals with 3-8 carbon atoms are more preferred. The R groups tert-butyl and tert-octyl are especially preferred. Preferably R is in the ortho position to the oxygen. Also especially preferred is for the R 1 group to be in the para position to oxygen, particularly if R 1 is tert-alkyl.
The phosphites may also be represented by the formulas ##STR3##
Although R 1 can be hydrogen or alkyl of 1 to 18 carbons, preferably it is an alkyl group of 1 to 8 carbon atoms, either straight-chain or branched-chain. Especially preferred is tert-alkyl of 4 to 8 carbon atoms, and more preferably tert butyl.
Each R 2 is preferably independently an alkyl group having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, including for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, secondary butyl, tertiary butyl, isobutyl, amyl, tertiary amyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, isooctyl, 2-ethylhexyl, tertiary octyl, nonyl, tertiary nonyl, decyl, isodecyl, dodecyl, tetradecyl, hexadecyl, octadecyl, docosyl, tetracosyl, tracontyl and so forth. Although less preferred, and most likely less stable, some stability can be exhibited where one R 2 is hydrogen and the other R 2 is an alkyl.
R 3 is preferably an alkyl group of 1 to 18 carbon atoms, phenyl, or phenyl substituted with up to 3 alkyl groups each having 1 to 8 carbon atoms. The group R 3 can be alkyl of 1 to 18 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, butyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, decyl, dodecyl, octadecyl and the like; or it can be phenyl or alkyl substituted phenyl, such as tolyl, xylyl, mesitylyl, ethylphenyl, butyl-phenyl, 3,5-dibutylphenyl, p-octylphenyl, 3,5-dioctylphenyl and the like. Preferably R 3 is a phenyl group having at least one branched alkyl group. Most preferably R 3 is 2-tert-butylphenyl, 2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl, 2,4,6-tri-tert butylphenyl, 2-tert-butyl-5-methylphenyl, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-phenyl and 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methyl-phenyl, 2,4-di-tert-octylphenyl. Preferably R 4 is alkylene having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms or arylene having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms.
R 4 is preferably alkylene or arylene of the formula: ##STR4## wherein R 5 and R 6 are independently hydrogen, alkyl or aryl radicals. Typical arylene groups for purposes of these various R 4 include phenylene, tolylene, mesitylene, xylylene and 1- and 2-naphthylene, Especially preferred as R 4 is methylene or ethylidene, n is preferably 1. Suitable phosphites are set out below: ##STR5##
The compound can be obtained by allowing, for example, phosphorous trichloride to react with 2,2'-alkylidenebisphenol into a compound which will then be allowed to react with an alcohol represented by ##STR6## R 3 is preferably selected from the group consisting of: ##STR7## Each R 2 is preferably a methyl group.
Thermoplastic compositions containing a polymer and an amount of the present phosphite can be made by blending. The phosphites of this invention are effective antioxidants which may be employed in a wide range of organic polymers. Polymers which can be stabilized include:
1. Polymers which are derived from mono- or diolefins, e.g., polyethylene which can optionally be crosslinked, polypropylene, polyisobutylene, polymethylbutene-1, polymethylpentene-1, polyisoprene, polybutadiene.
2. Mixtures of the homopolymers cited under (1), for example mixtures of polypropylene and polyethylene, polypropylene and polybutene-1, polypropylene and polyisobutylene.
3. Copolymers of the monomers based on the homopolymers cited under (1), for example ethylene/propylene copolymers, propylene/butene-1 copolymers, propylene/isobutylene copolymers, ethylene/butene-1 copolymers as well as terpolymers of ethylene and propylene with a diene, for example hexadiene, dicyclopentadiene or ethylidene norbornene, and copolymers of α-olefins, e.g., ethylene, with acrylic or methacrylic acid.
4. Polystyrene.
5. Copolymers of styrene and of α-methylstyrene, for example styrene/butadiene copolymers, styrene/acrylonitrile copolymers, styrene/acrylonitrile/methylacrylate copolymers, styrene/acrylonitrile/acrylic ester copolymers, styrene/acrylonitrile copolymers modified with acrylic ester polymers to provide impact strength as well as block copolymers, e.g., styrene/butadiene/styrene block copolymers.
6. Graft copolymers of styrene, for example the graft polymer of styrene to polybutadiene, the graft polymer of styrene with acrylonitrile to polybutadiene as well as mixtures thereof with the copolymers cited under (5), commonly referred to as acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene or ABS plastics.
7. Halogen-containing vinyl polymers, for example polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl fluoride, polychloroprene, chlorinated rubbers, vinyl chloride/vinylidene chloride copolymers, vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymers, vinylidene chloride/vinyl acetate copolymers.
8. Polymers which are derived from α,β-unsaturated acids and derivatives thereof, polyacrylates and polymethacrylates, polyacrylic amides and polyacrylonitrile.
9. Polymers which are derived from unsaturated alcohols and amines and from the acyl derivatives thereof or acetals, for example polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl stearate, polyvinyl benzoate, polyvinyl maleate, polyvinyl butyral, polyallyl phthalate, polyallyl melamine and copolymers thereof with other vinyl compounds, for example ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers.
10. Homopolymers and copolymers which are derived from epoxides, for example polyethylene oxide or the polymers which are derived from bis-glycidyl ethers.
11. Polyacetals, for example polyoxymethylene, as well as polyoxymethylenes which contain ethylene oxide as comonomer.
12. Polyalkylene oxides, for example polyoxyethylene, polypropylene oxide or polyisobutylene oxide.
13. Polyphenylene oxides.
14. Polyurethanes and polyureas.
15. Polycarbonates.
16. Polysulphones.
17. Polyamides and copolyamides which are derived from diamines and dicarboxylic acids and/or from aminocarboxylic acids or the corresponding lactams, for example polyamide 6, polyamide 6/6, polyamide 6/10, polyamide 11, polyamide 12, poly-m-phenylene-isophthalamide.
18. Polyesters which are derived from dicarboxylic acids and dialcohols and/or from hydroxycarboxylic acids or the corresponding lactones, for example polyethylene glycol terephthalate, poly-1,4-dimethylol-cyclohexane terephthalate.
19. Crosslinked polymers which are derived from aldehydes on the one hand and from phenols, ureas and melamines on the other, for example phenol/formaldehyde, urea/formaldehyde and melamine/formaldehyde resins.
20. Alkyd resins, for example glycerol/phthalic acid resins and mixtures thereof with melamine/formaldehyde resins.
21. Unsaturated polyester resins which are derived from copolyesters of saturated and unsaturated dicarboxylic acids with polyhydric alcohols as well as from vinyl compounds as crosslinking agents and also the halogen-containing, flame-resistant modifications thereof.
22. Natural polymers, for example cellulose, rubber, as well as the chemically modified homologous derivatives thereof, for example cellulose acetates, cellulose propionates and cellulose butyrates and the cellulose ethers, for example methyl cellulose.
The phosphites of this invention are particularly effective in stabilizing organic materials such as thermoplastic polymers, in addition to mineral and synthetic fluids such as lubricating oils, circulating oils, etc.
The phosphites of this invention are particularly useful as stabilizers, especially for the protection of polyolefins, for instance, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyisobutylene, poly(butene-1), poly(pentene-1), poly(3-methylbutene-1), poly(4-methylpentene-1), various ethylene-propylene copolymers and the like.
Other polymers in which the phosphites of this invention are particularly useful are polystyrene, including impact polystyrene, ABS resin, SBR, isoprene, as well as natural rubber, polyesters including polyethylene terephthalate and polybutylene terephthalate, including copolymers. Other suitable polymers include polyurethanes, polycarbonates, polyamides such as nylon 6, 6/6 and the like as well as copolyamides and polysulfones.
The phosphites may be used with primary stabilizers such as phenolic antioxidants, a neutralizer such as calcium stearate, pigments, colorants or dyes, UV absorbers, light stabilizers such as hindered amines, metal deactivators, talc and other fillers, etc. Preferably the phosphites should be used in polymeric compositions in combination with a phenolic antioxidant and a neutralizer.
In general, the phosphites of this invention are employed at from about 0.01 to about 5% by weight based on the total weight of the stabilized thermoplastic composition, although this will vary with the particular polymer and application. An advantageous range is from about 0.05 to about 2% by weight thereof, and especially 0.1 to 1% by weight thereof.
The phosphites of this invention are useful to stabilize polymers especially during high temperature processing with relatively little change in color, even though the polymer may undergo a number of extrusions. Among the polymers in which this property is especially important are polypropylene, polyethylene, styrenics such as ABS, polyethylene- and polybutylene-terephthalates, polycarbonates, natural rubber, synthetic rubber such as SBR. These phosphites can be used as process stabilizers for polyolefins in the presence of costabilizers such as phenolic antioxidants. A particularly important property for stabilizers which are trivalent phosphorous esters is resistance to hydrolysis in the presence of moisture in the atmosphere during ambient storage. Thermal stability may be tested by evaluating color change of neat phosphite upon exposure to heat in the presence of air. Hydrolysis of phosphorous esters during storage frequently results in compounds which are less effective. The phosphites of the present invention exhibit both hydrolytic stability and thermal stability.
The phosphites of the present invention may readily be incorporated into the organic polymers by conventional techniques, at any convenient stage prior to the manufacture of shaped articles therefrom. For example, the stabilizer may be mixed with the polymer in dry powder form, or a suspension or emulsion of the stabilizer may be mixed with a solution, suspension, or emulsion of the polymer. The stabilized polymer compositions of the invention may optionally also contain various conventional additives, such as the following:
1. Antioxidants
1.1 Simple 2,6-dialkylphenols, such as, for example, 2,6-di-tert.-butyl-4-methylphenol, 2-tert-butyl-4,6-dimethylphenol, 2,6-di-tert.-butyl -4-methoxymethylphenol and 2,6-dioctadecyl-4-methylphenol.
1.2 Derivatives of alkylated hydroquinones, such as, for example, 2,5-di-tert.-butyl-hydroquinone, 2,5-di-tert.-amylhydroquinone, 2,6-di-tert.-butyl-hydroquinone, 2,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-anisole, 3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-anisole, 3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl stearate and bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) adipate.
1.3 Hydroxylated thiodiphenyl ethers, such as, for example, 2,2'-thio-bis-(6-tert.-butyl-4-methylphenol), 2,2'-thio-bis-(4-octylphenol), 4,4'-thio-bis-(6-tert.-butyl-3-methylphenol), 4,4'-thio-bis-(3,6-di-sec.-amylphenol), 4,4'-thio-bis-(6-tert.-butyl-2-methylphenol) and 4,4'-bis-(2,6-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) disulphide.
1.4 Alkylidene-bisphenols, such as, for example, 2,2'-methylene-bis-(6-tert.-butyl-4-methylphenol), 2,2'-methylene-bis-(6-tert.-butyl-4-ethylphenol), 4,4'-methylene-bis-(6-tert.-butyl-2-methylphenol), 4,4'-methylene-bis-(2,6-di-tert.-butylphenol), 2,6-di-(3-tert.-butyl-5-methyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-4 -methylphenol, 2,2'-methylene-bis-(4-methyl-6(α-methylcyclohexyl)-phenol), 1,1-bis-(3,5-dimethyl-2-hydroxyphenyl)-butane, 1,1-bis-(5-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-2-methylphenyl)-butane, 2,2-bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane, 1,1,3-tris-(5-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-2-methylphenyl)-butane, 2,2-bis-(5-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-2-methylphenyl)-4-n-dodecylmercaptobutane, 1,1,5,5-tetra-(5-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-2-methylphenyl)-pentane and ethylene glycol bis-(3,3-bis-(3'-tert.butyl-4'-hydroxyphenyl)-butyrate).
1.5 O-, N- and S-benzyl compounds, such as, for example, 3,5,3',5'-tetra-tert.-butyl-4,4'-dihydroxydibenzyl ether, octadecyl 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylbenzyl mercaptoacetate, tris-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-amine and bis-(4-tert.-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylbenzyl) dithioterephthalate.
1.6 Hydroxybenzylated malonate, such as, for example, dioctadecyl 2,2-bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-malonates, dioctadecyl 2-(3-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-5-methylbenzyl)-malonate, di-dodecylmercapto-ethyl 2,2-bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-malonate and di-(4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)-phenyl) 2,2-bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-malonate.
1.7 Hydroxybenzyl-aromatic compounds, such as, for example, 1,3,5-tri-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene, 1,4-di-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-2,3,5,6-tetramethylbenzene and 2,4,6-tri-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-phenol.
1.8 s-Triazine compounds, such as, for example, 2,4-bis-octylmercapto-6-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyanilino)-s-triazine, 2-octylmercapto-4,6-bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyanilino)-s-triazine, 2-octylmercapto-4,6-bis-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenoxy)-s-triazine, 2,4,6-tris-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenoxy)-s-triazine, 2,4,6-tris-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenylethyl)-s-triazine and 1,3,5-tris-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl) isocyanurate.
1.9 Amides of β-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propionic acid, such as, for example, 1,3,5-tris-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenylpropionyl)-hexahydro-s-triazine and N,N'-di-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl-propionyl)hexamethylenediamine. N,N'-(bis-B-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyl)-hydrazine.
1.10 Esters of β-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propionic acid with monohydric or polyhydric alcohols, such as, for example, with methanol, ethanol, octadecanol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,9-nonmediol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, diethylene glycol, thiodiethylene glycol, neopentylglycol, pentaerythritol, 3-thia-undecanol, 3-thia-pentadecanol, trimethylhexanediol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, tris-hydroxyethyl isocyanurate and 4-hydroxymethyl-1-phospha-2,6,7-trioxabicylo-(2,2,2)octane.
1.11 Esters of β-(5-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-3-methylphenyl)-propionic acid with monohydric or polyhydric alcohols, such as, for example, with methanol, ethanol, octadecanol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,9-nonanediol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, diethylene glycol, thiodiethylene glycol, neopentylglycol, pentaerythritol, 3-thia-undecanol, 3-thio-pentadecanol, trimethylhexanediol trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, tris-hydroxyethyl isocyanurate and 4-hydroxymethyl-1-phospha-2,6,7-trioxabicyclo(2,2,2)octane.
1.12 Esters of 3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid with monohydric or polyhydric alcohols, such as, for example, with methanol, ethanol, octadecanol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,9-nonanediol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, diethylene glycol, thiodiglycol, neopentylglycol, pentaerythritol, 3-thia-undecanol, 3-thia-pentadecanol, trimethylhexanediol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, tris-hydroxyethyl isocyanurate and 4-hydroxymethyl-1-phospha-2,6,7-trioxabicyclo(2,2,2)-octane, especially the tetra-bis ester of pentaerythritol.
1.13 Benzylphosphonates, such as, for example, dimethyl 3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl-phosphonate, diethyl-3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzylphosphonate dioctadecyl 3,5-di-tert.butyl-4-hydroxybenzylphosphonate and dioctadecyl 5-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxy-3-methylbenzylphosphonate.
The following may be mentioned as examples of further additives that can be used together with the phosphite stabilizer of this invention and the antioxidant:
1. Aminoaryl derivatives, e.g. phenyl-1-naphthylamine, phenyl-2-naphthylamine, N,N'-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine, N,N'-di-2-naphthyl-p-phenylenediamine, N,N'-di-2-naphthyl-p-phenylenediamine, N,N'-di-sec.-butyl-p-phenylenediamine, 6-ethoxy-2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2 -dihydroquinoline, 6-dodecyl-2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline, mono and dioctyliminodibenzyl, polymerized 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline. Octylated diphenylamine, nonylated diphenylamine, N-phenyl-N'-cyclohexyl-p-phenylenediamine, N-phenyl-N'-isopropyl-p-phenylenediamine, N,N'-di-sect-octyl-p-phenylenediamine, N-phenyl-N'-sec.-octyl-p-phenylenediamine, N,N'-di-(1,4-dimethylpentyl)-p-phenylenediamine, N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-di-(sec.-octyl)-p-phenylenediamine, 2,6-dimethyl-4-methoxyaniline, 4-ethoxy-N-sec.-butylaniline, di-phenylamineacetone condensation product, aldol-1-naphthylamine and phenothiazine.
2. UV-Absorbers and light-stabilizing agents
2.1 2-(2'-Hydroxyphenyl)-benzotriazoles, e.g. the 5'-methyl-, 3',5'-di-tert.-butyl-, 5'-tert.-butyl-, 5'-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)-, 5-chloro-3',5-di-tert. -butyl-, 5-chloro-3'-tert.-butyl-5'-methyl, 3'-sec.-butyl'5'-tert.-butyl-, 3'-α-methylbenzyl-5'-methyl-, 3'-α-methylbenzyl-5'-methyl-5-chloro-, 4'-hydroxy-, 4'-methoxy-, 4'-octoxy-, 3,5'-di-tert.-amyl-, 3'-methyl-5'-carbomethoxyethyl- and 5-chloro-3',5'-di-tert.-amyl-derivative.
2.2 2,4-bis-(2'-Hydroxyphenyl)-6-alkyl-s-triazines, e.g. the 6-ethyl-, 6-heptadecyl- or 6-undecyl-derivative.
2.3 2-Hydroxybenzophenones, e.g. the 4-hydroxy-, 4-methoxy-, 4-oxtoxy-, 4-decyloxy-, 4-dodecyloxy-, 4-benzyloxy-, 4,2',4'-trihydroxy- or 2'-hydroxy-4,4'-dimethoxy-derivative.
2.4 1,3-bis-(2'-Hydroxybenzoyl)-benzenes, e.g. 1,3-bis-(2'-hydroxy-4'-hexyloxybenzoyl)-benzene, 1,3-bis-(2'-hydroxy-4'dodecyloxy-benzoyl)benzene.
2.5 Esters of optionally substituted benzoic acids, e.g. phenylsalicylate, octylphenylsalicylate, dibenzoylresorcin, bis-(4-tert.-butylbenzoyl)-resorcin, benzoylresorcin, 3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid-2,4-di-tert.-butylphenyl ester or -octadecyl ester or -2-methyl-4,6-di-tert.-butyl ester.
2.6 Acrylates, e.g. α-cyano-β,β-diphenylacrylic acid-ethyl ester or isooctyl ester, α-carbomethoxy cinnamic acid methyl ester, α-cyano β-methyl-p-methoxycinnamic acid methyl ester or -butyl ester or N-(β-carbomethoxyvinyl)-2-methylindoline.
2.7 Sterically hindered amines, e.g. 4-benzoyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine, 4-stearyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine, bis-(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl)sebacate or 3-n-octyl-7,7,9,9-tetramethyl-1,3,8-triazaspiro(4,5)decane-2,4-dione.
2.8 Oxalic acid diamides, e.g. 4,4'-di-octyloxy-oxanilide, 2,2'-di-octyloxy-5,5'-di-tert.-butyl-oxanolide. 2.2'-di-dodecyloxy-5,5'-di-tert.-butyl-oxanilide, 2-ethoxy-2'-ethyl-oxanilide, N,N'-bis-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-oxalamide, 2-ethoxy-5-tert.-butyl-2'-ethyl-oxanilide and the mixture thereof with 2-ethoxy-2'-ethyl-5,4'-di-tert.-butyl-oxanilide, or mixtures of ortho- and paramethoxy- as well as of o- and p-ethoxy-disubstituted oxanilides.
3. Metal deactivators, e.g. oxanilide, isophthalic acid dihyrazide, sebacic acid-bis-phenylhydrazide, bis-benzylidene-oxalic acid dihydrazide, N,N'-diacetal-adipic acid dihydrazide, N,N'-bis-salicyloyloxalic acid dihydrazide, N,N'-bis-salicyloylhydrazine, N,N'-bis(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenylpropionyl)hydrazine, N-salicyloyl-N'-salicylalhydrazine, 3-salicyloylamino-1,2,4-triazole or N,N'-bis-salicyloyl-thiopropionic acid dihydrazide.
4. Basic co-stabilizers, e.g. alkali metal salts and alkaline-earth metal salts of higher fatty acids, for example Ca-stearate, Zn-stearate, Mg-behenate, Na-ricinoleate or K-palmitate.
5. Nucleation agents, e.g. 4-tert.-butylbenzoic acid, adipic acid or diphenylacetic acid.
6. Phosphites, such as, for example, triphenyl phosphite, diphenylalkyl phosphites, phenyldialkyl phosphites, tri-(nonylphenyl) phosphite, trilauryl phosphite, trioctadecyl phosphite, 3,9-isodecyloxy-2,4,8,10-tetraoxa 3,9-diphospha(5,5)-undecane and tri-(4-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert.butyl-phenyl) phosphite.
Other additives that can be incorporated in the stabilized compositions are optionally thiosynergists such as dilauryl-thiodiproprionate or distearylthiodipropionate, lubricants such as stearyl alcohol fillers, carbon black, asbestos, lanolin, talc, glass fibers, pigments, optical brighteners, fireproofing agents and antistatic agents.
Polymeric particles may be coated with the present phosphites alone or in combination with other stabilizers for stabilization of the polymeric material. Particles may be spherical in shape and may be made by processes such as "Reactor Granule Technology" as disclosed in P. Galli and J. C. Halock, The Reactor Granule--A Unique Technology for the Production of a New Generation of Polymer Blends, Society of Plastics Engineers, Polyolefin III International Conference Feb. 24-27, 1991 and as disclosed in Pedrazzeth et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,979 entitled Process for the Stabilization of Spherically Polymerized Polyolefins, issued Nov. 24, 1987, both of which are disclosed herein by reference. Particle formation may be achieved by support Ziegler-Natta Catalyst systems. Suitable commercial processes are known by the trademarks: Spheripol, Addipol and Spherilene.
Olefin polymers may be produced by polymerization of olefins in the presence of Ziegler Natta catalysts optionally on supports such as but not limited to Mg Cl 2 , chronium salts and complexes thereof, optionally supported on Silica or other materials. They may also be produced utilizing catalysts based on a cyclopentadiene complexes of metals typically complexes of Ti and Zr.
The following examples are meant to illustrate the present invention and not limit the scope thereof. The key advantage of the present materials are their combined hydrolytic and thermal stabilities.
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLE 1
A phosphite compound (PS) of the following formula: ##STR8## was prepared by the following procedure: a compound of the formula ##STR9## was reacted with ##STR10## at room temperature, with presence of a hydrocarbon solvent such as heptane to yield the desired product plus a salt byproduct. The compound ##STR11## can be obtained by reacting ##STR12## with butanol in the presence of a toluene solvent and an acidic catalyst with water as a byproduct which must then be removed.
A comparative phosphite lacking the R 2 alkyl groups was prepared by the following process and had the following formula and is referred to herein as CPA: ##STR13##
TABLE 1______________________________________Phosphite Hours to 1% Weight GAIN______________________________________P2 2000+CPB 120CPA 200P3 2000+P4 2000+P5 2000+CPC 2000+______________________________________
P2 is a phosphite of the present invention and has the formula: ##STR14##
CPB is a comparative phosphite of the formula: ##STR15##
P3 is a phosphite of the present invention and has the formula: ##STR16##
P4 is a phosphite of the present invention and has the following formula: ##STR17##
P5 is a phosphite of the present invention and has the formula: ##STR18##
CPC is a phosphite of the formula: ##STR19##
Note that the phosphites of the present invention had R 2 alkyl groups and exhibited enhanced hydrolytic stability.
As shown in Table 2, the phosphites of example 1 and comparative example A (CPC) were heated in air to 290° C. for 60 minutes resulting in the phosphite of example 1 remaining a clear slightly yellow liquid and the phosphite comparative example CPC changing from a clear yellow liquid to a transparent brown liquid with some formation of black material. The CPC phosphite exhibited good hydrolytic stability, but the one R 2 group being hydrogen, lacked the thermal stability of the phosphites of the present invention.
TABLE 2______________________________________Color Change Upon Exposure to Heat PolypropyleneEx Phos Neat Phosphate Compound______________________________________A CPC Light Brown Color formation of some Formed dark material in the mass1 P5 Slight yellowing slight yellowing in the mass______________________________________
The darkening of the CPC material is undesirable because it indicates that the CPC material is degrading upon exposure to heat in presence of air. The CPC material when added to polymer such as polypropylene and pressed at elevated temperatures (for example 290° C.) in the presence of air will tend to generate undesired dark material which in turn can form such material as char and/or black specks. The addition of P5 to polypropylene and processing thereto at elevated temperature (290° C.) result in only slight yellowing of the polymeric mass.
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Neoalkyl alkylidene-2,2'-bisphenyl phosphite esters are provided. The phosphites exhibit enhanced thermal and hydrolytic stability, and are useful as additives in thermoplastic resin compositions to enhance the thermal oxidative stability thereof.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS
The present application is related to the following commonly-assigned, issued U.S. patents, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety: U.S. Pat. No. RE36,386 (ABBOTT et al.) Nov. 9, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,502 (LECOCQ et al.) Nov. 12, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,737 (MATTSON et al.) Jun. 17, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,531 (THOMPSON et al.) Jul. 8, 1997.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to equipment used to deliver fluids to a patient during surgery. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a device for delivering cardioplegia solution during open-heart surgery and other surgical procedures requiring myocardial protection.
2. Background Art
Heart surgery is among the most complex of surgical fields. Because under normal conditions, the heart muscle is in a constant state of motion, special techniques must be used to make the heart sufficiently stationary to allow a surgeon to operate on it. Although some surgical procedures may be performed on a beating heart, the majority of open-heart and closed-heart procedures, including coronary artery bypass surgery, require that the heart be slowed or stopped and the aorta clamped before the cardiac portion of the surgery may begin. In such procedures, external equipment is used to form an extracorporeal circuit in the patient's circulatory system. Electric/mechanical pumps are used to pump the blood to an artificial oxygenator, then back into the patient, so as to temporarily replace the patient's heart and lungs during the procedure. This technique is known as a “cardiopulmonary bypass,” and it allows the surgical team to stop the heart, while still keeping the patient alive.
The heart muscle (myocardium), no less than any other organ of the body, must also be kept alive during the procedure. Indeed, the myocardium has a very low tolerance for ischemia (reduction in blood supply), due to its high oxygen requirements. Thus, special techniques are employed to protect the myocardium during a cardiopulmonary bypass.
Modern surgical teams often use induced cardioplegia to both stop the heart and protect it from the effects of ischemia. A potassium-based cardioplegic solution is infused into the coronary arteries, usually at a low temperature. The potassium infusion causes an immediate cardiac arrest, while the typically low temperature of the solution reduces the heart's rate of oxygen consumption. There are two commonly-employed cardioplegic methods, blood cardioplegia and crystalloid cardioplegia. Blood cardioplegia is a solution that is mixed with oxygenated blood from the extracorporeal circuit. Crystalloid cardioplegic solution is a non-cellular solution with a saline or balanced electrolyte base such as Ringer's solution. Nowadays, cardioplegia may bedelivered through antegrade (that is, directly through the coronary arteries) or retrograde (through the coronary sinus vein) routes.
During cardiopulmonary bypass, both blood and cardioplegia solution must be circulated through the patient's body. Since the heart is no longer available to maintain the patient's circulation, artificial pump means must be employed. The most commonly employed pump is the DeBakey roller pump, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,018,998 (DEBAKEY et al.) Oct. 29, 1935. The DeBakey pump uses a pair of rollers to create a peristaltic action against a flexible tube. Centrifugal pumps are also employed. Both of these types of pumps produce a relatively constant rate of flow.
Recent research, however, suggests that better cardiac perfusion is obtained with a pulsatile flow than with a constant-rate flow. The heart, after all, is a reciprocating pump and delivers a pulsatile flow. A number of designs have been developed to introduce a pulsatile component to extracorporeal circulation. These designs generally fall into two categories. A first category consists of those devices that combine a roller or centrifugal pump with an additional device that periodically compresses the tube through which the blood or cardioplegia flows. Examples of these devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,589 (RISHTON) Sep. 26, 1978, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,121 (MCCOTTER) Sep. 16, 2003.
A second category consists of devices in which the pump itself is used to produce a pulsatile flow. In one type of pump, such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,358, the number of revolutions per minute (RPM) of a centrifugal pump is varied in a periodic fashion to achieve a roughly pulsatile flow. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,015 (RUNGE) Apr. 5, 1994, a type of peristaltic pump is described, which achieves a pulsatile flow. Both of these types of designs, however, are limited in their ability to produce a pulsatile flow of desired characteristics while still maintaining a desired average flow rate.
What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus for extracorporeal circulation that produces a significantly pulsatile flow, while still-maintaining a user-specified average flow rate. The present invention provides a solution to this and other problems, and offers other advantages over previous solutions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a system for delivering blood, cardioplegia solution, and other medications or fluids in a pulsatile flow to a patient during cardiopulmonary bypass. In one embodiment, a dual chambered pumping apparatus is utilized in which a pumping action is achieved by compressing one of the chambers with a piston mechanism, while allowing the other chamber to fill with fluid by retracting its respective piston. The instantaneous flow rate of either of the chambers is determined by the speed of the piston. In another embodiment, a single chambered pumping apparatus is used. In this embodiment, the piston can be delivering fluid during a stroke while at the same time filling the chamber on the opposite side of the piston. In a preferred embodiment, a pulsatile flow of fluid is achieved by cyclically alternating the velocity of the piston between two different speeds. A desired average flow rate is maintained by adjusting the alternating velocities and a duty cycle for the flow rate alternation. The calculations necessary to obtain a desired average flow rate are performed by a microprocessor, which also controls the movement of the pistons.
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, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cardioplegic delivery system embodying a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the functioning of one embodiment of a pump mechanism for use in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of one embodiment of a disposable fluid cassette for the pump mechanism of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 4 is an exploded, perspective view of a piston assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the piston of the piston assembly of FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the piston along line 6 - 6 of FIG. 5 ;
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the base of the piston assembly of FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the base along line 8 - 8 of FIG. 7 ;
FIG. 9 is a view from beneath a pump mechanism which accommodates the disposable fluid cassette of FIG. 3 ;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the piston assembly of FIG. 4 in a fully retracted state;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the piston assembly of FIG. 4 in a fully advanced state;
FIG. 12 is a timing diagram illustrating a cycle of the blood/crystalloid pump depicted in FIGS. 1-11 when operated in a non-pulsatile flow mode;
FIG. 13 is a timing diagram illustrating a cycle of the blood/crystalloid pump depicted in FIGS. 1-11 when operated in a pulsatile flow mode in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 14 is a flowchart representation of a method of producing a pulsatile flow in accordance with a preferred embodiment of 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.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system for delivering a pulsatile flow of blood and crystalloid cardioplegia solution to a patient undergoing open-heart surgery. In particular, a preferred embodiment of the present invention allows a perfusionist or surgeon to select between two different delivery modes, one in which fluids are delivered to the patient in a pulsatile flow and another in which fluids are delivered to the patient in a nonpulsatile flow. The two different modes of operation are supported by software, which controls the mechanical operation of the pump. The electromechanical components utilized in both modes are the same, the only difference between the two modes being the software processes used to control the electromechanical components of the system.
FIGS. 1-11 , therefore, describe the electromechanical aspects of the invention, which are common to both modes. FIG. 12 , on the other hand, describes the operation of the nonpulsatile flow mode. FIGS. 13 and 14 describe the operation of the pulsatile flow mode.
Turning now to FIG. 1 , a cardioplegia delivery system 110 is established to provide solution to the heart of a patient during open heart surgery. The principal component of the cardioplegic solution is blood delivered to the system through conduit 112 , which is connected to the output of oxygenator 114 of the heart/lung machine sustaining the patient's vascular system while the heart is isolated during surgery. Oxygenator 114 provides arterial blood in the main extracorporeal circuit through a return line 116 to the patient's aorta. A fraction of the heart/lung machine output is diverted into conduit 112 for processing by the cardioplegic circuit and forwarding to the patient's heart through cardioplegia delivery line 118 . The cardioplegic solution flowing through line 118 may be delivered through antegrade line 120 to the aortic root, or through retrograde line 122 to the coronary sinus.
A crystalloid solution is stored in container 124 for combination with blood flowing in line 112 in a disposable pumping cassette 130 a . The output of cassette 130 a is supplied through line 128 to a heat exchanger 135 . Pump cassette 130 a is controlled by an electromechanical pump mechanism 130 in which cassette 130 a is mounted. A second pump 131 controls cassette 131 a containing potassium solution supplies its output to line 128 downstream from the pump cassette 131 a . A third pump 132 controls cassette 132 a containing any additional drug supplies its output to line 128 downstream from the pump cassette 132 a.
In heat exchanger 135 , the cardioplegic solution is juxtaposed with a circulating temperature controlled fluid to adjust the temperature of the solution prior to forwarding the solution to the heart through line 118 . Preferably pump 133 circulates temperature controlled fluid through heat exchanger 135 either by push or pull. FIG. 1 depicts a push-through coolant system in which a pump 133 circulates the control fluid through heat exchanger 135 and then to a two-way valve 134 , which valve 134 may direct the circulating fluid either to an ice bath 136 for cooling or a heated water reservoir 138 for heating. The circulating fluid is then pumped back through heat exchanger 135 , where the cardioplegia solution receives heating or cooling without contamination across a sealed heat transfer material or membrane within heat exchanger 135 .
The system includes patient monitoring of myocardial temperature along the signal path 142 and heart pressure along signal path 144 communicating to a central microprocessor control section 146 . In addition, the pressure and temperature of the cardioplegic solution in delivery line 118 is sensed via sensors 160 and the data is forwarded along signal paths 148 and 150 to control microprocessor 146 . Data input to microprocessor 146 through control panel 152 may include an advantageous combination of the following parameters: desired overall volumetric flow rate, desired blood/crystalloid ratio to be forwarded, desired potassium concentration to be established by pump 131 , desired supplemental drug concentration to be established by pump 132 , desired temperature of solution in cardioplegia delivery line 118 , and safety parameters such as the pressure of the cardioplegia solution in the system or in the patient.
In response to the data input through the control panel 152 and the monitored conditions along signal paths 142 , 144 , 148 and 150 , microprocessor control section 146 controls the operation of pump mechanism 130 , via signal path 154 , and of potassium pump 131 by way of a signal along path 156 . In addition, microprocessor control section 146 controls the circulation of fluid in the heat exchanger circulation path along signal path 158 either for obtaining a desired patient temperature or a desired output solution temperature. Further, the safety parameters such as pressure limits for a particular procedure or a particular patient may be controlled based upon input settings or based upon preset standards, as for example, one range of acceptable pressure limits for antegrade and another range for retrograde cardioplegia.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, microprocessor controller section 146 controls the pump mechanism 130 to combine crystalloid from container 124 and blood from line 112 in any selected ratio over a broad range of blood/crystalloid ratios. Controller 146 may command the pump mechanism 130 to deliver blood without crystalloid addition. The blood/crystalloid ratio can be adjusted from an all blood mixture to an all crystalloid mixture, with multiple ratios in between. The rate of flow produced by the pump mechanism 130 of the combined output from disposable pump cassette 126 is preferably variable from 0 to 999 milliliters per minute. Potassium pump 131 is automatically controlled to maintain a constant potassium solution concentration. In other words, if the blood pump flow rate is increased, the potassium pump flow rate is automatically increased.
FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a pump mechanism 130 for incorporation into a fluid delivery system such as that described in FIG. 1 . The pump mechanism 130 operates on a flexible, disposable fluid cassette 220 which maintains the sterility of the fluid as it passes through the mechanism. The pump mechanism 130 , as described herein, features two piston assemblies 210 a , 210 b . The piston assembly 210 of the present invention enables the mixing of multiple fluids in consistent, accurate ratios, and the delivery of such mixture at a definable, consistent volumetric flow rate. A fluid delivery system incorporating the present invention may have multiple applications within the medical industry and, in particular, applications in at least the areas of intravenous fluid delivery, limb perfusion, organ perfusion and cardioplegia delivery. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the present invention is adaptable to be incorporated into any variety of fluid delivery systems, whether medical related or not, and scalable to provide a large range of volumetric flow rates.
FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a disposable fluid cassette 220 . The cassette 220 may be formed from two thin, flexible sheets of material, such as polyvinylchloride. The sheets are bonded together along a selected bond area 221 to form particularized open flow paths and chambers. Any number of techniques (as an example, RF welding) may be employed for such bonding. The thickness of the material should be such that variations which occur during manufacture should not significantly affect the volumetric accuracy of the fluid output of pump mechanism 130 .
The cassette 220 includes a first fluid inlet 222 and a second fluid inlet 224 . In a preferred embodiment, the first fluid inlet 222 accommodates blood and the second fluid inlet accommodates a crystalloid fluid typically used during open heart surgery. Fluid entry paths 223 , 225 run respectively from inlets 222 , 224 to a common inlet path 226 , which bifurcates to form inlet flow paths 228 a and 228 b . Inlet flow paths 228 a and 228 b respectively terminate in pump chambers 230 a , 230 b.
Outlet paths 232 a , 232 b , forming the respective output pathways from pump chambers 230 a , 230 b , join at a common outlet path 235 . The outlet path 235 is the gateway for passage of the first and second fluid mixture to other portions of the fluid delivery system.
FIG. 4 illustrates the piston assembly 210 of FIG. 2 . The piston assembly 210 has a piston 240 and a base 250 , such base 250 being dimensioned to operatively receiving the piston 240 . From FIGS. 5 and 6 , piston 240 includes a central hub 242 with a plurality of splines 244 extending outwardly therefrom. The plurality of splines 244 are integrally formed with the hub 242 and extend radially outward. The piston 240 generally forms a convex supporting surface 247 , wherein each spline 244 progresses from a full height at the hub 242 to a substantially lesser height at the perimeter of the piston 240 . For the preferred embodiment, the angular displacement of the supporting surface 247 corresponds, although in a differing direction of displacement, to an angular displacement of a facial surface, or receiving surface 258 , of the base 250 .
As shown in FIG. 5 , the hub 242 can include a passage 246 extending through the piston 240 , such passage 246 extending along an axial centerline of the piston 240 . In the preferred embodiment, the passage 246 receives and carries a contact pressure sensor 248 (see FIGS. 10 and 11 ). The incorporation of a pressure sensor 248 in the piston 240 permits monitoring of a fluid pressure within a pumping chamber associated with piston 240 . Consequently, the intrachamber fluid pressure is useful in determining: (i) the volumetric content of pumping chamber 230 , (ii) the presence of non-occluding valves adjacent pump chamber 230 and (iii) the presence of excessive fluid delivery pressures as well as excessive back-pressures presented to pump mechanism 130 .
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , the base 250 includes a collar 252 and a plurality of ribs 254 . The plurality of ribs 254 are integrally formed with collar 252 and extend radially inward to define a central passageway 256 . The base 250 is constructed so as to (i) permit the hub 242 to be movably received by the central passageway 256 and (ii) allow the plurality of splines 244 to be movably interposed between the plurality of ribs 254 (see FIGS. 10 and 11 ). As shown in FIG. 8 , the ribs 254 generally form a concave receiving surface 258 which inversely complements the convex supporting surface 247 of the piston 240 . Accordingly, each rib 254 progresses from a full height at the collar 252 to a substantially lesser height at the perimeter of central passageway 256 . In the preferred embodiment, the angular displacement of the receiving surface 258 is substantially 45 degrees. Further, the angular displacement of the supporting surface 247 of the piston 240 is substantially equivalent.
In the preferred embodiment, each spline 244 has a thickness substantially equal to that of each rib 254 . Therefore, when the base 250 receives the piston 240 there exists limited and tightly controlled clearance between any rib-spline interface, thereby preventing the opportunity for the cassette material to become pinched or positioned between the elements during operation. The piston 240 may be manufactured from a lubricated material such as acetyl fluoropolymer (for example, Delrin AF from DuPont, Co., Wilmington, Del.), and the base 250 from a glass reinforced polycarbonate (for example, a 10% glass material Lexan 500 from GE Plastics, Pittsfield, Mass.), to permit largely unrestricted motion of the piston 240 relative to the base 250 despite the potential for repeated contact between two elements. The number of splines 244 and ribs 254 should be such that the space 245 between each spline 244 and the space 255 between each rib 254 (such being substantially equivalent if the thickness of each spline 244 is substantially equivalent to the thickness of each rib 254 ) is of such a distance to enable the adjacent splines (or ribs as the case may be) to support the cassette 220 across the spaces 245 , 255 .
The complementary shaping of the piston 240 and the base 250 enables a resting cassette pumping chamber 230 to be supported by a constant surface area throughout an entire stroke of the piston 240 , thereby foreclosing the opportunity for the cassette material to be stretched, unsupported or pinched during movement of the piston 240 . Furthermore, the geometric relation between the elements permits a mathematical relation to be established. In the preferred embodiment, for example, the diameter of the piston 240 linearly decreases, relative to the interior of the pumping chamber 230 , with the retraction of piston 240 . A similar relation exists for the advancement of piston 240 . Thus, during retraction of the piston 240 , an enclosed volume is created which increases as a quadratic function of the piston's 240 movement. The relation can be used to maintain a constant fluid flow rate because the rate of piston movement can be controlled to achieve a predetermined flow rate.
Although the preferred embodiment defines a base 250 having a receiving surface 258 with a 45-degree angular displacement along the plurality of ribs 254 , the angular displacement may measure from 30 to 60 degrees. Notwithstanding, the preferred embodiment ensures (i) a relatively significant pumping chamber volume, (ii) full support of the cassette pumping chamber 230 through an entire pumping stroke, and (iii) avoidance of trapped air within the pumping chamber 230 .
FIG. 9 is a rear view of the elements of the pumping mechanism 130 which accommodates the cassette 220 of FIG. 3 (an outline of the cassette 220 is provided). The pumping mechanism 130 incorporates a pair of stepper motors, or pumping motors 272 a , 272 b . The pumping motors 272 a , 272 b rotationally engage, through attached lead screws 243 a , 243 b , a threaded portion 241 a , 241 b of each piston 240 a , 240 b (see FIG. 2 ). Two drive motors 280 , 282 control the operation of the mechanism's valves. Drive motor 280 engages cam shaft 292 (such driving inlet valves 286 a and 286 b ) through a timing belt 298 . Drive motor 280 also engages cam shaft 294 (such driving outlet valves 288 a and 288 b ) through a timing belt 299 which rotationally couples cam shafts 292 and 294 . Drive motor 282 engages cam shaft 290 (which drives inlet valves 284 a and 284 b ) through an independent timing belt 296 .
Referring to both FIGS. 3 and 9 , the interrelation of the pumping mechanism 130 and the fluid mixing operation are better illustrated. In short, mixing of a first and a second fluid, for the purposes of the illustrated embodiment, is accomplished through the continuous introduction of a first and a second fluid into multiple pumping chambers in a predefined, systematic pattern. The pumping mechanism 130 , through the operation of a series of valves, controls the flow of fluid throughout the cassette 220 . Specifically, a valve, if actuated, presses the first and second sheets of the cassette 220 together at a cassette valve location to occlude the valve location's corresponding flow path.
For pumping mechanism 130 , inlet valves 284 a , 284 b , 286 a , 286 b control the introduction of fluid into the pumping chambers 230 a , 230 b . The inlet valves 284 a , 284 b , 286 a , 286 b act on the cassette 220 at valve locations 234 a , 234 b , 236 a and 236 b , respectively. Outlet valves 288 a , 288 b control the flow of fluid from the pumping chambers 230 a , 230 b by acting on cassette valve locations 238 a , 238 b . As an example, in preparation of filling pumping chamber 230 b , valve 286 a (valve location 236 a ) is actuated to close inlet flow path 228 a , while valve 288 b (valve location 238 b ) also occludes outlet path 232 b to permit the accumulation of fluid within the pumping chamber 230 b . During filling, valves 284 a , 284 b and 286 b (valve locations 234 a , 234 b and 236 b , respectively) open and close in a predetermined synchronized pattern to permit a ratio of the first and second fluids to enter the pumping chamber 230 b . Upon completion of the fill, valves 286 b and 288 a respectively occlude flow paths 228 b and 232 a , and valve 288 b is de-actuated to permit fluid to flow from the pumping chamber 230 b . Fluid movement, whether filling or being expelled from the pumping chambers 230 a , 230 b , is initiated through the movement of the mechanism's pump assemblies 210 a , 210 b.
Referring to FIG. 2 and the operation of the pump mechanism 130 , a fastened retaining door 274 tightly constrains the cassette 220 against the upper surface of the pump mechanism. The retaining door 274 possesses a number of cavities 276 a , 276 b , such number corresponding to the number of pump assemblies included within the pump mechanism 130 . The cavities 276 a , 276 b are complementary of and can fully receive at least a portion of the pistons 240 a , 240 b when such are in a fully advanced position. Accordingly, the conformance of the cavities 276 a , 276 b to the shaping of the pistons 240 a , 240 b enables the expulsion of substantially all the fluid from the pump chambers 230 a , 230 b for a full piston stroke. Complete fluid displacement makes such pumping mechanism 130 and its methodology suitable for single pumping stroke applications.
When the cassette 220 is operatively positioned in the pump mechanism 130 , the cassette pumping chambers 230 a , 230 b align with and rest upon the pump assemblies 210 a , 210 b . The retaining door 274 effectively constrains the cassette 220 during operation. The formed volume of the paths and chambers of the cassette 220 may be slightly greater or less than the nominal constraining volume defined by the rigid constituents of the pump mechanism 130 . Practically, the firm restraints of the pump mechanism 130 permit the development of relatively high fluid pressures within the cassette 220 without significant or detrimental deformation of the cassette material. Indeed, constraining the cassette 220 over effectively the entire cassette surface creates an inherently non-compliant system. Such non-compliance contributes to the ability of the pump mechanism 130 to produce consistent, accurate volumetric fluid delivery.
In the preferred embodiment, the cassette pumping chambers 230 a , 230 b do not rest directly upon the supporting surfaces of the piston 240 and/or base 250 . Instead, a resilient material 278 , attached about the upper portion of the base 250 , operates to conform to the supporting surface of the piston assembly 210 without regard to whether the piston 240 is fully advanced, retracted or in some intermediate position. The resilient material 278 protects the pump mechanism 130 from fluid intrusion in the event any liquid is spilled on the device operational environment. The resilient material 278 also acts to further protect the cassette 220 from damage that could inadvertently occur through the operation and movement of the piston assembly 210 .
In an alternative embodiment, the resilient material 278 could include reinforcement means to provide additional rigidity to the resilient material 278 . As an example, reinforcement means could include a fine metal mesh or cloth embedded within the material used to fabricate the resilient material 278 . Alternatively, the resilient material 278 could include a spiral wire which is capable of concentric expansion to provide facial and lateral support for a resting cassette 220 about the interior of the base 250 (when piston 240 is in a retracted position) or about the piston 240 (when piston 240 is in an advanced position). Lastly, the material 278 could be formed of cloth altogether to eliminate any elasticity. This alternative embodiment, and its variations, could permit the use of fewer rib/splines or provide greater reliability in applications that require the piston assembly 130 to operate in larger applications, in the presence of greater fluid pressures or both.
Returning to FIG. 2 , piston 240 a is fully retracted (see also FIG. 10 ) and piston 240 b is fully advanced (see also FIG. 11 ). Relative to fluid displacement, pump chamber 230 a would be substantially full of fluid, and pump chamber 230 b would have just expelled its contents. For the present embodiment, the pump mechanism 130 can deliver substantially continuous fluid flow through the sequential filling and expulsion of fluid from the pumping chambers 230 a , 230 b.
In addition to providing substantially continuous flow, the pump mechanism 130 of the present embodiment incorporates a four-step filling protocol, which is in parallel to the expulsion of fluid from the other pump chamber, to ensure the volumetric accuracy of the delivered fluid. First, valve 288 a is actuated and a first fluid is introduced into the pumping chamber 230 a through the synchronized operation of the inlet valves. The pump motor 272 a retracts a predefined amount to admit a volumetric quantity of the first fluid that, relative to the total volume of the pumping chamber 230 a , satisfies a predefined fluid mixture ratio. Second, the system tests the volumetric accuracy of the first fluid within the pump chamber 230 a . As a prelude to performing the test, valve 286 a is actuated to occlude inlet path 228 a . The pump motor 272 a is advanced a few steps to increase the pressure within the pumping chamber 230 a to a predetermined level. Based upon both the relative position of the piston 240 a and the measured chamber pressure, the fluid delivery system determines whether a sufficient quantity of fluid was delivered to the pumping chamber 230 a . Third, a second fluid is introduced into the pumping chamber 230 a through the synchronized operation of the inlet valves. Lastly, the accuracy of the total fluid volume is tested in accordance with the procedure above. Upon determining that the pump chamber has filled properly, the fill protocol is completed.
As should be gained from this operational description, the piston assembly 210 reduces the opportunity for damage to blood or blood-fluid mixtures in the pumping process. Specifically, the pump assembly 210 does not possess those features that (i) facilitate the trapping of blood in or about the pumping chamber 230 or (ii) subject the blood to damaging compressive forces (roller pumps) or shearing forces (centrifugal pumps).
From the relationship correlating piston position to pumping chamber volume, one will appreciate that various fluids may be mixed at definable ratios through simply controlling the number of steps the pumping motors 272 a , 272 b move for each fill stage. As well, the total volumetric flow rate delivered by the pump mechanism 130 is dependent upon the user-defined, flow rate.
FIG. 12 illustrates a timing diagram for the operation of the valve cam motors 280 and 282 in conjunction with the pumping motors 272 a and 272 b , in accordance with the prior art. In the cycle described, one chamber pumps a mixture of blood and crystalloid in a selected ratio outwardly from outlet 235 of cassette 220 ( FIG. 3 ), while the other pumping chamber is undergoing a sequential fill and test protocol. Filling chamber is filled with blood to the volume to produce the desired ratio followed by pressure testing of the chamber with its inlet and outlet valves closed to verify capture of the desired amount of blood. Following this step, the drive element of the filling pumping chamber is further retracted and crystalloid solution admitted to complete the filling of the chamber. Then the inlet and outlet valves on the filling chamber are closed to pressure test the chamber for a captured full load. Additional pressure tests and monitoring may be conducted during pumping to determine if there is any unsafe occlusion or to control the pressure within an appropriate safe range for a given procedure.
Thus, at the commencement of the FIG. 12 diagram, the pumping chamber bladder 230 a has been emptied, and the other bladder 230 b is full of a blood-crystalloid mixture in the desired proportions. The outlet valve 288 a , from chamber 230 a is closed. Outlet valve 288 b is open to pass the combined fluid from chamber 230 b through the outlet 235 to the heat exchanger 131 ( FIG. 1 ) at the requested volumetric flow rate. Throughout the period of delivery from chamber 230 b , its inlet valve 286 b remains closed, and the corresponding piston 240 b is advanced by motor 272 b to reduce the volume of bladder 230 b to expel the blood/crystalloid solution. The speed of motor 272 b is governed by the requested flow rate. The outlet valve 288 a from chamber 230 a remains closed throughout this period of pumping from chamber 230 b.
The valves 284 a and 284 b controlling inlet of blood and crystalloid to common inlet path 226 , and the inlet valve for chamber 230 a (inlet valve 286 a ) are sequentially opened and closed during the filling protocol for bladder 230 a , which occupies the time period during which bladder 230 b is delivering fluid to line 128 ( FIG. 1 ). Thus, when one bladder has completed its pumping step, the other has received solution constituents in the desired ratio and is ready to deliver. Substantially continuous flow is thus enabled, as shown at the top of FIG. 12 .
In the 4-step filling protocol for chamber 230 a , illustrated at the outset of the diagram, valves 284 a and 286 a are initially open, and valve 284 b closed. Thus, an open flow path for entry of blood to chamber 230 a is provided through inlet 222 , common inlet path 226 , and pump chamber inlet path 228 a , while crystalloid is occluded at valve 284 b . Pump motor 272 a (shown in FIG. 2 ) is retracted sufficiently to admit sufficient blood to comprise the desired fraction of total chamber volume. Then valves 284 a and 286 a are closed, and pump motor 272 a is advanced a few steps, to confirm by elevating pressure that the requested blood load has been captured between closed valves 286 a and 288 a . With confirmed introduction of the correct amount of blood, valves 286 a and 284 b are opened while valve 284 a remains closed to stop further blood entry. Pump motor 272 a now retracts to admit the correct volume of crystalloid along paths 225 , 226 and 228 a . This is followed by closing valves 286 a and 284 b . Motor 272 a is advanced briefly to confirm by pressure elevation that the full incremental volume has been occupied by crystalloid solution. With this confirmation, the fill protocol is complete, and chamber 230 a is ready for delivery on the completion of delivery from chamber 230 b . As chamber 230 a then delivers, chamber 230 b undergoes a similar 4-step filling protocol.
The total volumetric flow rate from the cassette is varied pursuant to operator request simply by compressing or expanding the time for a cycle to be completed. Of course, if intermittent operation is desired, this may be provided as well. No matter what changes may be made to the blood/crystalloid flow rate, microprocessor 146 preferably automatically controls potassium pump 132 to deliver at a concentration which provides the requested potassium concentration.
Turning now to FIG. 13 , a timing diagram illustrating the operation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a pulsatile flow mode is depicted. In a preferred embodiment, because spline pistons are utilized, the flow rate of the fluid leaving the pumping chamber is related quadratically to the velocity of the piston. To achieve a pulsatile flow, the velocity of the piston is varied cyclically. Period 302 represents this cyclic flow characteristic. While the slopes of 310 a , 310 b , and 310 c appear substantially equal, it is likely that the actual slope would be steeper for 310 b and 310 c due to the non-linear nature of the surface area of the piston being applied to the fluid pouch as the piston is advanced.
Period 302 comprises partial-cycles 308 a , 308 b , 308 c during which the piston is moved at a lower velocity, so as to achieve a lower flow rate. During partial-cycles 310 a , 310 b , 310 c the piston is moved at a higher velocity, thus achieving a higher flow rate. The portion of period 302 during which the higher velocity is applied is referred to as the “duty cycle”. This velocity characteristic (which also represents the instantaneous flow rate) is a square- or rectangle-wave. Due to compliance in the tubing connecting the cardioplegia delivery system to the patient, the actual flow rate characteristic and actual fluid pressure characteristic experienced by the patient is more sinusoidal in nature, as shown at the top of FIG. 13 . It should also be noted that the flow rate(s) so obtained have the desirable property of being independent of the fluid pressure of the fluid being pumped. A desirable fluid pressure, for physiological purposes, is within the range of 50-250 mmHg.
The upper and lower velocities, corresponding to upper and lower flow rates, respectively, are selected so as to achieve a desired average flow rate over time given a particular amplitude and duty cycle for the pulsatile flow. The difference in pressure obtained during the upper flow rate and that obtained during the lower flow rate is called the “pulse pressure.” An operator may also specify a particular frequency, corresponding to a simulated heart rate, at which the operator wishes the pulsatile flow to run. In order to simulate normal physiological conditions, a frequency of between 50-90 beats per minute is typically used. As shown in FIG. 13 , the position of the piston varies at a low rate of change 308 during the low-velocity portions of period 302 , while the position changes at a higher rate 310 during the high-velocity portions of period 302 . Although the instantaneous velocity of the piston, and hence the instantaneous flow rate of the fluid being pumped, changes from instant-to-instant, the average rate of flow over time is a constant and is the same as would be achieved using a non-pulsatile flow.
Given a desired average flow rate, a desired amplitude, and a desired duty cycle, the microprocessor control of a preferred embodiment of the present invention calculates an appropriate upper and lower flow rate. FIG. 14 is a flowchart representation of a process of computing these upper and lower flow rates in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. First, the desired average flow rate (expressed in mL/min.), a desired amplitude (representing the desired magnitude of the upper flow rate as expressed as a percentage of the average flow rate), and a duty cycle (expressed as a percentage of a given cycle to be spent at the upper flow rate) are provided by the user (block 400 ). In a preferred embodiment, the amplitude may range from 50% to 300%, and the duty cycle may range from 10% to 50%. Next, the appropriate upper flow rate is calculated from the amplitude, as (1+Amplitude)×Avg. flow rate (block 402 ).
For safety purposes, one embodiment of the present invention supports a maximum upper flow rate of 750 mL/min. Therefore, if the upper flow rate calculated in block 402 exceeds 750 mL/min (block 404 :Yes), then the upper flow rate is set to 750 mL/min. Then the amplitude is adjusted to be 750 mL/min./Avg. flow rate (block 406 ), and the process cycles back to block 408 . The lower flow rate is calculated as
( 1 + Duty cycle × Amplitude Duty cycle - 1 ) × Avg . flow rate ( block 408 ) .
If this lower flow rate is less than 10 mL/min. (block 410 : Yes), the lower flow rate is set to 10 ml/min. Then the amplitude is adjusted to be
( 10 - Avg . flow rate Avg . flow rate ) × ( Duty cycle - 1 Duty cycle ) ( block 412 ) ,
and the process cycles back to block 414 .
If the lower flow rate is greater than the minimum value of 10 mL/min. (block 410 :No), then a cyclic flow profile, such as that depicted in FIG. 13 is commenced, in which the velocity of the piston, and hence the instantaneous flow rate of the fluid delivered to the patient, cycles between the calculated upper and lower flow rates, according to the prescribed duty cycle and frequency (block 414 ).
One of the preferred implementations of the invention is a client application, namely, a set of instructions (program code) or other functional descriptive material in a code module that may, for example, be resident in the random access memory of a microprocessor, microcontroller, or other computer (e.g., microprocessor control section 146 in FIG. 1 ). Until required by the computer, the set of instructions may be stored in another computer memory, for example, in a hard disk drive, or in a removable memory 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. Functional descriptive material is information that imparts functionality to a machine. Functional descriptive material includes, but is not limited to, computer programs, instructions, rules, facts, definitions of computable functions, objects, and data structures.
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. 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 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.
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A system for delivering blood, cardioplegia solution, and other medications or fluids in a pulsatile flow pattern to a patient during cardiopulmonary bypass is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a pumping apparatus having at least one chamber is utilized in which a pumping action is achieved by compressing one of the chambers with a piston mechanism, while allowing the other chamber to fill with fluid via retracting its respective piston. The instantaneous flow rate of either of the chambers is determined by the speed of the piston. In a preferred embodiment, a pulsatile flow of fluid is achieved by cyclically alternating the velocity of the piston between two different speeds. A desired average flow rate and/or delivery pressure and/or constant pulse pressure is maintained by adjusting the alternating velocities at the desired frequency and duty cycle. The calculations necessary to obtain a desired average flow rate are performed by a microprocessor, which also controls the movement of the pistons.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The recovery of precious metals, primarily gold and silver, from low grade tailings or dump ore has been known for many years. Typically, the low grade ore is crushed to a uniform size then agglomerated prior to construction into heaps. The heaps are constructed upon impervious leach pads. A leach solution such as sodium cyanide is sprayed onto the heaps and allowed to percolate through the heaps. The percolating leachate dissolves metals such as gold, silver, copper, etc., in the heap. The pregnant leach solution is collected and the gold and silver recovered via a zinc precipitation Merrill-Crowe process or via a carbon adsorption/desorption process. In the activated carbon desorption process the gold is stripped from the carbon by increasing the temperature, cyanide concentration and pH of the pregnant solution. The pregnant stripper solution is recirculated through either an electrowinning circuit to recover gold on a steel wool electrode or through a Merrill-Crowe circuit to recover gold precipitate as a filter cake.
In the use of zinc precipitation of metals from such cyanide solutions, it is essential that the solution be clarified to approximately 5 ppm solids or less, and deaerated to about 1 ppm oxygen. There must be adequate zinc, an appropriate portion of lead nitrate, sufficient free cyanide, proper solution pH's and an appropriate filter media such as diatomaceous earth.
The cyanide solution will dissolve other metals in addition to the gold and silver sought in such mining operations Copper and calcium as well as others may be dissolved by the leach solution and result in a decreased overall yield of gold and silver. Calcium and other scale forming metals can result in scale formation on the stripping circuit heat transfer surfaces or in the filter presses of a Merrill-Crowe recovery process.
The use of chelation chemistry to inhibit scale deposition is known. To alleviate scale deposition many commercial antiscalants are available. These include maleic polymers, acrylic polymers, phosphonates and combinations thereof. Anti-scalant agents comprising chelating agents and organic dispersants have also been employed. Such antiscalants sequester calcium and render it non-reactive thus reducing scale deposition. The organic dispersants keep previously formed scale crystals free-flowing. The chemistry of chelation is well known as are common chelating agents such as ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid and hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid. The reaction of chelation is a stoichiometric reaction. Chelating agents will complex certain metallic ions preferentially to others. PG,4
The chelation constant K ma predicts the strength of the metal - ligand complex which forms. The most strongly complexed ion is chelated before the next most strongly complexed ion is chelated. Thus, when a number of species are present which will be chelated by the chosen scale control additive, the stoichiometric amount of scale control agent required may be excessive.
Many copper oxide and sulfide minerals are quite soluble in cyanide solutions. Copper forms several cyano complexes and the cyanide in these complexes is unavailable for gold dissolution. However, much of it reports as a free cyanide when the leach solution is analyzed by the standard silver nitrate titration procedure. This means that a solution which apparently contains a sufficiency of free cyanide for gold recovery may in fact give incomplete gold dissolution.
Copper also causes a decrease in the yield of gold and silver because it precipitates, along with gold and silver, when powdered zinc is added to the pregnant solution. Thus copper will dilute the dore bullion. Copper will also increase cyanide consumption.
Because, of these undesirable effects caused by the presence of copper, ore containing more than about 0.3% copper is often treated as gold containing copper ore. The copper is floated into a concentrate and the neutralized flotation tails cyanided to recover the gold.
In gold ores where the amount of copper is not sufficient to justify the recovery of copper, the copper is not recovered separate from gold and silver and decreases the overall yield of gold and silver in the dore bullion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The inventors of the present invention have discovered that the addition of a threshold (substoichiometric) amount of ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in combination with a scale control agent resulted in an increase in the percent of gold and silver in the dore bar in a Merrill-Crowe recovery process. The increase was the result of a decrease in the amount of copper which precipitated and was recovered by the process. The decrease in the amount of copper precipitated also allowed the amount of zinc powder necessary in the precipitation step to be decreased, further improving the efficacy of the recovery operation.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is directed to a composition or combination of products for use in the recovery of gold, silver or other metals from metal bearing ore by the Merrill-Crowe recovery process. The composition includes a phosphonate, a polyacrylate copolymer and EDTA. It was discovered that the combination of the present invention effectively increases the yield of gold and silver while decreasing scale deposition in the stripper circuit in a Merrill-Crowe recovery process. In a stripper circuit gold is desorbed from activated carbon, followed by precipitation by zinc powder. The combination of the present invention also allows for a decrease in the amount of zinc powder employed in the precipitation segment of a Merrill-Crowe recovery process. The combination of the present invention was found to be effective in the processing of metal bearing ore which contained sufficient copper to adversely effect the yield of gold and silver recovered.
The Merrill-Crowe precipitation process is a gold and silver recovery process wherein zinc is employed to precipitate gold and silver from a cyanide solution. The process is typically employed to recover gold and silver from a pregnant leach solution. In the process, zinc dust is added to the pregnant leach solution to effect precipitation. The pregnant leach solution is typically filtered through diatomaceous earth to filter and clarify the incoming solution. The filter removes fine clays, sands and other foreign particles. The pregnant leach solution is then deoxygenated in a vacuum deaeration tower. Thereafter zinc powder, usually in combination with lead salts such as lead nitrate are added to the pregnant solution to precipitate gold and silver. Copper which is often present in the pregnant solution may also precipitate. High pH (10.0 plus) may be employed in an attempt to minimize the precipitation of copper. However, some copper will precipitate with the gold and silver thereby decreasing the percentage of gold and silver in the recovered dore bullion. The precipitate and solution are filtered through diatomaceous earth in plate and frame filter presses to recover the precipitated material. The filter cake is dried, acid leached to remove zinc and refined in a smelter to recover a dore bar of gold, silver and copper.
It was discovered by the present inventors that the addition of the combination of the present invention to the pregnant leach solution in the metal stripping circuit provides, in addition to reduced in scale deposition, a decrease in percent copper and resulted in an increase in the percent of gold and silver in the dore bar while allowing the amount of zinc dust added to be decreased. The control of scale by the combination of the present invention was expected, the phosphonate and polyacrylate copolymer materials are known calcium scale control agents. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,262 incorporated herein by reference. However, the apparent control of copper was unexpected at the substoichiometric (with respect to copper) EDTA treatment levels of the present invention. Further, the decrease in zinc powder added was expected to adversely effect the gold and silver recovery especially in an ore containing copper.
The present invention will now be further described with reference to a specific example which is to be regarded solely as illustrative, and not as restricting the scope of the present invention.
The combination of the present invention was fed to the gold and silver stripping circuit of a working gold mine which employed an activated carbon adsorption/desorption process in conjunction with a Merrill-Crowe precious metal recovery process. The solution of the present invention was fed at several points in the strip circuit to prevent equipment scaling at critical points. The solution fed to the stripping circuit consisted of EDTA (38% concentration) fed to the zinc powder feed cone in an amount sufficient to provide a concentration of about 17 parts per million. EDTA was also shot fed to the barren leachate storage tank when the strip solution was changed in an amount sufficient to provide a concentration of about 1000 parts per million. The phosphonate and the polyacrylate copolymer component of the present invention comprising phosphono butane tricarboxylic acid and acrylic acid/acrylic hydroxypropyl sulfonate was fed to the barren leach storage tank to provide a concentration of 66 ppm, to the pregnant leach solution holding tank to provide a concentration of about 29 ppm and to the zinc powder feed cone to provide a concentration of about 37 ppm. The phosphonate and polyacrylate copolymer was fed as a 26% (10.5 active) aqueous solution.
As a result of the feeding of the solution of the present invention ,the percent gold and silver in the dore bullion recovered changed from a range of 29.2 to 65.1% (average 49.8%) to a range of from 53.0 to 84.7% (an average of 68.2%). This increase in gold and silver concentration in the dore bullion was accomplished with a zinc powder feed reduction of 50% and was accompanied by a reduction in quantity and tenacity of scale deposits in the stripping circuit. See Tables 1 and 2.
TABLE 1______________________________________Percent Gold and Silver in Dore BullionNo TreatmentBar Number Percent Gold and Silver______________________________________ 1 56.3 2 61.2 3 57.2 4 40.9 5 65.1 6 60.4 7 55.4 8 59.9 9 42.110 5111 42.412 29.213 47.214 48.215 40.816 43.317 57.518 57.519 48.220 52.321 47.222 44.323 39.7Average: 49.8%______________________________________
TABLE 2______________________________________Percent Gold and Silver in Dore BullionAfter TreatmentBar Number Percent Gold and Silver______________________________________24 6625 73.126 64.327 62.428 57.929 5330 60.231 57.732 60.933 57.934 66.735 64.136 78.537 78.538 82.839 82.940 64.941 67.142 84.743 81.3Average 68.2%______________________________________
While the present invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, it is apparent that numerous other forms and modifications of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The appended claims and this invention generally should be construed to cover all such obvious forms and modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
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A method for improving the yield of gold and silver from a Merrill-Crowe recovery process where the presence of copper effects yield. The method involves the addition of a substoichiometric amount of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid in combination with a phosphonate and polyacrylic copolymer scale control agent. The method also reduces zinc consumption and controls scaling in the stripping circuit.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of sports. More specifically, the invention comprises an oblong throwing ball containing a large central passage that is bounded by a rigid material, with the outer portions of the ball being made of compressible foam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spherical balls have been used in many sports and many amusement games. An example is the pressurized spherical ball used in the international game of football (known in America and some other regions as “soccer”). A spherical ball obviously rolls well and is easy to kick and otherwise manipulate with the feet. However, it is not easy to throw a large spherical ball.
The game of American football initially used a pressurized ball having an oblong shape. The original American football was similar in size and shape to the ball presently used in the sport of Rugby. However, as the forward pass evolved in American football during the first half of the 20 th century, the ball began to change as well. The ball evolved to include distinct point at each end and a more slender shape. This allowed the ball to be more easily gripped and thrown.
The modern American football has a distinct central axis, with points at each end lying along this central axis. A skilled passer can release the ball so that (1) the ball's central axis is parallel to its flight path, and (2) the ball's center of rotation coincides with its central axis. When these two conditions exist, the passer has achieved a “tight spiral.” When the two conditions do not exist, the ball appears to “flutter.” This is true primarily because the leading point of the ball does not lie on the axis of rotation. Instead, it rotates around the axis of rotation, This eccentricity of rotation tends to persist throughout the flight of the ball. It significantly increases drag and also reduces directional stability. A badly eccentric throw is often called a “wounded duck.” For the same amount of initial velocity, it will not travel nearly as far as a “tight spiral.”
Thus, significant skill is required to correctly throw a modern American football. The exterior surface of such a football is also relatively rigid and requires a strong grip to throw effectively. It would be advantageous to provide a football having a more compressible exterior surface that could be more easily gripped. It would also be advantageous to provide a football having eccentricity-correcting features so that the ball would tend to stabilize in flight even when thrown poorly. The present invention provides these features as well as additional features.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention comprises a throwable ball having a large internal passage aligned with its central axis. A relatively rigid insert defines the bounds of the internal passage. This insert is surrounded by compressible foam that gives the ball an easy gripping surface. Interlock features are preferably provided between the insert and the compressible foam so that they do not slip relative to each other.
The diameter of the internal passage is large in comparison to the overall diameter of the ball. The diameter of the internal passage is preferably at least 50% of the overall diameter. Although the insert extends for most of the length of the ball, it does not extend to the two ends. The ends only contain the compressible foam. This prevents injury or damage when the ball strikes something.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, showing the inventive ball in an assembled state.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view, showing the insert alone.
FIG. 3 is an elevation view, looking down the central axis of the assembled ball.
FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation view.
FIG. 5 is an elevation view, showing the inventive ball from the side.
FIG. 6 is a transverse elevation view, illustrating the diameter of the central passage in comparison to the ball as a whole.
REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS
10 orb ball
12 central passage
14 insert
16 rib
20 insert containment step
22 central axis
26 air flow
28 foam body
30 passage diameter
32 overall diameter
34 first end
36 second end
38 exterior profile
40 first insert end
42 second insert end
44 chamfer
46 fillet
48 compression region
50 insert recess
52 insert passage
54 foam body passage
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the present invention, designated as orb ball 10 . The orb ball has an outward facing surface that is generally similar to the surface of an American football. it also includes central passage 12 a cavity running completely through the ball along its central axis. The orb ball includes two major components that are locked together. A relatively rigid insert forms the “core” of the ball. This insert is surrounded by pliable, high-density foam.
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of insert 14 by itself. Insert 14 includes a cylindrical side wall defining a hollow internal passage. In the completed assembly it is surrounded by the high-density foam. The insert is preferably made from a relatively rigid material, such as an injection molded thermoplastic. The term “relatively rigid” refers to the relative rigidity of the insert with respect to the surrounding foam.
It is preferable to provide one or more interlocking features that will help lock the insert and the surrounding foam together. In the embodiment shown a pair of ribs 16 extend radially outward from the cylindrical wall. The foam is typically molded around the insert so the foam—while still in a non-set state—flows around the ribs. When the foam sets, the ribs create a mechanical interlock.
FIG. 3 provides an elevation view looking in a direction that is parallel to the orb ball's central axis. The reader will observe how central passage 12 extends through the orb ball. In addition, the reader will observe that the diameter of the central passage is quite large with respect to the overall diameter of the orb ball.
FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation view of the orb ball taken along the central axis. The reader will observe that all the features of the embodiment shown are radially symmetric about central axis 22 . As stated previously, insert 14 primarily consists of a cylindrical wall. The cylindrical wall has an inward facing surface and an outward facing surface. The inward facing surface of the cylindrical wall defines insert passage 52 .
Foam body 28 includes a cylindrical foam body passage 54 . Foam body passage 54 opens into a cylindrical insert recess 50 . The insert recess is a cylindrical recess that does not extend for the entire length of the foam body. Instead, it stops at two insert containment steps 20 . The first insert containment step abuts first insert end 40 and the second insert containment step abuts second insert end 42 . These abutting relationships—along with the ribs on the insert—create a good mechanical interlock between the insert and the foam body.
Surface adhesion between the insert and the foam body may also assist in the creation of the desired interlock. This surface adhesion may be created by a variety of processes, including molding the foam over the insert or the use of a separate spray-on or liquid adhesive.
FIG. 4 serves to illustrate several significant features of the invention. First, the reader will note that exterior profile 38 has a varying diameter. It is intended to resemble the exterior shape of the central portion of an American football. This portion of an American football has an elliptical profile, where the major axis of the defining ellipse is parallel to central axis 22 but also offset from the central axis.
Exterior profile 38 has a maximum diameter in the center of the orb ball. This diameter tapers toward either end of the ball. The diameter of the internal passage remains constant (or nearly so). Foam body 28 extends to first end 34 and second end 36 . However, in the embodiment shown, the elliptical exterior profile 38 does not extent all the way to the ends of the orb ball. Instead, a chamfer 44 is included proximate first end 34 and second end 36 . In addition, a fillet 46 is used to join the extreme end of each chamfer to foam body passage 54 .
As shown in FIG. 4 , insert 14 does not extend all the way to the two ends of the orb ball. Instead, it stops short. First end 34 of foam body 28 extends well beyond first insert end 40 and second end 36 extends well beyond second insert end 42 . This extension creates a compression region 48 on each end of the orb ball. The compression region helps reduce the risk of injury or damage when the orb ball strikes something. The rigidity of the insert maintains the overall shape of the orb ball. However, the portions of the orb ball that may actually strike an external object (the exterior profile and the two ends) remain pliable.
FIG. 5 shows an elevation view of the orb ball looking in a direction that is perpendicular to central axis 22 . When the ball is thrown, the central passage allows air flow 26 through the interior of the ball. Air flows over the exterior of the ball in a conventional fashion.
FIG. 6 shows a sectional elevation view through the “fattest” portion of the orb ball—taken in a direction that is transverse to the central axis. Passage diameter 30 is shown, as is overall diameter 32 . In the preferred embodiment, passage diameter 30 is greater than half the value of overall diameter 32 . In an even more preferred embodiment, the passage diameter is greater than 55% of the overall diameter.
Those skilled in the art will understand the principles of angular momentum. In viewing FIG. 6 , the reader will note that most of the orb ball's mass is concentrated near its perimeter rather than along its central axis. This fact provides greater spin-stability for a given overall mass.
Looking back at FIG. 4 , those skilled in the art will discern another significant operational feature of the orb ball. As mentioned in the background section, an American football that is launched with an eccentric rotation (the ball's central axis being misaligned with the direction of flight) will tend to become less stable in flight. The orb ball's configuration produces the opposite result.
When the orb ball is thrown, air flows through its central passage with considerable velocity. The central passage acts like a wind sock, in that it will always tend to align itself with the prevailing flow. The prevailing flow is of course determined by the direction of the orb ball's flight. Thus, the flow through the central passage acts like a yaw damper for an imperfect throw. The term “imperfect throw” may apply to several conditions including: (1) The ball's axis of rotation is angularly offset from central axis 22 , (2) The ball's central axis is misaligned with the direction of flight, and (3) combinations thereof.
For any of these conditions the flow of air through the orb ball's central passage will tend to damp the error. In other words, the flow through the central passage will tend to (1) Shift the ball's axis of rotation so that it lies on the central axis, and (2) Align the central axis with the direction of flight. These stabilizing forces tend to reduce drag and increase the range of a particular throw. A further drag reduction results from the fact that the central passage reduces the orb ball's projected frontal area.
Still looking at FIG. 4 , the reader may wish to know some of the manufacturing processes that can be used to create preferred embodiments of the invention. Injection molding may be used to create insert 14 . The insert may be molded as a solid body or may be “foam molded”—meaning that gas bubbles are injected into the liquid thermoplastic to create a rigid cellular structure. This technique creates a strong and light structure reminiscent of animal bone in that it has a solid exterior but a porous interior.
Foam body 28 may be created using an overmolding process. In overmolding, the completed insert is placed into a larger mold cavity. A liquid foam molding agent is then added to the cavity. The foam molding agent transitions to a solid while still in the mold. The unified assembly is then removed from the mold.
Insert 14 may be made of any desired thermoplastic. It could also be made using a thermoset material or a cross-linking material. For that matter, insert 14 could even be made of a metal such as aluminum.
Foam body 28 is preferably made from a high-density compressible foam. A suitable foam has a density in the range of 20 kilograms per cubic meter up to 60 kilograms per cubic meter. An even more preferable range lies between 30 kilograms per cubic meter and 50 kilograms per cubic meter. A foam's density is largely dependent upon the cell site in comparison to the cell wall thickness. A variety of techniques can be used to determine this value in order to bring the foam into the desired range of density. A wide variety of foams could be used. Examples include HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and polyurethane foams.
Overmolding tends to produce a good surface bond between the insert and the foam body. The assembly may be created in other ways, however. For example, the foam body could be separately molded and then connected to the insert. The foam body is quite pliable so the insert could be slipped into the interior and snapped into position. A separate adhesive could also be used to facilitate the surface bond.
Although the preceding description contains significant detail, it should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but rather as providing illustrations of the preferred embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the art may easily devise variations on the embodiments described. Thus, the scope of the invention should be fixed by the claims rather than the examples given.
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A throwable ball having a large internal passage aligned with its central axis. An insert defines the bounds of the internal passage. This insert is surrounded by compressible foam that gives the ball an easy gripping surface. Interlock features are preferably provided between the insert and the compressible foam so that they do not slip relative to each other.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/929,976 filed on Nov. 2, 2015, now allowed, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/573,652 filed on Dec. 17, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,197,244. The 14/573,652 Application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/874,159 filed on Apr. 30, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,922,414, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/763,554 filed on Feb. 12, 2013. All of the above-referenced applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The disclosure generally relates to pattern recognition and big-data, and more particularly to systems and methods that make use of pattern recognition techniques and big-data storage and analytics.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Recognition of patterns and properly assembling them for storage, preferably in a compact way, is continuously being attempted. However, unless otherwise specified, it cannot be assumed that all patterns are evenly distributed along the data. Because some patterns can be more prominent than others, they are likely to have a larger number of occurrences, while other patterns may be very rare. In addition, some patterns may be correlated to each other, and together form pattern-combinations which may also be very popular. This poses a problem to applications for pattern recognition systems. For example, to retrieve a similarity measurement between two content-segments, it is not enough to consider the number of corresponding patterns, but the probability of occurrence of each pattern should be considered as well. In addition, correlation between patterns should also be considered. For example, if two patterns always appear together, in essence they do not contain more information than a single pattern.
[0004] Such an effect, in turn, is detrimental for the scalability and the accuracy of a pattern-recognition system. That is, if the handling of different patterns is spread between multiple machines of the pattern-recognition system, then most machines dealing with “less-popular” patterns will remain inactive, whereas a few machines, processing “popular” patterns, will be overburdened with accesses. It is also impossible to distribute the handling of patterns according to their a-priory probability because of correlations between patterns, of which no assumptions can be made. Furthermore, in general, to scale up a pattern-recognition system it would be preferable to avoid duplication of the pattern-space and the need to hold a copy of the patterns in each machine.
[0005] Reduction of multiple symbols, such as a pattern, to a smaller number of manageable symbols that are easily recognizable is performed manually in certain cases. Consider, for example, a sequence of notes that are combined into a chord. A chord is a combination of two or more notes that are played, or otherwise heard as if being played simultaneously. However, the chords are repetitive in nature and hence, in order to reduce the number of notes provided to a performer, the sequence of notes is reduced to a symbol of a chord, which represents the plurality of notes. Hence, the chord marked as C7 means that the performer is to play the root note A, the minor third C, and a perfect fifth E, so that they appear to be played simultaneously. A person can easily translate the symbol of a chord into the specific notes it represents. Similarly, the creation of the mapping between two sets of symbols is performed manually based on specific rules to which rules may be added, deleted or modified as necessary.
[0006] It would be advantageous to provide an efficient solution for pattern recognition that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art, particularly the requirement for human manual intervention in the recognition process.
SUMMARY
[0007] Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a method for symbol-space based pattern compression. The method comprises identifying a plurality of basic image symbols in an input sequence; assigning, to each of the plurality of basic image symbols, at least one connecting port; generating an output sequence by replacing each identified basic image symbol with an identification symbol, wherein the output sequence indicates connections between pairs of the plurality of basic image symbols based on the connecting ports, wherein each identification symbol is not a previously used symbol; and storing the output sequence as a data layer.
[0008] Certain embodiments disclosed herein also include a system for symbol-space based pattern compression. The system comprises a processing unit; and a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, configure the system to: identify a plurality of basic image symbols in an input sequence; assign, to each of the plurality of basic image symbols, at least one connecting port; generate an output sequence by replacing each identified basic image symbol with an identification symbol, wherein the output sequence indicates connections between pairs of the plurality of basic image symbols based on the connecting ports, wherein each identification symbol is not a previously used symbol; and store the output sequence as a data layer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The subject matter disclosed herein is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
[0010] FIG. 1 is an original sequence of symbols having a first symbol space used as an input for processing according to one embodiment.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a first level table utilized for mapping and input sequence and for the determination of replacement symbols for sequences of symbols according to one embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a sequence of symbols representing a reduced number of symbols created using a second symbol space larger than the first symbol space according to one embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a second level table utilized for mapping an input sequence and for the determination of replacement symbols for sequences of symbols according to one embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a sequence representing a reduced number of symbols created using a third symbol space larger than the second symbol space according to one embodiment.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a third level table utilized for mapping of the input sequence and for the determination of replacement symbols for sequences of symbols according to another embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a sequence representing a reduced number of symbols created using a fourth symbol space larger than the third symbol space according to one embodiment.
[0017] FIGS. 8A through 8D are diagrams of the image symbols line, square, circle and triangle respectively and used according to one embodiment.
[0018] FIGS. 9A and 9B are higher level image symbols of a “house” and a “chair” respectively, created from basic symbols according to one embodiment.
[0019] FIGS. 10A through 10D are basic symbols of a line, a square, a circle, and a triangle respectively, each having corresponding connection ports.
[0020] FIGS. 11A through 11C are higher level image symbols of a “man”, a “woman” and a “dog”, respectively, created from basic symbols according to one embodiment.
[0021] FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting the creation of a data layers responsive of an input of a sequence of input symbols for achieving symbol-space based compression of patterns according to one embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 13 is a system for creation of data layers responsive of an input sequence of input symbols for achieving symbol-space based compression of patterns according to one embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] It is important to note that the embodiments disclosed herein are only examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed embodiments. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated, singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts through several views.
[0024] The various techniques disclosed herein allow mapping natural signals and/or features extracted from natural signals to compressed representations in high-dimensional space with properties of repeatability and invariance. Specifically, for a given input space, a plurality of data layers (Cortex) are created respective of the input data that is represented by more symbols, i.e., at least one more symbol than the immediately previous list of symbols, but with a shorter overall length, i.e., a length that is shorter from the immediately preceding length of symbols' sequence.
[0025] Accordingly, information is represented in a more compact way and more easily recognized over a symbol-space. The input data may be of an image, video, text, voice and other types of data that can be mapped in a plurality of data layers. In one embodiment, the disclosed techniques can be described as an ability to determine what a “table” is by comparing it to an “ideal table” of a higher data layer. Specifically, a pattern-space is generated that is big enough to be spread across multiple machines (or processors) of a pattern-recognition system, each machine handling a different range in the pattern-space. The pattern-space includes one or more patterns.
[0026] According to one embodiment, input “patterns” are received from a mechanism (or system) designed for finding “patterns” in content-segments. The input patterns are loosely defined as arbitrary representations of some features in a content-segment. However, it should be noted that the received “Patterns” are also associated with any information as to what these patterns represent and about the locality of these patterns. A collection of such patterns is referred to herein as a “descriptor”. A content segment may be represented by one or more “descriptors”. For example, if the content-segment is a 2D image, Patterns may indicate that specific shapes or colors were detected in that image.
[0027] According to the disclosed embodiments, the pattern-space of the received input patterns are transformed into a pattern-space that is larger in size, but more balanced, de-correlated, repeatable and invariant as further described in greater detail herein. Specifically, in each descriptor, the original input patterns are replaced with new patterns, which represent combinations of patterns from the original pattern-space. Accordingly, the disclosed techniques are utilized to first make the pattern-space larger, thus improving scalability; secondly, the disclosed techniques flatten and de-correlate the pattern-space for better accuracy; and thirdly, the techniques to improve invariance and repeatability by including large-scale information on the probability of patterns on content-segments from a single domain.
[0028] Following is a general description of the operation of disclosed techniques (realized by the system and methods discussed below) according to one embodiment. A Cortex is a function F: S 0 →S n , where for any k {k=0, 1, . . . n}, S k is a pattern-space, which includes one or more patterns. The initial pattern-space S 0 is defined by the input patterns; each following symbol-space, which is the next layer of a Cortex, is defined and created by an “iteration function F k ” F k : S k →S k+1 which converts any set of patterns in S k to a set of patterns in S k+1 according to one or more predefined conversion rules. The conversion rules in any “iteration function” are generated according to the distribution of patterns in a large-scale collection of patterns, such as content-segments, from a certain domain. For example, if a domain of interest is “2D natural photos”, some large N descriptors in S k are generated are denoted S 0 . . . S N . The content-segments in these examples include 2D images of nature.
[0029] According to one embodiment, an iteration for creation of a data layer F k of a Cortex is defined according to the distribution of patterns in those N descriptors and has several steps. First, S k+1 is initialized as a copy of S k . Then, S 1 . . . S N are used to build a collection of common combinations of patterns in S k , denoted {c i ⊂S k }, where ⊂ is a subset function. Then, for each combination c i {i=1, 2, . . . , N} where its probability in S 1 . . . S N is larger than a first threshold T 1 , a new label is added to S k+1 , thus increasing the space by one. For each “original label” in S k having a probability in {S 1 . . . S N } that is larger than a second threshold T 2 , the respective “original label” is removed from S k+1 . Finally, for each “original label” in S k where the number of combinations c i in which the respective “original label” is included is larger than a third threshold T 3 , then that respective “original label” is removed from S k+1 . Typically the thresholds T 1 , T 2 and T 3 are numerical values representing a certain probability, examples of which are discussed herein.
[0030] At the completion of this process a consistent definition of the data layer F k is achieved, where each pattern in S k+1 is either a pattern in S k or strongly defined as a collection of patterns in S k , thereby testing for the collection indicates whether the new pattern should be included. The result is that S k+1 is a larger signature-space, where patterns that are very common have been removed and/or replaced with combinations of other patterns.
[0031] The threshold parameters T 1 , T 2 and T 3 should be carefully tuned, so as not to lose valuable patterns, and at the same time to avoid inclusion of “noisy” patterns. The hierarchical process can be repeated any desired number of times, with any choice of thresholds, for as long as the length decreases and the number of unique symbols used increases. Each iteration creates a data layer which is a more compact representation of the immediately preceding data layer. That is, a plurality of symbols of the respective input patterns are mapped to a single symbol.
[0032] In one embodiment, the input patterns or data is unique to a domain, for example, text in English, human faces, classical music, and so on. In another embodiment, any combination of data from domains can be used. According to an embodiment, symbols are joined if they have a high correlation. However, symbols can also be combined even if they are not correlated by showing a common co-occurrence, i.e., a tendency to appear together without being actually correlated.
[0033] It should be appreciated that there are at least two important outcomes to the process described herein. First the process is scalable, that is, after performing the process described herein, the pattern-space is large and balanced, thus the pattern-space can be spread evenly between multiple machines, with each machine handling a sub-range of the pattern-space. Therefore, a “route” strategy can be used for querying rather than query duplication.
[0034] Another important outcome of the disclosed process is its accuracy. That is, in the data layer iteration-building process, a set of “real-world” data S 1 . . . S N is used to base the necessary statistics. This means that by applying the teachings disclosed herein, more weight is given to patterns that are less popular (and therefore more significant) in a random sample. Thus, assuming that the input content-segments are from the same domain, the generated data layers are used to separate “noisy” patterns from valuable “detection” patterns. Furthermore, the data layers generated according to the disclosed process provide a function that is similar to a brain function in its ability to recognize a pattern as belonging to a higher level concept.
[0035] It should be noted that the disclosed pattern recognition process is particularly advantageous in analysis of big-data. Big-data typically refers to a collection of data sets that are large and complex that cannot be analyzed using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications, such as those discussed in the related art. As noted above, the disclosed process results in a pattern-space that is large and balanced, thus the pattern-space can be spread evenly between multiple machines, where each machine handles a sub-range of the pattern-space. Therefore, the disclosed process can be efficiently utilized for big data analysis.
[0036] Following are two non-limiting examples for the operation of the process for generating the data layers. In the first non-limiting example, shown in FIG. 1 , an original set comprising a sequence of 500 symbols is presented, where there are four (4) different symbols: “R”, “G”, “B” and “Y”. Applying the process described herein, that is, identifying symbols, patterns, or sequences, and applying a threshold value to determine which sequence of symbols are to be replaced by another symbol, results in the table shown in FIG. 2 . In this case, the symbol sequences present that are combinations of either three or two symbols, are determined as to the number of appearances in the input sequence. It should be noted that all possibilities of sequences are considered, although not all the sequences are shown in FIG. 2 . The longest sequence is the data itself; it appears only one time and is below the required repeated threshold.
[0037] According to an exemplary embodiment, the first level table shown in FIG. 2 contains only sequences that appear above a first threshold T 1 , for example, a threshold value equal to or greater of 10. From those sequences that are above the value T 1 , only those having a longer sequence, if contained within the sequence shown in the table, are to be used for symbol replacement. For example, the sequences “BYY” and “YY” are dependent, however, the longer sequence is preferred over the shorter sequence. Therefore, as depicted in FIG. 2 , while the sequence “YY” appears 28 times in the input sequence, it appears only 8 times independently, whereas the sequence BYY appears 13 times independently. With a threshold determined to be equal to or greater than 10, the sequence “YY” is not replaced by a substitute symbol, while the sequence “BYY”, is replaced by the symbol “A”. The resultant sequence after this first iteration of the data layer generation process step is shown in FIG. 3 . The sequence presented in FIG. 3 shows an increase in the number of symbols in the symbol-space from 4 symbols to 17 symbols (A, C, D, E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Y, R, G, B) and a corresponding reduction in the number of symbols in the sequence that was reduced from 500 symbols in the initial sequence to 283 symbols in the subsequent sequence.
[0038] The process can now continue with performing another iteration to further reduce the number of symbols in the sequence by expanding the symbol space. For the next iteration, the input sequence (shown in FIG. 3 ) comprises the reduced symbol sequence of 283 symbols. FIG. 4 shows a second level table that is produced using threshold values equal to or greater than 5. As a result, certain sequences of symbols are each replaced by a corresponding single symbol, thereby reducing the number of symbols in the output sequence to 262 symbols with a symbol space of 20 (A, C, D, E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Y, R, G, B, P, S, T). The resulting output sequence of the second iteration is shown in FIG. 5 .
[0039] Yet another iteration is performed by the disclosed process where a threshold value equal to or greater than 3 is shown in the table of FIG. 6 , and the resultant reduced sequence of symbols is shown in FIG. 7 . As can be noticed from the symbols listed in the “Replace Symbol” column in FIG. 6 , the symbol-space is increased to 37 symbols. The output symbol sequence ( FIG. 7 ) is reduced to a length of 221 symbols, i.e., less than half of the original length of 500 symbols. It should be noted that each set of sequences generated at each iteration (as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 , and 7 ) is referred to as a data layer or a Cortex layer (a data layer of the Cortex).
[0040] Therefore, according to the disclosed embodiments, with respect of the creation of data layers for the example above, it is understood that at the entry data layer, there is a set of symbol sequence of 500 symbols, using a symbol-space of 4. In the second data layer, after the first data layer processing, there is a sequence of symbols containing 283 symbols, using a symbol-space of 17. In a third data layer, after the second data layer processing, there is a sequence of symbols containing 262 symbols, using a symbol-space of 20. Lastly, in the fourth data layer, after the third data layer processing, there is a sequence of symbols containing 221 symbols, using a symbol-space of 37.
[0041] In one embodiment, symbols may be replaced by signatures, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,112,376, 8,266,185, 8,312,031 and 8,326,775, 8,655,801, and 8,386,400, all assigned to common assignee and are hereby incorporated by reference for all that they contain.
[0042] In a second non-limiting example for the operation of the disclosed data layer generation process, four image symbols, a line 810 , a square 820 , a circle 830 and a triangle 840 , are shown in FIGS. 8A through 8D respectively, and used according to an embodiment. Combinations of the basic image symbols 810 , 820 , 830 and 840 may result in various higher level images symbols, a house 910 or a chair 920 , shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B respectively, and used according to an embodiment. The image symbol of a house 910 is comprised of a square 820 - 1 and a triangle 840 - 1 combined in a specific way, recognized as a symbol image of a “house”. Similarly, the image symbol of a chair 920 is comprised of four symbols of lines 810 - 1 , 810 - 2 , 810 - 3 , and 810 - 4 combined in a specific way, recognized as a symbol image of a “chair”.
[0043] According to one embodiment, any one of the basic four image symbols 810 , 820 , 830 and 840 are connectable to another basic image symbol 810 , 820 , 830 or 840 at a connecting port. An exemplary and non-limiting designation of connection ports, each port numbered to differentiate it from another port, is shown in FIGS. 10A through 10D respectively. For example, but not by way of limitation, the line 1010 has three ports numbered 1, 2, and 3, while the square 1020 has eight ports numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and so on.
[0044] It should be understood that the number of connection ports assigned for each basic image symbol 1010 , 1020 , 1030 , and 1040 are merely examples and each image symbol may be comprised of less or more connection ports. Each image symbol is further designated, for example, by an identification character, for example, the line has the character “A”, the square, “B”, the circle, “C”, and the triangle “D”. The upper level image of a “house” shown in FIG. 9A could therefore be compactly described as:
[0000] D (4)<0 °>B (2)
[0000] This means that the image symbol “D” connects to the image symbol “B” at ports “4” and “2” respectively, and at a relative orientation of 0°. Similarly, the upper level image of a “chair” shown in FIG. 9B could therefore be compactly described using the following notation:
[0000] A (3)<[0°> A (1),90° >A (1),(3)<90° >A (1)]
[0000] This means that an image symbol “A” is connected through port 3 to port 1 of another image symbol “A” with a relative orientation of 0°, and to port 1 of another image symbol “A” with a relative orientation of 90°, which in turn is connected through its port 3 to port 1 of another image symbol “A” with a relative orientation of 90°.
[0045] According to one embodiment, a pattern identification and extraction is thereby possible as a result of the data layers (Cortex). FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C depict three upper level symbols 1110 of a “man”, 1120 of a “woman” and 1130 of a “dog”, each comprised of the basic image symbols shown in FIG. 10 . Therefore, using the notation described above, the symbol of a “man” 1110 can be described as:
[0000] C (6)<90° >A (1),(2)<0° >A (2)
[0000] The symbol of a “woman” 1120 can be described as:
[0000] C (6)<90° >A (1),(3)<0° >D (1)
[0000] And, the symbol of a “dog” 1130 can be described as:
[0000] C (6)<90°> A (1),(2)<0°> A (1),(3)<90°> A (2)
[0046] According to one embodiment, a common pattern is extracted, comprising a basic symbol of a circle “C” connecting via a connection port ‘6’ to a symbol of a line “A” at port ‘1’ in a relative orientation of 90°. Hence, the extracted common pattern can be described as:
[0000] C (6)<90°> A (1)
[0047] Then, the identified pattern receives a symbol within the data layer in which it was found. For example, the symbol Ω replaces the extracted common pattern C(6)<90 °>A(1). Therefore, the symbol of a “man” 1110 could be described in the current data layer as:
[0000] Ω(2)<0°> A (2)
[0000] The symbol of a “woman” 1120 could be described in the current data layer as:
[0000] Ω(3)<0 °>D (1)
[0048] And, the symbol of a “dog” 1130 can be described in the current data layer as:
[0000] Ω(2)<0°> A (1),(3)<90°> A (2)
[0049] Therefore, using the disclosed process, the number of symbols has increased in this data layer. However, the data set itself is shorter. In one embodiment, a data layer comprises at least the collection of symbols used in an immediate previous data layer. Furthermore, in the above example, C(6)<90>A(1) is a common pattern. This means that the probability is that the combination C(6)<90>A(1) is larger than a first threshold Ti. Thus, a new label Ω is added to S k+1 , hence increasing the space by one. The probability is now that each element in the combination, C and A, is larger than a second threshold T 2 , thus the respective “original labels” (C and A) are removed from S k+1 . Therefore, as can be understood the thresholds utilized in the disclosed process are based on the certain probabilities that an element will be found in the subsequent data layer.
[0050] FIG. 12 shows an exemplary and non-limiting flowchart 1200 that depicts the creation of a data layer responsive of an input sequence of input symbols according to one embodiment. In S 1210 , an input including a sequence of symbols is received. The symbols may be characters, images, sounds, video and other input sequences, including representations of signals, and the like.
[0051] In one embodiment, the sequence includes a set of signatures generated for multimedia content elements. Such signatures are generated as discussed, for example, in the above-referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,112,376, 8,266,185, 8,312,031, 8,655,801, and 8,386,400.
[0052] In S 1220 , all symbol combinations, i.e., two or more symbols that appear in a frequency (a number of appearances) that is above a predetermined threshold are identified. In S 1230 , included and derived combinations of symbol combinations identified in S 1220 are removed. In one embodiment, this further entails the use of an additional threshold (e.g., threshold T 2 discussed above) to further filter the resultant symbol combinations used. For example, the symbol sequence ‘YYR’ is identified in the input sequence ( FIG. 1 ) as depicted in FIG. 2 , but is not included in the resultant data layer.
[0053] In S 1240 , the remaining symbol combinations are each replaced by a unique new symbol. In one embodiment, the remaining symbol combinations are those for which the number of appearances in the input sequence is above the predefined threshold used to filter symbol combinations. In S 1250 , the resultant sequence of symbols is stored in memory as a data layer that is subsequent to the input data layer.
[0054] In S 1260 , it is checked whether an additional data layer is to be derived, for the last generated data layer, and if so, execution continues with S 1210 , where the new input of a sequence of symbols is that which was stored in memory in S 1250 ; otherwise, execution terminates.
[0055] FIG. 13 shows an exemplary and non-limiting system 1300 for creation of data layers responsive of an input sequence of input symbols according to one embodiment. The system 1300 includes a processing unit (PU) 1310 that may comprise one or more processing elements, such as a computational core. The PU 1310 is communicatively connected to a memory 1320 . The memory 1320 may be comprised of both volatile and non-volatile memory, and may further be in proximity or remote from the PU 1310 . The memory 1320 contains instruction in a memory portion 1325 , that when executed by the PU 1310 performs at least the data layer generation process described in detail above, for example, with respect of flowchart 1200 .
[0056] The sequence of input symbols may be provided from an external source via the input/output interface 1330 that is communicatively coupled to the PU 1310 , or from the memory 1320 . The input sources to generate the data layers include, but are not limited to, sensory sources such as audio, video, touch, smell, text, and so on. Moreover, combinations of different input data sources are also possible.
[0057] In one embodiment, the system 1300 also includes a signature generator 1340 that is communicatively connected to the PU 1310 and/or the memory 1320 . The signature generator 1340 may generate signatures respective of the data provided through one or more sources connected to the input/output interface 1330 . The generated signatures are then processed by the PU 1310 to generate the data layers. An exemplary implementation for the signature generator 1340 and its functionality can be found in at least the above-referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,112,376, 8,266,185, 8,312,031 and 8,326,775, 8,655,801, and 8,386,400.
[0058] A data layer maintains several properties. A higher-level data layer demonstrates a greater symbol-space, i.e., space increases as new layers are generated. The data layer also maintains the probability of symbols being closer increases while correlation between the symbols decreases. Symbols that are close to each other before the layering process are also close after the process is performed.
[0059] According to another embodiment, the data layer maintains invariance, that is, two symbols that are complementary maintain an invariant property. For example, if the input data (sequence of symbols) is a face, the generated data layers are invariant with respect of a closed eye or an open eye of the same face. The generation of data layers comprises common patterns, which are combinations of input patterns from different sources. The output of a data layer is a fusion of information from multiple sources represented by a generic set of indices.
[0060] According to another embodiment, all the properties of a data layer are important in the generated layer. That is, if, for example, an audio source is too dominant compared to video the layer suppresses the audio patterns by generating relevant common patterns. Moreover, if two data sources are correlated, the layer generates a de-correlated fused representation.
[0061] The various embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof. Moreover, the software is preferably implemented as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage unit or computer readable medium. The application program may be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising any suitable architecture. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one or more central processing units (“CPUs”), a memory, and input/output interfaces. The computer platform may also include an operating system and microinstruction code. The various processes and functions described herein may be either part of the microinstruction code or part of the application program, or any combination thereof, which may be executed by a CPU, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown. In addition, various other peripheral units may be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage unit and a printing unit. Furthermore, a non-transitory computer readable medium is any computer readable medium except for a transitory propagating signal.
[0062] All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the disclosed embodiment and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
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A method and system for symbol-space based pattern compression. The method includes identifying a plurality of basic image symbols in an input sequence; assigning, to each of the plurality of basic image symbols, at least one connecting port; generating an output sequence by replacing each identified basic image symbol with an identification symbol, wherein the output sequence indicates connections between pairs of the plurality of basic image symbols based on the connecting ports, wherein each identification symbol is not a previously used symbol; and storing the output sequence as a data layer.
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PRIORITY
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/535,986, filed on Sep. 28, 2006, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/741,019, filed Nov. 30, 2005. This application is related to PCT application no. PCT/US2007/079783, filed Sep. 27, 2007; and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/535,985, filed Sep. 28, 2006; and PCT application no. PCT/US2007/079778, filed Sep. 27, 2007. Each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of medical diagnostic devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The prevalence of diabetes is increasing markedly in the world. At this time, diagnosed diabetics represent about 3% of the population of the United States. It is believed that the actual number of diabetics in the United States is much higher. Diabetes can lead to numerous complications, such as, for example, retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy.
The most important factor for reducing diabetes-associated complications is the maintenance of an appropriate level of glucose in the blood stream. The maintenance of the appropriate level of glucose in the blood stream may prevent and even reverse some of the effects of diabetes.
Glucose monitoring devices known in the art have operated on the principle of taking blood from an individual by a variety of methods, such as by means of a needle or a lancet. The individual then contacts a strip carrying reagents with the blood, and finally inserts the strip into a blood glucose meter for measurement of glucose concentration by optical or electrochemical techniques.
Medical devices of the prior art for monitoring the level of glucose in the blood stream have required that an individual have separately available a needle or a lancet for extracting blood from the individual, test strips carrying reagents for bringing about a chemical reaction with the glucose in the blood stream and generating an optical or electrochemical signal, and a blood glucose meter for reading the results of the reaction, thereby indicating the level of glucose in the blood stream. The level of glucose, when measured by a glucose meter, is read from the strip by an optical or electrochemical meter.
It is desired to simplify the systems, devices, and methods for determining the level of an analyte such as glucose in a body fluid such as blood. In particular, it is desired to integrate the operations of extracting a sample of blood by means of a needle or a lancet, applying the sample of blood to a reagent-bearing test strip, reading the result of a glucose monitoring test, and discarding the used needle or lancet and test strip in a safe and efficient manner.
Certain patents describe devices that can perform steps for determining the concentration of glucose in the blood stream. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,410 discloses a sensor-dispensing instrument for handling a plurality of fluid sensors (i.e., test strips). However, this patent fails to include a lancing device for puncturing the skin of a patient in order to extract a sample of blood. U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,008 discloses an apparatus that includes a dispenser comprising a housing having a chamber; a means for retaining a plurality of test strips in a substantially moisture-proof, air-tight first position; and a means for opening the chamber and moving one of the plurality of test strips translationally from a first position inside of the chamber to a second position at least partially outside of the chamber, wherein the opening of the chamber and the moving of the one test strip is achieved by a single mechanical motion; and an electrochemical analyzing means for analyzing a biological fluid. However, like, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,410, this patent fails to simplify the testing process, e.g., this patent fails to include a lancing device for puncturing the skin of a patient in order to extract a sample of blood.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,704 discloses a blood sampling mechanism including a test pad of a predetermined thickness set-off between opposite relatively closely spaced surfaces imparting a thin configuration to said test pad, said test pad carrying a dermis-piercing member having a pointed end, said pointed end being disposed inboard of said opposite surfaces, means for applying a force to said dermis-piercing member in a direction to move said pointed end beyond one of said opposite surfaces to pierce the dermis and thereby obtain a blood sample, means for testing the blood sample, means for defining a blood sampling station at which the blood sample is obtained, means for defining a blood testing station at which the blood sample is tested by said blood sample testing means, and means for conveying said test pad from said blood sampling station after the blood sample has been obtained to said blood testing station. The dermis-piercing member and test pad are, however, entirely separate components in this system (see also WO 03/082091). U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,941 discloses a blood sampling apparatus for sampling blood from the skin of a patient for analysis. The apparatus includes a cartridge and a housing with a driver. The cartridge has a cartridge case, lancet, and a compartment associated with the cartridge case for receiving blood. The lancet is housed in the cartridge case and operatively connected thereto such that it is drivable to extend outside the cartridge case through a lancing opening for lancing the skin to yield blood. The housing has a driver for urging the lancet to extend outside the cartridge case. During lancing, the cartridge may be detachably held in the housing such that the cartridge can be disassociated from the driver after sampling blood. U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,941 discloses that material around a lancet aperture in a cartridge case soaks up blood after lancing (see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,294). This does not bring the absorbent material to the center of the sample, and when only a small amount of blood is available such as is often the case in alternate site testing away from fingertips, then testing may be unreliable, may need to be repeated far too often, or may simply require testing at the fingertips. Application of sample fluid to a capillary end leading to reagent material involves careful manual alignment. A manual actuation step is also involves in getting the lancet to protrude from the cartridge.
WO 2004/041082 discloses a device for use with a body fluid sampling device for extracting bodily fluid from an anatomical feature. The device comprises a cartridge having a plurality of cavities. The device may include a plurality of penetrating members each at least partially contained in the cavities of the cartridge wherein the penetrating members are slidably moved to extend outward from openings on the cartridge to penetrate tissue. The device may also include a plurality of analyte detecting members and a plurality of chambers. Each chamber may be associated with one of the cavities, the chambers positioned along an outer periphery of the cartridge, wherein at least one of the analyte detecting members forms a portion of one wall of one of the plurality of chambers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,514 discloses a body fluid sampling device that includes a lancet and a test strip. The lancet is disposed on a lancet carrier, while the test strip is disposed at the end of a capillary tube. Body fluid exposed at a lancing site is drawn up into a capillary tube which is placed into contact with the body fluid. At the end of the capillary tube is a test strip. Once the body fluid is drawn up the capillary tube, it may be applied to the test strip to determine an analyte level. The lancet and the capillary tube and test strip are contained within a same sampling device housing, although they are configured as two separately disposable items and not integrated together as a single item. These items are separately manipulated into, within and out of the housing before, during and after use, respectively.
It would be desirable to develop a test sensor that also serves as a lancet for forming an opening in the skin of a patient to enable a sample of biological liquid to emerge from the patient, so that the sample of bodily fluid may be collected from the patient emerging from the opening in the skin by a test strip, and analyzed to determine a characteristic of the bodily fluid. It would also be desirable to develop a medical diagnostic device that is small in size, reliable to use, and provides accurate results, even when only a small volume of sample of biological liquid is collected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Integrated lancet and testing sensors (“striplets”) are provided for measuring a body analyte (e.g., glucose) level in a health care (e.g., diabetes) regimen. A lancet body includes a sensor receiving end and a lancet end. A lancet needle is coupled with and protruding from the lancet end. An optional lancet cap may secure the lancet. A sensor is coupled to the test strip receiving end of the lancet body having multiple electrodes and assay chemistry for testing an analyte (e.g., glucose) level of an applied body fluid. In certain embodiments, the test strip and lancet needle are relatively disposed at different ends of the striplet for providing both lancing and application of body fluid at a lancing site by reorienting and advancing the striplet within the meter after lancing to contact a sample receiving portion of the test strip precisely at the lancing site.
In certain embodiments, a striplet includes both a test strip portion and a lancet portion. These may be relatively opposed, e.g., extending about 180 degrees from each other, or extending at another angle from zero to 360 degrees. The lancet portion may couple to the test strip portion as a two-piece device, or each may couple with a lancet body as a three-piece device.
The reorienting may include rotating the striplet when the lancing site remains approximately at the predetermined location relative to the meter for application of body fluid to the sample receiving portion of the test strip. In certain embodiments, the test strip and lancet are symmetrically disposed at opposite ends of the lancet body. The reorienting may include rotating and/or flipping the striplet when the lancing site remains approximately at the predetermined location relative to the meter for application of body fluid to the sample receiving portion of the test strip.
The lancet body may include a pair of relatively disposed recesses for respectively positioning the test strip via a latching mechanism or spring-loaded ball and detent mechanism for lancing and application of body fluid at a same lancing/testing site. The recesses may be trapezoidally-shaped, or another suitable shape.
Embodiments may include a lancet cap. A lancet cap may include one or more elastomeric arms that couple with defined cutouts in the lancet body for snapping the cap into and out of mating relationship with the lancet body by respective application of sufficient coupling and separation force.
The lancet body and test strip may include at least two teeth that fit corresponding slots for coupling the lancet body and test strip together, and the lancet body has the teeth and the test strip has the corresponding slots.
The test strip may include one or more substrates, e.g., may include a first substrate (e.g., a base) and a second substrate (e.g., a cover). The first substrate may have a layer of electrically conductive material applied to one major surface thereof, while the second substrate may have a working electrode (and optionally a trigger electrode) applied to at least one major surface thereof. Electrodes may be coplanar or may be disposed on different surfaces or be opposed. The first substrate may be adhered to the second substrate by a layer of electrically conductive adhesive and/or a layer of non-conductive adhesive.
The sensor-containing portion may include a sample flow channel, and a working electrode and optional trigger electrode may be positioned in the flow channel.
The cover may include at least one electrical passageway running from an inner face to an outer face and/or a slot formed therein to attach the sensor-containing portion to a tab in the lancet-containing body.
The base may include an opening formed therein to attach the sensor-containing portion to a tab in the lancet-containing body.
In certain embodiments, the base or the cover may include a recess formed in an edge thereof that forms the sample receiving portion of the test strip. The recess may have a hydrophilic material applied thereto. The lancet may be positioned approximately 180° from the recess. Electrical contact pads may be on one major surface of the cover and/or base. The cover and/or trigger electrode may include a layer of electrically conductive or semiconductive material, and may include carbon.
Methods of providing a sample of body fluid to a test strip for measuring an analyte level within the fluid are also provided. Embodiments of the subject methods include providing an integrated analyte testing striplet and within a metering chamber, and piercing a lancing site with the lancet needle at a predetermined location relative to the meter. In certain embodiments, the striplet is automatically reoriented and advanced within the meter including contacting with precision a sample receiving portion of the test strip at the lancing site, such that body fluid from the lancing site is applied to the sample receiving portion of the test strip for measuring a level.
The method may also include disarming the lancet needle and disposing of the testing striplet. The lancing site may remain approximately at the predetermined location relative to the meter when body fluid is applied to the sample receiving portion of the test strip. The reorienting may include rotating and/or flipping the striplet. The loading may include mating a first recess defined within the lancet body with a latching mechanism or a ball and detent mechanism of the glucose meter, such that the test striplet is specifically disposed at a lancing orientation. The reorienting may then include mating a second recess defined within the lancet body with the same latching or ball and detent mechanism, such that the testing striplet is specifically disposed at a testing orientation. The recesses may be trapezoidally-shaped, or another suitable shape.
The arming may include uncoupling a lancet cap by uncoupling one or more elastomeric arms of the lancet cap from defined cutouts in the lancet body by application of sufficient separating force. The disarming of the lancet needle may involve snapping the one or more elastomeric arms of the lancet cap back into mating relationship with the defined cutouts of the lancet body by application of sufficient coupling force.
The method may include coupling at least two teeth that fit corresponding slots for coupling the lancet body and test strip together. The lancet body may have the teeth, while the test strip has corresponding slots.
In another embodiment, a test strip includes a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion. During a time that the test strip is stored in a medical diagnostic device, a protective cover encloses the lancet of the lancet-containing portion. The medical diagnostic device is capable of removing the protective cover to enable the lancet to form an opening in the skin of the patient and is further capable of re-attaching the protective cover onto the lancet to enable the medical diagnostic device to eject the used test strip in a safe manner.
In the case of collection of an inadequate quantity of sample, the medical diagnostic device enables re-lancing. The test sensor may require only a small volume of sample to carry out a complete test such as sub-microliter sample volumes, e.g., 0.5 microliter or less, or 0.3 microliter or less, or 0.2 microliter or less in certain embodiments. The test strip combines a lancet and a sensor in a single small unit. After the skin of the patient is pierced and a sample of biological liquid, e.g., blood, appears, the test strip is moved into position for collecting a sample of the liquid, and the liquid enters the sample application zone of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip without manipulation of the test strip by the user.
An integrated lancing and testing kit is also provided for measuring a body analyte level in a health care regimen. The kit includes a meter for analyzing the analyte to determine the body glucose level, and a cartridge containing one or more integrated lancet and testing striplets. The striplets include features described above and below herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an assembly for storing and dispensing test strips in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of selected components of the lancing/collecting assembly of a medical diagnostic device including an integrated lancet and testing striplet in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 3 is another perspective view of selected components of the lancing/collecting assembly of a medical diagnostic device illustrating entry of an integrated lancet (with cover) and testing striplet in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 4A is a partially-exploded, perspective view of one embodiment of an integrated lancet and testing striplet, showing a lancet bearing a removable protective cover.
FIG. 4B illustrates another embodiment of an integrated lancet and testing striplet.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the sensor-containing portion of the embodiment of the test strip shown in FIG. 4 .
FIG. 6A is an exploded perspective view of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip shown in FIG. 5 . In this view, the recesses for tabs of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip are not shown.
FIG. 6B illustrates the sensor-containing portion of FIG. 6A including an end fill strip with a hydrophilic end fill recess in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the inner face of the cover of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip shown in FIG. 4 . In this embodiment, recesses for tabs of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip are illustrated.
FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the inner face of the base of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip shown in FIG. 4 .
FIG. 7C is a perspective view of the test strip of FIG. 4 inserted into an analyzer of a medical diagnostic device in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 8A is a perspective view of the inner face of the cover of another embodiment of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip.
FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the inner face of the base of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip illustrated in FIG. 8A . In this embodiment, the openings for tabs of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip are shown.
FIG. 8C is a perspective view of the test strip made from the base shown in FIG. 8A and the cover shown in FIG. 8B inserted into an analyzer of a medical diagnostic device in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of the test strip, showing a lancet bearing a removable protective cover.
FIG. 10 illustrates a sensor containing portion of a test strip.
FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate a lancet body with a test strip coupled thereto and a lancet body for coupling a test strip thereto in accordance with preferred embodiments.
FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip shown in FIG. 9 .
FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating the operations of a medical diagnostic device involving an integrated lancet and testing striplet in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
FIGS. 13A-13M are schematic views illustrating positions of a lancing/collecting assembly during one cycle of operation of a medical diagnostic device in accordance with a preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As used herein, the expressions “storing/dispensing assembly” and “assembly for storing and dispensing test strips” means a mechanism that is capable of both (a) storing a plurality of test strips in a magazine and (b) advancing the test strips, one at a time, from the magazine to the lancing/collecting assembly. The expression “lancing/collecting assembly” means a mechanism that is capable of both (a) forming an opening in the skin of a patient and (b) collecting a sample of biological liquid emerging from that opening.
In addition, glucose is referred to in many places herein as a representative analyte. However, other analytes include glucose, lactate, and the like, in a body fluid. Additional analytes that may be determined include, for example, acetyl choline, amylase, bilirubin, cholesterol, chorionic gonadotropin, creatine kinase (e.g., CK-MB), creatine, DNA, fructosamine, glucose, glutamine, growth hormones, hormones, ketones, lactate, peroxide, prostate-specific antigen, prothrombin, RNA, thyroid stimulating hormone, and troponin. The concentration of drugs, such as, for example, antibiotics (e.g., gentamicin, vancomycin, and the like), digitoxin, digoxin, drugs of abuse, theophylline, and warfarin, may also be determined. Any of these analytes may be used and glucose is used throughout as a representative analyte for convenience only and is in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Medical Diagnostic Device
In one embodiment, a medical diagnostic device is provided that carries out the functions of:
(a) storing a plurality of lancets and sensors; (b) feeding a plurality of lancets and sensors to a system that employs a lancet to form an opening in the skin of a patient and then employs the sensor to collect a sample of biological liquid that emerges from the opening formed in the skin; (c) forming an opening in the skin of the patient by means of the lancet; (d) collecting the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening formed in the skin of the patient by means of the sensor; (e) analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected by the sensor; and (f) ejecting the used lancet and the used sensor in a safe manner.
In another embodiment, a lancing/collecting assembly is provided that receives the test strip that includes the lancet-containing portion and the sensor-containing portion. By means of various operations, the lancing/collecting assembly can perform one or more of the following: (a) orient the lancet-containing portion of the test strip in such a manner that the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip can be advanced toward the skin of the patient in order to form an opening therein, (b) arm the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip, (c) trigger the armed lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip so that the lancet forms an opening in the skin of the patient, (d) orient the sensor-containing portion of the test strip in such a manner that the sensor-containing portion of the test strip can be advanced toward the opening formed in the skin of the patient to collect a sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient, and (e) advance the sensor of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip so that sufficient quantity of the sample of biological liquid can be collected for analysis to determine a parameter of the biological liquid.
The lancing/collecting assembly is also capable of incorporating an analyzer that is capable of analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected from the opening in the skin of the patient.
In another embodiment, a method is provided for using the medical diagnostic device, including:
(a) feeding one of a plurality of test strips, each of the test strips comprising a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion to a lancing/collecting assembly that employs a lancet of the lancet-containing portion to form an opening in the skin of a patient and then employs a sensor of the sensor-containing portion to collect a sample of biological liquid that emerges from the opening formed in the skin; (b) forming an opening in the skin of the patient by means of a lancet in the lancet-containing portion; (c) collecting a sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening formed in the skin of the patient by means of the sensor of the sensor-containing portion; (d) analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected by the sensor of the sensor-containing portion; and (e) ejecting the used test strip in a safe manner.
As illustrated at FIG. 1 , an assembly for storing and dispensing test strips 110 includes a magazine for storing multiple test strips “TS”, each test strip including a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion. Test strips that are suitable for use with the medical diagnostic device of this invention are illustrated in FIGS. 4-11 , inclusive, and described in detail in the text accompanying those figures. The assembly 110 includes an exterior cover 120 . The purpose of the exterior cover 120 is to maintain the test strips in a substantially moisture-tight, air-tight condition. A variety of materials are suitable for forming the exterior cover 120 and include rubber and other polymeric materials, and the like. A platform 124 is for containing a biasing element 125 , e.g., a constant force spring, for urging test strips toward the location in the magazine 118 from which test strips are fed to the lancing/collecting assembly. An insert 126 is for securing the biasing element 125 . The platform 124 may be filled with a desiccant, in order to enhance moisture resistance of the test strips stored within the assembly 110 . Below the magazine 118 is a test strip track 128 for providing a guide path for a test strip when the test strip is being fed to the lancing/collecting assembly. The test strip track 128 also abuts against a seal 130 attached to the bottom end of the assembly 110 . The seal 130 surrounds the bottom end of the magazine 118 and is typically made from a substantially air-impermeable, moisture-impermeable material, such as, for example, rubber or a polymeric material, or the like. The combination of the test strip track 128 and the seal 130 provides a substantially moisture-tight, air-tight seal for the assembly 110 .
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 , a first embodiment of a lancing/collecting assembly 112 includes a cradle 280 . The cradle 280 holds a test strip during both the lancing step and the sample collecting step, which are carried out by the medical diagnostic device. The cradle 280 also orients a test strip for lancing, and reorients the test strip for sample collecting, so that the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip can form an opening in the skin of the patient during lancing and the sensor of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip can collect the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient during sample collecting, e.g., without manual intervention. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the cradle 280 also holds the test strip during analyzing. The cradle 280 includes two upright members 282 and 284 and a transverse member 286 . The transverse member 286 of the cradle 280 connects the two upright members 282 and 284 of the cradle 280 . The upright member 282 of the cradle 280 has a slot 288 formed therein, and the upright member 284 of the cradle 280 has a slot 290 formed therein. The slots 288 and 290 receive an L-shaped element 292 and 294 , respectively, formed on a carrier 296 . The L-shaped element 294 has a foot 294 a and a leg 294 b . The L-shaped element 292 also has a foot and a leg which are not shown. The foot 294 a of the L-shaped element 294 is capable of sliding in the slot 290 (and correspondingly for element 292 and slot 288 ) of the cradle 280 during lancing and sample collecting, so that the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip can form an opening in the skin of the patient during lancing and the sensor of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip can collect the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient during collecting. The sliding motion of the foot 294 a is brought about by the movement of a cam follower 274 during lancing and during sample collecting.
The carrier 296 houses the electrical components and electronic components for completing a circuit when the test strip has received a sample of biological liquid from the patient. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate how the carrier 296 receives and holds a test strip. Examples of electrical and electronic components of the carrier 296 , and types of analyses that can be performed by the carrier 296 are described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,299,757 and 6,616,819.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 , the lancing/collecting assembly 112 includes a transmission system, and may include multiple gears for performing one or more of: (1) enabling operation of components required for a lancing operation for forming an opening in the skin of a patient, (2) collecting the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient formed by the lancing operation, and (3) positioning a test strip during the analyzing operation. Other configurations of gears, racks, can be used in place of the configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 . Transmission systems that utilize components other than gears may be used. The transmission system of the lancing/collecting assembly includes gears shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , and may be replaced in whole or in part by subsystems involving one or more racks and one or more pinions. In certain embodiments, cam follower 274 can be effected in two directions, the directions being separated by approximately 180°, and the cradle 280 or equivalent can be capable of being rotated approximately 180° from a first position to a second position, the first position and the second position being separated by approximately 180°. As used herein, the expression “approximately 180°” means an angle ranging from about 160° to 200°, with angles being close to 180° in many embodiments. In alternative embodiments, the directions may be any angle depending on the configuration of the medical diagnostic device and the relative locations of the lancet and testing strip portions of the integrated lancing and testing striplet. For example, the lancet needle and testing striplet could protrude from a lancet body at other than about 180 degrees from each other, e.g., about 90 degrees or about zero degrees.
Devices for mechanical transmission of power, or “mechanisms”, constitute the basic units from which all kinds of devices are built. Every mechanism includes individual elements whose movements in relation to one another are “positive”, i.e., the motion of one element produces an accurately determinable and definable motion of every individual point of the other elements of that mechanism. Numerous combinations and modifications are possible, and a few illustrative types of mechanisms are noted here:
(1) Screw mechanism: When a screw spindle is rotated, the element attached to the nut will move in the longitudinal direction of the screw. Conversely, if the nut is rotatably mounted in the frame of the mechanism and driven, the screw spindle will move longitudinally. (2) Linkage or crank mechanism: The characteristic element is the crank, which is rotatably mounted on a frame and is usually so designed that it can perform complete revolutions. Its motion is transmitted through the coupler (or connecting rod) to the lever (or rocker arm), likewise rotatably mounted, but not performing complete revolutions. Alternatively, instead of being connected to a lever, the coupler may be attached to a sliding element—e.g., a piston. (3) Pulley mechanism: Connection between pulleys on their respective shafts is effected by flexible elements (belts, ropes). (4) Ratchet mechanism: This serves to arrest a motion or to produce an intermittent rotation in the driven element. The pawl allows the ratchet wheel to rotate in one direction only, preventing rotation in the opposite direction by engaging the specially shaped teeth on the wheel. (5) Gear mechanism: This type of mechanism, which is used extensively herein, transmits rotary motion from one shaft to another, usually in conjunction with a change in rotational speed and torque. In a gear mechanism of the usual type, the transmission is effected by the meshing of gear teeth, but in a friction-gear mechanism, this positive drive is replaced by frictional contact of wheels or rollers. (6) Cam mechanism: This type of mechanism, which is used extensively herein, involves a cam mounted on a frame. The cam is driven and thereby moves a follower, which performs a desired predetermined motion depending on the shape of the cam.
Further information relating to the foregoing mechanisms can be found in “The Way Things Work”, Volume 2, Simon and Schuster (New York: 1971), pages 198-217, incorporated herein by reference.
With respect to the interaction between the cradle 280 , the carrier 296 , the L-shaped elements 292 and 294 , the lancet-containing portion of the test strip, and the sensor-containing portion of the test strip, the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip is moved toward the skin of the patient to form an opening in the skin of the patient. After an opening is formed in the skin of the patient during the lancing step, and after the lancet-containing portion of the test strip is retracted, the test strip is oriented so that the sensor-containing portion of the test strip can collect a sample of biological liquid, e.g., blood, emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient.
In certain embodiments of the lancing/collecting assembly, the mechanical transmission system orients the test strip by rotating the cradle 280 approximately 180° (when the sensor and lancet protrude approximately 180° from the lancet body, see FIG. 4 ), so that the sensor-containing portion of the test strip faces the opening in the skin of the patient. Unlike lancing, no arming or triggering is involved. However, the test strip moves in the same manner as it did during the lancing, even though it is reoriented for testing instead of lancing, thereby enabling the sensor of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip to contact the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient. The sensor of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip receives a sufficient quantity of the sample to carry out a determination of the analyte. In an embodiment of a lancing/collecting assembly, the carrier 296 may be designed to carry out the determination of the analyte. During the assay or after the completion of the assay, the cradle 280 may be rotated, e.g., about 90°, by the mechanical transmission system to position the test strip for re-attaching the protective cover to the used lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip, removing the used test strip from the lancing/collecting assembly, and disposing of the used test strip through an ejection port in a housing (not shown).
The medical diagnostic device can include a mechanism for ejecting used test strips from the cradle 280 . This mechanism may be operated by employing a user-actuated pushing assembly or a motor-actuated pushing assembly to push a used test strip out of the cradle 280 and out of the ejection port of the housing.
To operate the lancing/collecting assembly, a motor can be used to apply a rotating drive input. Alternatively, any rotating drive source could be used, e.g., manual input by the user.
Further detailed description of the medical diagnostic device is found at contemporaneously filed application which is assigned to the same assignee, and at the priority provisional application identified herein above.
Test Strips
As noted above, novel sensors (“striplets”) are provided. The striplets may be used with the medical diagnostic devices described herein, or other suitable devices. An embodiment of a striplet is shown in FIG. 4A , which shows test striplet 1000 has a sensor-containing portion 1002 and a lancet-containing portion 1004 . In one embodiment, the sensor-containing portion 1002 includes a first substrate 1006 (a base) and a second substrate 1008 (a cover). FIG. 4B illustrates another embodiment of an integrated lancet and testing striplet 1000 , including a sensor-containing portion 1002 and a lancet-containing portion 1004 each coupled to a lancet body 1202 . The lancet containing portion includes a lancet 1200 shown protected by an optional elastomer cover 1204 in FIG. 4B . The elastomer cover 1204 includes a pair of arms 1003 that are configured to fit with corresponding cut-outs in the lancet body 1202 , so that the cover 1204 can be slipped on and off by application of sufficient coupling and separating force, respectively.
The lancet body includes sides 1203 that are symmetric and may be substantially identical. Each side 1203 is mostly flat like the walls of a tray of carrier 280 (see FIGS. 2 and 3 ), yet include a recess 1205 that is suitably shaped, e.g., trapezoidally-shaped, or the like. The recesses 1205 are for coupling with a mating mechanism, e.g., a latching mechanism or a ball and detent mechanism that may be spring-loaded, or the like. When the position of one of the recesses 1205 is matched with the mating mechanism, e.g., the latch or the ball of the ball and detent mechanism, a force is provided for maintaining the striplet 1000 specifically in a certain position relative to the analyte meter or other diagnostic medical device, either when lancing or when receiving body fluid at the sensor 1002 . That is, the latch or ball and detent mechanism, or the like, holds the striplet in place for lancing by fitting into one of the recesses 1205 , and then when the striplet is appropriately moved, e.g, rotated and/or flipped, so that the sensor can receive body fluid at the lancing site, the latch or ball and detent mechanism then holds the striplet in place by fitting into the other one of the recesses 1205 , while the latch or the ball and detent mechanism need not itself move other than the ball sliding along the walls 1203 and moving into and out of each slot 1205 . In many embodiments, only the striplet is moved between lancing and testing, such that the meter and the lancing site relative to the meter may remain stationary while the striplet is reoriented, e.g., by rotation and/or by being flipped.
As shown in FIGS. 4A-7B , inclusive, and particularly at FIG. 6A , both the base 1006 and the cover 1008 are substantially rectangular in shape, although other shapes may be used The base 1006 has two major surfaces 1006 a , 1006 b and in this substantially rectangular embodiment four edges 1006 c , 1006 d , 1006 e , and 1006 f . The cover 1008 has two major surfaces 1008 a , 1008 b and in this substantially rectangular embodiment four edges 1008 c , 1008 d , 1008 e , and 1008 f . The base 1006 may include a recess 1010 formed in one edge thereof, and the cover 1008 has a recess 1012 formed in one edge thereof. The surfaces of these recesses 1010 and 1012 may bear a hydrophilic material in order to enable the sample of biological liquid to have greater affinity for the recesses 1010 and 1012 than if the recesses were not bearing a hydrophilic material. The base 1006 and the cover 1008 may be made from an electrically non-conducting material, e.g., an insulating material, that is not capable of carrying substantial electric charge or current. Examples of materials usable include polyesters, polyethylene (both high density and low density), polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, vinyls, and the like. The material may be treated with a primer or other such coating to improve the adhesion of the electrodes thereon. In certain embodiments, the base and/or cover is made from a hydrophobic polymeric material, e.g., “MELINEX” polymer, or the like.
FIG. 6A further illustrates a base 1006 that bears a layer of electrically conductive material 1014 on the major surface thereof facing the cover 1008 . Conductive material that may be used include gold, carbon, platinum, ruthenium dioxide, palladium, and conductive epoxies, such as, for example, ECCOCOAT CT5079-3 Carbon-Filled Conductive Epoxy Coating (available from W. R. Grace Company, Woburn, Mass.), Ag/AgCl, Ag/AgBr, as well as other materials known to those skilled in the art. For example, the embodiment of FIG. 6A may include Ag/AgCl. For example, this electrically conductive material may function as a counter electrode or as a dual-purpose reference/counter electrode. The major surface of the cover 1008 facing the base 1006 bears a layer of electrically conductive material 1016 in a first area, which layer of electrically conductive material. Any suitable conductive material may be used, such as described above. For example, the conductive material may constitute a working electrode. In certain embodiments, a layer of electrically conductive material 1018 may be present in a second area, which layer of electrically conductive material may constitute a trigger electrode. The major surface of the cover 1008 facing the base 1006 also bears a layer of non-conductive adhesive 1020 in a first area and layer of non-conductive adhesive 1022 in a second area to bond the cover 1008 to the base 1006 .
The layers of non-conductive adhesive 1020 , 1022 also function to space the cover 1008 from the base 1006 so that a channel 1024 running along the center of the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 is formed. A layer of electrically conductive adhesive 1026 enables the transfer of signal from the major surface 1006 a of the base 1006 to the major surface 1008 b of the cover 1008 . The layer of electrically conductive adhesive 1026 may be made from a pressure-sensitive adhesive doped with an electrically conductive material, e.g., carbon. The layer of electrically conductive adhesive 1026 may be any suitable thickness, and in certain embodiments, it has a thickness of about 0.002 inch.
At least one electrical passageway 1028 enables the transfer of signal from the major surface 1008 b of the cover 1008 to the major surface 1008 a of the cover 1008 . An electrical passageway is a passageway formed in the cover 1008 . The at least one electrical passageway 1028 is filled with electrically conductive material, such as, for example, any described herein. In certain embodiments the passageway includes carbon. The benefit resulting from the use of one or more electrical passageways is that all of the contact pads 1029 a , 1029 b , 1029 c of the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 can be positioned on one major surface of the cover 1008 of the test strip 1000 .
In many embodiments, the dimensions of the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 are as small as possible in order to reduce the size of the magazine 118 and reduce the volume of sample required to carry out a test. For example, dimensions of the base 1006 and cover 1008 may be approximately 6 mm×6 mm×<2 mm, although other dimensions may be used. Dimensions of the electrodes and dimensions of a sample flow channel 1024 that may be used are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,299,757 and 6,616,819. When the sample of biological liquid is introduced at the sample receiving end, e.g., at hydrophilic recesses 1010 , 1012 , if present, the liquid is easily drawn up into the channel 1024 , along which the liquid flows by means of capillary attraction. The major surface 1008 a of the cover 1008 not facing the base 1006 has electrical contact pads 1029 a , 1029 b , 1029 c exposed, which electrical contact pads 1029 a , 1029 b , 1029 c are in contact with the contact leads 1030 a , 1030 b , 1030 c , 1030 d of the carrier 296 , as shown in FIG. 7C .
The cover 1008 also has two recesses 1032 , 1034 in the edges perpendicular to the edge having the sample uptake recess 1012 . The function of these recesses 1032 , 1034 in the sides is to securely attach the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 to the lancet-containing portion 1004 of the test strip 1000 , which holds the lancet in place. As shown in FIG. 4 , the tabs 1036 and 1038 project downwardly from the lancet-containing portion 1004 of the test strip 1000 toward the recesses 1032 , 1034 in the edges of the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 . In certain embodiments, the lancet and strip do not physically contact each other.
As noted above, the striplets may be used with a meter or other electrical device having an electrical connector, which is configured to couple with and contact the contact pads at the end of a sensor, such as described above. A meter for use with the striplets typically includes a potentiostat or other component to provide a potential and/or current for the electrodes of the sensor. The meter also typically includes a processor (e.g., a microprocessor or hardware) for determining the concentration of an analyte from the signals from the sensor.
The meter may also include a visual display or port for coupling a display to the sensor and/or audio componentry. The display displays the signals from the sensor and/or results determined for the signals from the sensor including, for example, the concentration of an analyte, and/or the exceeding of a threshold of the concentration of an analyte (including, for example, hypo- or hyperglycemia). Furthermore, the meter may be configured to indicate to the user, via, for example, an audible, visual, or other sensory-stimulating alarm, when the level of the analyte is at or near a threshold level. For example, an alarm system may be included. For example, if glucose is monitored then an alarm may be used to alert the user to a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic glucose level and/or to impending hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.
The electrical connector employs contact leads that provide electrical connection between the sensor and the meter. The leads have proximal ends to physically contact the contact pads and distal ends to connect to any attached meter. The end of the sensor that has the contact pads can be slid into or mated with the electrical connector by placing the sensor into a slide area, which provides a support for and retains the sensor. It is important that the contact leads of the electrical connector make electrical contact with the correct pads of the sensor so that the working electrode and counter electrode(s) are correctly coupled to the meter. In certain embodiments of the medical diagnostic device 100 described herein, the carrier 296 substantially performs the aforementioned functions of the meter that is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,819.
In another embodiment, the sensor-containing portion 1002 ′ includes a base 1006 ′ and a cover 1008 ′. As shown in FIGS. 8A-8C , inclusive, both the base 1006 ′ and the cover 1008 ′ are substantially rectangular in shape, but other shapes may be employed. The base 1006 ′ has two major surfaces 1006 a ′, 1006 b ′ and in this substantially rectangular embodiment four edges 1006 c ′, 1006 d ′, 1006 e ′, and 1006 f ′. The cover 1008 ′ has two major surfaces 1008 a ′, 1008 b ′ and in this substantially rectangular embodiment four edges 1008 c ′, 1008 d ′, 1008 e ′, and 1008 f ′. The base 1006 ′ has optional recess 1010 ′ formed in one edge thereof, and the cover 1008 ′ has a recess 1012 ′ formed in one edge thereof. The surfaces of these recesses 1010 ′ and 1012 ′ may bear a hydrophilic material in order to enable the sample of biological liquid to have greater affinity for the recesses 1010 ′, 1012 ′ than if the recesses were not bearing a hydrophilic material.
The base 1006 ′ bears a layer of electrically conductive material 1014 ′ (for example, Ag/AgCl) on the major surface thereof facing the cover layer 1008 ′. This electrically conductive material functions as a dual purpose reference/counter electrode. The major surface of the cover 1008 ′ facing the base 1006 ′ bears a layer of electrically conductive material 1016 ′ in a first area, which layer of electrically conductive material constitutes a working electrode, and a layer of electrically conductive material 1018 ′ in a second area, which layer of electrically conductive material constitutes a trigger electrode. The major surface of the cover 1008 ′ facing the base 1006 ′ also bears a layer of non-conductive adhesive 1020 ′ in a first area and layer of non-conductive adhesive 1022 ′ in a second area to bond the cover 1008 ′ to the base 1006 ′.
The layers of non-conductive adhesive 1020 ′, 1022 ′ also function to space the cover 1008 ′ from the base 1006 ′ so that a channel 1024 ′ running along the center of the sensor-portion 1002 ′ of the test strip 1000 ′ is formed. A layer of conductive adhesive 1026 ′ enables the transfer of signal from the major surface 1006 a ′ of the base 1006 ′ to the major surface 1008 b ′ of the cover 1008 ′. The layer of electrically conductive adhesive 1026 ′ can be made from a pressure-sensitive adhesive doped with an electrically conductive material, e.g., carbon. The layer of electrically conductive adhesive 1026 ′ typically has a thickness of about 0.002 inch.
At least one electrical passageway 1028 ′ enables the transfer of signal from the major surface 1008 b ′ of the cover 1008 ′ to the major surface 1008 a ′ of the cover 1008 ′. An electrical passageway 1028 ′ is a passageway formed in the cover 1008 ′. The at least one electrical passageway 1028 ′ is filled with electrically conductive material, such as, any conductive or semiconductive material described herein, for example, carbon. The benefit resulting from the use of one or more electrical passageways is that all of the contacts of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip can be positioned on one major surface of the cover of the test strip. The electrical passageways 1028 ′ may be identical to or substantially similar to the electrical passageways 1028 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B .
The dimensions of the sensor-containing portion 1002 ′ of the test strip 1000 ′ may be any suitable size, and in many embodiments the dimensions are as small as possible in order to in order to reduce the size of the assembly 110 and reduce the volume of sample required to carry out a test. For example, dimensions of the base 1006 ′ and cover 1008 ′ may be about 6 mm×6 mm×<2 mm. Dimensions of electrodes and channels that may be used are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,229,757 and 6,616,819. When the sample of biological liquid is introduced at the sample receiving area, e.g., at hydrophilic recesses 1010 ′ and 1012 ′, if present, the sample is easily drawn up into the channel 1024 ′, along which the sample flows by means of capillary attraction. The major surface of the cover 1008 ′ not facing the base 1006 ′ has electrical contact pads 1029 a ′, 1029 b ′, 1029 c ′ exposed, which electrical contact pads 1029 a ′, 1029 b ′, 1029 c ′ are in contact with the contact leads 1030 a , 1030 b , 1030 c , 1030 d of the carrier 296 , as shown in FIG. 8C .
The base 1006 ′ also has two openings 1032 ′, 1034 ′ formed therein on either side of one leg of the L-shaped electrode 1014 ′. The function of these openings 1032 ′, 1034 ′ is to securely attach the sensor-containing portion 1002 ′ of the test strip 1000 ′ to the lancet-containing portion, which holds the lancet in place. When the sensor-containing portion of the test strip has recesses in the sides of the cover, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7A , the tabs of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip project downwardly, in the manner of the tabs of the lancet-containing portion shown in FIG. 4 . When the sensor-containing portion of the test strip has openings in the base, as shown in FIGS. 8B , 9 , and 10 , the tabs of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip project upwardly, in the manner of the tabs of the lancet-containing portion shown in FIG. 9 . The test strip 1000 ′ of this embodiment can employ the same carrier 296 that can be used with the embodiment of the test strip 1000 previously described and the same type of meter as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,819.
In still another embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9-11 , inclusive, a test strip 1100 comprises a sensor-containing portion 1102 and a lancet-containing portion 1104 . The sensor-containing portion 1102 includes a base 1106 and a cover 1108 . The base 1106 is substantially rectangular in shape and has two major surfaces 1106 a , 1106 b and four edges 1106 c , 1106 d , 1106 e , and 1106 f . The base 1106 has a recess 1110 formed in one edge thereof. The surface of this recess 1110 bears a hydrophilic material in order to enable the sample of biological liquid to have greater affinity for the recess 1110 than if the recess were not bearing a hydrophilic material.
On one major surface of the base 1106 is a layer of electrically conductive material 1112 in a first area and a layer of electrically conductive material 1114 in a second area. The first area constitutes the working electrode and the second area constitutes the trigger electrode. The cover 1108 is separated from the base 1106 by layers 1116 , 1118 of non-conductive adhesive applied to the base 1106 and cover 1108 in such a manner that a channel 1120 forming a sample flow path is created. This channel 1120 runs along the center of the sensor-portion 1102 of the test strip 1100 . The cover 1108 is made of an electrically conductive material (such as, for example, vinyl having an electrically conductive material, e.g., Ag/AgCl, thereon) and functions as a dual purpose reference/counter electrode.
When a sample of biological liquid is introduced at the hydrophilic recess 1110 , the sample is easily drawn up into the channel 1116 , along which the sample flows by means of capillary attraction. Portions of the electrically conductive material of the base 1106 function as electrical contact pads. The base 1106 has two openings 1122 , 1124 formed therein on either side of the cover 1108 . The function of these openings 1122 , 1124 is to securely attach the sensor-containing portion 1102 of the test strip 1100 to the lancet-containing portion 1104 , which holds the lancet in place. This embodiment does not require a conductive adhesive or electrical passageways to carry out determination of analytes.
The test strip 1100 of this embodiment can employ the same carrier 296 that can be used with the embodiments of the test strips 1000 , 1000 ′ previously described and the same type of meter as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,819.
FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate embodiments of a lancet body 1202 with a test strip 1002 coupled thereto and a lancet-containing portion 1004 also coupled to the lancet body 1202 in accordance with certain embodiments. The test strip 1002 of FIG. 10A is shown with opposing rectangular cut-outs 1122 a and 1122 b from its sides for coupling with teeth 1136 a , 1136 b of the lancet body. In another embodiment which is not shown, only a single tooth and slot are involved, while rotational stabilization is provided by the configuration of the walls of the lancet body 1202 . The test strip fits securely in L-shaped grooves 1290 on either side of the lancet body 1202 as illustrated at FIG. 10B .
A lancet 1200 may be integrated directly into the sensor-containing portion 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 of the test strip. Alternatively, the sensor-containing portion 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 of the test strip may be attached to the lancet-containing portion of the test strip. The medical diagnostic device 100 may have an alignment feature to ensure that movement, e.g., rotation, of the test strip during use does not result in misalignment of the sample application zone of the test strip. The alignment feature may be provided by springs associated with the carrier 296 .
The lancet-containing portion 1004 shown in FIG. 4 may be used with, or may be modified to be used with, any of the sensor-containing portions 1002 , 1002 ′, and 1102 described herein. For example, the tabs for connecting the lancet-containing portion to the sensor-containing portion can be modified to project upwardly to enable the lancet-containing portion to be used with a sensor-containing portion having openings in the base, rather than recesses in the sides of the base and the cover. It should be noted that other embodiments of the lancet-containing portion may be used with any of the sensor-containing portions 1002 , 1002 ′, and 1102 described herein.
As shown in FIG. 4 , the lancet-containing portion 1004 is shown as having a lancet-containing body 1202 . The lancet 1200 is held in the lancet-containing body 1202 . The lancet-containing body 1202 may be attached to the sensor-containing portion 1002 by tabs 1036 , 1038 or can be attached to the sensor-containing portion 1002 ′, 1102 by tabs 1136 , 1138 . When the sensor-containing portion of the test strip has recesses in the sides of the cover, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7A , the tabs 1036 , 1038 of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip project downwardly, in the manner of the tabs of the lancet-containing portion shown in FIG. 4 .
When the sensor-containing portion of the test strip has openings in the base, as shown in FIGS. 8B , 9 , and 10 , the tabs 1136 , 1138 of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip project upwardly, in the manner of the tabs of the lancet-containing portion shown in FIG. 9 . Any suitable dimensions of the lancet-containing body may be employed, and in certain embodiments dimensions of the lancet-containing body 1202 of the lancet-containing portion 1004 are 10 mm×8 mm×1.5 mm. Typical dimensions of the protective cover 1204 for the lancet 1200 are 3 mm×1.4 mm. Typical dimensions of the needle for forming the lancet 1200 are 28 to 30 gauge, 10 mm total length, 3.5 mm exposed length.
A lancet 1200 for puncturing the skin to obtain a sample of biological liquid includes a sharp metal component (needle) that is maintained in a sterile condition until the moment of use. In addition, the lancet 1200 is disposable with minimum possibility of an injury subsequent to the initial use. The lancet 1200 includes a substantially cylindrical needle having a sharp end and an opposing end which may be a blunt end. The tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 , i.e., the sharp end, may include a protective cover 1204 that ensures sterility of the lancet 1200 . The protective cover 1204 is also designed to be re-attached to the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 for safe disposal. The opposing end (e.g., a blunt end) may be embedded into the lancet-containing body 1202 by insert molding or adhesive. In one embodiment, the lancet-containing body 1202 includes a polymeric material molded into a substantially rectangular shape.
The tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 and as much of the lancet 1200 as is expected to puncture the skin of the patient may be embedded in the protective cover 1204 , e.g., a polymeric plug, e.g., an elastomeric plug, such as a thermoplastic elastomeric, silicone, plug. In this configuration, ionizing radiation may be used to sterilize the lancet 1200 and the elastomer will prevent subsequent contamination. Embedding the piercing portion (tip) 1200 a of the lancet 1200 in a soft material does not damage the delicate tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 but forms a tight seal that allows for sterilization (such as by irradiation) and the preservation of that sterile condition. Such a protective cover 1204 may be removed from the piercing portion of the lancet 1200 either by pulling the protective cover 1204 off the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 or by fully piercing through the protective cover 1204 and allowing the protective cover 1204 to cover a more proximal part of the lancet 1200 .
The nature of the thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) eliminates the necessity of relocating the tip 1200 a of the used lancet 1200 precisely into the hole originally occupied by the tip 1200 a of the unused lancet 1200 . Relocation of the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 at any position in the thermoplastic elastomeric protective cover 1204 is sufficient to prevent the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 from being exposed after the test strip is ejected from the medical diagnostic device 100 .
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are easily processed rubbery materials. They can be easily formed in various shapes. If a sharp lancet 1200 is embedded into a piece of thermoplastic elastomer, and then irradiated by either gamma radiation or electron beam radiation of sufficient energy, the lancet 1200 is rendered sterile, and because the thermoplastic elastomer forms a tight seal, the lancet 1200 remains sterile for a relatively long period of time.
If the protective cover 1204 made is made of thermoplastic elastomer, and the thermoplastic elastomer is at least partially enveloped by a more rigid material, the protective cover 1204 acts more like a rigid body, but keeps the desired features of the thermoplastic elastomer. Configurations of this design might include the lamination of thermoplastic elastomer between thin layers of rigid plastic or metal or the coextrusion of thermoplastic elastomer with a more rigid polymer. The cross-section of such a coextruded profile can be circular, rectangular, or any other shape that renders it useful. Such a combination of thermoplastic elastomer and rigid material can be provided with features such that the combination is allowed to slide proximally on the shaft of the lancet 1200 , eventually exposing the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 for lancing. After the lancet 1200 is used, the subassembly can be slid distally and the connection between the protective cover 1204 and the lancet 1200 changed such that the protective cover 1204 cannot return to a position that exposes the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 .
It should be noted that all of the embodiments of the test strip shown herein are characterized by having the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 of the lancet-containing portion 1004 of the test strip located about 180° from an uptake area, e.g., a recess, of the sensor-containing portion 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 of the test strip. Such positioning renders the test strips suitable for use with the medical diagnostic device. However, the lancet may be positioned elsewhere with respect to the uptake area.
The test strips and the magazines 118 containing a plurality of test strips may be made by any suitable process. In certain embodiments, the following process may be employed:
To prepare the lancet-containing portion 1004 of a test strip, unfinished lancets are provided. These unfinished lancets are ground and cut to a suitable dimension, e.g., about 10 mm. The ground, cut lancets 1200 are then molded into a plastic body 1202 to form the lancet-containing portion 1004 of the test strip. To prepare the sensor-containing portion 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 of the test strip, the electrodes are disposed, e.g., printed, onto the backing or cover, the appropriate reagents are disposed proximate one or more electrodes, e.g., coated over one or more of the electrodes.
Below a sample application well or zone of a test strip may be a wicking membrane that is striped with various reagents to create various reagent, capture and/or eluate zones. A hemolysis reagent zone may be positioned below a sample application zone. The hemolysis reagent zone may include a hemolysis reagent that is striped, such as absorbed, confined, or immobilized, on a wicking membrane of the test strip. A small amount of hemolysis reagent, such as about 1 to about 2 or about 3 microliters, for example, is sufficient for striping the wicking membrane such that the hemolysis reagent zone is sufficiently confined on the test strip. Any reagent or combination of reagents suitable for hemolysis, and the consequent liberation of hemoglobin, can be used. By way of example, an ionic detergent, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a non-ionic detergent, such as a octylphenol ethylene oxide condensate or octoxynol-9 or t-octylphenoxypolyethoxy-ethanol, sold under the name, Triton X-100, and commercially available from Sigma Chemical or Sigma-Aldrich Co., or a hypotonic solution, may be used as a hemolysis reagent.
A glycated hemoglobin capture zone may be disposed downstream relative to the hemolysis zone. By way of example, any chemical reagent comprising at least one boron ligand, such as phenyl boronate or other boron affinity chemistry used in the above-referenced Glycosal test, or such as m-aminophenylboronic acid, such as that of a gel that is immobilized on cross-linked, beaded agarose, any antibody, such as anti-HbA1c antibody available from a number of sources, any immunoassay reagent, any chemical reagent including at least one binding ligand, such a boronic acid involving boron binding ligands, and the like, and any combination thereof, that is suitable for the binding of glycated hemoglobin to the capture zone 222 , such as via covalent bonds, for example, or the capture of glycated hemoglobin in capture zone 222 , may be used. A hemolysis layer/zone and a glycated hemoglobin capture zone can be integrated to form an integrated reagent zone.
The cards of sensor-containing portions 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 are singulated to form individual sensor-containing portions 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 . The individual sensor-containing portions 1002 , 1002 ′, 1102 are combined with the lancet-containing portions 1004 to form completed test strips. Pluralities of test strips are then loaded into assembly 110 (see FIG. 1 ).
The sensors described herein may be configured for analysis of an analyte in a small volume of sample by, for example, coulometry, amperometry, and/or potentiometry. The sensors may also be configured for optical analysis. The sensors may be configures to determine analyte concentration in about 1 μL or less of sample, e.g., 0.5 μL or less of sample e.g., 0.2 μL or less of sample e.g., 0.1 μL or less of sample. The chemistry of the sensors generally includes an electron transfer agent that facilitates the transfer of electrons to or from the analyte. One example of a suitable electron transfer agent is an enzyme which catalyzes a reaction of the analyte. For example, a glucose oxidase or glucose dehydrogenase, such as pyrroloquinoline quinone glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ), may be used when the analyte is glucose. Other enzymes may be used for other analytes. Additionally to or alternatively to the electron transfer agent, may be a redox mediator. Certain embodiments use a redox mediator that is a transition metal compound or complex. Examples of suitable transition metal compounds or complexes include osmium, ruthenium, iron, and cobalt compounds or complexes. In these complexes, the transition metal is coordinatively bound to one or more ligands, which are typically mono-, di-, tri-, or tetradentate. The redox mediator may be a polymeric redox mediator or a redox polymer (i.e., a polymer having one or more redox species). Examples of suitable redox mediators and redox polymers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,338,790; 6,229,757; 6,605,200 and 6,605,201.
The sensor also includes a sample chamber to hold the sample in electrolytic contact with the working electrode. In certain embodiments, the sample chamber may be sized to contain no more than about 1 μL of sample, e.g., no more than about 0.5 μL, e.g., no more than about 0.2 μL, e.g., no more than about 0.1 μL of sample.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,757 also discloses materials for preparing a working electrode, a counter electrode, a dual purpose reference/counter electrode, a reference electrode, analytes that may be determined, examples of redox mediators, examples of second electron transfer agents, and details of sample chamber. The teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,757 may be used to prepare the components of the sensor-containing portion of the test strips.
The assemblies 110 of FIG. 1 may be prepared by first molding the desiccants into platforms. Resilient biasing elements and the platforms are then assembled into the housings of the assemblies 110 . The assemblies 110 are then packed and shipped.
Operation
Embodiments for operating the medical diagnostic device to dispense a test strip, form an opening in the skin of a patient to obtain a sample of biological liquid, collect a sample of biological liquid from the patient, analyze the sample of biological liquid collected from the patient, and dispose of the used test strip will now be summarized. FIG. 12 also depicts operational processes in a flow chart for certain embodiments. Embodiments may include fewer than all of that which is shown, and other may include further processes.
After the test strip 1000 has been fed into the cradle 280 , the medical diagnostic device 100 causes the test strip 1000 to be oriented in such a manner that the lancet 1200 of the lancet-containing portion 1004 of the test strip 1000 may be introduced into the skin of a patient to form an opening in the skin of the patient. In certain embodiments, such an orientation is carried out by a motor. In these embodiments, a PCB assembly may be programmed so that orientation is carried out accurately and reliably.
Such an orientation may be carried out by having the transmission system rotate the cradle 280 of the lancing/collecting assembly, e.g., about 90° (clockwise or counterclockwise), so that the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 faces an opening in an end cap, so that when the medical diagnostic device 100 is placed against the skin of the patient, the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 will be facing the skin of the patient.
The medical diagnostic device 100 then causes the test strip 1000 to be oriented in such a manner that the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 may be placed in contact with the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient. For this step, the cradle 280 is rotated about 180° in certain embodiments so that the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 contacts, e.g., directly overlies, the biological liquid.
The sample of biological liquid enters the sample application zone of the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 , i.e., the recesses 1010 , 1012 formed in an edge of the test strip 1000 . The sample of biological liquid travels along the sample flow channel 1024 to the area where the reagents are disposed. The appropriate reaction occurs, thereby activating the electronics and bringing about a reading of the concentration of the analyte, which reading is shown in the display. If insufficient quantity of the sample of biological liquid is drawn in the initial lancing, the user can actuate a retesting procedure before actuating the analyzing, whereby the test is aborted so that the user can re-arm the lancing mechanism and begin again.
The sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 collects a sufficient quantity of sample of biological liquid to allow analysis of the sample of biological liquid. After a sufficient amount of sample of biological liquid is collected, the carrier 296 , the electrical components of which are in electrical contact with the contacts of the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 , measures the quantity of analyte in the sample by an electrochemical analyzer. By this process, the sample of biological liquid is analyzed to determine at least one characteristic of the sample of biological liquid.
After the sample of biological liquid is analyzed, the protective cover if provided 1204 is automatically re-attached to the tip 1200 a of the lancet 1200 of the lancet-containing portion 1004 of the test strip 1000 . After the protective cover 1204 is re-attached, the re-covered test strip 1000 is ejected from a port in the housing (not shown), e.g., automatically.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart that illustrates embodiments of a method in accordance with certain embodiments. As shown in FIG. 12 , in this embodiment there are five basic components of the method. Component 0 of FIG. 12 involves advancing the test strip from the assembly 110 into the cradle 280 , removing the protective cover 1204 from the lancet 1200 , and rotating the cradle 280 to position the lancet 1200 for entering the skin of the patient. It should be noted that the protective cover 1204 could be removed from the lancet 1200 prior to rotating the cradle 280 into position for lancing. Component 1 of FIG. 12 involves arming and triggering the lancet 1200 . Component 2 of FIG. 12 involves indexing the test strip so that the sensor portion of the test strip can obtain blood from the opening formed in the skin in Component 1 . Component 3 of FIG. 12 involves collecting blood from the opening formed in the skin in Component 1 . Component 4 of FIG. 12 involves reattaching the protective cover 1204 to the lancet 1200 and ejecting the used test strip from the medical diagnostic device 100 .
FIG. 13A through FIG. 13M , inclusive, illustrate in schematic form one way of carrying out the method of FIG. 12 . For the sake of simplification, the test strip will be the test strip shown in FIG. 4 . Other test strips described can be used in place of the test strip shown in FIG. 4 . FIG. 13A shows a test strip 1000 in the assembly 110 . FIG. 13B shows the test strip 1000 advanced from the assembly 110 and inserted into the lancing/collecting assembly, which is represented schematically by two parallel upright elements, each element having a slot formed therein. FIG. 13C shows the protective cover 1204 being removed from the lancet 1200 of the test strip 1000 . It should be noted that the protective cover 1204 could be removed before the test strip 1000 is inserted into the lancing/collecting assembly.
FIG. 13D shows the test strip 1000 rotated about 90° so that the lancet 1200 is in position for lancing the skin of the patient. FIG. 13E shows that the lancet 1200 has entered the skin of the patient. FIG. 13F shows that the lancet 1200 has been retracted from the skin of the patient. FIG. 13G shows that the test strip 1000 is being rotated about 180° so that the sensor-containing portion 1002 can collect biological liquid emerging from the opening formed in the skin of the patient. FIG. 13H shows that the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 is ready to be indexed so that the sensor-containing portion 1002 can collect biological liquid emerging from the opening formed in the skin of the patient.
FIG. 13I shows the sensor-containing portion 1002 of the test strip 1000 contacting the biological liquid emerging from the skin of the patient. FIG. 13J shows that the test strip 1000 is being rotated about 90° so that the test strip 1000 will come into the proper in position for being ejected from the medical diagnostic device. FIG. 13K shows the test strip 1000 in position for ejection from the medical diagnostic device 100 . FIG. 13L shows the protective cover 1204 being reattached to the lancet 1200 . FIG. 13M shows the test strip 1000 being ejected from the medical diagnostic device 100 .
ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS
The monitoring apparatuses are configured for analysis (e.g., concentration determination) of an analyte in a sample of body fluid, where in certain embodiments the apparatuses are configured to determine the concentration of an analyte in a small volume of sample, e.g., less than about 1 microliter, e.g., less than about 0.5 microliters, e.g., less than about 0.2 microliters, e.g., about 0.1 microliters or less. The monitoring apparatuses may be configured for analysis of an analyte in a volume of sample by, for example, coulometry, amperometry, and/or potentiometry. In certain embodiments, the monitoring apparatuses are configured for optical analysis of an analyte in a sample.
A striplet includes both a test strip portion and a lancet portion. These may be relatively opposed, e.g., extending about 180 degrees from each other, or extending at another angle from zero to 360 degrees. The lancet portion may couple to the test strip portion as a two-piece device, or each may couple with a lancet body as a three-piece device.
In an alternative embodiment, a medical diagnostic device is provided that carries out the functions of:
(f) storing a plurality of lancets and sensors; (g) feeding a plurality of lancets and sensors to a system that employs a lancet to form an opening in the skin of a patient and then employs the sensor to collect a sample of biological liquid that emerges from the opening formed in the skin; (h) forming an opening in the skin of the patient by means of the lancet; (i) collecting the sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening formed in the skin of the patient by means of the sensor; (j) analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected by the sensor; and (k) ejecting the used lancet and the used sensor in a safe manner.
In a further embodiment, a test strip includes a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion. During the time that the test strip is stored in the medical diagnostic device, a protective cover encloses the lancet of the lancet-containing portion. The medical diagnostic device is capable of removing the protective cover to enable the lancet to form an opening in the skin of the patient and is further capable of re-attaching the protective cover onto the lancet to enable the medical diagnostic device to eject the used test strip in a safe manner.
In another embodiment, a lancing/collecting assembly receives a test strip that includes both a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion. By means of various operations, the lancing/collecting assembly is configured to (a) orient the lancet-containing portion of the test strip in such a manner that the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip can be advanced toward a lancing and testing site on the skin of the patient in order to form an opening therein, (b) arm the lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip, (c) trigger the armed lancet of the lancet-containing portion of the test strip so that the lancet forms an opening in the skin of the patient at the lancing and testing site, (d) orient the sensor-containing portion of the test strip in such a manner that the sensor-containing portion of the test strip can be advanced toward the opening formed in the skin of the patient to collect a sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening in the skin of the patient at the lancing and testing site which remains proximate to a lancing and testing port of an analyte, e.g., glucose, monitoring apparatus; and (e) advance the sensor of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip so that sufficient quantity of the sample of biological liquid can be collected for analysis to determine a parameter of the biological liquid, e.g., a body analyte, e.g., glucose, level.
The lancing/collecting assembly may also incorporate an analyzer that is capable of analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected from the opening in the skin of the patient.
In another embodiment, a storing/dispensing assembly is provided for a plurality of test strips, each of which includes a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion.
In a further embodiment, a method for using a medical diagnostic device includes:
(a) feeding one of multiple test strips, each of the test strips having a lancet-containing portion and a sensor-containing portion, to a lancing/collecting assembly that employs a lancet of the lancet-containing portion to form an opening in the skin of a patient, and then employs a sensor of the sensor-containing portion to collect a sample of biological liquid that emerges from the opening formed in the skin; (b) forming an opening in the skin of the patient by means of a lancet in the lancet-containing portion; (c) collecting a sample of biological liquid emerging from the opening formed in the skin of the patient by means of the sensor of the sensor-containing portion; (d) analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected by the sensor of the sensor-containing portion; and (e) ejecting the used test strip in a safe manner.
A medical diagnostic device of an embodiment can perform a plurality of diagnostic tests, e.g., 25 tests, before the device requires refilling with test strips. The medical diagnostic device can perform the functions of storing and dispensing test strips, lancing the skin of a patient, collecting a sample of biological liquid, analyzing the sample of biological liquid collected, and disposing of used test strips. In the case of collection of an inadequate quantity of sample, the medical diagnostic device enables re-lancing.
In accordance with another embodiment, a medical diagnostic device requires only a small volume of sample to carry out a complete test, e.g., 0.3 microliter (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,058,437, 6,618,934, 6,591,125 and 6,551,494, which are hereby incorporated by reference).
The test strip combines a lancet and a sensor in a single small unit. After the skin of the patient is pierced and a sample of biological liquid, e.g., blood, appears, the test strip is moved into position for collecting a sample of the liquid, and the liquid enters the sample application zone of the sensor-containing portion of the test strip without manipulation of the test strip by the user.
The striplet is also small in size. Generally the striplet is less than 2 mm×less than 1 mm×less than 0.3 mm, and in some embodiments, less than 1.5 mm×less than 0.75 mm×less than 0.2 mm, e.g., approximately 1 mm×0.5 mm×0.1 mm.
The striplet is advantageously ideal for alternative site testing, i.e., away from the fingertips, where smaller amount of blood are available than at the fingertips, such as less than 1 microliter, and even less than 0.5 microliters, or less than 0.3 microliters, or less than 0.2 microliters, or even 0.1 microliters (100 nanoliters). See for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,125 which describes this feature in more detail and in incorporated by reference.
Embodiments include calibration in one or more schemes. A calibration module, whether it be a bar code, a RFID tag, a label, or otherwise may be located on a striplet and/or on a striplet container. U.S. application Ser. No. 11/350,398, which is assigned to the same assignee and incorporated by reference, provides further examples. There may be contact pads that may be shorted together or kept apart during the test strip manufacturing process in order to communicate a calibration code to the meter. There may be a set of contact pads and a varying resistance between the two pads where the resistance is changed during the manufacturing process of the test strip to communicate a calibration code to the meter. There may be an electrical memory that is readable and writable by the meter, which communicates a calibration code to the meter. A calibrator can carry other information such as striplet expiration and/or a striplet number count down.
Various modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, and it should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein, which may be amended or modified or elements thereof combined without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is as set forth in the appended claims including structural and functional equivalents thereof.
In methods that may be performed according to embodiments herein and that may have been described above and/or claimed below, the operations have been described in selected typographical sequences. However, the sequences have been selected and so ordered for typographical convenience and are not intended to imply any particular order for performing the operations. Additionally, some parts of a sequence may be omitted and/or added in certain embodiments.
In addition, all references cited above herein, in addition to the background and summary of the invention section, are hereby incorporated by reference into the detailed description of the embodiments as disclosing alternative embodiments and components.
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An integrated lancet and testing striplet for measuring a body analyte level in a health care regimen includes a skin piercing member and an analyte sensor coupled together.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention is directed towards improvements in fiber fill material which is commonly referred to as fiber balls.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There have been many attempts to create an insulation or fill material which is an acceptable substitute for down. Polyester fiber fill is one of them and has achieved wide spread commercial acceptance as fill material for pillows, bedding, apparel and furnishings, among other things. Such fill may take on various forms such as staple fibers of various sizes, hollow and solid fibers, and crimped fibers, among others. Various shapes have also been suggested such as spheres (U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,599), spheres with projecting fibers to allow for interlocking (U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,574), crimped bundles of fibers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,103), assemblies of looped fibers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,421), rolls of fibers, bails, bundles and pin cushion configurations (U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,909), just to mention a few. In addition, clusters of fibers formed from shredded batt, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,051 entitled “Blowable Insulation Clusters”, and such clusters in an admixture with natural fibers such as down, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,052 entitled “Blowable Insulation”, have been found particularly suitable as insulation/fill material. What has also been shown to provide an excellent insulation fill material in the form of batt or clusters is a mixture of macrofibers and microfibers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,326 entitled “Synthetic Down”. Further, the compositions of insulation/fill material disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,588,635 and 5,043,207, have also been found well suited as substitute for natural insulation.
[0003] Various ways of creating fiber fill or fiber balls have been suggested in the aforesaid patents. Others ways include that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,665 which describes point bonding of tows of fibers. Another way, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,740 is to feed a uniform layer of staple fiber into a rotating cylinder covered with card clothing and rolling the fiber into rounded clusters which are removed by a special doffer screen. Others suggest blowing or air tumbling the fiber into a ball. (See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,531; 4,783,364; and 4,164,534.)
[0004] It has been suggested that there is a distinction between fiber balls and nubs (sometimes referred to as neps). (See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,707.) The term nub typically refers to a small limp knot or speck in yarn or fabric or a snarl or tangle mass of fibers (Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles 1970 Edition). Nubs, it is stated, are typically produced on cards and contain a substantial amount of fibers with a strongly entangled nucleus that does not contribute to resiliency. Nubs, it is further said, do not have the bulk, resilience and durability required for filling applications (as distinct from fiber balls).
[0005] It is interesting to note that nubs during web or batt production are undesirable and attempts were made to avoid the occurrence of nubs during carding. (See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,492.) As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 2,923,980 the production of nubs was a fortuitous event, since it occurred on a carding machine where the cylinder coating had deteriorated to the point that they could no longer produce the desired web or batt free from small nubs. Realizing the utility of nubs, machines for purposely creating them (typically by way a of modified carding machine) were developed, such as that disclosed in the immediately aforesaid patent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is the principal object of the invention to provide for a fiber ball that has good physical integrity whilst being resilient and durable.
[0007] It is a further object of the invention to create a fiber ball that provides for good insulation while being soft to the touch.
[0008] A yet further object of the invention is to provide for a means of creating such fiber balls that does not involve expensive and complicated modifications to existing machinery.
[0009] A still further object of the invention is to provide such fiber balls in an admixture with other material, which can be either natural or synthetic.
[0010] These and other objects and advantages are provided by the present invention. In this regard the present invention envisions the use of a standard carding machine having certain modifications to create fiber balls made from micro denier polyester fibers. Such modifications do not necessitate the structural changing of the machine elements. Rather, it basically involves reversing the direction of rotation of some of its elements and their clothing. What occurs during production is that the fibers are physically rolled and entangled into balls. This provides for superior integrity, resiliency and durability. In addition, it has been found that the use of micro denier polyester fibers results in warmer, softer insulation or filling. It is also envisioned that the fiber balls so formed may be mixed with natural or synthetic fibers to suit a particular application.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Thus by the present invention its objects and advantages will be realized, the description of which should be taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:
[0012] [0012]FIG. 1 illustrates in a somewhat schematic fashion, a typical carding machine;
[0013] [0013]FIG. 2 illustrates in a somewhat schematic fashion, a carding machine which has been modified to create fiber balls, incorporating the teachings of the present invention;
[0014] [0014]FIG. 3 illustrates a fiber ball, incorporating the teachings of the present invention; and
[0015] [0015]FIG. 4 illustrates representationally a fiber ball being formed, incorporating the teachings of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] Turning now more particularly to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is shown a typical carding apparatus 10 . The operation of carding machines is generally discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,740, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In general, carding is involved in taking a mass of fibers, blending them, removing impurities, orientating them and creating a web which is then subject to further processing. An undesirable aspect of carding are nubs for which steps and improvements have been taken to avoid them.
[0017] The carding apparatus 10 typically includes a main cylinder 12 on which is located card clothing 14 . This typically rotates in a clockwise direction. Positioned upstream thereof is a smaller roll 16 , commonly called a lickerin, also covered with clothing 18 which rotates in the opposite direction to that of cylinder 12 . Adjacent roll 16 is a plurality of feed rolls 20 , two of which rotate counter clockwise, one of which rotates clockwise.
[0018] The feed rolls 20 feed the open fiber 22 onto the roller 16 which is picked up by its clothing 18 and, in turn, fed onto the main cylinder 12 . About a portion of the circumference of main cylinder 12 is a plurality of pairs of worker rolls 24 and stripper rolls 26 . The rotation of the worker/stripper rolls is typically opposite to that of the main cylinder 12 for carding. The tips (or clothing orientation) 28 on the worker rolls 24 point towards the feed end (i.e. to the left of FIG. 1) while the tips 30 on the stripper rolls 26 and the tips 32 of the main cylinder 12 point toward the doffer end (i.e. to the right). The carding effect occurs between the worker rolls 26 and the main cylinder 12 . The clothing on the stripper rolls 24 strips the fibers from the worker rolls 26 and carries them to be removed therefrom by the main cylinder 12 . A fancy roll 28 is provided to give loft to the web being formed, which is then lifted off by a doffer roll 30 .
[0019] The foregoing describes a typical carding operation. Such an operation is, however, modified so that rather than forming a web, fiber balls are formed. In this regard, reference is made to FIG. 3 where like parts to that previously described are similarly numbered but designated with a prime. The nub or fiber ball making device 10 ′ includes a main cylinder 12 ′, which rotates in a clockwise fashion. The clothing 14 ′ is in the same direction as used in carding. The lickerin roll 16 ′ and feed rolls 20 ′ operate in the same manner as previously described. They serve, however, to feed micro denier (e.g. 1 denier or less in size) random staple fibers 22 ′ made from polyester. Note, the fiber may also be siliconized to improve the feel of the ultimate product. The stripper rolls 24 ′ operate the same as previously discussed. However, the worker rolls 26 ′, rotating in the reverse of that previously discussed with the clothing thereon also reversed. The fancy roll 28 ′ operates the same with, however, the doffer roll 30 ′ operating in the reverse with the clothing thereon also reversed.
[0020] The purpose of device 10 ′ is to create a fiber ball 40 as shown in FIG. 3 out of micro denier polyester staple fibers. Such fibers provide for a superior insulation effect and may be blended with other natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, down or synthetic fibers. Through the use of the device 10 ′, the fiber balls 40 are formed out of a number of micro denier fibers, which are essentially rolled and entangled together into a ball (see FIG. 4) by the interaction of the worker rolls 26 ′, stripper rolls 24 ′ and main cylinder 12 ′ and are ultimately removed by the doffer roll 30 ′.
[0021] Note that the device 10 ′ is merely illustrative of one way in which the fiber balls of the present invention may be formed. Other devices suitable for the purpose may also be utilized.
[0022] Although a preferred embodiment has been disclosed and described in detail herein, its scope should not be limited thereby; rather its scope should be determined by that of the appended claims.
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An insulation or filling material composed of fiber balls which are made up of a random entanglement of micro denier polyester fibers.
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BOTANICAL/COMMERCIAL CLASSIFICATION
[0001] Vitis vinifera L.
VARIETY DENOMINATION
[0002] Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Once known as a variety of Bordeux, the Malbec grape is now being cultivated in South America, including Argentina. Malbec grapes produced delicious wines.
[0004] Historically, Argentine vintners did not engage in selecting clones. A less than rigorous attention to clonal selection meant that Malbec vineyards in Mendoza consisted of massal populations, a highly heterogeneous, haphazard mix of clones throughout the vineyard. There is a need for Malbec clones with improved quality based characteristics such as low yield, plant balance, and fruit concentration.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention relates to a newly selected and distinct clone of the Malbec grapevine, Vitis vinifera L., which will hereinafter be denominated as the Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’. ‘Clone 16’ has low cluster size and medium cluster weight; very compact cluster form; very small berry size and weight; medium vigor; medium to high level of millendrage (shot berries); very high level of polyphenol and tannin; very high aromatic intensity and mid palate flavor depth.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 : Total millendrage of overall Malbec grapevine massal population and selected clones.
[0007] FIG. 2 : Total polyphenols of overall Malbec grapevine massal population and selected clones.
[0008] FIG. 3 : Total tannins of overall Malbec grapevine massal population and selected clones.
[0009] FIG. 4 : Aroma and flavour profile of overall Malbec grapevine massal population and selected clones.
[0010] FIG. 5 : Photograph showing Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The Malbec grapevine clone of the present invention originated from a very demanding clonal selection carried out in Mendoza, Argentina. The clonal selection process began in 1992 and was conducted solely by Bodegas Esmeralda S.A.
[0012] The process began with an identification of different clones of the Malbec grapevine. During three growing seasons, all plants from Lot 18 of Bodegas Esmeralda's Angelica Vineyard, located in the Lunlunta district of the Maipu region of Mendoza, were systematically observed.
[0013] The goal was to identify a wide base of genetic profiles. The first criteria were to select those Malbec vines which showed overall good health and good fruit set. The next criterion was diversity, identifying those plants with varying levels of vigor; different dates of budbreak and harvest; and varying sizes of clusters and berries. Malbec vines fitting these criteria were marked for further study.
[0014] This preliminary selection process resulted in the identification of 108 different Malbec clonal plants from Lot 18 of Bodegas Esmeralda's Angelica Vineyard, located in the Lunlunta district of the Maipu region of Mendoza. All of the clones were then subjected to the ELISA test to detect for Arabis mosaic virus, Grapevine fleck virus, Grapevine fanleaf virus, Grapevine leafroll associated virus Types 1, 2, 3, and Tomato ringspot virus. The clones were then multiplied from bi-nodal pruned budwood using micro-propagation techniques. This method ensured the overall good health of the multiplied plants.
[0015] A total of 51 to 55 plants from each clone successfully passed through the process of propagation and rustication, and having achieved the dimensions necessary to survive in the field, were planted in 1994 in Bodegas Esmeralda's La Piramide vineyard, located in the Agrelo district of the Lujan de Cuyo region of Mendoza. The Malbec grapevine clones were planted at a density of two meters between rows and 1.25 meters between plants and trained to a vertical shoot positioned trellis. They were pruned to a double Guyot system of loading canes with an average of 9 to 12 buds per cane.
[0016] The objective of the Malbec grapevine clonal selection was to identify those clones which possessed both vineyard performance and wine quality characteristics which were above the level achieved for the general population when working with massal selections of Malbec grapevines.
[0017] The vineyard performance criteria included overall grapevine development, shoot growth rate, plantation failures, dates of budbreak, veraison and harvest, compactness, size, number of clusters, size, number, and millendrage level of berries, susceptibility to mildew, as well as brix, pH, acidity and anthocyanin levels.
[0018] Given that the end goal of this selection process was to improve the overall quality of Malbec wine produced, certain elements of the above criteria were given more weight than others:
[0019] Color: Plants with overall high anthocyanin counts were given additional weight in the selection. Low anthocyanin count resulted in elimination from the selection.
[0020] Brix, Acidity and pH Levels: Proper development of these elements throughout the growing season as well as balance at the moment of harvest were important criteria for selection.
[0021] Berry Size: The selection process sought to identify Malbec grapevine clones with a high ratio of skin to juice, generally seeking smaller berries.
[0022] Millendrage: Malbec grapevine clones were chosen for low levels of millendrage and shot berries, seeking even fruit set.
[0023] In 1997 fifteen clones were selected with optimal vineyard performance (low yields, small clusters, small berries, high polyphenols and low millendrage) and varying yet complimentary flavor profiles. The fifteen clones were vinified separately and characteristics (aroma, concentration, natural acidity, ripening time, typicity, astringency, flavor sensation) were compared.
[0024] In 1998 the five best clones were selected using the joint vineyard and wine criteria described above. These clones were sent to University of Adelaide for virus testing, with all results negative.
[0025] In 1999 the original 108 clonal selection was planted in Bodegas Esmeralda's Adrianna Vineyard, located at 5,000 feet above sea level in the Gualtallary district of the Tupungato region in Mendoza, Argentina.
[0026] In 2002 using the same selection process as originally implemented in Bodegas Esmeralda's La Piramide vineyard, clones 13 and 17 were selected as optimum for this vineyard site and planted in an experimental 3 hectare block.
[0027] In 2003 the five selected clones were planted in Bodegas Esmeralda's Nicasia vineyard, located at 3,870 feet above sea level in the Altamira district of the San Carlos region in Mendoza.
[0028] In 2007 the five clones selected by Bodegas Esmeralda passed a three year viral field study conducted by the Foundation Plant Services Department at the University of California Davis. They have recently been released from quarantine after having passed all pertinent viral tests and are currently being held at Herrick Vines in California.
DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
[0029] Below is a detailed botanical description of Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’:
Vine generally:
Size.— Medium. Grapevine size as determined on grapevines growing on a three wire vertical shoot positioned trellis with the first wire (fruit zone) set 80 cm (31.25 inches) above the ground; the second wire at 1.30 m (50.78 inches) above the ground; and the third wire at 1.8 m (70.31 inches) above the ground. The vine was trained to produce a grapevine height of 2.24 m (88.18 inches) and a grapevine spread of 36 cm (14.17 inches). Vigor.— medium vigor. Vigor as measured by weighing prunings at dormant pruning for cane pruned grapevines (with 13 canes and an average of 17 buds per cane) was 0.978 Kg. Productivity.— Productive. 1.4 Kg per grapevine as compared to the average population grapevine which produces 1.55 Kg per grapevine on grapevines spaced 4.1 ft. (125 cm) by 6.5 ft. (200 cm). Regularity of bearing.— Regular. Annual pruning of canes is required for reliable production.
Canes size:
Diameter.— mature canes. — Medium diameter. medium vigor. upright in growth habit.
Mature canes:
Diameter.— internode base. — 9 mm (0.351 inches). Diameter.— internode midpoint. — 8.2 mm (0.32 inches). Diameter.— internode tip. — 5.1 mm (0.199 inches). Diameter.— node base. — 11.4 mm (0.44 inches). Diameter.— node midpoint. — 13.6 mm (0.531 inches). Diameter.— node tip. — 7.1 mm (0.277 inches).
Internode length:
Base.— 6.9 cm (2.69 inches). Midpoint.— 8.2 cm (3.20 inches). Tip.— 8.35 cm (3.26 inches). Average length of canes.— 138.4 cm (54.06 inches). Surface texture.— Smooth. Color of mature cane.— Brown. No anthocyanin observed on mature canes.
Buds:
Color.— Brown. Texture.— Smooth.
Dormant bud (compound bud or eye):
Width.— At base of cane 5 mm (0.195 inches); at midpoint of cane 5.3 mm (0.207 inches) and at tip of cane 3.8 mm (0.148 inches). The average number of buds on a current, single-season growth cane is 17. Date of bud break.— October 7 sup.rd. midseason. Young shoots.— Young shoots have cobwebby indument. Diameter of young shoots in spring (measured when shoots are 24 inches). — At base 7.1 mm (0.277 inches) at midpoint 5.4 mm (0.210 inches) and at tip 3.8 mm (0.148 inches). Internode length.— 4.5 cm (1.75 inches) at 4.sup.th internode from base.
Young shoots:
Color.— Pale yellow green.
Stem of shoot tip:
Color.— Green with a slight copper tint in sun.
Shoot:
Shape.— Straight to slightly curved.
Shoot tip:
Form.— Open.
Tendrils:
Size.— Length — 16.8 cm (6.56 inches). Size.— Diameter — 1.7 mm (0.066 inches). Shape.— Usually biforcated and curled on distal end. Pattern.— Found beginning opposite node 6 and 7, then again at nodes 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 with this repeating intermittent pattern to the distal end of the cane.
Tendril:
Color immature growth.— Yellow green with slight copper on tip. Disease resistance.— Susceptible to Odium and Mildew. and fungicides were applied to the grapevines under evaluation to control them. Insect resistance.— There has been no insect resistance detected given that insects are very rare in Mendoza.
LEAVES size:
Generally.— Leaves simple and alternate. The mid vein (L1) is 13.5 cm (5.273 inches) long. vein L2 is 10 cm (3.906 inches) long and vein L3 is 7.2 cm (2.812 inches) long. The angle between the mid vein L1 and L3 is 61 degrees and between L1 and the 1st vein off L3 is 156 degrees. Average length.— 17.2 cm (6.718 inches). Average width.— 15 cm (5.86 inches). Shape.— Orbicular.
Lobes:
Number.— five (5) three (3) without lobes.
Color:
Upwardly disposed surface.— Dark green . Upward surface is glabrous. flat and smooth to slightly bullate. Downwardly disposed surface.— Lower surface has short hairs. Leaf vein.— Light green with occasional red on main veins near center of leaf. Leaf vein.— thickness. — Thickness of mid vein at center of leaf is 1.6 mm (0.062 inches). Leaf margin.— Serrated with shape of teeth pointed and medium in size (convex teeth). Petiole sinus.— Half open and “V” shape. On mature leaf is 4.4 cm (1.72 inches) deep and 1.3 cm (0.507 inches) wide at widest point.
Anthocyanin:
Main veins.— location. — With occasional red on main veins near center of leaf.
Petiole:
Size.— Medium. Length.— 7.8 cm (3.04 inches). Diameter.— 2.3 mm (0.089 inches). Color.— Green with occasional red covering.
Color:
Young leaf.— upper surface. — Pale green with light copper and cobwebby indument on upper surface. Young leaf.— lower surface. — Shape unfolded — young leaf. — Concave to flat. Petiole of young leaf.— color. — Medium green. Stipules.— Onion skin.
Trunk size: Large.
Height.— Approximately 75 cm (23.9 inches) above the vineyard floor. Diameter.— 12.6 cm (4.92 inches) as measured just below the cordon or head point at 40 cm (15.6 inches) above vineyard floor.
Flowers Flower:
Size.— generally. — Medium. Unopened.— diameter. — 2 mm (0.078 inches). Unopened.— length. — 1.85 mm (0.072 inches). Unopened.— surface texture. — Smooth. Date of bloom.— First bloom November 10. Date of full bloom.— November 17 at 90%. Inflorescence.— Panicle.
Cluster size.
At bloom.— Generally. medium. Cluster.— length. — 13.1 cm (5.117 inches). Width.— 11.5 cm (4.49 inches).
Peduncle:
Length.— 2.7 cm (1.054 inches). Shape of cluster.— Conical with shoulder well developed.
Calyptra:
Color.— Green. Stamens.— Five (5) and erect. Pistil.— Well developed.
Ovary:
Color.— Green. Pollen.— Normal. fertile. abundant.
Anthers:
Color.— Straw.
Fruit: Maturity when descried: Ripe for commercial harvesting and shipment approximately March 10 in Mendoza. Argentina. Cluster:
Size.— cane pruned vines. — 119 grams (4.19 oz). Length.— 14.63 cm (5.71 inches). Width.— 13.4 cm (5.23 inches). Shape.— Conical. Density.— Tight. on average has 89 berries per cluster. Clusters per vine.— 11.7. Clusters per shoot.— 0.91 clusters per shoot.
Peduncle:
Size.— Length. — Medium. 3.7 cm (1.44 inches). Diameter.— Medium. 5.1 mm (0.199 inches). Color.— Green. Texture.— Smooth. glabrous.
Pedicel:
Generally.— There is a medium to good attachment between the berry and the pedicel. Size.— length. — 4.6 mm (0.179 inches). Size.— diameter. — 0.65 mm (0.025 inches). Color.— Green. Texture.— Glabrous.
Brush:
Length.— 2.15 mm (0.083 inches). Brush color.— Green.
Berry:
Size.— Medium. avg. 0.99 grams (0.035 oz). Shape.— Spherical 1.15 cm (0.449 inches) long and 0.95 cm (0.371 inches) wide. Color.— Raspberry red Bloom. — Light.
Skin:
Thickness.— Medium in thickness. Texture.— Smooth. Tendency to crack.— None.
Flesh:
Flesh color.— Translucent and very pale yellow green. Texture.— Firm. meaty. Juice production. — High Color of juice. — Clear. Flavor.— Sweet. low acid flavor. Soluble solids.— 25%. Titratable acid.— 3.51 g/L ml juice. Aroma.— None. Ripening.— Uniform. Character of seeds.— Complete seeds. Seed color is auburn. Use.— wine. Resistance to disease.— No resistance to mildew and Odium.
[0171] Below are some comparative charts to demonstrate the differences found in the selected Malbec grapevine clones.
[0172] Table 1 shows how the Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’ shows different physiological characteristics when compared to other Malbec grapevine clones selected by Bodegas Esmeralda as well as the overall massal population.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Clone
Clone
Clone
Clone
Clone
Popula-
13
14
15
16
17
tion
Potential
4.2
6.2
3.6
4.1
5.3
3.62
Foliage Surface
Area m2
N° Shoots
14.3
12.6
12.8
12.8
14.2
12.6
Avg. Shoot
123.0
152.1
76.0
138.4
141.4
94.3
Length (cm)
Pruned
1144.0
919.8
870.4
978.1
1202.3
917.4
Material
Weight m/g
Exposed Sur-
1.64
1.74
1.42
1.53
1.72
0.98
face Area/
Production
N° of Leaf
3.6
2.5
2.6
2.9
3.3
2.7
Layers
Clonal Individuality—Shotting (Millendrage)
[0173] Malbec has a tendency for shot berries causing problems with homogeneity and cluster ripening. Homogeneity is a key factor for quality. See FIG. 1 .
[0174] In addition, Table 2 shows some of the physiological characteristics and individuality of the Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’, when compared to other selected Malbec grapevine clones and the overall Malbec grapevine massal population.
[0000]
TABLE 2
Cluster
Cluster
Total Berry
No. of
Berry
Compact
Clone
Length
Weight
Weight
Berries
Weight
Index
13
15.29 cm
113.54
gr
110.11
gr
101.1
1.09
gr
0.15
14
16.84 cm
128.9
gr
97.76
gr
97
1.01
gr
0.17
15
16.32 cm
69.42
gr
69.75
gr
65.7
1.06
gr
0.25
16
14.63 cm
119
gr
88
gr
89
0.99
gr
0.16
17
8.32 cm
47.5
gr
37.8
gr
34.2
1.11
gr
0.24
Population
18.23 cm
91.68
gr
85.06
83.11
1.02
0.22
[0175] The individuality of this Malbec grapevine clone was also measured in terms of its chemical profile when compared to other selected Malbec grapevine clones and the overall Malbec grapevine massal population. Total polyphenols are shown in FIG. 2 . Total tannins are shown in FIG. 3 .
[0176] The Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’ was also measured in terms of its aroma and flavor profile when compared to other selected Malbec grapevine clones and the overall Malbec grapevine massal population. The results are shown in FIG. 4 .
[0177] FIG. 5 is a photograph of the vine with fruit.
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A special Malbec grapevine clone from Mendoza Argentina, herewith denominated Catena Malbec ‘Clone 16’ which shows a unique vineyard and winemaking profile from the rest of the Malbec grapevine population in Mendoza, Argentina. This Malbec grapevine clone is characterized by its small cluster size and medium cluster weight; very compact cluster form; very small berry size and weight; medium vigor; medium to high level of millendrage (shot berries); very high level of polyphenol and tannin; very high aromatic intensity and mid palate flavor depth.
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BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to covers and in particular to seat covers. Specifically, the invention relates to automotive seat covers and in this invention to automotive seat covers that are storable without total removal from the seat.
A need has existed for a long time for a seat cover that can be removed easily from the seat when not in use, when not needed, or when they are to be cleaned.
In the present state of the art for automotive seat covers, the seat covers are held to the seat by a complicated elastic band system and/or a system of hooks. The problem of getting the elastic band system around the seat and the seat back is a difficult one. In some cases cloth-like ties are used instead of the elastic means. Often a system of hooks is used in conjunction with the elastic band system or the cloth-like ties. In some cases the hooks are used independently. It is, likewise, a difficult problem to attach the hooks to the seat while applying the seat cover to the seat back and the seat. Similar difficulties are encountered when the seat cover is to be removed for cleaning or replacement.
In the present invention the seat cover is stored in a rolled-up manner on a rod-like member. The rolled-up unit is affixed to and inside the head rest on the seat when not in use.
When the seat cover is to be used it is withdrawn, in a manner similar to a window shade, passed over the head rest and down over the back of the seat and then across the seat itself. Thus, the seat cover protects not only the seat and seat back, but also the head rest. Normal seat covers do not protect the covering of the head rest.
When the seat cover is not required or is not in use it can be automatically rolled-up on the rod-like member by an internal spring system similar to a window shade. It is easily removed for cleaning or replacement.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an automotive seat cover that is storable without total removal from the seat system.
It is another object of the invention to provide an automotive seat cover that is stored in a rolled-up manner.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an automotive seat cover that is affixed to and within the head rest on the automotive seat.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an automotive seat cover that will cover the head rest as well as the seat back and the seat.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an automotive seat cover that will automatically roll-up for storage.
It is also another object of the invention to provide an automotive seat cover that can be removed easily for cleaning or replacement.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the light of the following description of the preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a storable automotive seat cover showing it in both the stored and usable positions;
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a storable automotive seat cover affixed inside a head rest;
FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the support for a storable automotive seat cover on line 3--3 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a storable automotive seat cover on line 4--4 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, a storable automotive seat cover is shown at 5. Of the two seat positions shown in FIG. 1, the storable automotive seat cover 5 is shown extended and in the usable position on the seat directly behind the steering wheel (the driver's seat) and in the stored position (inside the head rest) on the seat next to the driver's position (the passenger's seat).
Referring again to FIG. 1, at the driver's seat position the seat cover 20 of the storable automotive seat cover 5 has been withdrawn from the storage position inside the head rest (described hereinafter), pulled across the head rest 10 on the driver's side, then down and over the seat back and the seat 11 of the driver's side.
In the aforementioned positioning of the seat cover 20 on the driver's side, the seat cover not only protects the seat back and seat 11, but also the padding 18 of the head rest 10. The padding 18 can be seen more clearly on the head rest 10 on the passenger's seat where the storable automotive seat cover 5 is in the stored position as hereinafter described.
The means for withdrawing the seat cover 20 from the storage means inside the head rest 10 is a finger ring or loop 36 on the end of the seat cover 20. A rod-like member 34 affixed to the end of the seat cover 20 provides an even pull on and across the seat cover 20 when withdrawn from the stored position by the finger ring or loop 36. The rod-like member 34 may be wood, metal, plastics, or any other suitable material. Such material also provides a means for anchoring or fastening the finger ring 36. The finger ring or loop 36 may be of a rigid material or may be flexible such as a cloth or cotton-like material.
The ends 38 of the rod-like member 34 extend beyond the sides of seat cover 20 to serve as a stop for the seat cover 20 when it is being rolled-up for storage as hereinafter described. The finger ring or loop 36 and the rod-like member 34 can be seen in FIG. 1 at the driver's seat. One end 38 of the rod-like member 34 can be seen at the passenger's seat where it serves as a stop when the seat cover 20 is stored as hereinafter described.
Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 4, the padding 18 of the head rest 10 can be seen in both figures. In FIGS. 2 and 4 the seat cover 20 is shown rolled-up in storage position and will be described in detail hereinafter. In FIG. 4 the seat cover 20 is also shown in phantom in a withdrawn position starting at the bottom side of the rear of the head rest 10 and passing up the back of the head rest 10 and over the top and down the front side. In this manner the seat cover 20 protects the padding 18 on the head rest 10 which ordinary seat covers do not do. If protection of the head rest is desired with ordinary seat covers a separate cover is required.
The head rest support 13 that is used for adjusting the height position of the head rest 10 can be seen in both FIGS. 2 and 4. In the present invention the adjusting of the head rest 10 to various positions does not interfere with the operation and use of the storable automotive seat cover 5.
To house the storable automotive seat cover 5, the head rest 10 is constructed as a hollow body. The hollow body has a frame 12 which has a flat bottom and a curved portion that encloses what would be the "front" and "top" as can be seen in FIG. 4. The ends of the frame 12 are also enclosed as can be seen in FIG. 2. The curved portion of the frame 12 is covered on the exterior with the padding 18 and its upholstery material which can be seen in both FIGS. 2 and 4. The bottom of the frame 12 is affixed to the head rest support 13.
As thus constructed, the hollow head rest 10 is open at the rear side, an access door 14, hanging on a hinge pin or rod 16 to support the access door, serves to enclose the rear side of the hollow head rest 10. Suitable means for supporting the hinge pin or rod 16 are provided at the end enclosures of the frame 12. Suitable detent means (not shown) are provided to hold the access door in a closed position. The access door 14 has a clearance slot or opening at the bottom between the access door 14 and the bottom of the frame 12 to permit the seat cover 20 to pass through it.
The seat cover 20 is suitably fastened to and rolled-up on a cylindrical core member 22. The core member 22 operates similar to a window shade roller having a torsion spring 24, a ratchet end 26, and a spindle end 28. The ratchet end 26 and the spindle end 28 are held in suitable supports at each end which are fastened to the inside surface of the end enclosure of the frame 12.
The support 30 at the ratchet end 26 is shown in FIG. 3. The support 30 has an inclined surface 32 for easy insertion of the bar-like configuration of the ratchet end 26 into the holding slot of the support 30. The bar-like end of the ratchet end 26 is slidably pushed up the inclined surface 32 until the bar-like end drops into the slot in the support 30.
When the seat cover 20 is to be cleaned or replaced it can be removed by opening the access door 14 and lifting out the rolled seat cover 20 on the cylindrical core 22. The seat cover 20 can then be removed for cleaning or replacement and when reassembled placed back into the enclosure as hereinbefore described.
When the seat cover 20 is to be used, the seat cover 20 is withdrawn through the slot between the access door 14 and the bottom of the frame 12. The withdrawal is performed by pulling on the finger ring or loop 36 which exerts an even pull on the seat cover 20 by means of the rod-like member 34. As hereinbefore described, the seat cover 20 is drawn out of the head rest enclosure through the slot, up the back of the head rest 10 and over the top and down the front of the head rest 10 and then down the back and across the seat 11. If desired, the seat cover 20 may be tucked in at the juncture of the seat back and the seat proper.
The seat cover 20 is made of suitable fabric-like material to protect the head rest 10 and the seat back and seat 11 and of flexible characteristics that will roll-up when stored.
When the seat cover 20 is to be stored, the ratchet mechanism in the ratchet end 26 is operated similar to a window shade and the seat cover 20 is automatically rolled-up on the cylindrical core 22 as it passes back through the slot between the access door 14 and the bottom of the frame 12.
When the seat cover 20 is completely rolled the ends 38 of the rod-like member 34 come to rest against the end enclosures of the frame 12 and thus stop the operation of the automatic rolling action of the ratchet end 26.
If desirable, the arrangement described and illustrated in the drawings for a storable automotive seat cover can be equally applied to any type of seat or chair, reclining chair, such as used in the home, industry, and in business.
As can be readily understood from the foregoing description of the invention, the present structure can be configured in different modes to provide a storable automotive seat cover.
Accordingly, modifications and variations to which the invention is susceptible may be practiced without departing from the scope and intent of the appended claims.
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The invention is a seat cover that can be stored when not in use or when not needed without the complicated process of totally removing it from the seat. The invention consists of a rollable seat cover that will self-wind when activated. The seat cover is fitted into and stores within the head rest on the seat. The seat cover also crosses over and covers the head rest as well.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to automatic chroma control circuitry for a color television receiver in which a reference signal containing unique hue and saturation information is relied upon for automatically establishing correct hue and saturation in the displayed image.
The invention relates to control circuits of the type set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,320 issued to Carnt et al., June 27, 1972 and entitled Television Apparatus Responsive to a Transmitted Color Reference Signal. The Carnt et al. patent shows a possible form of a VIR signal and its use in a color television receiver to automatically obtain proper hue and saturation setting in the image displayed. The Carnet et al. patent is directed generally to the use of a VIR signal for automatic chroma control. However, assumptions are made in the teachings of this patent that leave problems to be solved in order to implement the practical design of a receiver. First, it is assumed that a suitable reference corresponding to the zero level of the color difference detector is applied to the hue control circuit and a suitable reference corresponding to the zero level of the blue amplifier is applied to the saturation control circuit, although no such references are shown or described. Secondly, it is assumed that the circuitry responsive to the VIR signal which establishes the zero hue information and the zero saturation information does not drift. Thirdly, it is assumed that whatever reference level is used is free from drift.
It is known that feedback type control circuits require a suitable reference signal. It is also known that the circuit elements employed in today's television receivers are subject to drift due to temperature and age. In addition, if the reference employed in the hue and saturation control circuits drifts unacceptable color rendition will result.
Another patent which deals with the use of a VIR signal for automatic hue control in a color television receiver is U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,218, issued to John Rennick, Dec. 18, 1973 and entitled Circuit for Establishing Correct Hue Setting in Color Television Using VIR Signal. Unlike the Carnt et al. patent Rennick shows the use of a reference in his hue control circuit and does show the VIR signal currently being considered for adoption by the Federal Communication Commission. Rennick like Carnt et al., however, fails to acknowledge the drift problems with present day receiver circuits components and fails to utilize the reference contained in the VIR signal to correct for such drift problems.
Both the Carnt et al. patent and the Rennick patent deal with the proposition that when the phase of the chrominance reference portion of the VIR signal is the phase of one transmitted color difference signal then the other color difference signal is zero. Thus, if the phase of the chrominance reference is -(B-Y) then the R--Y detector output should be zero, i.e., the detector should have the same output that it has when no chroma is transmitted. This unique characteristic permits the use of a feedback control circuit to set the hue of the receiver by automatically adjusting the tint control so that the R-Y detector indication is zero. Carnt et al. further teach that specific luminance to chrominance proportioning of the chrominance reference creates the condition where one of the color signals is zero. Specifically, if the phase of the chrominance reference is -(B-Y) and the ratio of luminance to chrominance amplitudes is 2.03 then the blue signal should be detected as zero, i.e., the detector should have the same output level that it has during black level transmission. Accordingly, proper setting of the saturation of the displayed image for each luminance setting is realized by use of an automatic control circuit to adjust the chroma gain until the blue signal indication is zero.
The aforementioned drift problems with the prior art in the practical utilization of a VIR signal for automatic chroma control are solved by the present invention. First, it was discovered that the VIR signal proposed to the Federal Communication Commission in Docket 19907 and presently being considered for adoption is much more suitable for practical utilization in a receiver than the signal format shown in the aforementioned Carnt et al. patent. The signal format being considered is identical to that shown in the Rennick patent and unlike the Carnt et al VIR signal format includes a black reference signal level which, according to the present invention provides the opportunity to determine and update the hue null and saturation null references. The present invention contemplates double interrogation of the VIR signal, a first time during the black level reference interval to obtain a measure of a zero reference for the two automatic control and a second time during the chroma reference interval to correct the hue and saturation setting of the receiver by a comparison of the hue and saturation indications from the chroma reference with the measured zero reference. In this manner, a continually updated reference for correct hue and saturation is made readily available. Drift problems not considered by either Carnt et al. or Rennick, namely drift in the R-Y detector output or drift in the loop reference, are overcome by the present invention by the periodic updating of the loop reference.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a practical automatic chroma control circuit for a color television receiver which is insensitive to drift problems.
Another object of the present invention is to employ double interrogation of the VIR signal to realize properly referenced automatic hue and saturation control circuits for a color television receiver.
These and other objects are generally realized in the preferred embodiment by the provision in the hue control circuit (the saturation control circuit may be substantially identical to the hue control circuit of a first switch operative during the black level reference portion of the VIR signal to apply the output of the R-Y detector to a storage circuit. The R-Y output present during this interval is stored as the hue null reference. This hue null reference is applied to one input terminal of a differential amplifier, the second input terminal of which is coupled directly to receiver the R-Y output. Thus, when the feedback control circuit is closed by a second switch during the chroma reference portion of the VIR signal, any differential existing at the input of the differential amplifier is reduced to zero by automatic control of the phase of the regenerated subcarrier. In this manner the hue setting of the receiver is updated during each receipt of the VIR signal.
A better understanding of the present invention may be had from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which
FIG. 1A is a representation of the waveform of the proposed VIR signal;
FIG. 1B is a representation of the waveform of an alternate VIR signal particularly suitable for the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of a color television receiver incorporating automatic hue and saturation control circuits in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a partially block and partially circuit diagram of another embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a partially block and partially circuit diagram of a still further embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to FIG. 1A there is illustrated the waveform of the proposed VIR signal being considered for adoption by the Federal Communication Commission. As proposed, this signal would appear on line 19 in each of the field, line 19 being one of the several unused horizontal lines during the vertical flyback or blanking interval. The VIR signal shown in FIG. 1A is comprised of a horizontal synchronizing pulse of 40 IRE units amplitude in a negative direction followed by a color burst signal also having an amplitude of 40 IRE units extending between +20 and -20 about the blanking level at 0 IRE units. The time of the occurrence of the burst signal is designated B in the Figure. Occurring approximately 12 microseconds after the beginning of the VIR signal is the chrominance reference portion which as proposed has the same phase as the burst signal and comprises unmodulated 3.58 MH z subcarrier frequency extending approximately for 24 microseconds. It is noted that the chrominance reference extending from +50 to +90 IRE units sits on a luminance pedestal of 70 IRE units. As discussed previously, with the chrominance reference at the phase of the burst which is -(B-Y) the R-Y color difference signal at this time is zero due to the quadrature phase relationship between these two signals. Thus, the chrominance reference provides a unique designation (R-Y = O) for establishing the hue in the color television receiver. The time of the occurrence of the chrominance reference portion of the VIR signal is designated A. It is followed by the luminance reference portion which extends for approximately 12 microseconds and then by a black reference level indication also approximately of 12 microseconds, the timing of which is designated C.
Referring now to FIG. 1B, there is shown a slightly modified version of the VIR signal particularly suitable for the present invention. First of all, it is noted that the black level reference portion of the signal preceeds the chrominance reference portion and extends for 18 microseconds instead of the 12 microseconds. The blanking level at the end of the VIR signal is shortened accordingly to 6 microseconds. The purpose for having the black reference preceed the chrominance reference will be described below.
Another change in the VIR signal depicted in FIG. 1B is a slight modification in the chrominance and/or luminance levels such that the luminance amplitude to chrominance amplitude ratio is 2.03. With this relationship it can be readily shown from the equation specifying the makeup of a color signal that the chrominance reference will represent a saturated yellow-green hue, i.e. one having an absence of blue. One such possible arrangement is shown in FIG. 1B in which the luminance amplitude is approximately 60 IRE units and the chrominance amplitude is 30 IRE units.
As discussed by Carnt et al., if the phase of the chrominance reference is selected to be R-Y instead of B-Y then the B-Y color difference signal would be zero, and if, in addition the luminance to chrominance ratio is 1.14, the chrominance reference represents a saturated blue-green hue, so that the red signal is zero. Thus, it should be recognized that although the following discussion, which is limited to mention of the R-Y and blue signals only, the invention is not so limited.
Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown a block diagram of those elements of a color television receiver necessary for an understanding of the present invention. In the upper left hand corner of the Figure the input signal processing circuitry of the receiver is shown by a block 10 having an input antenna 8 connected thereto for receiving the broadcast signal. The output of the receiver is applied to a video detector 11 which supplies a signal indicative of the video received to video amplifier 12 which has a transfer characteristic such that only the luminance portion of the video is passed to matrix amplifier 13. The video signal is also applied to bandpass circuit 14 which passes only the chrominance portion of the video to first chroma amplifier 15. The output of chroma amplifier 15 is applied both to the second chroma amplifier 16 and to burst gate 17. The burst gate 17 is shown activated by a timing pulse B which occurs at the time of the burst portion of the video signal. Thus, only the burst signal is passed by gate 17 to subcarrier oscillator 18 which is thereby locked in frequency to the frequency of the burst signal. The regenerated subcarrier signal is then applied to the color difference detector 22 by means of phase shift circuit 20. The chrominance signal, comprising the color difference signals modulated on the subcarrier is applied to the color difference detector by chroma amplifier 16 so that the detected color difference signals B-Y, G-Y and R-Y are obtained from the color difference detector 22. These color difference signals are applied to the RGB matrix amplifier 13 where they are combined with the luminance signal, applied to the matrix amplifier by video amplifier 12, so that the color signals R, G and B are produced for application to the picture tube (not shown).
Thus far, the elements of the color television receiver described are those ordinarily found in a color television receiver. It is noted that the video amplifier 12 has a gain input identified as a picture control which in many color television receivers is brought outside the cabinet of the receiver as a control of the contrast of the image displayed. Also the phase adjusting circuit 20, which adjusts the phase of the subcarrier oscillator, is ordinarily brought out as a tint control. It is also noted that in many receivers currently being produced the control of the contrast is ganged in some fashion to the control of the chroma gain so that an increase in video drive or contrast of the image also produces an increase in the saturation or chroma gain of the image. The point of control of the chroma gain is the gain input of chroma amplifier 16.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
If the tint control i.e., the phase of the regenerated subcarrier is proper during the receipt of the chrominance reference portion of the VIR signal, the R-Y output of the color difference detector 22 will indicate zero signal level. This R-Y output of detector 22 is directly applied to one input of a differential amplifier 28 and is also applied to a storage circuit by means of a switch 32. The switch 32 is activated by a timing pulse indicated as C coincident with the timing of the black reference in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In order for the tint control feedback loop to set the R-Y output during the chrominance reference at the desired zero point, a reference is required which designates that zero point. Thus, if the R-Y output is examined during receipt of zero color information such as a black reference level, the luminance reference level or the blanking level, the indication obtained from the output of the color difference detector at this time is an indication of R-Y when it is zero. The timing pulse C, occurring during the black reference level of the VIR signal, is one such time during which no color is being received and at that time the R-Y output of the detector 22 is applied to a storage circuit 30 which in turn maintains it at the reference input of the differential amplifier 28. The time constant or delay of the storage circuit 30 depends upon the makeup of the VIR signal. In the proposed signal shown in FIG. 1A since the black reference level occurs after the chrominance level, the storage time of circuit 30 would have to be approximately one vertical interval (less the 36 microseconds that the chrominance reference preceeds the black level reference), whereas if the black level reference preceeds the chrominance as shown in the VIR signal format of FIG. 1B, the delay of storage circuit 30 need only be approximately several microseconds since the black level reference is immediately adjacent to and before the occurrence of the chrominance reference.
Thus, the reference signal is applied to the reference input of the differential amplifier 28 and then during the time when the chrominance reference portion of the VIR signal is present the switch 26 is closed, this being indicated by a timing pulse a being applied to the switch. The difference, if any, that exists between the R-Y output at this time and that which existed during the black level reference time is applied to a storage circuit 24 as a differential signal which in turn is applied to the voltage controlled phase circuit 20 to shift the phase of the subcarrier oscillator until this difference in the R-Y output is reduced to zero.
For the control of the saturation of chroma gain of the receiver, the same circuit elements may be employed. The differential amplifier 34 is shown responding to a reference level which could be obtained in the same manner as shown for the hue control circuit just described or may be obtained by the alternate embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, to be described below. Thus, the reference input to differential amplifier 34 is merely indicated by receipt of a reference level which as described for the hue circuit would be obtained during the black level reference portion of the VIR signal and stored until the loop is closed by the switch 36 during the chrominance reference portion of the VIR signal. Thus, any difference between the blue signal during the black level reference portion and the chrominance reference portion is applied to the voltage controlled gain input terminal of chroma amplifier 16 until the blue output of the matrix amplifier 13 during the chrominance reference portion is identical to the blue output level during the black level reference portion of the VIR signal.
It will be noted that chroma amplifier 16 adjusts the level of the B-Y signal and that the output of matrix amplifier 13 produces the blue signal which, of course, is the difference between the B-Y and Y inputs to amplifier 13. Since any adjustment of the picture control to change the Y level with accordingly change the output of the blue level, the entire saturation control circuit is dependent upon the level of the luminance signal and as the picture control is changed, the chroma gain is changed accordingly and a true picture control with correct chroma and precise chroma tracking of the luminance is obtained.
While the embodiment of FIG. 2 has been referred to as the preferred embodiment, for many television receivers the embodiment of FIG. 3 might be preferable. In this Figure a form of AC coupling is employed, wherein the zero reference is translated to that which is particularly suitable as the operating point of the different amplifier 28. In the embodiment of FIG. 3 the capacitor 40 performs the storage function of storage circuit 30 and instead of the R-Y signal being applied to both input terminals of the differential amplifier 28, only the change in the value of this signal from the first interrogation of the VIR signal during the black level reference interval to the second interrogation during the chrominance reference interval appears as the differential input of this amplifier. The second input to the amplifier 28 is an arbitrary reference voltage as shown in the Figure. Many differential amplifiers may require an input voltage level different from the voltage representing the zero R-Y output from the detector 22. For example, if the detector 22 zero output voltage during the presence of the black level reference is 12 volts, (the switch 32 being closed during this time so that the reference voltage is applied to the first input terminal and also to the right hand plate of capacitor 40) but the desirable quiescent operating point for amplifier 28 is 8 volts, then the reference voltage is chosen as 8 volts. A voltage of 4 volts therefore appears across capacitor 40. This 4 volts is stored by the capacitor and represents a charge on the capacitor when the switch 26 is closed during the chrominance reference interval of the VIR signal. During the chrominance interval, if the R-Y signal differs from 12 volts, say 12.1 volts, this will initially cause 8.1 volts to appear at the upper terminal of the differential amplifier and the 0.1 volt differential is the error signal which is amplified and applied through the correction loop to the voltage controlled phase shifter 20 to reduce this error signal to zero.
If the 12 volts black level output of the R-Y detector in the above illustration should drift to say 13 volts, the additional one volt is taken up by the capacitor. That is, the voltage across the capacitor would change from 4 volts to 5 volts.
In both the embodiments of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 the R-Y output of the detector 22 is utilized during the black reference interval to establish the zero reference for the hue control circuit, and it is the differential from this zero reference, if any, during the chroma reference interval that is applied to the control loop to correct the setting of the hue of the receiver. While the hue correction loop is illustrated, it is understood that each of the embodiments of the present invention is also applicable to the saturation correction loop.
In FIG. 4 there is shown an embodiment of the invention employing AC coupling much like the circuit shown in FIG. 3, but here a DC amplifier 29 is utilized instead of the differential amplifier 28. The placement of the switch 26 is shown differently merely to illustrate that the positioning of this device is not critical to the operation of the circuit. Once again switch 32 is operative during the black level reference portion of the VIR signal to establish a zero reference across capacitor 40 in combination with the R-Y output of the detector 22. When switch 26 is closed during the chroma reference interval it is the change in R-Y or the differential from the zero reference that is amplified as the error voltage. The adjustment of hue or saturation is thus complete when the error voltage is reduced to zero.
The embodiment of FIG. 4 suffers since the circuit performance is subject to any drift in the reference voltage itself. The embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3 are not subject to this infirmity since any drift in the reference will appear at both inputs to the differential amplifier and cancel.
It should be noted from the foregoing description that more complete utilization of the VIR signal is employed by the present invention over the teachings of the prior art. By utilization of the black level reference interval of the VIR signal an updated reference is obtained so that automatic hue and saturation control is realized without reliance on drift-free circuit elements. Furthermore, the reference is one that is correct as transmitted. The black level reference for both control loops is obtained automatically and therefore no initial setup procedures are required. Also since the chroma gain adjustment to correct for proper saturation setting is a function of the setting of the picture control, a properly operative picture control is realized by the mere adjustment of the contrast desired. Not only will the chroma gain properly track the contrast setting but also the chroma level is correct as transmitted. Of course, a preference control can always be provided for so that tracking is still realized with the desired chroma level instead of the correct level transmitted by the VIR signal.
Variations and modifications in the circuit shown will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended that the foregoing examples of the invention are not taken as limiting the scope of the coverage sought but that such scope be determined only by the appended claims.
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A reference signal contained in the vertical blanking interval of the transmitted television signal is used in the color television receiver for automatic hue and saturation control. This vertical interval reference (VIR) signal includes a chrominance reference portion and a black level reference portion. The chrominance reference portion contains hue indicative information in that one of the color difference signals is zero and saturation indicative information in that one of the color signals is zero. The receiver is responsive to the VIR signal once during the black level reference portion to establish a zero reference for the hue control circuit and for the saturation control circuit. The receiver is responsive to the VIR signal a second time during the chrominance reference portion to set proper hue and saturation by automatically reducing to zero any differences between the indication of hue and saturation obtained from the VIR chrominance reference portion and the established zero references.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to fuel gasification apparatus typically associated with gas turbine power generation plants, and specifically, feed injectors used to introduce fuel components into a boiler or other combustion device.
Frequently, steam is added to the oxygen stream and steam and/or soot containing black water is added to the fuel stream. This invention is a device designed to enhance the mixing of steam with oxygen and/or to enhance the mixing of fuel and black water streams within the feed injector itself.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of this invention, a mixing device is incorporated into an otherwise conventional feed injector to enhance better mixing of the feed streams. In the exemplary embodiment, a plurality of static, helically-twisted mixing elements are added to the external surface of the radially innermost tube of the injector to assure that the fuel and black water streams flowing in the middle annulus between the center and intermediate tubes of the injector are homogeneously mixed (emulsified) and uniformly delivered to all points in the vicinity of the injector tip. In the exemplary embodiment, six or more sets of mixer elements are added to the exterior surface of the center tube. These mixing elements are located as far down the center tube or barrel as possible, for example, within about 12 inches from the injector tip. This location minimizes the chance of re-agglomeration of the black water in the fuel. In the exemplary configuration, pairs or sets of mixing elements are arranged in left and right hand directions, with each mixing element extending approximately 180° about the periphery of the center tube.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the exemplary embodiment comprises a feed injector for use in a gasification process comprising plural concentric tubes converging at an outlet tip, at least one interior tube of the plural concentric tubes having a plurality of static, helically-twisted mixing elements fixed to an exterior surface thereof.
In another aspect, the exemplary embodiment comprises a feed injector for use in a gasification apparatus in which streams of different fuel components are mixed, the feed injector comprising a plurality of concentrically arranged tubes defining at least two annular passages and one center passage converging at an outlet tip of the injector; and a plurality of static, helically-twisted mixing elements fixed on an internal one of the plurality of concentrically arranged tubes, the mixing elements arranged in alternating left and right hand pairs of such elements.
In still another aspect, the exemplary embodiment comprises a method of supplying fuel components to a combustion device through a feed injector comprising (a) providing a feed injector comprising plural concentric tubes including an outer tube, an intermediate tube and a center tube forming two annular passages and a single center passage converging at an outlet tip; (b) fixing a plurality of static, helically-twisted mixing elements to at least a peripheral surface of the center tube, within a radially inner one of the two annular passages; and (c) supplying fuel components through the two annular passages and the center passage for discharge through the outlet tip.
The invention will now be described in detail in connection with the drawings identified below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional gasifier feed injector;
FIG. 2 is a left end elevation of the injector shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a partial cross section through the tip of the injector shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is a simplified side elevation of a gasifier feed injector incorporating static mixing elements in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a partial side elevation of the center tube taken from the injector in FIG. 4 ; and
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the center tube as shown in FIG. 5 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a conventional gasifier feed injector 10 that includes generally a first radially outer tube or barrel 12 , a second intermediate tube or barrel 14 and a center tube or barrel 16 . The outer barrel 12 extends from the forward tip 18 of the injector rearwardly to an approximate midpoint of the injector where it terminates at a first coupling 20 . The first outer barrel is provided with an inlet 22 adjacent the coupling 20 . The intermediate barrel 14 extends from the tip 18 rearwardly beyond the coupling 20 to a second coupling 24 at which the barrel 14 terminates. Adjacent the coupling 24 , the barrel 14 is provided with an inlet 26 . The radially centered tube or barrel 16 extends from the forward tip 18 rearwardly beyond the first and second couplings 20 , 24 to a third coupling 28 at which point the center tube or barrel 16 terminates. Adjacent the coupling 28 , the center tube or barrel 16 is provided with an inlet 30 . Thus, the configuration as described creates three longitudinally arranged, concentric passages or annuli 32 , 34 and a center passage 36 that converge at the forward tip 18 . In a typical gasification process, inlet 22 serves as the primary inlet for supplying oxygen/steam to the radially outer annulus 32 ; inlet 26 serves as the primary inlet for supplying fuel/steam or water (blackwater) to the intermediate or middle annulus 34 ; and inlet 30 serves as a secondary inlet for supplying oxygen/steam to the radially inner or center passage 36 . The specific feed components are exemplary only.
A cooling coil 38 surrounds the tip of the injector and water is supplied to the coil via inlet 40 and exits the coil via outlet 42 . To this point, the description applies to known gasifier injectors.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 4-6 , static mixing elements 44 are added to the exterior of the center tube or barrel 16 . In the exemplary embodiment, mixer elements 44 are secured to the periphery of the center tube or barrel 16 . The mixing elements are formed by helically-twisted, rigid plates, each twisted 180° in either a right or left hand direction. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , there are 3 sets (or pairs of) left hand elements 46 and 3 sets (or pairs) of right hand elements 48 . The twelve elements or plates are located as close as possible to the forward tip 18 of the injector, for example, about 12 inches from the tip. This location minimizes the chance of re-agglomeration of the blackwater in the fuel.
The stator mixing elements may be welded to the exterior surface of tube 16 . For all but the last pair of elements adjacent tip 18 , each element could have three 1 inch weld segments (two on the ends, one in the middle). The final pair of elements 44 closest the tip 18 should have full welds. This arrangement ensures that if one element 44 detaches from the tube 16 , the elements 44 adjacent tip 18 will “catch” it before it exits the tip. In addition, a typical axial length of each element is 5.89 inches, and the axial length of the entire static mixer section applied to the center tube may be on the order of 35-38 inches for an injector that is about 84 inches long. The dimensions are exemplary only, however, and nay vary depending on the injector size, mixing requirements, etc.
It will be appreciated that the number of mixer element sets 46 , 48 on the tube 16 and the pitch of the elements, and may be varied depending on the degree of mixing required. It will also be appreciated that mixer elements may also be applied to the exterior of the intermediate tube 14 if desired, to thereby enhance mixing within passage 32 as an alternative to, or in addition to, the mixing elements added to the center tube 16 .
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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A feed injector for use in a gasification apparatus comprising plural concentric tubes converging at an outlet tip, at least one interior tube of the plural concentric tubes having a plurality of static, helically-twisted mixing elements fixed to an exterior surface thereof.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to adjustable stands for display devices, more particularly to an adjustable stand for height-adjustable supporting a display device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Presently, flat-panel display devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices are widely used due to excellent display quality and their thin bodies. Typically, a function of adjusting an altitude of the flat display device can be realized via a support stand having an adjustable stand.
Referring to FIG. 4 , a typical adjustable stand for adjusting an altitude of a flat-panel display device includes a support member 5 , an elevating member 6 , a coil spring 7 , a shaft 71 , and four fastening members 73 and 76 . The support member 5 includes a base plate 50 and two side plates 51 perpendicularly extended from opposite sides of the base plate 50 . A flange 53 is formed around an end of each side plate 51 opposite to the base plate 50 . The base plate 50 , the side plates 51 , and the flanges 53 cooperatively define a receiving groove 54 . Two guide rails 55 are formed on the inner surfaces of two side plates 51 correspondingly. Each of the flanges 53 defines a fixing hole 531 adjacent to an end. The elevating member 6 has a connecting portion 61 for connecting the LCD panel on a top side, and defines two positioning holes 62 at a bottom side. The elevating member 6 forms two sliding portions 63 for engaging with the guide rails 55 . The shaft 71 defines two through holes 711 in opposite ends. An end of the spring 7 is sleeved on the shaft 71 , and another end of the spring 7 defines two through holes 75 .
In assembling of the stand 100 , the elevating member 6 is inserted into the support member 5 , with the sliding portions 63 of the adjustable stand 6 engaging in the guide rails 55 of the support member 5 . Each fastening member 33 extends through one corresponding through hole 711 of the shaft 71 and one corresponding fixing hole 531 of the flanges 53 , thus fixing the shaft 71 to the support member 5 . Each fastening member 73 extends through one corresponding through hole 75 of the spring 7 and one corresponding positioning hole 62 of the elevating member 6 , thus fixing the spring 7 to the elevating member 5 . In use, the elevating member 6 can be driven to slide relative to the support member 5 by an external force. When the external force is released, the liquid crystal display panel connected to the elevating member 6 can be remained in a predetermined position, due to a balance of a weight of the liquid crystal display panel and the elevating member 6 , an elastic force of the spring 7 , and a friction force between the elevating member 6 and the support member 5 .
However, a friction force between the elevating member 6 and the support member 5 is great since the contacting area of them is large, thus a user may need to exert great effort to push the elevating member 6 to slide relative to the support member 5 .
Therefore, an adjustable stand for display devices to solve the aforementioned problems is desired.
SUMMARY
An exemplary adjustable stand for displays includes a main support, a movable rack, an adjusting system and a balance mechanism. The movable rack is slidably mounted on the main support. The adjusting system includes at least one pinion gear rotatably attached on the movable rack and at least one rack gear fixed to the main support. The at least one pinion gear meshes with the at least one rack gear. The balance mechanism is mounted between the main support and the movable rack for balancing gravity of the movable rack and components fixed relative to the movable rack.
Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the adjustable stand for flat display devices. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
FIG. 1 is an assembled, isometric view of a stand for display device employed in a flat-panel display device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially assembled, isometric view of an adjustable stand for flat-panel display device of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is an exploded, isometric view of the adjustable stand for flat-panel display device of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is an exploded, isometric view of a conventional adjustable stand.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
A stand according to an exemplary embodiment is adapted for use in a flat-panel display device such as a liquid crystal display device. Referring to FIG. 1 , a support stand 10 includes an adjustable stand 20 , a support bracket 30 for mounting a liquid crystal display panel (not shown), and a base 40 for supporting the adjustable stand 20 . The adjustable stand 20 is adjustably connected to the support bracket 30 and the base 40 .
Referring to FIG. 2 , the adjustable stand 20 includes an upper support 21 , a main support 22 , a movable rack 25 , an adjusting system 26 , and a balance mechanism 28 .
Referring to FIG. 3 , the upper support 21 includes a flat sheet 212 and two side sheets 214 formed perpendicularly at opposite sides of the flat sheet 212 correspondingly. The flat sheet 212 defines two connecting holes 216 in a middle portion.
The main support 22 includes a main portion 222 and two sidewalls 223 perpendicularly extending from opposite sides of the main portion 222 correspondingly. Two mounting holes 228 are defined in the sidewalls 223 correspondingly and the mounting holes 228 are aligned in a same line across the main portion 222 . Two connecting holes 229 are defined in the main portion 222 of the main support 22 corresponding to the connecting holes 216 . When assembled, the upper support 21 is fixed to an end of the main support 22 by a plurality of pivot shafts (not shown).
The movable rack 25 defines two latching holes 252 adjacent one end, four engaging holes 256 , and a mounting hole 258 . Four connecting members 254 are configured on the movable rack 25 for connecting the movable rack 25 to the support bracket 30 .
The adjusting system 26 includes two gear sets (not labeled). For exemplary purpose, only one of the gear sets is detailed. The gear set includes two pivot shafts 262 , two washers 264 , two pinion gears 266 , a rack gear 267 , two bearings 268 , and two nuts 269 . In the exemplary embodiment, two bolts partially threaded at the free end are used as the pivot shafts 262 and connected to movable rack 25 with the nuts 269 . When assembled, the pivot shafts 262 are extended through the washers 264 , the pinion gears 266 the bearings 268 , two engaging holes 256 of the movable rack 25 , and the nuts 269 correspondingly, thereby rotatably mounting the pinion gears 266 to the movable rack 25 . The rack gear 267 is configured for fixing to the main support 22 and meshing with the pinion gears 266 .
The balance mechanism 28 includes two pulley systems 23 , a cable 242 , a fixing module 29 , and a resisting device 27 .
For exemplary purpose, only one of the pulley systems 23 is detailed. The pulley system 23 includes a pivot shaft 232 , a first washer 233 , a wheel 234 , a bearing 235 , a second washer 237 , and a nut 238 . The pivot shaft 232 has a first end 2324 and a second end 2336 opposite to the first end 2324 . The wheel 234 has a main body 2342 and two flanges 2344 formed at opposite ends of the main body 2342 correspondingly, thus forming a groove (not labeled) around a circumference of the wheel 234 . When assembled, the first end 2324 of the pivot shaft 232 is inserted through the first washer 233 , the wheel 234 , the bearing 235 , the second washer 237 , and engaged with the nut 238 , in that order, thereby forming the pulley system 23 . The fixing module 29 includes a coil spring 292 , two washers 295 , a bearing 296 , and a shaft 297 . The coil spring 292 is schematically shown in figures. When assembled, the bearing 296 is received in the coil spring 292 and sleeved on the shaft 297 . Ends of the shaft 297 is fixedly supported in the mounting holes 228 of the main support 22 correspondingly, and also protrudes through the bearing 296 that is fastened to an inner end of the coil spring 292 and the washers 295 , in that order, thereby fixing the inner end of the coil spring 292 to the main support 22 . An outer end of the coil spring 292 defines two through holes 293 . The balance mechanism 28 further includes two fastening members 244 . When assembled, the cable 242 is latched to one of the latching hole 252 of the movable rack 25 , looped around the wheel 234 of one of the pulley systems 23 , looped through the through holes 293 of the coil spring 292 correspondingly, looped around another one of the pulley systems 23 and latched to another of the latching hole 252 correspondingly. The fastening members 244 correspondingly secured to the ends of the cable 242 , thus preventing the ends of the cable 242 from slipping and/or sliding out of the latching holes 252 .
The resisting device 27 includes a friction member 272 , a spacer 274 and a supporting member 276 . The supporting member 276 extends out of the movable rack 25 . The friction member 272 is configured at the free end of the supporting member 276 after the spacer 274 is sleeved on the supporting member 276 . In other words, the spacer 274 is sandwiched between the movable rack 25 and the friction member 272 . The friction member 272 contacts with the main support 22 , thus creating a friction force between the movable rack 25 and the main support 22 . The friction member 272 and the spacer 274 are made of rubber.
When assembled, the pulley systems 23 are assembled as detailed above. The first ends 2324 of the pivot shafts 232 are fastened in the connecting holes 216 of the upper support 21 . The pinion gears 266 are fastened to the movable rack 25 as detailed above. The resisting device 27 is mounted to the movable rack 25 as detailed above. The cable 242 is assembled to the movable rack 25 , the pulley systems 23 and the coil spring 292 of the fixing module 29 as detailed above. The rack gears 267 are fastened along the two sides of the main support 22 respectively. Then the upper support 21 and the movable rack 25 are coupled to the main support 22 , with the side sheets 214 of the upper support 21 and the resisting device 27 mounted to the movable rack 25 facing the main support 22 . The upper support 21 is fixed to the main support 22 . The second ends 2326 of the pivot shafts 232 engages in the connecting holes 229 of the main support 22 . The rack gears 267 engage with the pinion gears 266 correspondingly. The shaft 297 is extended through the main support 22 , the bearing 296 , and the washers 295 , thereby fixing the inner end of the coil spring 292 to the main support 22 . Thus, the adjustable stand 20 is assembled. The support bracket 30 is fixed to the movable rack 25 , and the base 40 is fixed to a bottom end of the main support 22 , thus the stand 10 is assembled. The support bracket 30 is connected to a flat-panel display of flat-panel display device.
The movable rack 25 can adjustably slide relative to the main support 22 via the engagement of the rack gears 267 and the pinion gears 266 . As such, a height of the liquid crystal display panel of the display device relative to the base 40 can be adjustably raised or lowered. A coil force provided by the coil spring 292 of the fixing module can counter balance a weight of the movable rack 25 and the support bracket 30 attached with the panel. Furthermore, a friction force is generated between the resisting device 27 and the main support 22 . The friction force keeps/maintains the movable rack 25 in a predetermined position.
When the altitude of the display needs to be adjusted, an external force is applied on the display to force the movable rack 25 sliding relative to the main support 22 . The external force is released when the display reaches a predetermined altitude. The movable rack 25 together with the display maintains in the predetermined position because a composition force of the elastic force of the coil spring 292 , the friction force between the resisting device 27 and the main support 22 equals to the total gravitational force of the movable rack 25 , the support bracket 30 and the display.
The pulley systems 23 and the adjusting system 26 are made of plastic. Therefore, the lift mechanism 20 is light and has low manufacturing cost. The gear sets may be only one or more than two. Each gear set may have only one pinion gear 266 or more than two pinion gears 266 . The upper support 21 may be omitted. Correspondingly, the pulley systems 23 are mounted on the main support 22 directly.
It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.
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An exemplary adjustable stand ( 20 ) for displays includes a main support ( 22 ), a movable rack ( 25 ), an adjusting system ( 26 ) and a balance mechanism ( 28 ). The movable rack is slidably mounted on the main support. The adjusting system includes at least one pinion gear ( 266 ) rotatably attached on the movable rack and at least one rack gear ( 267 ) fixed to the main support. The at least one pinion gear meshes with the at least one rack gear. The balance mechanism is mounted between the main support and the movable rack for balancing gravity of the movable rack and components fixed relative to the movable rack. The present invention further discloses a stand ( 10 ) including a support bracket ( 30 ), a base ( 40 ) and the adjustable stand for connecting the support and the base.
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This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of any U.S. provisional application(s) listed below.
Application No. 61/334,660 Filing date May 14, 2010.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a frame and a method for building a full size, 6′ snowman with a minimal amount of snow, typically only requiring a light snowfall of 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground. The frame is lightweight for easy carrying and can be disassembled and nested together for easy and convenient storage. The frame is covered with a wire or stiff cloth mesh that will allow the snow to stick to the surface of the frame, so that only a thin coating of snow on the frame will suffice to create the desired snowman. Additionally, the frame is assembled in place and snow is placed on the frame, thus eliminating the need to lift the middle and upper balls of snow as required in a traditional snowman.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many places in the world that receive snow, building snowmen has long been a winter activity that children and adults partake in. The traditional way of making a snowman is to roll a ball of snow along the ground until it reaches the desired size. Switching direction in which the ball is rolled from time to time to keep the ball round and uniform. Once the proper and desired bottom ball has been formed, the middle ball is made in the same fashion, only slightly smaller. The middle ball is lifted onto the bottom ball and forms the torso of the snowman. Next the top ball is made in the same fashion and even smaller and again lifted onto the top of the middle ball. For a sizable snowman, one would recognize that the middle and top balls are heavy and will take multi people to lift into place. One would also realize that a fair amount of snow is required to form the large balls without having to roll the forming ball a long distance.
Once the balls are in place, the snow can be trimmed by hand or with a small shovel or similar device to smooth and sculpt the figure. These snowmen can range from very simple to very elaborate and can be further ornamented with structures such as a nose, mouth, arms and clothing. Typical snowmen will have a carrot for a mouth and branches to represent the arms. Light can even be added for night viewing. The extent of what can be done is only limited only to the creators imagination.
There still exists a need for an easy to create snowman without the heavy manual labor involved. Additionally, it would be ideal if the snowman can be created by a person of any age and without the need for a deep snow covering the ground.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 : is a perspective view of the invention.
FIG. 2 : is an exploded perspective view of the invention showing the embodiment with two halves of the armature.
FIG. 3 : is an exploded perspective view of the invention showing the embodiment of 6 pieces which are nestable for easy storage.
FIG. 4 : is a detail perspective view of a decorative part of the invention which simulates lumps of coal.
FIG. 5 : is a detail perspective view of a decorative part of the invention that which simulates a carrot.
FIG. 6 : is a detail perspective view of a decorative part of the invention which simulates a stick or branch.
FIG. 7 : is a front elevation view of the invention in use with the armature covered in a layer of snow and decorated with the optional accessories.
DESCRIPTION LIST
11 : is the horizontal accurate member of the bottom segment
12 : is the horizontal accurate member of the middle segment
13 : is the horizontal accurate member of the top segment
14 is the horizontal accurate member of the of the crown of the top segment
16 : are the vertical accurate members of bottom segment.
17 : are the vertical accurate members of middle segment.
18 : are the vertical accurate members of top segment.
19 : is the screen mesh covering the support system.
20 : are the solid pegs of the bottom segment.
21 : are the hollow tubes of the bottom segment.
22 : are the solid pegs of the top segment.
23 : are the snap clamps of the top segment.
24 : is a plastic button.
26 : are the hooks that attach the decorative element to the screen mesh.
28 : is a plastic carrot.
32 : is a plastic arm.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The armature of this invention has three round segments connected to form the familiar snowman shape. The segments consist of two major elements, the underlying support system and the screen with which the support system is covered. The two elements work in concert to hold the skin of snow and form the base snowman, which can be adorned with optional accessories.
The first element is a series of flat bars or round rods that form the support system of each segment and hold the screen ( 19 ) in place. For purposes of this invention these rods or bars are referred to as accurate members, of which there are horizontal ( 11 - 14 ) and vertical ( 16 - 18 ) members For purposes of this invention the support system can be constructed of metal, plastic, wood or any other stiff and strong material. In one embodiment of this invention the support system is made from metal. In another embodiment the support system is made from plastic.
Attached to the halves or segments of the frame are a series of solid pegs ( 20 & 22 ) and a hollow tube ( 21 ) which slides over the solid peg to lock the two halves together. Optionally the snap clamp ( 23 ) can attach to the solid peg ( 22 ) by means of spring action and will hold onto the outside of the solid peg without having to lower the tube onto the peg. The combinations of tubes and peg or snap clamp can be used interchangeably as the design calls for. As the size and shape of the figure varies, more or less of these attachment points can be utilized. In one embodiment of this invention four or more attachment points will be used to hold the separate pieces together.
Placed on top of the supports system is the screen mesh which will hold the snow in place. The screen can be made of any material that will withstand the cold of winter, will not crack when frozen and will not weaken when wet. For purposes of this invention the screen can be made of canvas, nylon, aluminum, plastic or fiberglass. The screen should have small holes or mesh size so that the snow does not easily fall into the frame. This mesh could be very small such as the weave of a canvas or heavy cotton fabric or it may be larger such as window screening or fine mesh wire. Large opening wire, such as those used for fencing with holes of greater than two inches should be avoided, as it will be difficult to get the snow to stick to the mesh. In an embodiment of this invention, the mesh or hole size should be less than one inch.
In another embodiment, the mesh will be less than ½ inch. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the holes can be square, round, hexagonal, or any other shape and really has no bearing on the function of the screen.
Further the screen should have a minimum thickness such that the snow will be held in place and not fall off the frame. It has been found that a screen thickness of about ½ inch to about 4 inches provide a shelf for the snow to sit on and support the integrity of the snow on the outside of the figure. With a thickness of less than ½ inch the screen does not have enough support and the snow will quickly slide off the figure.
The screen is attached to the support system in a manner such as not to separate or detach under the load of snow. The screen can be attached by means of rivets, glue, screws, welds. If the support system is made from plastic, and the screen is also made of plastic, then the screen can be molded directly with the support system, thus making a continuous and unified structure.
In one embodiment of this invention the bottom segment can have a tube or other means to attach to the bottom of the segment for securing the frame to the ground. In an embodiment, the bottom of the bottom segment can have a tab with a hole for securing the frame to the ground. The frame can be secured to the ground with large nails or spikes. The purpose of securing the frame to the ground will be to prevent the structure from blowing away on the wind or being inadvertently knocked over during construction. In another embodiment of this invention, heavy weights may also be used in place of the stakes to hold the structure in place.
Special accessories for decorating the structure can be provided for easy assembly and removal. These accessories, FIGS. 4-6 , can be attached by means of hooks ( 26 ) that will penetrate the covering of snow and latch onto the screen ( 19 ). These will allow them to be attached onto the surface of the snowman and to secure it in place ( FIG. 7 ).
Other shapes and assemblies can be constructed using this method and are not to be considered outside the scope of this invention. These figures could include a snow dragon, snow Christmas tree and other seasonally appropriate designs.
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The present invention relates to a simple and easy to make snowman with a limited amount of snow. The system does not require the lifting of heavy snow balls, typically used in the making of a snowman, and provides for small children to be able to handle the snow without adult help. Further, this invention provides a quick and affective decorating system which can be reused and positioned securely anywhere on the figure.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/812,849 filed Jun. 12, 2006. The disclosure of this prior application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to systems, methods, and devices for bone resection. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and devices for tibial resections and soft tissue guided bone resections.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] Previous cutting instruments are all guided outside the bone, and once the instrument enters the bone it is no longer guided. Problems, such as tip deflection and skiving can affect bone cuts, implant alignment, and fixation. Previous instrumentation also will not fit under tight soft tissues, necessitating resection of those tissues or movement of those tissues.
SUMMARY
[0006] A resection guide for a tibia comprises a first cutting guide and a second cutting guide. The first cutting guide is configured to overlay a portion of the tibia and to direct a cutting instrument in a plane. The first cutting guide has a length extending from a generally medial portion of the tibia to a generally lateral portion of the tibia. The first cutting guide has a depth extending in a posterior direction generally perpendicular to the length and a groove extending along the length and depth of the first cutting guide such that the groove extends along a generally transverse plane. The second cutting guide is oriented at an angle to the first cutting guide and configured to extend generally in a posterior direction from the first cutting guide. The second cutting guide limits the cutting instrument in the transverse plane from cutting bone.
[0007] Additionally, a resection guide may further comprise a third cutting guide configured to extend generally orthogonal to the transverse plane of the first cutting guide and oriented in the posterior direction of the second cutting guide.
[0008] Another embodiment may include a resection guide wherein the first and second cutting guides are configured to cut a medial portion of the tibia.
[0009] Additionally, a resection guide may further comprise a support structure. The support structure has a bone fixator configured to fixate the resection guide to the bone. The support structure may additionally include a cutting guide support configured to orient the varus/valgus angle of the first cutting guide.
[0010] Another embodiment may include a resection guide wherein the support structure has a port configured to receive a lateral resection guide.
[0011] One embodiment may include a resection guide wherein the lateral resection guide is fixed to the support structure with a connector.
[0012] Another embodiment may include a resection guide wherein the bone fixator is an extramedullary rod guide.
[0013] Additionally, the support structure may further comprise an offset configured to position the bone fixator away from the cutting guide support such that the bone fixator is outside the surgical field.
[0014] Additionally, the support structure may further comprise an offset configured to position the cutting guide support between the tibia and the patellar tendon and further position the bone fixator over the patellar tendon.
[0015] In one embodiment, the second cutting guide is a pin.
[0016] Additionally, the pin may include a cutout configured to retain the cutting instrument.
[0017] Another embodiment of the second cutting guide may include a sleeve having a cutout to retain the cutting instrument.
[0018] In another embodiment, the second cutting guide may extend into the tibia.
[0019] A method of resecting a portion of a tibia includes the step of orienting a first cutting plane of a first cutting guide in a transverse plane in a medial/lateral direction. The first cutting plane sets the varus/valgus angle of the cutting plane. Another step installs a second cutting guide in the first cutting plane. The second cutting surface extends distally in the first cutting plane and limits the range of motion of a cutting instrument in the direction of the medial/lateral resection. Another step cuts the tibia from the outer surface of the bone along the first cutting plane in the first cutting guide to the second cutting guide.
[0020] Another embodiment further comprises the step of orienting a third cutting guide generally perpendicular to the first cutting plane. The third cutting guide extends in a sagittal plane. Another step includes cutting the tibia with the cutting instrument from a proximal portion along the sagittal plane of the third cutting guide distally until the cutting instrument contacts the second cutting guide.
[0021] In another embodiment, the installing step may further comprise the step of drilling a hole through the bone such that the hole is aligned along the first cutting plane.
[0022] Additionally, the installing step may further comprise the step of inserting a pin into the bone.
[0023] Additionally, the second cutting guide may be a sleeve on a pin. The installing step further comprises the step of removing the pin from the sleeve when the sleeve is placed in the bone.
[0024] In one embodiment the method further comprises the step of attaching a lateral cutting guide to the first cutting guide after the cutting step.
[0025] In another embodiment the method further comprises the step of fixing the cutting guide to the bone.
[0026] Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and together with the written description serve to explain the principles, characteristics, and features of the invention. In the drawings:
[0028] FIG. 1 is view of an embodiment of a tibial resection guide.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of the tibial resection guide of FIG. 1 placed on a tibia and receiving a cutting guide.
[0030] FIG. 3 is a view of the portion of the tibial resection guide of FIG. 2 with the cutting guide installed.
[0031] FIG. 4 is a view of an embodiment of a tibial resection guide for a medial resection.
[0032] FIG. 5 is a view of an embodiment of a lateral resection guide oriented relative to a medial resection.
[0033] FIG. 6 is another view of the embodiment of the lateral resection guide of FIG. 5 .
[0034] FIG. 7 is a view of an embodiment of a portion of tibial resection guide for a medial resection.
[0035] FIG. 8 is another view of the embodiment of the tibial resection guide of FIG. 7 .
[0036] FIG. 9 is a view of other portions of the tibial resection guide of FIG. 7 .
[0037] FIG. 10 a view of an embodiment of a tibial resection guide.
[0038] FIG. 11 is an end view of an embodiment of a pin having a cutout portion.
[0039] FIG. 12 is an end view of another embodiment of a pin having a cutout portion.
[0040] FIG. 12 is an end view of another embodiment of a pin having a cutout portion.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0041] The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
[0042] Turning to the drawing figures, FIG. 1 is view of an embodiment of a tibial resection guide 10 . The guide 10 includes a medial cutting guide 12 , a lateral cutting guide 14 and a bone fixator 18 . The bone fixator 18 , in this embodiment, is an extramedullary (EM) rod connector having an extramedullary rod guide 20 and a tightening knob 22 . The medial and lateral cutting guides 12 and 14 include set screws 24 and 26 which lock the medial and lateral cutting guides 12 and 14 in place along a variable medial/lateral slots (slot 28 for the lateral side). Pin slots 30 and 32 in the cutting guides 12 and 14 are configured to receive cutting guides. Vertical cutting guides 34 and 36 are oriented above the pin slots 30 and 32 .
[0043] The bone fixator 18 is configured to fix the cutting guide to the bone. The EM rod guide may be oriented to account for varus/valgus angle for the knee. Additionally, fixation pins may be used though openings in the resection guide 10 to fix the resection guide 10 to the bone. When the resection guide 10 is properly aligned and oriented on the EM rod, then the knob 22 may be tightened to fix the resection guide 10 in place.
[0044] The cutting guides 12 and 14 are oriented with respect to the bone fixator 18 to align the cutting surfaces for the medial and lateral portions of the tibia. The set screws 24 and 26 set the medial and lateral cutting guides 12 and 14 in place in the medial/lateral direction. When the set screws 24 and 26 are loosened, then medial and lateral cutting guides may be variably positioned laterally and medially. Additionally, the set screws 24 and 26 may be removed to allow for the cutting guides 12 and 14 to be individually removed. The cutting guides 12 and 14 may be used independently, then, to minimize the size of the resection guide 10 . A smaller resection guide 10 may help to minimize the incision size and minimize soft tissue resections or displacements.
[0045] The cutting guides 12 and 14 include horizontal cutting planes and vertical cutting planes. The horizontal and vertical cutting planes define the horizontal and vertical cutting surfaces for the tibia. When these guides 12 and 14 are used, the tibia will have medial and lateral resections with a shelf maintaining natural bone for the medial condyle between the resections where soft tissue may be maintained. For example, posterior and anterior cruciate ligaments attach to the tibia along the medial condyle of the tibia, and may be saved when the medial and lateral compartments are individually cut.
[0046] In operation, the guide 10 is placed on an EM rod and fixed to the rod. The angle of the rod fixes the varus/ valgus rotation of the resection guide 10 . Generally, the medial compartment is resected first. The medial cutting guide 12 is positioned on the tibia. A pin (shown, for example, in FIG. 2 ) is inserted into the tibia. The horizontal cut in a transverse plane to the tibia is cut. The pin is set along the transverse plane. The vertical cutting guide 34 is positioned at an angle to the transverse plane and extends to the pin. Thus, the pin is in the transverse plane formed by the horizontal cutting guide and the sagittal plane of the vertical cutting guide. The cut in the transverse plane is cut to the pin, and the sagittal plane is cut down from above the tibia to the pin.
[0047] The pin cutting guide limits the cuts in both the transverse plane and sagittal plane. This minimizes the possibility of undercutting the resection. This also protects from overextending the cuts which may damage soft tissue. By creating a physical stop in the path of the cuts, the cuts may not extend past the stops. The pin may also provide a fillet at the corner to reduce stress risers in the bone. Additionally, as discussed below, the pin may limit tip deflection and better align or stabilize the cutting instruments during the cuts.
[0048] Turning now to FIG. 2 , FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of the tibial resection guide 10 of FIG. 1 placed on a tibia 40 and receiving an anterior/posterior cutting guide 42 . The lateral cutting guide 14 is positioned against a lateral portion of the tibia 40 . The anterior/posterior cutting guide 42 may extend anterior/ posterior into the tibia and includes an outer sheath 44 and a pin 46 . The anterior/posterior cutting guide 42 is inserted into a receiving slot 48 in the transverse guide of the lateral cutting guide 14 . The anterior/posterior cutting guide 42 may be driven into the bone. Alternatively, a hole may be drilled into the bone and the anterior/posterior cutting guide 42 may be inserted into the receiving slot 48 . Once the anterior/posterior cutting guide 42 is positioned within the receiving slot 48 , the pin 46 may be removed from the sheath 44 leaving a cutting slot, as shown in FIG. 3 .
[0049] Turning now to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a view of the portion of the tibial resection guide of FIG. 2 with the cutting guide 42 installed. The pin of the anterior posterior cutting guide 42 has been removed leaving the sheath 44 in the receiving slot 48 . An A/P sheath slot 50 extends from the anterior portion of the tibia 40 to the posterior portion of the tibia 40 . The sheath slot 50 allows for a cutting instrument to be inserted along the sheath slot 50 to start the cut and control the tip of the cutting instrument. The cut continues within a horizontal slot 52 to the lateral side of the tibia. The sheath slot 50 also stabilizes the transverse cut and properly aligns the transverse cut. As the transverse cut is made, the cut may not extend more medially than the sheath slot 50 .
[0050] A vertical slot 54 extends from a proximal portion of the tibia 40 to the sheath 44 . In this embodiment, the sheath is oriented as a stop and does not create a starting point inferiorly for the vertical cut. However, the receiving slot 48 and the sheath slot 50 may be oriented so that the vertical slot 54 may be aligned with the sheath slot 50 .
[0051] Turning now to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 is a view of an embodiment of a tibial resection guide 60 for a medial resection. The tibial resection guide 60 is connected to the bone with a spike rod 62 . The spike rod 62 attaches to an EM guide 66 of the tibial resection guide 60 . Pins 64 attach the medial cutting guide to the bone. Additional bone fixation may be achieved with a pin through a pinhole 68 . A variable M/L slot 67 allows for the medial guide 60 to be moved medially and laterally with respect to the tibia, and is thus similar to the slot 28 of FIG. 1 . A set screw 72 fixes the M/L position of the cutting guide 60 .
[0052] The pins 64 may be of different heights so that a first pin may be hammered into the tibia first, and then the spike rod (and thus the EM rod guide 66 and cutting guide 60 ) may be rotated before the second, shorter pin 64 is knocked into the bone. Once the second shorter pin is placed, the guide 60 is fixed to the bone.
[0053] A medial cutout 76 shows the transverse cut 78 and the vertical cut 80 of the tibia. An A/P pin slot 82 is positioned so that an A/P pin would be placed at the intersection of the transverse cut 78 and the vertical cut 80 so that when the transverse and vertical cuts are made, the A/P pin would limit the lateral edge of the transverse cut and the inferior edge of the vertical cut.
[0054] Turning now to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 is a view of an embodiment of a lateral resection guide 90 oriented relative to a medial resection. For example, the lateral resection guide 90 may be used with the medial resection guide of FIG. 4 . The lateral guide 90 includes a medial pad 92 which orients a lateral cutting guide 93 to the tibia. A set screw 94 sets the medial lateral position of the lateral resection guide 90 in a slide 96 . Fixation is achieved by extending the knee and having the medial condyle of the femur pressing down on the medial pad 92 . Additionally, pinholes 100 may be used to fixate the lateral resection guide 90 to the bone. Extending the femur also relaxes the patella, moving the patella out of the way for lateral cuts. The horizontal and vertical cutting guides for the lateral resections are operated similar to the cuts discussed previously.
[0055] The cuts may be formed either using a sagittal saw or a reciprocating saw. When using a reciprocating saw, then the preferred cut starts at the A/P guide and progresses toward the posterior of the tibia within the slot of the A/P guide. After completing a cut from the anterior to the posterior of the tibia, then the blade is pushed out within the transverse slot of the lateral guide 94 .
[0056] Turning now to FIG. 6 , FIG. 6 is another view of the embodiment of the lateral resection guide of FIG. 5 . The medial pad 92 sits on the medial tibial cutout 76 . Any variation in the medial cut 76 will be transferred to the lateral side through the medial pad 92 . Thus, misalignment between the medial and lateral cuts is minimized through the sequential cutting of first the medial than the lateral compartments.
[0057] Turning now to FIGS. 7 and 8 , FIG. 7 is a view of an embodiment of a portion of tibial resection guide 110 for a medial resection. An extra medullary rod 112 fixates the resection guide 110 with a step down block 114 . Pins 116 further fixate the guide 110 to the bone. A medial cutting guide 120 may be moved medially/laterally with a knob 122 and set in place by a set screw 124 . An A/P cutting guide 126 through the medial cutting guide 120 limits the cuts of a medial cutout. FIG. 8 is another view of the embodiment of the tibial resection guide 110 of FIG. 7 . A medial cutout 140 shows a filleted cut surface 142 at the intersection of a transverse cut 144 and a vertical cut 146
[0058] Turning now to FIG. 9 , FIG. 9 is a view of other portions of the tibial resection guide 110 of FIG. 7 . A lateral cutting guide 160 is received in the same slot as the medial guide of FIGS. 7 and 8 . The knob 122 may orient the lateral cutting guide 160 in the medial/ lateral direction. Because the resection guide 110 is fixed in the same orientation as when the medial cuts were made, the relative orientation of the medial cuts to the lateral cuts are consistent.
[0059] The step down block 114 is an offset that moves part of the bone fixation and the part that orients the guide 110 away from the cutting planes and cutting surfaces. This allows for more access and added views of the cutting planes.
[0060] Turning now to FIG. 10 , FIG. 10 a view of an embodiment of a tibial resection guide 180 . A medial cutting guide 182 and a lateral cutting guide 184 are received on a cutting guide support. In this embodiment, the cutting guide support is a guide post 186 . A bone fixator 188 is connected to the post 186 by an offset 190 . Set screws 192 fix the cutting guides 182 and 184 to the post 186 . The post 186 allows for medial/lateral movement of the cutting guides 182 and 184 along tracks 196 and 198 respectively.
[0061] The tibial resection guide 180 is generally smaller in size than conventional resection guides. The offset 190 is shaped to allow for the post 186 to be inserted within an incision while the bone fixator 188 remains outside the incision. The curve in the offset 190 positions the post 186 between the tibia and the patellar tendon and position the bone fixator 188 over the patellar tendon. In order to minimize the size of the resection guide 180 , the cutting guides 182 and 184 may be used individually.
[0062] Turning now to FIGS. 11-13 , FIG. 11 is an end view of an embodiment of a pin 200 having a cutout portion 202 . FIG. 12 is an end view of another embodiment of a pin 210 having a cutout portions 212 . FIG. 12 is an end view of another embodiment of a pin 220 having a cutout portions 222 . Each of these pins 200 , 210 , and 220 may be used as pins with the embodiments of resection guides previously discussed. The cutout portion 202 is a portion that is limited to a single slot in the A/P direction of the pin 200 . The cutout portions 212 and 222 are configured to capture a cutting instrument in orthogonal planes in the A/P direction. While cutout portions 212 extend tangential to the cross section of the pin 210 , the cutout portions 222 extend along secants of the cross section of the pin 220 . While the cutouts 212 and 222 are positioned orthogonally, the cutouts 212 and 222 may be positioned at any angle relative to one another. Additionally, sheaths may be used with the pins to fill the cutouts initially if the pins are driven into the bone instead of placed within pre-drilled holes.
[0063] As various modifications could be made to the exemplary embodiments, as described above with reference to the corresponding illustrations, without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
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Systems, methods and device for tibial resection comprise a first cutting guide and a second cutting guide. The first cutting guide ( 12 ) is configured to overlay a portion of the tibia and to direct a cutting instrument in a plane. The first cutting guide has a length extending from a generally medial portion of the tibia to a generally lateral portion of the tibia. The first cutting guide has a depth extending in a posterior direction generally perpendicular to the length and a groove extending along the length and depth of the first cutting guide such that the groove extends along a generally transverse plane. The second cutting guide ( 34 ) is oriented at an angle to the first cutting guide and configured to extend generally in a posterior direction from the first cutting guide ( 12 ). The second cutting guide limits the cutting instrument in the transverse plane from cutting bone.
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RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/537,715, filed Sep. 22, 2011, titled “WHEEL REPLACEMENT TREADS AND METHODS,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/692,148, filed Aug. 22, 2012, titled “WHEEL REPLACEMENT TREADS AND METHODS,” the entirety of each of which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND
1. Field
The present disclosure relates to replaceable treads for wheels and wheels having replaceable treads usable with non-motorized vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-motorized wheeled vehicles, such as human-propelled carts (e.g., shopping carts), can include two or more wheels. Vehicle wheels incur wear as a result of use or damage. For example, prolonged use of the wheel can cause a tread of the wheel to become worn down. Accordingly, the wheel may need to be replaced.
SUMMARY
Various embodiments are directed to wheels and wheel treads for non-motorized vehicles (e.g., human-propelled carts). Replacement of vehicle wheels can incur substantial expense, particularly in implementations in which the vehicle wheel includes expensive electronic components (e.g., theft prevention electronics in a shopping cart wheel). Accordingly, in certain embodiments, rather than replacing the entire wheel, the tread of the wheel can be replaced. In certain such embodiments, the tread can be configured to be axially removed and installed on the wheel.
Certain wheels require complete or substantially complete removal and/or disassembly of the wheel from the wheeled vehicle in order to replace the treads of the wheels. Furthermore, some wheels may require the disassembly of a sealed portion of the wheel in order to replace the tread. For example, some embodiments may require the opening of a chamber (e.g., in a central portion of the wheel) in order to replace the tread. However, in certain instances, it can be desirable to avoid disassembling certain portions of the wheel to replace the tread. For example, it can be beneficial to avoid opening a sealed chamber containing electrical components disposed in the wheel.
In some embodiments, a wheel assembly includes a serviceable tread assembly that is capable of being installed and attached to a non-serviceable housing assembly. As used herein, the term “serviceable” has its ordinary meaning and includes, without limitation, the characteristic of being intended to be replaced during the course of use of the item. As used herein, the term “non-serviceable” has its ordinary meaning and includes, without limitation, the characteristic of not intended to be replaced during the intended course of use of the item. For example, certain components of the wheel may be sealed (e.g., to inhibit contamination) and may be non-serviceable. Non-serviceable also includes situations where a component is not intended to be serviced by an end-user but which may be serviced by a factory-authorized technician or by the manufacturer. In certain instances, the wheel assembly is configured for use on a non-motorized vehicle. For example, the wheel assembly can be configured for use on a locking shopping cart wheel. In some embodiments, the tread assembly attaches to the housing assembly with one or more fastening devices (such as screws, bolts, nails, or otherwise) and/or locking features. In certain configurations, the fastening devices and/or locking features are arranged around the circumference of the tread assembly and/or the housing assembly.
In some embodiments, the tread assembly includes a tread and a frame (e.g., support, backbone, lattice, skeleton, spine, or other structural portion). In certain instances, the frame provides support and/or reinforcement for the tread. For example, in certain variants, the frame can be positioned radially inward of the tread and can be configured to bear force (e.g., compressive force) that is applied to the tread. In some implementations, the frame is configured to shape the tread (e.g., a generally cylindrical shape). In certain embodiments, the tread assembly couples with the housing assembly, which can include a hub and a cover. In some embodiments, installation of the tread assembly is facilitated by the structure of the hub and cover components. For example, the hub and cover components can be configured to allow the tread assembly to be slid onto the hub.
In certain embodiments, the tread assembly is held in position on the housing assembly by one or more fastening devices and/or locking features. In some cases, the fastening devices and/or locking features are integral with the tread assembly and/or the housing assembly. In certain embodiments, the fastening devices and/or locking features are axially arranged around the inside and/or outside surfaces of the tread assembly and correspond to mating features similarly arranged around the outer circumferential surfaces of the wheel assembly (e.g., the hub). As used herein, the term “axial,” or derivations thereof, has its ordinary meaning and refers to, without limitation, a direction that is substantially perpendicular to a plane in which the wheel rotates. The axial direction may be substantially parallel to or substantially collinear with a rotation axis of the wheel (e.g., within ten to twenty degrees of the rotation axis). In some cases, the tread assembly is maintained on the housing assembly by one or more fasteners.
In some embodiments, the tread assembly is configured to be removed from the housing assembly. In certain such cases, the tread assembly can be removed without the need to disassemble the housing assembly (e.g., by separating the hub and the cover). Such a configuration can, for example, facilitate easy replacement of the tread assembly (e.g., due to wear or damage) while preserving the integrity of the housing assembly. For example, a tread assembly that can be replaced without the need to open the housing assembly can maintain the efficiency of the seals on embodiments of the housing assembly that include such seals to protect components (e.g., electronics) located inside the housing assembly. In certain instances, removal of the worn or damaged tread is accomplished by the removal or disengagement of the fastening devices and/or locking features that secure the tread to the housing assembly. In some cases, the removal also includes axially sliding the tread off the mating wheel hub exterior geometry. A new tread assembly can be installed by reversing this procedure.
A wheel for a human-propelled cart can comprise a housing assembly having a hub and a cover. The hub can have an inner cavity and can comprise a frame engaging surface having a first mating feature, the inner cavity configured to receive an electrical component and the cover configured to be sealed with the hub, thereby inhibiting access into the inner cavity. In some embodiments, the wheel includes a tread assembly configured to axially receive a portion of the housing assembly, the tread assembly comprising a frame and a tread. The frame can have a tread engaging surface and a hub engaging surface, the hub engaging surface having a second mating feature and being configured to releasably couple with the frame engaging surface of the hub. The tread can be disposed radially outward of the frame and can be configured to engage a surface on which the wheel is configured to roll. The wheel can include a fastener configured to engage the first mating feature and the second mating feature. According to some variants, the tread assembly is configured to removably couple with the housing assembly such that the tread assembly can be axially separated from the housing assembly without unsealing the cover and the hub, thereby facilitating repair or replacement of the tread assembly while maintaining the seal of the cover and the hub. In some embodiments, when the hub engaging surface of the frame is coupled with the frame engaging surface of the hub, the first mating feature and the second mating feature are circumferentially aligned such that the fastener can axially engage the first mating feature and the second mating feature.
In some embodiments, at least one of the first mating feature and the second mating feature comprises a radially outwardly-extending flange. The tread assembly can include a frame alignment feature comprising a first tread recess configured to receive the first mating feature. The housing assembly may include a hub alignment feature comprising a first housing recess configured to receive the second mating feature. In some embodiments, the wheel is configured to rotate around a rotation axis, and the hub is configured to be rotated relative to the frame about the rotation axis of the wheel. The frame alignment feature can include a second tread recess oriented substantially perpendicular to and extending generally circumferentially from the first tread recess, the second tread recess being configured to receive the first mating feature when the hub is rotated relative to the frame. The frame alignment feature can include a third tread recess extending in a direction generally axially away from the second mating feature, the third tread recess configured to receive the first mating feature when the hub is rotated relative to the frame such that the first mating feature is generally aligned with the third tread recess. In some embodiments, the hub alignment feature includes a second housing recess generally perpendicular to and extending generally tangentially from the first housing recess, the second housing recess configured to receive the second mating feature when the hub is rotated relative to the frame. The hub alignment feature includes a third housing recess extending in a direction generally axially away from the first mating feature, the third housing recess configured to receive the second mating feature when the hub is rotated relative to the frame such that the second mating feature is generally aligned with the third housing recess.
In some embodiments, the tread assembly comprises a first rotational axis and the housing assembly comprises a second rotational axis, the first rotational axis and the second rotational axis being generally collinear when the housing assembly and tread assembly are coupled. The tread can have a tread width, the first mating feature and the second mating feature each can have an axial width that is less than the tread width, and the sum of the axial widths of the first mating feature and the second mating feature can be about equal to the tread width. In some embodiments, the human-propelled cart is a shopping cart.
A method of assembling a shopping cart wheel can comprise forming a housing assembly. Forming the housing assembly can include providing a hub having a central cavity, the hub comprising a first mating feature, axially joining a cover with the hub, the cover configured to form a seal between the cover and the hub, thereby inhibiting access by contaminants into the cavity, forming a tread assembly, wherein forming the tread assembly comprises, providing an annular frame comprising an inner surface and outer surface, the inner surface and the outer surface each comprising recesses, the inner surface further comprising a second mating feature, disposing a tread around at least the outer surface of the frame, and engaging the tread with the recesses on the inner surface and the outer surface of the frame, thereby securing the tread with the frame. In some embodiments, the method of assembling a shopping cart wheel includes aligning the first mating feature of the hub with the second mating feature of the frame, receiving the housing assembly into the tread assembly, and securing the housing assembly with the tread assembly.
In some embodiments, securing the housing assembly with the tread assembly comprises positioning the first mating feature in a first recess of the frame, wherein the first mating feature comprises a radially outwardly extending flange, positioning the second mating feature in a second recess of the hub, wherein the second mating feature comprises a radially inwardly extending flange, and axially inserting a fastener through the first mating feature and the second mating feature. In some embodiments, the method of assembling a shopping cart wheel further comprises rotating the housing assembly and the tread assembly relative to each other after the housing assembly has been received into the tread assembly. The method of assembling a shopping cart wheel can further comprise axially spacing the first mating feature apart from the second mating feature.
A method of repairing a wheel of a shopping cart, the wheel comprising a housing assembly and a tread assembly coupled with a plurality of fasteners located generally around an outer circumferential region of the wheel, the housing assembly coupled with the shopping cart via a caster assembly, the housing assembly comprising a central sealed chamber that includes an electrical component, can comprise removing the wheel from the caster assembly. In some embodiments the method of repairing a wheel of a shopping cart includes loosening the fasteners such that the housing assembly and the tread assembly can be separated, separating the tread axially from the housing assembly without opening the central sealed chamber of the housing assembly, aligning first flanges of a replacement tread assembly with first recesses of the housing assembly, aligning second recesses of the replacement tread assembly with second flanges of the housing assembly, axially sliding the replacement tread assembly onto the housing assembly, securing the fasteners such that the fasteners couple the replacement tread assembly and the housing assembly, and coupling the housing with the caster assembly.
In some embodiments, loosening the fasteners comprises rotating the fasteners. The method of repairing a wheel of a shopping cart can further comprise rotating the tread assembly relative to the housing assembly after the replacement tread assembly has been axially slid onto the housing assembly. In some embodiments, the method of repairing a wheel of a shopping cart further comprising radially engaging the first flanges of a replacement tread assembly with the first recesses of the housing assembly, and radially engaging the second recesses of the replacement tread assembly with the second flanges of the housing assembly, thereby providing areas of radial interference between the housing assembly and the tread assembly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an example of a wheel assembly for a cart, including examples of a tread assembly and a housing assembly.
FIG. 2 illustrates a front perspective view of the tread assembly of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 2A illustrates a rear perspective view of the tread assembly of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of the tread assembly of FIG. 1 , including a tread and a frame.
FIG. 4 illustrates a close-up view of a portion of the frame of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 illustrates another close-up view of a portion of the frame of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the housing assembly of FIG. 1 , including a hub and a cover.
FIG. 7 illustrates a close-up view of a portion of the housing assembly of FIG. 6 .
FIG. 8 illustrates a close-up view of a portion of an embodiment of the hub of FIG. 6 .
FIG. 9 illustrates a close-up view of a portion of an embodiment of the cover of FIG. 6 .
FIG. 10 illustrates an exploded view of an embodiment of the wheel assembly of FIG. 1 , including the tread assembly of FIG. 2 and the housing assembly of FIG. 6 .
FIG. 11 illustrates the wheel assembly of FIG. 10 in a partially assembled state, with the tread assembly coupled with the housing assembly, and a plurality of fasteners in an exploded view.
FIG. 12 illustrates the wheel assembly of FIG. 11 in an assembled state, with a caster and associated hardware shown in an exploded view.
FIG. 13 illustrates an exploded view of another embodiment of a tread assembly, including a frame and a tread.
FIG. 14 illustrates the tread assembly of FIG. 13 in an assembled state.
FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of a wheel hub assembly.
FIG. 16 illustrates a close-up view of the hub assembly of FIG. 15 .
FIG. 17 illustrates an exploded view of the tread assembly of FIG. 14 and the wheel hub assembly of FIG. 16 .
FIG. 18 illustrates a close-up view of protrusions and recesses of the frame of FIG. 13 .
FIG. 19 illustrates a close-up view of protrusions and recesses of the wheel hub of FIG. 15 .
FIG. 20 illustrates a close-up view of one of the protrusions of FIG. 19 and one of the recesses of FIG. 18 in a partially assembled state.
FIG. 21 illustrates a close-up view of the protrusion and recesses of FIG. 20 in another partially assembled state.
FIG. 22 illustrates a close-up view of the protrusion and recesses of FIG. 20 in an assembled state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Non-motorized wheeled vehicles are used in a variety of environments including retail environments (e.g., shopping carts), manufacturing or warehouse environments (e.g., merchandise or industrial carts), travel environments (e.g., luggage or baggage carts at an airport or bus station), medical environments (e.g., hospital carts, medical device carts, wheelchairs, baby strollers), and so forth. Non-motorized vehicles are typically human-propelled, e.g., by a human pushing or pulling the vehicle. The present disclosure describes examples of wheels, treads, and methods for assembling wheels or replacing treads that are usable with non-motorized wheeled vehicles. Many of the examples described herein are in the context of wheels for shopping carts; however, this is intended for facilitating understanding and is not a limitation.
With reference to FIG. 1 , in some embodiments, a wheel assembly can include a tread assembly 10 and a housing assembly 70 . The tread assembly 10 can be configured to mount or otherwise be received at least partly on the housing assembly 70 . The tread assembly 10 can be configured to protect and/or space the housing assembly 10 from a surface on which the wheel assembly rolls. For example, the tread assembly 10 can protect the housing assembly 70 from abrasion due to contact with the surface.
With regard to FIGS. 1-5 , an embodiment of a tread assembly 10 is illustrated. In some embodiments, the tread assembly 10 includes a frame 20 and a tread 60 . In some embodiments, the frame 20 is generally rigid. In some cases, the frame 20 is made of metal (e.g., steel or aluminum) or a polymer (e.g., nylon). The frame 20 and/or tread 60 can include a rotational centerline. In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the rotational centerline L of the frame 20 is collinear with the rotational centerline of the tread 60 when the frame 20 is mated with the tread 60 .
As shown in FIG. 3 , the frame 20 can be configured to engage with the tread 60 . The frame 20 can have one or more recessed features 23 . For example, in the embodiment illustrated, the frame 20 can include recessed features 23 that are arranged in a radial pattern around an outer circumference of the frame 20 . As will be discussed in further detail below, the recessed features 23 can engage with corresponding features of the tread, thereby securing the frame 20 and the tread 60 .
According to some variants, the frame 20 includes a hub-engaging surface 28 located on the radially-inward surface of the frame 20 . The frame 20 can include first mating features 22 . In some embodiments, the first mating features 22 are located on the hub-engaging surface 28 . In certain variants, such as is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the first mating features 22 can be one or more radially inwardly-extending flanges 24 . In some embodiments, first mating features 22 are configured to allow for the insertion of a corresponding number of fasteners, such as one fastener per first mating feature 22 . In the illustrated embodiment, the first mating features 22 are generally equally spaced in a radial pattern around an inner periphery of the frame 20 . However, other configurations are contemplated and are included in this disclosure.
In some embodiments, the frame 20 includes indentations 25 . In certain instances, the indentations 25 are arranged in a radial pattern around the inner circumference of the frame 20 . One or more of the indentations 25 can span the axial (e.g., parallel to the rotational centerline of the frame) width W of the hub-engaging surface 28 . In some embodiments, one or more of the indentations 25 are located axially-adjacent to the radially inwardly-extending flanges 24 . In such embodiments, the first mating features 22 can comprise a radially inwardly-extending flange 24 and an indentation 25 . The radially inwardly-extending flange 24 and corresponding indentation 25 can each have an axial width that is less than the axial width W of the hub-engaging surface 28 .
The tread 60 , or parts thereof, can be made of most any material, such as rubber, plastic, wood, metal, or otherwise. For example, the tread 60 can be a thermo-set material. The tread 60 can be molded onto, injected, fused, welded, or otherwise joined with the frame 20 . In some cases, the tread 60 is formed separately from the frame 20 and then coupled with the frame 20 . In other cases, the tread 60 is formed with the frame 20 . For example, the frame 20 can be molded during substantially the same operation (e.g., injection molding operation) as the tread 60 . In certain instances, the tread 60 covers all exposed outside surfaces of the frame 20 . In some embodiments, the tread 60 is injection molded onto the frame 20 . In certain cases, the tread 60 is secured with/to the frame 20 by adhering with the indentation features 23 .
In some implementations, the tread 60 engages with recesses 26 on the frame 20 . For example, the tread 60 can extend around a portion of the sidewall of the frame 20 , such that the tread 60 is located radially outward of the frame 20 and a portion of the tread 60 is engaged with the recess 26 . In certain variants, the tread 60 wraps around a portion of the frame 20 . In certain instances, the tread 60 is joined with the frame 20 with an adhesive (e.g., glue or epoxy), thermal or sonic welding, or otherwise. For example, an adhesive can be applied to an outer surface of the frame 20 and/or an inner surface of the tread 60 . In some embodiments, the outer surface (e.g., tread-engaging surface) of the frame 20 and/or an inner surface (e.g., structure-engaging surface) of the tread 60 can be textured (e.g., dimpled, ribbed, grooved, or otherwise), which can facilitate a connection between the frame 20 and the tread 60 .
The tread 60 can include a traction surface 62 configured to engage with a floor or other surface when the non-motorized vehicle (e.g., a shopping cart) is moved. The traction surface 62 can be constructed of the same material as the tread 60 or from a difference material. In some embodiments, the traction surface 62 includes friction features (e.g., channels, protrusions, etc.) configured to facilitate grip between the traction surface 62 and the floor on which it is resting.
With regard to FIGS. 6-9 , an embodiment of a housing assembly 70 is illustrated. As shown, the housing assembly 70 can include a structural hub 80 and a cover 90 . In certain embodiments, the hub 80 and the cover 90 can be assembled together. For example, the hub 80 and cover 90 can be held together by fasteners 50 , which can be arranged in a radial pattern around the circumference of the hub 80 and/or cover 90 . In some embodiments, the fasteners 50 engage with radially outwardly-extending flanges 84 , 94 on the hub 80 and cover 90 respectively. For example, one or more flanges 94 on the cover 90 can be aligned with one or more flanges 84 on the hub 80 such that a fastener 50 can be extended through apertures in the aligned flanges 84 , 94 . In some embodiments, the flanges 94 on the cover 90 are symmetrically distributed about the outer circumference of the cover 90 . In some such embodiments, the cover 90 can be attached to the hub 80 in a plurality of relative rotational orientations. In some embodiments, the flanges 94 are asymmetrically distributed about the outer circumference of the cover 90 such that the cover 90 connects with the hub 80 in only one relative rotational orientation. In some such embodiments, rotational alignment of some portion of the hub 80 and/or the contents therein can be consistently aligned with some portion of the cover 90 . In some embodiments, the hub 80 and/or cover 90 can include one or more magnets housed within and/or on the surface of the hub 80 and/or cover 90 (e.g., magnets for use with Hall effect sensors to activate the electrical components within or around the housing assembly 70 ).
In some instances, the hub 80 and/or the cover 90 include second mating features 82 . The second mating features 82 can correspond to the features 22 on the inside of the frame 20 of the tread assembly 10 . The illustrated embodiment includes a plurality of second mating features 82 arranged in a radial pattern around the outer circumference of the housing assembly 70 . Other configurations are also contemplated and are part of this disclosure. In some instances, the second mating features 82 include radially outwardly extending flanges 84 . In some instances, the second mating features 82 include radially inwardly extending notches 85 . In some instances, such as in the illustrated embodiment, the second mating features 82 include a combination of radially outwardly extending flanges 84 and radially inwardly extending notches 85 .
As shown, the housing assembly 70 can have an axial depth D. In some cases, the second mating features 82 extend less than the entire axial depth D of the housing assembly 70 . In other cases, the second mating features 82 can extend less than the entire axial depth D of the housing assembly 70 . Such a configuration can, for example, provide an improved connection between the housing assembly 70 and the tread assembly 10 when assembled together, as is discussed below. In some implementations, the depth D of the housing 70 is greater than or equal to the axial width W of the frame 20 .
In some embodiments, the cover 90 and the hub 80 include rib features 97 and 87 that form a mating channel structure around the inside circumference of the cover 90 and the hub 80 . The rib features 97 and 87 can house a seal (e.g., a rubber or polymeric O-ring), which can be configured to inhibit or prevent moisture or other contaminants from entering the inside of the housing assembly 70 when the hub 80 is assembled with the cover 90 . Such a configuration can, for example, protect devices (e.g., mechanical or electrical components) disposed inside the housing assembly 70 . Examples of such devices can include, for example, a brake mechanism, a two-way communication device, a navigation device, a power generator, a computer processor, a battery, combinations of such devices, or otherwise. Examples of some such devices are discussed in the following: U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,160, titled “NAVIGATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR WHEELED OBJECTS”; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0244588, filed Mar. 20, 2006, titled “TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR TRACKING LOCATIONS AND STATUSES OF WHEELED VEHICLES”; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0249320, filed Mar. 20, 2006, titled “POWER GENERATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR WHEELED OBJECTS;” the entirety of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein for all it discloses.
In certain variants, the cover 90 and the hub 80 are configured to be readily separable from each other. For example, in some implementations, the cover 90 and the hub 80 are configured to be separable after the fasteners 50 are removed. Designs including a separable cover 90 and hub 80 can, for example, facilitate the ability to service, replace, repair, and/or otherwise attend-to the devices in the housing assembly 70 . For example, such designs can facilitate installing a new battery in the housing assembly 70 . Some embodiments have an O-ring or other type of sealing device disposed between, near, or adjacent to the rib features 97 and 87 .
In some variants, the cover 90 and the hub 80 are substantially permanently joined. For example, in some embodiments, the channel structure can be at least partly filled with an adhesive (not shown) that, in combination with the surfaces formed by rib features 97 and 87 , substantially permanently joins the cover 90 and the hub 80 . In some embodiments, the adhesive forms a portion of the seal between the cover 90 and the hub 80 . Further, in some such embodiments, the adhesive can inhibit or otherwise discourage disassembly of the housing assembly 70 .
Certain embodiments that have substantially permanently joined cover 90 and hub 80 have a longer life expectancy than embodiments in which the cover 90 and the hub 80 are readily separable. For example, embodiments in which the cover 90 and the hub 80 are substantially permanently joined can include a battery having a greater life expectancy, an internal generator and power storage (such as is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0249320, incorporated by reference herein), and/or intelligent power management circuits utilizing motion sensors, each of which, alone or in combination, can provide a longer life than embodiments in which the cover 90 and the hub 80 are readily separable.
As shown in the exploded views of FIGS. 9-11 , the tread assembly 10 can be installed on the housing assembly 70 . For example, the first mating features 22 of the frame 20 can be aligned with the second mating features 82 of the cover 80 and hub 90 of the housing assembly 70 . In certain embodiments, the tread assembly 10 can be axially slidably mounted on the housing assembly 70 when the tread assembly 10 and housing assembly 70 are moved toward one another in an axial direction AD. In certain such embodiments, the first mating features 22 can be received in the radially inwardly extending notches 85 of the housing assembly 70 , thus providing a circumferential interference, which can inhibit or prevent the tread assembly 10 from rotating relative to the housing assembly 70 . In some embodiments, the flanges 84 are received into the indentations 25 of the frame 20 to provide additional or alternative circumferential interference between the housing assembly 70 and the tread assembly 10 . The first mating features 22 and second mating features 82 can be circumferentially distributed in a symmetric pattern such that the tread assembly 10 can align with the housing assembly 70 in a plurality of relative rotational orientations. In some embodiments, the first mating features 22 and second mating features 82 are asymmetrically circumferentially distributed such that the tread assembly 10 and housing assembly 70 can align in only one relative rotational orientation. In some such embodiments, alignment between certain features (e.g., sensors, mechanical components, electrical components, etc.) within the housing assembly 70 and certain features of the tread assembly 10 can be facilitated.
In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 2A , the tread 60 and/or frame 20 can include one or more mating identifiers 68 . The mating identifiers 68 can facilitate proper orientation of the tread assembly 10 with respect to the housing assembly 70 for connecting the tread assembly 10 to the housing assembly 70 . For example, mating identifiers 68 can be located on the side of the tread 60 that faces the housing assembly 70 before the tread assembly 10 is received onto the housing assembly 70 . In some embodiments, the mating identifiers 68 correspond to the side of the tread assembly 10 opposite the inwardly-extending flanges 24 .
In some embodiments, the tread assembly 10 is secured with the housing assembly 70 with fasteners 52 in order to, for example, reduce the chance of unintentional separation and/or to reduce vibration. In some configurations, the housing assembly 70 and/or the tread assembly 10 include indicia to indicate the fasteners 52 that couple the housing assembly 70 with the tread assembly 10 . In certain instances, at least one of the fasteners 52 is configured to discourage tampering with the wheel assembly. For example, at least one of the fasteners 52 can have a non-standard screw driving connection (e.g., a tamper-resistant head). The fasteners 52 can be installed into the tread assembly 10 and housing assembly along the axial direction AD.
In some embodiments, a method of installing a tread assembly 10 includes sliding the tread assembly 10 onto the housing assembly 70 . In certain instances, the tread assembly 10 is slid until it is generally fully seated on the housing assembly 70 (e.g., in contact with a positive stop or other feature to denote proper placement). The hub 80 can include one or more hub orientation features 83 , such as one or more protrusions 83 or recesses. In some such embodiments, the tread 60 and/or frame 20 can include one or more tread orientation features 27 (e.g., protrusions and/or recesses) configured to engage with the one or more hub orientation features 83 . Engagement between the tread orientation features 27 and the hub orientation feature 83 can facilitate alignment between the first mating feature 22 and the second mating feature 82 . In some cases, the tread assembly 10 is axially installed (e.g., by sliding) onto the housing assembly 70 . In some embodiments, the method includes securing the tread assembly 10 to corresponding features on the hub 80 with fasteners 52 . According to some variants, the tread assembly 10 can be connected with and disconnected from the housing assembly 70 without unsealing the housing assembly 70 (e.g., without removing the cover 90 from the hub 80 ).
In certain embodiments, the method further includes mounting the wheel assembly with a caster 240 , for example as shown in FIG. 12 . In certain embodiments, the method also includes placing the wheel assembly between end portions 242 of the caster 240 ; placing a first fastener 228 (e.g., a bolt) through the end portions 242 and the wheel assembly; and securing the first fastener 228 with a second fastener 232 (e.g., a nut). In certain instances, the method also includes mating at least one flat portion 235 of an axle 234 of the wheel assembly with a retaining clip 225 . In certain such cases, the method also includes inhibiting rotation of the axle 234 . For example, rotation of the axle 234 can be inhibited by an interference fit between the “U”-shaped side of the retaining clip 225 and at least one of the end portions 242 of the caster 240 .
In some embodiments, a method of removing a tread assembly 10 includes substantially the reverse of some of the actions in the above-described method of installing a tread assembly 10 . For example: separating the wheel assembly from the caster 240 (e.g., by loosening fastener 228 , 232 and removing the fastener 228 ), loosening the fasteners 52 , and axially sliding the tread assembly 10 off of the housing assembly 70 .
In some embodiments, a method of manufacturing a tread assembly 10 includes forming a frame 20 and molding a tread 60 onto the frame 20 . Some embodiments include vulcanizing the tread 60 . In some cases, the method includes applying an adhesive to an outer surface of the frame 20 , which can, for example, improve adherence of the tread 60 with the frame 20 .
With regard to FIGS. 13-22 , another embodiment of a tread assembly is illustrated. In some embodiments, the tread assembly 110 includes a frame 120 and a tread 160 . Certain embodiments of the frame 120 are nylon and are injection molded. In some embodiments, the tread 160 is rubber (e.g., ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM)). Certain variants of the tread 160 can be over-molded onto the insert ring 120 . As shown in FIG. 14 , in the assembled tread 110 , the tread 160 can be positioned generally outside and around the frame 120 . For example, the frame 120 can be received in the tread 160 .
As illustrated in FIGS. 14-16 , in certain implementations, the tread insert component 120 has first mating features 122 arranged in a radial pattern and spaced apart from one another in a circumferential direction D C around an inside circumference of the frame 120 . In some variants, the first mating features 122 correspond to second mating features 182 located on an outer circumference of a wheel hub 180 . The second mating features 182 can be arranged in a radial pattern around the circumference of the hub 180 . The tread assembly illustrated in FIGS. 13-22 includes a wheel cover configured to mate with the hub 180 that is not shown in the figures. The wheel cover can be configured to mate with the hub 180 to create a seal between the wheel cover and the hub 180 . In some embodiments, the first mating features 122 and second mating features 182 are asymmetrically circumferentially distributed such that the tread insert component 120 and hub 180 can align in only one relative rotational orientation. In some such embodiments, alignment between certain features (e.g., sensors, mechanical components, electrical components, etc.) of the hub 180 and certain features of the frame 120 and/or tread 160 can be facilitated. The first mating features 122 and second mating features 182 can, in some embodiments, be circumferentially distributed in a symmetric pattern such that the insert component 120 can align with the hub 180 in a plurality of relative rotational orientations.
As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 , in some variants, the first mating features 122 of the frame 120 include protrusions 124 and recesses 125 . In certain embodiments, the second mating features 182 of the hub 180 include recesses 185 and protrusions 184 . The first mating features 122 can be configured and arranged in such a way that the protrusions 124 can be received in the recesses 185 on the hub 180 , thereby allowing the mating engagement of the protrusions 124 and the recesses 185 . Similarly, the protrusions 184 on the hub 180 can be received in the recesses 125 on the insert ring 120 , thereby allowing the mating engagement of the protrusions 184 and the recesses 125 .
In certain embodiments, the tread insert 160 can be assembled with the wheel hub 180 by mating (e.g., by sliding) the tread insert 160 onto the hub 180 . For example, the protrusion 124 on the insert 160 can be generally aligned with a portion of the recess 185 of the hub 180 , thereby allowing the protrusion 124 to be slidably received (e.g., axially) in the recess 185 . In some embodiments, the insert 160 is pushed onto the hub 180 . In some embodiments, the tread insert 160 is pushed completely onto the hub.
In certain variants, the recess 185 has sufficient axial width (e.g., parallel with the axis of rotation) that the protrusion 124 does not circumferentially interfere with the protrusion 184 , when the protrusion 124 is received in the recess 185 . In some arrangements, when the protrusion 124 is received in the recess 185 , the protrusion 124 has a first axial width and the protrusion 184 has a second axial width, with the first and second axial widths not axially overlapping.
As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 , in some implementations, the tread insert 160 can be rotated relative to the hub 180 . In some embodiments, the tread insert 160 can be rotated (e.g., in a clockwise direction relative to the hub) until it engages (e.g., abuts or otherwise is stopped by) walls that define the recess 185 of the hub 180 . For example, rotation of the tread insert 160 relative to the hub 180 can cause the protrusion 124 of the insert 160 to be received into a second recess 188 extending perpendicular and generally in a circumferential direction D C away from the recess 185 . In some configurations, rotation of the tread insert 160 relative to the hub 180 can cause the protrusion 184 of the hub 80 to be received into the second recess 129 on the tread insert 120 . Such a configuration can, for example, increase the strength and/or reduce the likelihood of relative movement of the insert 160 and hub 180 . In some embodiments, the engagement of the insert 160 and the walls of the hub 180 facilitates torque transfer between the insert 160 and the hub 180 . In certain variants, when the tread insert 160 is rotated, the protrusions 124 on the inside circumference are moved near, next to, in front of, and/or behind the protrusions 184 on the outside of the hub 180 .
In certain implementations, the protrusions 124 , 184 include holes 111 . In certain embodiments, when the tread insert component 160 has been rotated to its final position, the holes 111 that pass through each of the protrusions 124 , 184 will be aligned. In some implementations, fasteners (e.g., screws 52 ) can be driven into the aligned holes 111 , thereby securing the tread insert 160 and hub 180 and/or inhibiting or preventing further relative rotation of the insert 160 and hub 180 . Some variants include a wheel cover with a mating hole (not shown). In some embodiments, the fasteners 50 , 52 secure the tread insert 160 and hub 180 and wheel cover (not shown). For example, the fasteners 50 , 52 can pass through a portion of each of the tread insert 160 and hub 180 and wheel cover. Such a configuration can enhance the structural and/or watertight characteristics of the tread assembly. In some embodiments, each of the fasteners 50 , 52 passes through the wheel cover. In some embodiments, the fasteners 52 used to connect the first mating feature 122 to the second mating feature 182 can have a non-standard screw driving connection (e.g., a tamper-resistant head).
In some embodiments, the tread insert 160 can be configured such that the protrusion 124 can be axially spaced apart from the protrusion 184 . In some variations, the protrusion 124 of the tread insert 106 are received by a generally axially oriented third recess 189 of the second mating feature 182 . Such reception of the protrusions 124 can facilitate torque transfer between the protrusion 124 and the walls defining the third recess 189 . In some embodiments, engagement of the protrusion 124 with the third recess 189 can reduce stress on any fasteners 52 used to mate the first mating feature 122 with the second mating feature 182 .
Although the present disclosure has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments and certain preferred uses, other embodiments and other uses that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments and uses which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of the present disclosure. Components, elements, features, acts, or steps can be arranged or performed differently than described and components, elements, features, acts, or steps can be combined, merged, added, or left out in various embodiments. For example, any or all of the features of the tread assembly of FIGS. 1-12 can be used with the tread assembly of FIGS. 13-22 , and any or all of the features of the tread assembly of FIGS. 13-22 can be used with the tread assembly of FIGS. 1-12 . Also, the wheels and tread assemblies shown and described herein can be used on any type of non-motorized wheeled vehicle, human-propelled vehicle, or cart such as a shopping cart, a hospital or medical device cart, wheelchair, an equipment cart, and so forth. Indeed, all possible combinations and subcombinations of elements and components described herein are intended to be included in this disclosure. No single feature or group of features is necessary or indispensable for every embodiment. Accordingly, the scope of certain embodiments of the present disclosure is to be defined by the claims that follow and their obvious modifications and equivalents.
Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate implementations also can be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation also can be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y and at least one of Z to each be present.
Similarly, while operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular order, it is to be recognized that such operations need not be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Other operations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in the example methods and processes. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the described operations. Additionally, the operations may be rearranged or reordered in other implementations. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products. Additionally, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.
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A wheel for a non-motorized vehicle (e.g., a shopping cart) can include a housing assembly and a tread assembly. The housing assembly can be configured to sealingly house electronics or other components. The tread assembly can removably mate with the housing assembly such that the electronics or other components remain closed and/or sealed within the housing assembly when the tread assembly is mated or unmated with the housing assembly.
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RELATED APPLICATION
This patent application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/586,699, filed Jan. 13, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This application relates to portable lights such as headlamps and flashlights, and more particularly, to a portable light adapted to be spatially adjustable with regard to a base.
BACKGROUND
Portable lights using light emitting diodes (LEDs) are rapidly replacing conventional sources of illumination such as incandescent bulbs. LEDs are significantly more efficient that incandescent bulbs and thus offer greater illumination power and battery life. Moreover, LEDs are typically less fragile and are thus more robust than incandescent bulbs.
LEDs are not the only recent advance in the flashlight arts. For example, given their light weight yet powerful illumination power from relatively small batteries, it is conventional to mount LEDs in headlamps. In such headlamps, the light source is mounted to a headband such that a user can typically adjust the elevation angle of the light beam. Similar light sources can be mounted to vests and offer analogous adjustability. However, the adjustability of the light with respect to its mount makes it difficult or cumbersome to remove the light source should the user desire to use it as a handheld flashlight.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for providing improved flashlight mounts that enable positioning of the light beam while still allowing a quick disconnect of the flashlight from its mount.
SUMMARY
In accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, a portable light is provided that includes: a cylindrical housing having a longitudinal axis and receiving a bezel and a lamp for projecting a light radially away from the longitudinal axis, the housing including a plurality of first engaging features; and a cradle assembly including a clamp for receiving the cylindrical housing, wherein the clamp includes a plurality of second engaging features, the cradle assembly being biased to engage selected ones of the first and second engaging features together to secure the cylindrical housing in a desired rotation about its longitudinal axis with regard to the cylindrical housing.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the invention, a portable light is provided that includes: a cylindrical housing having a longitudinal axis and receiving a bezel and a lamp for projecting a light radially away from the longitudinal axis; a cradle assembly including a clamp for receiving the cylindrical housing, wherein the clamp includes a plurality of first features for engaging selected ones of a plurality of second features on the cylindrical housing to secure the cylindrical housing at a selected rotational position about its longitudinal axis with regard to the cradle assembly; and a pivoting mount for rotatably receiving the cradle assembly with respect to a plane defined by the pivoting mount.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the invention, a method is provided that includes: biasing a pair of tabs together to open a clamp; rotating a cylindrical housing within the opened clamp to a desired orientation, wherein the rotation is about a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical housing, the cylindrical housing including a flashlight bezel projecting radially with regard to the longitudinal axis; and releasing the tabs to secure the cylindrical housing within the clamp at the desired orientation.
The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which are incorporated into this section by reference. A more complete understanding of embodiments of the present invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of one or more embodiments. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable light in accordance with a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the portable light of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cradle assembly and associated mount for the adjustable light of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portable light including a rotatable cradle and a swiveling mount.
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the portable light of FIG. 4 .
FIG. 6 is a perspective of a portable bicycle light including a rotatable cradle and a swiveling handlebar or frame mount.
FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the portable bicycle light of FIG. 6 .
Embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows an example portable light 100 adjustably held in a cradle assembly 105 that in turn is secured to a mount 110 . Cradle assembly 105 holds a cylindrical housing 115 , which may be better seen in the corresponding exploded view of FIG. 2 . Housing 115 provides a longitudinally-extending casing for batteries such as four AA batteries 200 . A flashlight bezel 120 projects radially from housing 115 . Bezel 120 receives a plurality of LEDs 205 mounted on an LED board 210 . As is conventional in the flashlight arts, bezel 120 also receives a reflector 215 and a lens 220 . A retainer 225 is threadably received by bezel 120 to secure lens 220 as well as associated seals 221 and 222 to bezel 120 . Because bezel 120 is directed radially with regard to the longitudinal axis of housing 115 , light will also project radially with regard to this longitudinal axis.
Advantageously, a user may readily rotate the position of housing 115 (and hence angularly adjust a light beam projected from lens 220 ) with respect to cradle assembly 105 . During normal operation, cradle assembly 105 rigidly clamps housing 115 in a fixed orientation. For example, as seen in FIG. 1 , the fixed orientation may be one of projecting the light beam orthogonally with respect to a plane formed by mount 110 . However, a user may desire another orientation such that the projected light is tilted with regard to the mount plane, which is readily achieved as described further herein.
Cradle assembly 105 forms a spring clamp 301 to hold housing 115 such as shown in FIG. 3 . In one embodiment, clamp 301 includes a center flange 300 that interdigitates between a pair of outer flanges 305 and 310 . Each flange ( 300 , 305 and 310 ) ends in a raised tab 320 . A user may thus readily pinch center flange 300 towards either of the outer flanges using just two fingers. For example, a thumb may engage tab 320 on outer flange 310 while an index finger engages tab 320 on center flange 300 . By pinching or biasing these two fingers together, the user not only biases center flange 300 away from outer flange 310 but also from outer flange 305 so as to expand spring clamp 301 . The user could then simultaneously longitudinally move housing 115 away from clamp 301 to free housing 115 so as to use portable light 100 as a conventional hand-held flashlight. In contrast, the conventional flashlight mounting techniques such as through the use of a friction-coupling do not provide such a readily dismountable housing from its cradle.
A variety of engaging mechanisms may be used for spring clamp 301 to hold housing 115 . For example, an inner surface of spring clamp 301 may include a plurality of elongated ridges 325 configured to engage with corresponding elongated grooves 130 ( FIG. 2 ) on an inner surface of cradle assembly 105 . Both ridges 325 and grooves 130 are aligned with the longitudinal axis of housing 115 . Ridges 325 may circumferentially surround housing 115 such that a user may selectively position housing 15 across a full revolution on its longitudinal axis with respect to cradle assembly 105 . In general, however, a user will typically want to project the light beam away from mount 110 such that the practical range of rotational positioning for housing 115 is one hundred and eighty degrees. At either end of this angular range, the light beam would project in the plane defined by mount 110 . The orientation of housing 115 to mount 110 shown in FIG. 1 would thus correspond to 90 degrees in this range of 180 degrees. Note that ridges (or lands) 325 and grooves 130 may be interchanged. In other words, the grooves may be placed on housing 115 and the ridges on the inner surface of cradle assembly 105 . In that regard, housing 115 may be considered to have a set of first engaging features and cradle assembly to have a set of corresponding second engaging features, wherein the first and second sets are configured to engage with each other.
During normal operation, the spring force from spring clamp 301 rigidly engages grooves 130 and ridges 325 in whatever rotational orientation housing 115 has been set with regard to cradle 105 —but note that such an ability to freely select a rotational position assumes that grooves 130 cover a sufficient circumferential range of housing 115 to be able to engage ridges 324 in the desired rotational position of housing 115 . Should grooves 130 cover only a partial circumference of housing 115 , then the rotational positioning is curtailed accordingly. It will be appreciated that as the diameter of grooves 130 (and thus the corresponding diameter of ridges 325 ) is decreased, the finer is the incremental tolerance for the resulting position-ability of housing 115 with respect to cradle 105 .
Mount 110 may comprise a standardized Molle mount so that cradle 105 may be mounted to Molle-compatible vests and other articles. Referring again to FIG. 2 , housing 115 includes a suitable recess to receive bezel 120 and printed circuit board 230 . A distal end of housing 115 receives a switch circuit board 235 and a corresponding switch boot 240 . In one embodiment, several switches are provided to invoke various operating modes such as variable-output primary LED activation mode, a secondary white-LED illumination mode, a secondary red-LED illumination mode, and a maximum-output primary LED illumination mode. Housing 115 may include a straight-edge anti-roll feature 241 to prevent housing 115 from rolling on surfaces when removed from cradle 105 . Batteries 200 may be received by corresponding printed circuit boards 245 and 250 . A battery compartment cap 255 threadably engages a proximal end of housing 115 to contain batteries 200 within housing 115 .
Although portable light 100 thus advantageously enables a quick dismount from cradle 105 yet provides a rotational adjustment on the longitudinal axis of housing 115 , a user may desire even greater adjustability such as through the swiveling mount of portable light 400 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and also for portable bicycle light 600 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 . Portable light 400 includes a mount 405 that clips onto a user's clothing or other suitable material. As seen in the exploded view of FIG. 5 , mount 405 comprises a plurality of cantilever arms 410 that act to bias a captured piece of the user's clothing (e.g., a vest pocket) against a friction pad 415 held in a mounting pad 435 . To assist in the frictional grasp of the user's clothing, the distal ends of arms 410 may be made resilient such as through the addition of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) pads 420 . An additional cantilever arm 430 may aid in providing friction. A cradle assembly 440 holds housing 115 as discussed with regard to cradle assembly 105 of FIGS. 1-3 . In contrast to cradle assembly 105 , cradle assembly 440 pivots in the plane defined by mounting pad 435 through the action of a rotational base 445 . Rotational base 445 includes a circular opening lined by gear teeth 455 . A biased ball detent 450 engages gear teeth 455 . Ball detent 450 is biased with regard to a fixed mount 460 so that rotational base 445 can be held in a desired rotation with regard to mounting pad 435 and fixed mount 460 . A user thus can both pivot housing 115 about a radial axis defined through mounting pad 435 and also about its longitudinal axis with regard to cradle 440 .
An analogous pivoting base 605 may be used for portable bicycle light 600 of FIGS. 6 and 7 . Pivoting base 605 mounts through a clamp 610 to a bicycle component such as the handlebars or the frame. There is no need for any cantilever arms to grasp clothing so a cradle 705 holding the housing for light 600 rotatably mounts to clamp 600 through rotational base 445 and fixed base 460 as discussed analogously with regard to portable light 400 of FIGS. 4 and 5 .
Embodiments described above illustrate but do not limit the invention. Thus, it should also be understood that numerous modifications and variations are possible in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined only by the following claims.
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A portable light includes: a cylindrical housing having a longitudinal axis and receiving a bezel and a lamp for projecting a light radially away from the longitudinal axis; and a cradle assembly including a clamp for receiving the cylindrical housing, wherein the clamp includes a plurality of features for engaging selected ones of corresponding features on the cylindrical housing to secure the cylindrical housing at a selected rotational position about its longitudinal axis with regard to the cradle assembly.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Patent Application PCT/CN2013/072003, filed Feb. 28, 2013, designating the United States of America and published in Chinese as International Patent Publication WO 2013/127350 A1 on Sep. 6, 2013, which claims the benefit under Article 8 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to Chinese Application Serial Nos. 2012/10052429.6 2012, filed Mar. 2, 2012, 2012/10052428.1 2012, filed Mar. 2, 2012, and 2012/10261668.2 2012, filed Jul. 26, 2012, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates to an automatic moving device, and more particularly, to an automatic moving device with over-discharging protection from a battery pack during the returning to charge process.
[0003] The invention also relates to a control method for the automatic moving device, and more particularly, to a control method of the automatic moving device, which performs over-discharging protection on the battery pack during the returning to charge process.
BACKGROUND
[0004] With the development of science and technology, intelligent automatic moving devices are increasingly well known. The automatic moving device can automatically perform related tasks according to preset procedures without manual operation and intervention. So, the automatic moving devices are widely used for industrial applications and house products, such as robots that perform all kinds of functions in industrial applications and in-house applications, such as products including lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, etc. These intelligent automatic moving devices significantly save time, reduce labor intensity, thus improving the production efficiency and/or quality of life.
[0005] Automatic moving devices often use rechargeable battery packs as energy sources and can automatically return to their charging stations for charging. However, the battery pack may become damaged due to over-discharging. So, the energy for the automatic moving device of the battery pack is reduced to a relatively low preset level, but it starts the charging action of returning to the charging station when it does not reach the degree of over-discharging. The automatic moving device generally returns to the charging station before over-discharging. However, due to complicated environments in many working areas and some unexpected cases occurring in the working and returning, difficulties may occur when the automatic moving device returns to the charging station, leading it to continuous moving and damage due to battery pack over-discharging.
[0006] The other case is that some intermittent or seasonal working automatic moving devices can be used again after storing for a long time. For example, lawn mowers are often stored when they are not required for mowing in winter and are then used when the lawn is growing again in spring. In this case, the battery pack for automatic moving devices may be reduced to a very low energy level. This may be far less than the preset energy level at returning to charging. At this time, if the automatic moving device still performs the actions of search and returning to the charging station, it is also possible to become damaged due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
DISCLOSURE
[0007] The invention solves the technical problem of proving a controlling method of an automatic moving device to prevent damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack at automatic returning.
[0008] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the invention is:
[0009] A method for controlling an automatic moving device, wherein the automatic moving device comprises a battery pack for providing power and is adapted to operate in the work area and automatically return to the charging station for charging; the method comprising the following steps: monitoring the energy level of the battery pack; starting an action of making the automatic moving device to return to the charging station, if the energy level of the battery pack is less than or equal to a preset energy level; and stopping moving after a preset length of time.
[0010] Preferably, the method further comprises the following step: setting the preset length of time according to the monitored energy level.
[0011] Preferably, the step of setting the preset length further comprises the following sub-step: finding the difference between the monitored energy level and the preset energy level and setting the preset length of time according to the difference.
[0012] Preferably, the energy level of the battery pack is monitored by monitoring the voltage value of the battery pack; and determining that the energy level of the battery pack is less than or equal to the preset energy level if the voltage value of the battery pack is less than or equal to a preset voltage value.
[0013] Preferably, the preset length of time is set according to the monitored voltage value.
[0014] Preferably, the automatic moving device stops moving and starts charging after returning to the charging station within the preset length of time.
[0015] Preferably, the automatic moving device sends a charging reminder signal if the automatic moving device does not return to the charging station after the preset length of time.
[0016] Preferably, the step of making the automatic moving device to return to the charging station comprises the following steps: searching for a guidance signal related to the position of the charging station; and moving to the charging station according to the guidance signal.
[0017] Preferably, the guidance signal is an electrical signal on a charging guide line; the charging guide line is connected to the charging station and the step of making the automatic moving device return to the charging station comprises the following steps: searching for the electrical signal; traveling to the charging guide line and moving toward the charging station along the charging guide line according to the electrical signal.
[0018] Preferably, the automatic moving device performs a dust absorption task or a mowing task. There are several beneficial effects of the invention. First, by setting a preset length of time while starting a returning action and performing a returning action at the preset length of time, it avoids damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack in case of continuous returning of automatic moving devices, while reaching the effects of protecting the battery pack and extending its life. Then, by setting a specific value of the preset length of time based on the monitored energy level of the battery pack, it makes the returned length of time more exact and pertinent. It also allows it to take longer time to perform returning at a higher battery energy to increase the success rate of returning and to immediately stop returning at lower battery energy levels to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack. The invention solves the technical problem of proving an automatic moving device to prevent damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack at automatic returning.
[0019] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the invention is:
[0020] An automatic moving device, comprising: a driving module, which drives the automatic moving device to move, comprising a motor and wheels driven by the motor; a power module, which supplies energy for moving and working of the automatic moving device, comprising a battery pack and charging terminals connected to the battery pack; a control module, which connects to the driving module, controlling the working of the automatic moving device; a power-detecting unit, which detects the energy level of the battery pack and sends it to the control module, wherein: when the energy level of the battery pack is less than or equal to a preset energy level, the control module starts an action of making the automatic moving device return to the charging station; and after a preset length of time, the control module controls the automatic moving device to stop moving.
[0021] Preferably, the control module sets the preset length of time according to the monitored energy level.
[0022] Preferably, the control module finds a difference between the monitored energy level and the preset energy level, and sets the preset length of time according to the difference.
[0023] Preferably, the power-detecting unit monitors the energy level of the battery pack by monitoring the voltage of the battery pack; if the voltage value of the battery pack is less than or equal to a preset voltage value, then the control module determines that the energy level of the battery pack is less than or equal to the preset energy level accordingly.
[0024] Preferably, the control module sets the preset length of time according to the monitored voltage value.
[0025] Preferably, the control module controls the automatic moving device to stop moving and to charge after the automatic moving device returns to the charging station within the preset length of time.
[0026] Preferably, the control module controls the automatic moving device to send a charging reminder signal, if the automatic moving device does not return to the charging station after the preset length of time.
[0027] Preferably, the automatic moving device further comprises a guidance signal-sensing unit, the guidance signal-sensing unit senses a guidance signal related to the position of the charging station and the control module controls the driving module according to the guidance signal to make the automatic moving device move toward the charging station.
[0028] Preferably, the guidance signal is an electrical signal on a charging guide line and the charging guide line is connected to the charging station; the guidance signal-sensing unit senses the electrical signal; the control module controls the driving module to travel to the charging guide line and moves toward the charging station along the charging guide line according to the sensed electrical signal.
[0029] Preferably, the automatic moving device further comprises a working module, which the power module supplies with energy, to perform mowing tasks or dust absorption tasks.
[0030] There are several beneficial effects of the invention. First, the control module sets a preset length of time while starting a returning action and performing a returning action at the preset length of time, avoiding damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack in case of continuous returning of automatic moving devices, reaching the protection of the battery pack and delaying its life effects. In addition, the control module sets a specific value of the preset length of time based on the monitored energy level of the battery pack, making the returned length of time more exact and pertinent. This allows it to take longer time to perform, returning at higher battery energy to increase the success rate of returning and to immediately stop returning at lower battery energy to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0031] The invention solves another technical problem of providing a controlling method of an automatic moving device to prevent damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack at returning to charging.
[0032] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the invention is:
[0033] An automatic moving device contains a battery pack for power and can operate in the working area and automatically return to the charging station for charging, following several steps: power-on to detect the initial energy level of the battery pack after power-on of the automatic moving device. If the initial energy level of the battery pack is between the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level, start the action, which enables the automatic moving device to return the charging station. This allows the first preset energy level to be higher than the second preset energy level.
[0034] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes the following step: after the preset length of time, the automatic moving device stops moving.
[0035] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes the following step: according to the monitored energy level, set the preset length of time.
[0036] Preferably, setting the preset length of time includes the following sub-steps: find the difference between the detected initial energy level and the first preset energy level or the second preset energy level and set the length of time depending on the difference.
[0037] Preferably, detect the initial energy level of the battery pack by detecting the voltage values of the battery pack. If the voltage value of the battery pack is between the first preset voltage value and the second preset voltage value, it is determined accordingly that the initial energy level of battery pack is between the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level.
[0038] Preferably, set the preset length of time according to the detected voltage values of the battery pack.
[0039] Preferably, the automatic moving device stops moving and charging after returning to the charging station within the preset length of time.
[0040] Preferably, the automatic moving device sends the charging reminder signal if it does not return to the charging station after the preset length of time.
[0041] Preferably, the steps for controlling the automatic moving devices returning to the charging station include searching for the guidance signal related to the position of the charging station and moving to the charging station according to the guidance signal.
[0042] Preferably, the guidance signal is an electrical signal on the charging guide line, the charging guide line is connected to the charging station and the steps for controlling the automatic moving device to return the charging station follow a few steps. They include: searching for the electrical signal and, according to the electrical signal, traveling to the charging guide line and moving toward the charging station along the charging guide line.
[0043] Preferably, the automatic moving device performs the dust absorption task or mowing task.
[0044] Preferably, the initial energy level of the battery pack is detected when the automatic moving device performs work.
[0045] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes the following step: if the initial energy level of the battery pack is less than the second preset energy level, control the automatic moving device to stop moving.
[0046] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes the following step: if the initial energy level of battery pack is less than the second preset energy level, control the automatic moving device to send the charging reminder signal.
[0047] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes the following step: if the initial energy level of the battery pack is higher than the first preset energy level, control the automatic moving device to stop moving.
[0048] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes following steps: when the automatic moving device works, monitor the energy level of the battery pack; if the energy level of the battery pack is less than the third preset energy level, start the action that enables the automatic moving device to return to the charging station. The third preset energy level is less than the first preset energy level, greater, and equal to the second preset energy level. After the preset length of time, the automatic moving device stops moving.
[0049] Preferably, the controlling method of the automatic moving device also includes the following step: according to the monitored energy level, set the preset length of time.
[0050] Preferably, the automatic moving device stops moving and charging after returning to the charging station within the preset length of time.
[0051] There are some beneficial effects of the invention. By determining the relationship between the initial energy level of the battery pack and the two preset voltages at the power-on self-test, it is realized that the returning action is started only when the initial energy of the battery pack is enough to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack. By setting a preset length of time while starting a returning action and performing a returning action at the preset length of time, it avoids damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack in case of continuous returning of automatic moving devices, reaching the protection of battery pack and delaying its life effects. By setting a specific value of the preset length of time based on the monitored energy level of the battery pack, it makes the returned length of time more exact and pertinent. It also allows it to take a longer time to perform by returning at a higher battery energy so as to increase the success rate of returning and to immediately stop returning at lower battery energy to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0052] The invention solves another technical problem of proving an automatic moving device to prevent damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack at automatic returning.
[0053] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the invention is:
[0054] An automatic moving device is comprised of a driving module, which drives the automatic moving device and includes a motor and wheels driven by the motor. Then, there is a power module, which supplies moving and working of the automatic moving device with energy, including a battery pack and charging terminals connected to the battery pack. There is a control module, which connects with the moving device and controlling device for controlling the working of the automatic moving device. A power-detecting unit is also included, which detects energy levels of the battery pack and sends the energy levels to the controlling device. After power-on, the power-detecting unit detects the initial energy level of the battery pack; when the initial energy level of the battery pack is between the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level, the controller starts the action, which allows the automatic moving device to return the charging station.
[0055] Preferably, after the preset length of time, the automatic moving device stops moving.
[0056] Preferably, the controller sets the preset length of time according to the monitored energy level.
[0057] Preferably, the power-detecting unit detects the initial energy level of the battery pack by detecting the voltage of the battery pack. If the voltage value of the battery pack is between the first preset voltage value and the second preset voltage value, the controller determines accordingly that the initial energy level of battery pack is between the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level.
[0058] Preferably, the controller sets the preset length of time according to the detected voltage values.
[0059] Preferably, the automatic moving device stops moving and charging after returning to the charging station within the preset length of time.
[0060] Preferably, the automatic moving device will send the charging reminder signal if it does not return to the charging station after the preset length of time.
[0061] Preferably, the automatic moving device also includes a guidance signal-sensing unit, the guidance signal-sensing unit senses the guidance signal related to the position of the charging station and the control module controls the driving module according to the guidance signal to allow the automatic moving device to move toward the charging station.
[0062] Preferably, the guidance signal is the electrical signal on the charging guide line and the charging guide line is connected to the charging station. The guidance signal-sensing unit senses the electrical signal, the controller controls the driving module to travel to the charging guide line and moves towards the charging station along the charging guide line according to the sensed electrical signal.
[0063] Preferably, the automatic moving device also includes a working module, which the power module supplies with energy, for the automatic moving device to perfoini mowing or dust absorption.
[0064] Preferably, the power-detecting unit detects the initial energy level of the battery pack when the automatic moving device performs work.
[0065] Preferably, if the initial energy level of the battery pack is less than the second preset energy level, the controller controls the automatic moving device to stop moving.
[0066] Preferably, if the initial energy level of the battery pack is less than the second preset energy level, the controller controls the automatic moving device to send the charging reminder signal.
[0067] Preferably, if the initial energy level of the battery pack is higher than the first preset energy level, the controller controls the automatic moving device to start working.
[0068] Preferably, the power-detecting unit monitors the energy level of the battery pack when the automatic moving device works. If the energy level of the battery pack is lower than the third preset energy level, the controller starts the action that enables the automatic moving device to return the charging station. The third preset energy level is less than the first preset energy level, and the third preset energy level is greater than the second preset energy level. After the preset length of time, the automatic moving device stops moving.
[0069] Preferably, the automatic moving device stops moving and charging after returning to the charging station within the preset length of time.
[0070] There are several beneficial effects of the invention. The control module determines the relationship between the initial energy level of the battery pack and the two preset voltages at the power-on self-test to realize that the returning action is started only when the initial energy of the battery pack is enough to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack. The control module sets a preset length of time while starting a returning action and performing a returning action at the preset length of time, avoiding damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack in case of continuous returning of automatic moving devices, reaching the protection of battery pack and delaying its life effects. The control module sets a specific value of the preset length of time based on the monitored energy level of the battery pack. This makes the returned length of time more exact and pertinent, allowing it to take longer time to perform returning at higher battery energy so as to increase the success rate of returning and to immediately stop returning at lower battery energy to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0071] The invention solves the technical problem of proving a controlling method of an automatic moving device to prevent damages due to over-discharging of the power sources at automatic returning.
[0072] To solve the above technical problems, the technical scheme of the invention is an automatic moving device that contains a power module for power. Its controlling method for returning to the docking station is comprised of several steps: control the automatic moving device to start returning and detect the energy level of the automatic moving device; calculate the rate of change on the energy level of the power module; and when the absolute value of the changing rate of the energy level reaches or exceeds the preset threshold value, control the automatic moving device to stop returning.
[0073] Preferably, the controlling method also includes steps for setting the preset threshold values.
[0074] Preferably, set the preset threshold values depending on at least one parameter in the power source type, load level or discharging temperature.
[0075] Preferably, the changing rate of the energy level is first derivatives, second derivatives or higher derivatives on the energy level to time.
[0076] Preferably, the energy level of the power source is indicated by the power source voltage or/and discharging current.
[0077] Preferably, the power source includes the battery pack having at least one cell, and the energy level of the power source is an energy level of the whole battery pack or one of the energy levels of the at least one cell.
[0078] Preferably, when the energy level of the power source is less than the preset energy level, control the automatic moving device to start returning.
[0079] Preferably, when the absolute value of the changing rate of the energy level for the power source is less than the preset threshold value, drive the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station.
[0080] Preferably, in the process of driving the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station, when the automatic moving device returns to the docking station, control the automatic moving device to stop returning.
[0081] Preferably, there are two steps for driving the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station include. First, search for the guidance signal related to the position of the docking station. Then, drive the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station according to the guidance signal.
[0082] Preferably, the guidance signal is the electrical signal on the guide line and the guide line is connected to the docking station. There are two steps for driving the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station. Search for the electrical signal, then move to the guide line and drive the automatic moving device to move towards the docking station along the guide line according to the electrical signal.
[0083] Preferably, the automatic moving device performs the dust absorption task or the mowing task.
[0084] There are several beneficial effects of the invention. By learning the changing rate of the energy level for power source in real time, and determining that the rate of change reaches or exceeds the preset threshold values in the process of returning, it is realized that the automatic moving device is controlled properly to stop returning to avoid damages due to over-discharging of power source in case of the automatic moving device's continuous returning. This achieved the effects of protecting the power source and extending its life.
[0085] The invention solves another technical problem of proving an automatic moving device to prevent damages due to over-discharging of the power sources at automatic returning.
[0086] To solve the above technical problems, there are several technical schemes of the invention. There is an automatic moving device, which can selectively return to the docking station. There is also a driving module, which drives the automatic moving device to move. A power source supplies the automatic moving device with energy. A power-detecting unit detects energy level of the power source. The control module obtains the energy level of the current power source by the power-detecting unit, and controls the operating status of the driving module. The control module controls the driving module to drive the automatic moving device to return to the docking station. The control module calculates the changing rate of the energy level on the power source based on the energy level of the current power source. When the absolute value of the changing rate of the energy level reaches or exceeds the preset threshold value, the control module controls the automatic moving device to stop moving.
[0087] Preferably, the control module sets the preset threshold values in the working process.
[0088] Preferably, the automatic moving device also includes a type identification unit identifying the power source and the control module sets the preset threshold values depending on the signal transferred by the type identification unit.
[0089] Preferably, the automatic moving device also includes a load-detecting unit for detecting load levels of the power source and the control module sets the preset threshold values transferred by the load-detecting unit.
[0090] Preferably, the power-detecting unit detects the discharging temperature of the power module and the control module sets the preset threshold values based on the signal transferred by the power-detecting unit.
[0091] Preferably, the changing rate of the energy level is first derivatives, second derivatives or higher derivatives on the energy level to time.
[0092] Preferably, the energy level of the power source is indicated by the power source voltage or/and discharging current.
[0093] Preferably, the power source includes the battery pack having at least one cell, and the energy level of the power source is an energy level of the whole battery pack or one of the energy levels of the at least one cell.
[0094] Preferably, when the control module determines that the energy level of the current power source is less than the preset energy level, the control module controls the driving module to drive the automatic moving device to return to the docking station.
[0095] Preferably, when the control module determines that the absolute value of the changing rate of the energy level for power source is less than the preset threshold value, the control module controls the driving module to drive the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station.
[0096] Preferably, in the process of the automatic moving device's moving toward the docking station, when the control module determines the automatic moving device has returned to the docking station, the control module controls the driving module to stop moving.
[0097] Preferably, the automatic moving device also includes a guidance signal-sensing unit, the guidance signal-sensing unit senses the guidance signal related to the position of the docking station and the control module controls the driving module according to the guidance signal to drive the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station.
[0098] Preferably, the guidance signal is the electrical signal on the guide line and the guide line is connected to the docking station. The guidance signal-sensing unit senses the electrical signal, the control module controls the driving module to travel to the guide line and drive the automatic moving device to move toward the docking station along the guide line according to the sensed electrical signal.
[0099] Preferably, the automatic moving device also includes a working module, which performs the mowing or dust absorption.
[0100] There are several beneficial effects of the invention. The control module learns the changing rate of the energy level for power source in real time. It also determines that the rate of change reaches or exceeds the preset threshold values in the process of returning to realize that the automatic moving device is controlled properly to stop returning to avoid damages due to over-discharging of power module in case of the automatic moving device's continuous returning. This achieves the effects of protecting the power source and extending its life.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0101] The above technical problems solved by the invention, the technical scheme and beneficial effects can be obtained clearly by the following detailed description that can realize the better embodiment for the invention combined with the drawing descriptions.
[0102] The same reference numerals in the drawings are used to represent the same or identical components.
[0103] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the working system of an automatic moving device in an embodiment of the invention.
[0104] FIG. 2 is a module drawing of the automatic moving device shown in FIG. 1 .
[0105] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a first working process of an embodiment of the invention.
[0106] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a second working process of an embodiment of the invention.
[0107] FIG. 5 is a module drawing of another embodiment for the automatic moving device shown in FIG. 1 .
[0108] FIG. 6 is a working process of the another embodiment shown in FIG. 5 .
[0109] FIG. 7 is a curve chart of a power source discharging of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0110] The detailed description and technical details of the invention, along with the appended drawings, are as follows. The drawings are only for reference and description and not for limitation of the invention.
[0111] FIG. 1 shows a schematic drawing of the working system of the automatic moving device in an embodiment of the invention. The working system of the automatic moving device includes the automatic moving device 2 , charging station 4 and charging guide line 6 for a guidance signal-transmitting unit at returning and connecting with the charging station 4 . In this implementation example, the charging guide line 6 is drawn out from the charging station 4 and returned to charging station 4 after making a loop around the operating range of the automatic moving device 2 and forming a boundary line for the working system of the automatic moving device 2 . The working area is within the area enclosed by the charging guide line 6 and the non-working area is outside the area enclosed by the charging guide line 6 .
[0112] As shown in FIG. 2 , the automatic moving device 2 mainly includes control module 10 , driving module 12 , power module 14 , working module 16 , power-detecting unit 18 and guidance signal-sensing unit 20 .
[0113] The control module 10 is a control center of the automatic moving device 2 and connects with other modules, receives messages from other modules and controls all kinds of actions or tasks such as performing moving, working, returning to the charging station 4 and charging, etc. The control module 10 includes processor 22 , memory 24 , timer 26 , etc., and the detailed results and functions are described subsequently.
[0114] The driving module 12 includes a motor located within the automatic moving device 2 and a wheel 8 driven by the motor, and is used for accepting commands from the control module 10 . The power supplied by the power module 14 drives the automatic moving device 2 to move on the ground or on another working surface. In this implementation example, the driving module 12 includes two driving wheels at both sides of the automatic moving device 2 , connecting the two drive motors on the two driving wheels and one or two support wheels on the front of the automatic moving device 2 . This setting can control the speed and direction of the driving module 12 by controlling the speed and speed difference of the two drive wheels, making the moving and steering of the automatic moving device 2 flexible and accurate. The driving module 12 can have other constitution forms, e.g., it can be either driving a wheel or an individual drive motor and individual steering motor connecting with it; it can be in other forms, such as crawler.
[0115] The working module 16 is used to perform detailed tasks by the automatic moving device 2 . The working module 16 usually includes the working motor and working units driven by the working motor. If the automatic moving device 2 is a vacuum cleaner, the working unit has dust absorption parts for performing dust absorption task. These include a dust collection port, a fan, and a vacuum chamber. If the automatic moving device 2 is a lawn mower, then the working unit is a cutting part, which performs cutting for the working unit, such as an output shaft, cutter, blades, etc. Repetitious details on the output shaft, cutter, blades, etc., need not be given here.
[0116] The power module 14 supplies each module of the automatic moving device 2 with energy for working and includes a rechargeable battery pack and the charging terminals connecting with the battery pack. The charging terminal is used to match with the power terminal on the charging station 4 to connect onto the external power and supplement energy for the battery pack. The power sources module 14 can also be other rechargeable devices, such as rechargeable devices containing super capacitors. In this embodiment, the power module 14 is a battery pack with seven lithium battery cells, with 28 V rated voltage and 2000 mAh rated capacity.
[0117] The power-detecting unit 18 connecting the power module 14 and the control module 10 is used to detect the energy levels of the battery pack in the power module 14 and sends a signal indicating the energy levels to the control module 10 . In this implementation example, the power-detecting unit 18 detects the energy levels in the battery pack by detecting the voltage in the battery pack. For example, the power-detecting unit 18 is the voltage-detecting circuit of the battery pack and sends the signal indicating the voltage value to the control module 10 after detecting the voltage values of the battery pack. Certainly, the power-detecting unit 18 can detect the energy levels of the battery pack in a direct or indirect way, e.g., detect the residual capacity, discharging current, discharging time, discharging temperature of the battery pack. The power-detecting unit 18 can detect the energy levels of the whole battery pack, the energy levels of the battery cells and simultaneously detect both of them, in which the energy level of the battery cell can be the energy level of one battery cell, of some battery cells, or of each battery cell. All embodiments of the energy levels for the battery pack are well known by the technicians in this field, which need not be given here.
[0118] The guidance signal-sensing unit 20 and the external guidance signal-transmitting unit of the automatic moving device 2 forms a returning guidance system, which is used to guide the automatic moving device 2 to return to the charging station 4 .
[0119] In this implementation example, the guidance signal-transmitting unit includes an electrical signal generator and the charging guide line 6 . The electrical signal generator is preferably an electrical signal generator that separates with the automatic moving device 2 , and an electrical signal generator that connects the charging guide line 6 . The electrical signal generator sends electrical signal I to the charging guide line 6 as a guidance signal guiding the automatic moving device 2 to move toward the charging station 4 , as shown in FIG. 1 . The signal generator is preferably integrated in the charging station 4 . The guidance signal-sensing unit 20 is preferably one or more inductance on the automatic moving device 2 . The charging guide line 6 carries variable current signal I, which will generate a correspondingly changing magnetic field around it, but the induction senses the signal of the charging guide line 6 by sensing the changing magnetic fields in the sensing space and transfers the sensed signal to the control module 10 . The control module 10 analyzes all characteristics of the sensed signal, such as sensing time, signal strength, signal interval, etc., and determines the relative position of the automatic moving device 2 to the charging guide line 6 and the distance therefrom. In this way, when returning is required, the control module 10 sends the commands to the driving module 12 . Then, based on the obtained information, the control module 10 sends a command to the driving module 12 to make it drive the automatic moving device 2 to travel near the charging guide line 6 or above the charging guide line 6 , so as to return to the charging station 4 along the charging guide line 6 .
[0120] The returning guidance system can also have other implementations. The guidance signal-transmitting unit can be an ultrasonic transmitter, and the guidance signal-sensing unit 20 can be a corresponding ultrasonic sensing unit. The returning guidance system locates the position of the charging station 4 by ultrasonic waves and the guided automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 . The guidance signal-transmitting unit can be an infrared transmitter, and the guidance signal-sensing unit 20 can be a corresponding infrared-sensing unit. The returning guidance system locates the position of the charging station 4 by infrared light and the guided automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 . The guidance signal-transmitting unit can also be an image collector installed on the automatic moving device 2 . The guidance signal-sensing unit is a pattern recognition device that determines the guidance signal related to the position of the charging station 4 according to image information collected by the image collector. The guidance signal-transmitting unit can also be a GPS satellite, and the guidance signal-sensing unit is a GPS chip installed on the automatic moving device 2 , which determines the position of automatic moving device 2 relative to the charging station 4 to determine the guidance signal relative to the position of the charging station 4 .
[0121] Thanks to the collaboration of the above-described various parts, the invention realizes the returning charging and the over-discharging protection of the battery pack in the returning charging by means of the process described below or the methods.
[0122] Referring to FIG. 3 , the first working process of the invention is particularly suitable for determination, implementation of the return-to-charge action and battery pack protection during the working, and is also used at power-on, i.e., determination, implementation of the return-to-charge action and battery pack protection at first start-up.
[0123] In the initial step S 0 , the automatic moving device 2 starts up or has been at work.
[0124] Going to S 2 , the control module 10 monitors the energy level of the battery pack by the power-detecting unit 18 . As mentioned previously, in this implementation example, the detection of power detects the voltage of the battery pack representing the energy levels of the battery pack and sends it to the control module 10 .
[0125] Then, in S 4 , the control module 10 determines that the energy level of the battery pack is greater than the preset energy level. The preset energy level is pre-stored in the memory 24 of the control module 10 . The processor 22 of the control module 10 compares the preset energy level and the energy level of the battery pack. If the energy level of the battery pack is greater than the preset energy level described, go to S 0 , the automatic moving device 2 continues to work and does not perform other actions. Alternatively, if the energy level of the battery pack is not greater than the preset energy level described, go to S 6 and start the action, which allows the automatic moving device 2 to return to the charging station. Specific to this implementation example, because the voltage of the battery pack expresses the energy level of the battery pack, the voltage stored in the memory 24 is a preset voltage value. The processor 22 determines degree relations between the preset energy level and the energy level of the detected battery level by comparing the degree relations between the voltage value of the battery pack and the preset voltage described. Additionally, in this implementation example, the process goes to S 6 when the energy level of the battery pack equals the preset energy level, but it is practicable that the process goes to S 2 .
[0126] After the control module 10 determines that the energy level of the battery pack is lower than the preset energy level, the automatic moving device 2 usually stops the operation of the working module 16 in the process of the returning to save energy.
[0127] After going to S 6 , the automatic moving device 2 starts the returning action. For example, it starts returning to the charging station 4 . The step following S 6 is S 8 ; the automatic moving device 2 sets a preset length of time and starts timing after starting the returning action. S 6 is before S 8 in this procedure. The technicians in this field can understand that there is no strict order between S 6 and S g and their order can be exchanged or it is considered that they can be performed simultaneously.
[0128] The preset length of time described is a fixed value, which is pre-stored in the memory 22 , such as 20 minutes. In S 8 , the processor 22 reads the preset length of time from the memory 24 and commands the timer 26 to start timing according to the preset length of time.
[0129] In this implementation example, provided that the energy level of the battery pack is less than or equal to the preset energy level, regardless of the difference between this energy level and the preset energy level, the preset length of time is certain. However, in other optional embodiments, the preset length of time can also be a changing value and the control module 10 can set the preset length of time according to the monitored energy level of the battery pack. Preferably, the control module 10 can calculate the preset length of time based on the difference between the detected energy level and the preset energy level, or directly based on the energy level of the battery pack, and there is no essential distinction between both. In this implementation example, because the voltage of the battery pack expresses the energy level of the battery pack, practically, the control module 10 can set the preset length of time according to the voltage values of the battery pack. It can set the preset length of time, preferably, based on the difference between the detected voltage and the preset voltage value. For example, if the detected battery pack voltage value is 22 V and the preset voltage value is 23 V, the preset length of time is 20 minutes. If the detected battery pack voltage value is 21 V, the preset length of time is 18 minutes accordingly, and so on. It is easy to think that the corresponding relation between the preset length of time and the detected voltage value or the aforementioned difference can be obtained by a formula and can be directly set by the comparison table pre-stored in the memory 22 .
[0130] After starting the returning action, the automatic moving device 2 goes to S 10 that is, performing returning action and returning to the charging station. The automatic moving device 2 searches the guidance signal related to the position of the charging station 4 by the guidance signal-sensing unit 20 and moves to the charging station 4 according to the guidance signal. As mentioned previously, the guidance signal-sensing unit 20 moves toward the charging guide line by sensing the surrounding magnetic signal generated by the electrical signal on the charging guide line 6 , and then moves toward the charging station 4 along the charging guide line 6 .
[0131] After performing S 10 , the control module 10 determines whether the automatic moving device 2 successfully returns to the charging station 4 . It then, preferably, determines that the charging terminals on the automatic moving device 2 are connected with the power terminal on the charging station 4 . Usually, the determination is realized by monitoring that the charging terminals described receive the external voltages or signal. The determination can be performed by other ways such as position sensor, crash sensor. If the result is “Yes,” that is, the automatic device 2 returns the charging station 4 , go to S 14 , the control module 10 controls the automatic moving device 2 to stop moving and starts charging. If the result is “No,” go to S 16 .
[0132] S 16 determines whether the length of time has been reached. If the determined result of S 16 is “No,” return to S 10 and continue to perform the action of returning to the charging station. If the result is “Yes” and the preset length of time has reached, go to S 18 and the automatic moving device 2 stops moving. Preferably, the control module 10 controls the driving module 12 to stop working.
[0133] In the first working process, whenever the automatic moving device 2 successfully returns to the charging station 4 , it stops moving after the preset length of time. That is, if the automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 within the preset length of time, it will stop moving in the charging station 4 and perform charging. If the automatic moving device 2 cannot return to the charging station 4 within the preset length of time, it will also stop moving. This working process avoids both the automatic moving device 2 continuously searching for the charging station 4 when it cannot successfully return and damage due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0134] Preferably, when the determined result of S 16 is “Yes,” the control module 10 also controls the automatic moving device 2 to send a charging reminder signal to remind users that the automatic moving device 2 needs returning to the charging station 4 with manual assistance. The charging reminder signal can be graphic information displayed on the display panel of the automatic moving device 2 , a special alarm sound signal, or information on other devices for the remote wireless from the user, such as short messages or other reminders sent to the users' mobile phone via a mobile network, etc.
[0135] By the first working process as described above, the automatic moving device 2 can start returning in good time to power-up and work, according to the energy levels of the battery pack as well as perform the over-discharging protection on the battery pack during the returning.
[0136] The following introduces the second working process of this invention with the help of FIG. 4 . In the second working process, the two cases of power-up and working are distinguished and determination of returning and protection of the battery pack are performed for their specific circumstances. The second working mode is especially suitable for the case that the automatic moving device 2 is stored for a long time and it is restarted after the voltage is significantly reduced due to self-discharging of the battery pack.
[0137] In the initial step S 1 , the automatic moving device 2 starts up, i.e., it is recovered from power off or sleep state to power-on state. Then go to S 3 , the power-detecting unit 18 detects the initial energy level of the battery pack and sends it to the control module 10 .
[0138] The initial energy level of the battery pack can be detected when the main power-consumption parts of the automatic moving device 2 , the driving module 12 and working module 16 have not worked. In this implementation example, because it detects the energy level of the battery pack by means of measuring voltage, the automatic moving device 2 detects the initial energy level of the battery pack at work or under normal loads to prevent virtual-high voltage values of the battery pack without working. Preferably, the automatic moving device 2 first starts the driving module 12 and working module 16 for a few seconds at start-up, detects the voltage values of the battery pack and sends the values to the control module 10 .
[0139] After the control module 10 receives signals representing the initial energy level of the battery pack, perform S 5 to determine that if the energy level of the battery pack is greater than the first preset energy level. If the initial energy level of the battery pack is greater than the preset energy level, go to S 9 . The control module 10 controls the automatic moving device 2 for working. For example, the driving module 12 drives and the working module 16 perform the preset task.
[0140] Alternatively, if the initial energy level of the battery pack is not greater than the preset energy level, go to S 7 and continuously determine that the initial energy level of the battery pack is greater than the second energy level and the second preset energy level is less than the first preset energy level.
[0141] If the determined result of S 7 is “No” and the initial energy level of the battery pack is not greater than the second preset energy level, the process jumps to S 27 . The control module 10 controls the automatic moving device 2 to stop moving and at this time the automatic moving device 2 cannot usually perform other working tasks. If the determined result of S 7 is “Yes” and the initial energy level of the battery pack is greater than the second preset energy level, go to S 15 , the automatic moving device 2 starts returning action.
[0142] In S 5 and S 7 , the detailed determination procedure of the initial energy level is similar to the first working mode. Because the voltage of the battery pack is detected by the power-detecting unit, the initial energy level, the first preset energy level and the second energy level are indicated by the initial voltage value of the battery pack, the first preset voltage value and the second preset voltage value. The first preset voltage value and the second preset voltage value are pre-stored in the memory 24 of the control module 10 and the processor 22 of the control module 10 , which determines the relation between the initial energy level of the battery pack and the first preset voltage value or the second preset voltage value.
[0143] The automatic moving device 2 has three following actions based on the initial energy levels of the battery pack at start-up by the above process setting. If the initial energy level of the battery pack is greater than the first preset energy level, it indicates that the initial energy of the battery pack is enough, the automatic moving device 2 performs the first follow-up action, then, go to S 9 for normal start. The control module 10 commands the automatic moving device 2 to perform working, i.e., performing the preset tasks or other commands received. If the initial energy level of the battery pack is between the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level, i.e., less than the first preset energy level and greater than the second preset energy level, this indicates that the initial energy of the battery pack is not enough and requires supplemental energy. The automatic moving device 2 will then perform the second follow-up action. Go to S 15 for performing the action of returning to the charging station 4 . If the initial energy level of the battery pack is less than or equal to the second preset energy level, indicating the initial energy of the battery pack has a serious shortage, it is not proper to perform work and the actions of returning to the charging station 4 . Therefore, the automatic moving device 2 performs the third follow-up action and performs S 27 , and the control module 10 commands the automatic moving device 2 to stop moving. This can effectively avoid starting the returning process when the energy of the battery pack is too low, and thus avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0144] When performing the first follow-up actions, the automatic moving device 2 goes from S 5 to S 15 , and then goes to S 27 according to the follow-up procedure of S 15 . Starting from S 9 through S 27 , the working process of the automatic moving device 2 is in general accord with the first working procedure described above.
[0145] After S 9 , the automatic moving device 2 goes to S 11 and monitors the energy level of the battery pack. In S 13 , it is determined that the energy level of the battery pack is greater than the third preset energy level and the third preset energy level is less than or equal to the first preset energy level but is greater than the second preset energy level. The third preset energy level is indicated by voltage value and is pre-stored in the memory 24 . If the determined result of S 13 is “Yes,” return to S 9 to continue to perform working; if the determined result is “No,” go to S 15 to start the returning action. In S 17 , the automatic moving device 2 sets a preset length of time and starts timing from starting the returning actions via the timer 26 ; after S 17 , the process goes to S 19 and the automatic moving device 2 performs the returning action. After S 19 , in S 21 , the control module 10 determines that the automatic moving device 2 has returned to the charging station 4 . If the result is “Yes,” go to S 23 , the automatic moving device 2 stops moving and performs charging. If the result is “No,” go to S 25 , and then determine that the action for performing the returning action has reached the preset length of time. If the determined result of S 25 is “No,” the process return to S 19 to continue to perform the returning action. If the deter mined result of S 25 is “Yes,” go to S 27 , the automatic moving device 2 stops moving.
[0146] When performing the second follow-up actions, the automatic moving device 2 goes from S 7 to S 15 , and then goes to S 27 according to the follow-up procedure of S 15 . In this case, it is particularly advantageous to set the preset length of time according to the initial energy level of the battery pack or the initial voltage value detected in S 3 . In the first working process, if the energy of the battery pack detected in the working process and the energy level of the battery pack are reduced gradually from the high point, the energy level of the battery pack usually equals to or is slightly lower than the preset energy level when the automatic moving device 2 starts returning. Therefore, it is practicable to set a fixed preset length of time. However, as described in the second working process, in the process starting from the startup action, the energy level may be much lower than the first preset energy level due to self-discharging of the battery pack. At this time, the preset working time can be set according to the initial energy level or the initial voltage of the battery pack or the real safe operating item of the battery pack to avoid damages due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0147] Starting from S 15 , the process of the automatic moving device 2 is the same as that of the process of the first follow-up action starting from S 15 , i.e., starting returning and sets one preset length of time and starts timing; if the preset length of time has reached, stops moving. The detailed process need not be given here.
[0148] Similar with the first working process, in the returning relative process of the first follow-up action and the second follow-up action, whenever the automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 successfully, it stops moving at the preset length of time. That is, if the automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 within the preset length of time, it will stop moving in the charging station 4 and perform charging. If the automatic moving device 2 cannot return to the charging station 4 within the preset length of time, it will be also stop moving. This working process avoids both the automatic moving device 2 continuously searching the charging station 4 when it cannot successfully return and damage due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0149] When performing the third follow-up action, the automatic moving device 2 directly goes to S 27 , stops moving and waits for the user to perform charging with manual assistance. Similar with the first working process described above, the automatic moving device 2 can also send a charging reminder signal.
[0150] By the two working processes described above, the automatic moving device 2 in this invention can automatically return to the charging station for charging in case of insufficient energy, avoiding damages due to discharging of the battery pack in the returning.
[0151] Referring to FIG. 5 , in some other implementation of the invention, the automatic moving device 2 mainly includes the control module 10 , the driving module 12 , power source 14 , working module 16 , power-detecting unit 18 , guidance signal-sensing unit 20 , load-detecting unit 27 and type-identification unit 28 .
[0152] The load-detecting unit 27 connects the power module 14 and the control module 10 and is used to detect the load levels of the power module 14 , i.e., the automatic moving device 2 's consumption state of the energy of the power module 14 . The load levels of power module 14 are identified by detecting the discharging current, discharging voltage, discharging temperature of the power module 14 . Specific to this implementation, the load-detecting unit 27 detects the discharging currents of the power module 14 and transfers the detected discharging current values to the control module 10 in real time, which is easy for the control module 10 to perform the corresponding process and control according to the transferred signal.
[0153] The type-identification unit 28 connects the power module 14 and the control module 10 and can be used for identifying the type of the power module 14 , such as the chemical type, voltage type, etc., of the power module 14 . The type-identification unit 28 can set identification resistance within the power module 14 and can also be identification circuits set inside or outside the power module 14 . Specific to this implementation, the type-identification unit 28 is the identification resistance set within the power module 14 , and the control module 10 can obtain the type of the power module 14 by obtaining the resistance values of the type-identification unit 28 .
[0154] Thanks to the collaboration of the above-described various parts, the invention realizes the returning charging and the over-discharging protection of the battery pack in the returning charging by means of the process described below or the methods.
[0155] The workflow diagram shown in FIG. 6 is suitable for the determination of the returning charging, implementation of the returning charging and battery pack protection in the process of the automatic moving device 2 's performing the work, i.e., the process of the working module 16 's performing working. It is also suitable for the determination of the returning charging, implementation of the returning charging and battery pack protection at start-up of the automatic moving device 2 , i.e., when the module 16 has not started the working.
[0156] In the initial step S 0A , the automatic moving device 2 is in the start-up state, at this time the automatic moving device 2 has not started performing works.
[0157] Going to S 1A , the control module 10 monitors the energy level of the battery pack by the power-detecting unit 18 . The energy level of the battery pack can be residual capacity, discharging voltage, discharging current, discharging time, discharging temperature, etc., of the battery pack. The energy level of the battery pack can be the energy level of the whole battery pack, the energy level of one battery cell, the energy level of some battery cells, the energy level of every battery cell or a combination of the energy level described above. As mentioned previously, in this implementation example, the power-detecting unit 18 detects the voltage of the battery pack representing the energy levels of the whole battery pack and sends it to the control module 10 .
[0158] After S 1A , go to S 2A , wherein the control module 10 determines that the energy level of the power module 14 obtained by the power-detecting unit 18 is lower than the first preset energy level. The first preset energy level is pre-stored in the memory 24 of the control module 10 . The processor 22 of the control module 10 compares the energy level of the first preset energy level and of the detected power module 14 . If the energy level of power source is lower than the first preset energy level, go to S 6A . In S 6A , the control module 10 controls the automatic moving device 2 to start returning. If the energy level of the power module 14 is not lower than the first preset energy level, go to S 3A . As mentioned previously, in this implementation example, because the energy level of the power module 14 is indicated by the whole battery pack voltage, the one stored in the memory 24 is the first preset voltage value. The processor 22 determines the degree relations between the first preset energy level and the detected energy level of the power module 14 by comparing the degree relations between the whole battery pack voltage and the first preset voltage value described. In this implementation example, when the energy level of the power module 14 equals to the first preset energy level, go to S3A, but at this time it is practicable if the process goes to S 6A .
[0159] In S 3A , the control module 10 controls the working module 16 to start working, thus, performing the corresponding works, such as dust absorption tasks or mowing tasks. After S 3A , go to S 4A . In S 4A , the same work is performed as S 1A , that is, the control module 10 monitors the energy level of the power module 14 , i.e., the whole battery pack voltage by the power-detecting unit 18 .
[0160] After S 4A , go to S 5A , wherein the control module 10 determines that the energy level of the power module 14 is lower than the second preset energy level. The second preset energy level is pre-stored in the memory 24 of the control module 10 . The processor 22 of the control module 10 compares the energy level of the second preset energy level and the detected energy level of the power module 14 . If the energy level of the power module 14 is not lower than the second preset energy level described, go to S 3A . The automatic moving device 2 continues to work and does not perform other actions. Alternatively, if the energy level of the power source is lower than the second preset energy level described, go to S 6A , start the action of allowing the automatic moving device 2 to return the charging station. In this implementation example, because the whole battery pack voltage indicates the energy level of the power module 14 , the one stored in the memory 24 is the second preset voltage value. The processor 22 determines the degree relations between the second preset energy level and the detected energy level of the power module 14 by comparing the degree relations between the whole battery pack voltage and the first preset voltage value described. In this implementation example, when the energy level of the power module 14 equals to the second preset energy level, go to S 3A , but at this time it is practicable if the process goes to S 6A .
[0161] As mentioned previously, the memory 24 of the control module 10 stores the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level. The first preset energy level is in the condition that the control module 10 determines that it controls the automatic moving device 2 to start the returning before the working module 16 of the automatic moving device 2 performs the work. The second preset energy level is in the condition that the control module 10 determines that it controls the automatic moving device 2 to start the returning before the working module 16 of the automatic moving device performs the work. The first preset energy level can be the same as the second preset energy level and can be different. If they are the same, the memory 24 of the control module 10 only requires storing one preset energy level. In this case, in S 2A and S 5A , the first preset energy level is used as comparing with the energy level of the detected power module 14 together with the second preset energy level, which is the same preset energy level. Preferably, the first preset energy level is different from the second preset energy level. More preferably, the memory 24 of the control module 10 stores the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level according to different load levels in the power module 14 . Because the working module 16 has not started performing the work when the processor 22 compares the energy level of the power module 14 with the first preset energy level, the energy consumption of the automatic moving device 2 on the power module 14 is less and the load level of the power module 14 is less. When the processor 22 compares the energy level 14 of the power source with the second preset energy level, the working module 16 has started to perform working. The energy consumption of the automatic moving device 2 on the power module 14 is more. The load level of the power module 14 is also larger. Therefore, the first preset energy level stored by the memory 24 of the control module 10 is not higher than the energy level of the second preset energy level. When the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level is set, it is considered that the residual energy level of the power module 14 is enough to support the automatic moving device 2 to return to the charging station. In this implementation, the energy required by the automatic moving device 2 for returning to the charging station is about 100 mAh, but the residual energy retained in the power module 14 is 200 mAh when setting the first preset energy level and the second preset energy level to improve the reliability. In an implementation, the power module 14 is a lithium battery pack with a rated voltage of 28 V and 2000 mAh capacity, which has an energy level that goes through the complete voltage-reaction power module 14 for the battery pack. It is obtained from tests that the residual capacity is 200 mAh and the voltage of the whole battery pack is about 24.5 V when the loads are not applied on the battery pack; the residual capacity is 200 mAh, and the voltage of the whole battery pack is about 23 V when about 0.6 A loads are applied. Therefore, the memory 24 of the control module 10 stores the preset voltage value and the second preset voltage value with the two different values, where the first preset voltage is 24.5 V and the second preset voltage is 23 V. Thus, it is clear that, in this implementation, the first preset voltage value and the second preset voltage value are fixed values and the first preset voltage value is lower than the second preset voltage value.
[0162] From S 0A described above to S 5A , FIG. 6 depicts that the automatic moving device 2 determines that it starts the returning and the energy level of the power module 14 is lower than the preset energy level. In addition to the modes described above, the returning can be started by receiving the user's returning commands, for example, the forced returning button operated by the user is set on a house of the automatic moving device 2 . When users close the forced returning button, the control module 10 can detect that the forced returning button is from “open” to “closed,” thus, to identify the user's forced returning command to control the automatic moving device 2 to start returning.
[0163] After the control module 10 determines that the energy level of the power module 14 is lower than the preset energy level, the automatic moving device 2 usually stops the operation of the working module 16 in the process of the returning to save energy.
[0164] After going to S 6A , the automatic moving device 2 starts the returning action, i.e., starts returning to the charging station 4 . The step after S 6A is S 7A . In S 7A , the same actions are performed as S 1A or S 4A , that is, the control module 10 monitors the energy level of the power module 14 via the power-detecting unit 18 .
[0165] After S 7A , the automatic moving device 2 goes to S 8A ; the control module 10 obtains the energy level of the current power module 14 through power-detecting unit 18 and calculates the changing rate of the energy level according to the current energy level. It may be observed after long-term research that the changing of the energy level is smooth when the power module 14 is in the initial period of discharging, i.e., the residual power level is higher. The changing of the energy level changes dramatically at the end of discharging, i.e., when the residual power level is very low. The changing rates of the energy level in the two stages have a very clear distinction. Therefore, the stage of discharging the power module 14 is obtained by calculating the changing rate of the energy level. Stopping further discharging of the power module 14 may prevent damage to the power module 14 due to over-discharging.
[0166] To further describe the above characteristics; take the changing curve of the voltage in the discharging process of the power module 14 as an example together with FIG. 7 to illustrate. FIG. 7 shows the discharging curve of voltage and time during the discharging of the power module 14 . The discharging curve includes A and B, in which the voltage of part A decreases slowly and the voltage of the battery pack is decreased to the cut-off voltage U min in a very short time. When performing discharging on the power module 14 when the voltage is lower than U min , it will cause over-discharging on the power module 14 causing damage to the power module 14 . As described above, the voltage changes very obviously, therefore, it is obtained that the battery pack is about close to discharging by calculating the changing rate and determining that the rate reaches the preset threshold, thus, performing effective protection on the power module 14 . The changing rate of the energy level can be calculated by calculating the first derivative between the energy level of the power module 14 and time t or calculating the second derivative or higher-order derivative between the energy level of the power module 14 and time, in which the second derivative and higher-order derivative changes more significantly relative to the first derivative and is easy to detect. The calculation is relatively complex. The calculation mode of the control module 10 on the energy level of the power module 14 can be realized by the hardware or software. For hardware mode, for example, it can be done via differentiating circuit. For software, for example, it can be done by calculating the changing rate Δp of the energy level for the battery pack within a certain continuous interval Δt, that is, Δp/Δt; or calculate changes of Δp/Δt in a continuous interval Δt, that is d 2 p/d 2 t; or calculate changes d 2 p/d 2 t within a continuous interval Δt, etc. In this implementation, the changing rate of the energy level of the power module 14 is obtained by calculating the first derivative between the energy level of power module 14 and time. In this implementation, the energy level of the power module 14 is the whole battery pack voltage; the changing rate of the energy level for the power module 14 is the first derivative between the whole battery pack voltage and time. The control module 10 obtains the whole battery pack voltage values by the power-detecting unit 18 and stores them in the memory 24 . The processor 22 obtains the whole battery pack voltage values at the first specific time point and the whole battery pack voltage values at the second specific time point after the preset time interval Δt from the memory 24 . It then calculates the ratio between ΔV and Δt, i.e., ΔV/Δt, and the first derivative between the energy level of the power source and time is the changing rate of the energy level. Additionally, when the energy level of the power module 14 is indicated by the discharging current, discharging temperature of the power module 14 , when loading the specific loads, the curve between the discharging current and time is similar with the curve between voltage and time shown in FIG. 7 . When ensuring the specific discharging current, the curve between the discharging temperature and time is similar with the curve between voltage and time shown in FIG. 7 . Therefore, when the energy level is indicated by the discharging current, discharging temperature, etc., the time point for stopping discharging on the power module 14 can be determined by calculating the changing rate of the energy levels to realize the protection on the power module 14 .
[0167] With reference to FIG. 6 , and continued reference to FIG. 7 , after S 8A , go to S 9A . The automatic moving device 2 set a preset threshold for the changing rate of the energy level for the power module 14 . As shown in FIG. 7 , the energy levels of the power module 14 has changes of the two Stages A and B with the extended working time, in which it is smooth in Stage A and is dramatic in Stage B. However, many parameters have influences on the changes of Stage B, such as the type, load level, discharging temperature, etc., of the power module 14 . When the degree of change in Stage B is different, the changing rate of the corresponding energy level at the time point of stopping discharging must be different. Therefore, preferably set the preset thresholds based on the parameters having influences on the changing degree in Stage B, thereby more accurately determining the time point for stopping discharging and better protecting the power source. If there is a possibility for the automatic moving device 2 providing different types of power modules 14 with energies, preferably, set different preset threshold values for different types of power modules 14 when setting the preset threshold values. Alternatively, if the automatic moving device 2 only uses one type of power module 14 for supply sources, it is not necessary to set different preset thresholds according to different types of power modules 14 when the preset threshold is set. Additionally, if the automatic moving device 2 is in the process of returning to the charging station 4 , preferably set different preset thresholds according to different load levels when the load levels of the power module 14 change significantly. If the automatic moving device 2 is in the process of returning to the charging station 4 , set different preset thresholds according to different load levels when the load levels of the power module 14 change significantly. Whenever the type of the power module 14 is different or the load levels changes a lot, preferably, set the preset threshold according to discharging temperature of the power module 14 . Certainly, if the automatic moving device 2 only uses one chemical type of power module 14 for a power supply, the load level of the power module 14 does not change greatly in the process of returning. Alternatively, the automatic moving device 2 uses a different type of power module 14 for a power supply and/or the load levels of the power module 14 change greatly in the process of returning. In some embodiments, the preset threshold is set when the automatic moving device 2 leaves factory. In the working process of the automatic moving device 2 , it is adjusted based on different load levels, type, discharging temperature of the power module 14 . When the preset threshold is fixed, S 8A can be exempted, that is, after S 7A , perform S 9A without setting S 8A .
[0168] In this implementation, the control module 10 sets the preset threshold based on the type, load levels and discharging temperature of the power module 14 . Specifically, the control module 10 detects discharging current of the battery pack by the load-detecting unit 27 and it is 0.6 A to 1 A in this implementation. At this time, the type-identification unit 28 detects the type of the battery pack and it is a lithium battery in this implementation. Additionally, the control module 10 detects the temperature of the power module 14 , the operating mode of the temperature-detecting unit is well known by the technicians, for simplicity, it is not shown in the figure. After knowing the discharging current, discharging temperature and type in the battery pack, the preset threshold 0.02 V/s is indicated by the threshold of the memory 24 stored in the control module 10 via the real-time query.
[0169] Because in the implementation, the discharging current of power module 14 is detected by the load-detecting unit 27 , and the discharging current can also be parameters representing the energy level of power module 14 . When the energy level is indicated by the discharging current and the power-detecting unit 18 is set as the discharging current of the power module 14 , which can be detected, the function of the load-detecting unit 27 can also be realized by the power-detecting unit 18 directly. Additionally, preferably, the function of the temperature-detecting unit 18 can also be completed by the power-detecting unit 18 directly.
[0170] After S 9A , the automatic moving device 2 goes to S 10A . For example, it drives the automatic moving device 2 to move toward the charging station 4 to return to the charging station 2 . The automatic moving device 2 searches for the guidance signal related to the position of the charging station 4 by the guidance signal-sensing unit 20 and moves to the charging station 4 according to the guidance signal. As mentioned previously, the guidance signal-sensing unit 20 moves toward the charging guide line 6 by sensing the surrounding magnetic signal generated by the electrical signal on the charging guide line 6 , then moves toward the charging station along the charging guide line 6 .
[0171] After performing S 10A , go to S 12A . The control module 10 determines that the automatic moving device 2 successfully returns to the charging station 4 . It preferably determines that the charging terminals on the automatic moving device 2 are connected with the power terminal on the charging station 4 . Usually, the determination is realized by monitoring that the charging terminals described have received the external voltages or signal, and the determination can be performed by other ways such as a position sensor, a crash sensor, etc. If the result is “Yes” and the automatic device 2 returns the charging station 4 , go to S 14A , wherein the control module 10 controls the automatic moving device 2 to stop moving and start charging. If the result is “No,” go to S 16A .
[0172] S 16A determines if the absolute value of the changing rate of the energy level of the battery pack reaches or exceeds the preset threshold. If the result of S 16 is “No,” i.e., the absolute value of the changing rate of energy level for the battery pack is lower than the preset threshold, return to S 10A and continue to perform the action for returning to the charging station 4 . If the result is “Yes,” i.e., the changing rate of the energy level for the battery pack reaches or exceeds the preset threshold, go to S 18A . In S 18A , the automatic moving device 2 stops moving. Preferably, the control module 10 controls the driving module 12 to stop working.
[0173] In the working process shown in FIG. 6 , whenever the automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 successfully, it stops moving after its energy level in the battery pack reaches or exceeds the preset threshold value. That is, if the automatic moving device 2 returns to the charging station 4 successfully before the energy level of the battery pack reaches or exceeds the preset threshold, the automatic moving device 2 stops moving in the charging station 4 and performs charging. If the automatic moving device 2 has not successfully returned to the charging station 4 when the energy level of the battery pack reaches or exceeds the preset threshold, it can stop moving. This working process avoids both the automatic moving device 2 continuously searching for the charging station 4 when it cannot return successfully and damage due to over-discharging of the battery pack.
[0174] Preferably, when the determined result of S 16A is “Yes,” the control module 10 also controls the automatic moving device 2 to send a charging reminder signal to remind users that the automatic moving device 2 will be returning to the charging station 4 with manual assistance. The charging reminder signal can be graphic information displayed on the display panel of the automatic moving device 2 , a special alarm sound signal, or information on other devices such as short messages or other reminders sent to the users' mobile phone via a mobile network, etc.
[0175] By the working process as described above, the automatic moving device 2 can start returning in good time to power-up and work, according to the energy levels of the battery pack as well as perform the over-discharging protection on the battery pack during the returning.
[0176] The chronological description method is used in all steps for describing this procedure. The order of the described method does not represent an order that must be followed strictly and the steps can be adjusted properly as needed. For example, S 8A can be set after S 9A . S 10A can also be between S 6A and S 7A . That is, based on the principle of the invention, the technicians in this field can perform proper adjustment on the procedures in this process, which can realize the effect of this invention.
[0177] The invention is suitable for the automatic moving device 2 that will be returning to the charging station 4 that performs charging and is also suitable for the automatic moving device 2 of the returning working station or other specific devices. Determining that it returns to the working station or other specific device can be realized by the same way for determining that it returns to the charging station, and also by the automatic moving device 2 reaching the working station or within a specific range of other specific devices, the automatic moving device 2 , working station or other specific device send wireless signals for determination mutually.
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An automatic moving device and a control method therefor. The automatic moving device comprises a battery pack providing power. The automatic moving device can work within a working area and automatically return to a charging station for charging. The control method comprises the following steps: monitoring the power level of the battery pack; if the power level of the battery pack is less than or equal to a preset power level, initiating an action of returning the automatic moving device to the charging station; and after a preset time period, stopping the travel. By setting a preset time period simultaneously with initiating a return action, and executing a return action within the preset time period, the control method prevents damage to the battery pack from over-discharging caused by the automatic moving device continually returning, thus achieving the effects of protecting the battery pack and extending the life thereof.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to friction rock stabilizers which are used for controlling stress-induced fracturing and strain bursts In rock in underground mining or tunnelling operations and in general ground support applications. More particularly, the invention relates to a friction rock stabilizer of the split tube kind.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Friction rock stabilizers have been in widespread use for many years in rock support applications in underground mining and tunnelling operations.
A friction rock stabilizer generally consists of an elongated metal tube which carries a slot in its wall which extends over its length from one end to the other. In use, the tube is hammered or pressed into a hole which has been pre-drilled into rock from a face with the tube initially having a greater transverse dimension than the hole with the result that the tube is inwardly deformed on entry into the hole. The inward deformation is accomplished by a narrowing of the slot in the tube and the radial force generated by the natural resilience of the steel from which the tube is made anchors it frictionally in the hole.
Early rock stabilizers were unadorned parallel sided tubes with perhaps a slight taper at one end to facilitate their insertion into a hole of a smaller diameter than the stabilizer tube. More modern stabilizer tubes, however, have some form of stop, such as a solid metal ring which is welded circumferentially to the tube over its end which is outermost in use, for retaining a face washer on the tube. When the stabilizer tube has been fully pressed into a hole the washer is pressed by the tube ring up against the rock face to support the face rock around the hole and frequently to anchor rock retaining mesh to the rock face.
A problem with rock stabilizer tubes which include the washer stops is that the end of the stabilizer tube which carries the stop is held by the stop against radial compression as that end of the tube is hammered into the hole in which it is to be located. The result of this problem, particularly with accurately and undersized holes, is twofold. Firstly an abnormal transverse spalling inducing load is imposed on the rock surrounding the mouth of the hole by the portion of the tendon tube which is outwardly tapered as a result of the mouth of the tube being held, with the slot at the mouth, open by the washer stop and secondly, full penetration of the tube into the hole may be prevented if the end of the tube which carries the stop should become jammed with the stop short of the hole to result in a loose face washer which is not pressed against the rock face and therefore offers no face support of any kind. Yet a further problem with conventional rock stabilizers of the above type is that the face washers are generally a close fit on the tendon tubes and should the hole, for any reason, be drilled into the rock face at an angle the washer on the tube cannot readily move angularly on the tube to be flush with and evenly load bearing on the face to provide face support around the stabilizer hole.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A friction rock stabilizer according to the present invention comprises an elongated tendon tube which is reduced in cross-sectional dimension over a portion of its length towards one end of the tube, a slot which extends over at least the unreduced length of the tube and a radially extending stop which is located on the reduced dimension portion of the tube for supporting a face washer on the stabilizer. Preferably, the reduced cross-sectional length of the tube is parallel sided and is conveniently circular in cross-section.
In one form of the invention the dimensionally reduced portion of the tube is threaded over at least a portion of its length from its free end and the washer support stop is threadedly engaged with the threads on the tube.
In another form of the invention the washer support stop is fixed to the tube by welding.
The washer support stop may be convexly domed in the direction of the unreduced portion of the tendon tube to enable a face washer in use to move angularly relatively to the stabilizer tube axis on the washer.
In a variation of the invention the dimensionally reduced portion of the length of the tendon tube may be tapered inwardly towards said end of the tube.
Conveniently, a portion of the length of the tendon tube from its end opposite to that on which the stop is located is tapered to a smaller cross-sectional dimension at the end of the tube to facilitate location of that end of the tube in a hole in which the stabilizer is to be located in use.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is now described by way of example only with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the friction rock stabilizer of the invention,
FIG. 2 is an end view of the FIG. 1 stabilizer as seen from below in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of an end of the FIGS. 1 and 2 stabilizer of the invention,
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the end of a variation of the FIG. 1 stabilizer including a face washer, and
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of an end of yet a further variation of the rock stabilizer of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The friction rock stabilizer of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings to consist of an elongated tubular tendon 10 which is circular in cross-section. The lower end 12 of the tendon tube is reduced in diameter to a parallel sided extension of the major portion of the tube and is threaded as shown in the drawing. The upper end portion 14 of the tube is inwardly tapered towards the end of the tube for facilitating the location of that end of the stabilizer in a hole in which the stabilizer is to be located in use. A slot 16 extends over the length of the tube 10 and, although not essential, the slot 16 is pressed closed over the length of the extended end 12 of the tube. It is important to the invention that the edges of the slot 16 are spaced from one another at least over the unprofiled central portion of the tube 10.
The end portion 12 of the tendon tube 10 carries a washer support stop 18, as shown in FIG. 3, which is threadedly engaged with the threads on the extended end 12 of the tube 10. As seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, stop 18 has a domed or convex upper surface and a generally planar under or lower surface that, in use, faces away from the rock.
In the FIG. 4 variation of the stabilizer of the invention the reduced diameter end portion 12 of the tube 10 is unthreaded and the washer support stop 18 is welded to the end portion of the tube as illustrated in the drawing.
The purpose of the washer support stop 18, in whatever form it may take, is to support a face washer 20 on the rock stabilizer, as shown in FIG. 4, under pressure up against the face of the rock into which a borehole is drilled and into which the tendon tube 10 is fully pressed in use. The purpose of the domed upper surface of the stop 18 as illustrated in the drawings is to enable the washer 20 to skew on it relatively to the axis of the tube 10, as indicated by the chain line 22 in FIG. 4, to enable the washer 20 to bear with an even pressure on the rock face surrounding the hole in which the tube 10 is located when the axis of the hole is out of perpendicular with the rock face.
In the FIG. 5 variation of the rock stabilizer of the invention both ends of the tendon tube 10 are tapered to a smaller diameter with the stop 18 being located, by welding, adjacent the end of one of the tapered portions of the tube 10. It will be seen, by referring to FIG. 5, that a weld prep recess on the underside of the stop 18 is in the form of a countersink about the mouth of a stop hole with the side of the weld prep recess sloping upwardly onto the side wall of the tube 10 in the recess at an acute angle. A weld in a recess of this shape has been found, because of the wedging action on the weld, to be far less susceptible to damage by loads on the stop 18 which are imposed on the stop 18 in a downward direction in the drawings. The purpose of the large diameter upper face of the washer support stop 18, as shown in the drawings, is not only to enable skewing of the face washer 20 on stop 18, as described above, but additionally to enable the washer support stop 18 to movably support a washer 20 having a washer hole diameter large enough to pass freely over the unreduced length of the tendon tube 10 to be brought into contact with the washer support stop 18 prior to location of the stabilizer in use. Commonly used tendon tube diameters range between 46 mm and 33 mm and a washer support stop 18 with a diameter of 65 mm for all tube diameter in this range has been found adequate for the purpose of the washer support stop 18. This common washer support stop diameter is economic as the washer support stops 18 are cast having a hole diameter to fit the smallest tube diameter in the series, with the holes then simply being drilled out to suit larger diameter tubes. The large diameter upper face of the washer support stop 18 is significantly greater, and is typically preferably at least 1.5 times the diameter of the largest diameter central portion of the tube 10, as seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.
In use, referring to the stabilizer of FIGS. 1 to 3, the end 14 of the tendon tube 10 is located in the mouth of a predrilled hole of smaller diameter than that of the major length of the tube 10. Using any of the conventional methods for locating split tube stabilizers, the tendon tube is pressed into the hole until only the threaded end 12 of the stabilizer tube protrudes from the hole in the rock face.
As the tube 10 is pressed into the hole the tapered wall of the tube end 14 engages the mouth of the hole continued penetration of the tube into the hole under pressure causes the tube to be reduced in diameter by a narrowing and even closure of the slot 16 against the resilience of the tube material. The outward radial pressure generated by the resilience of the tube metal frictionally anchors the tube over the untapered portion of its length in the hole. A face washer 20, such as that illustrated in FIG. 4, is located over the protruding end of the stabilizer tube and is held in place on the tube by the washer support stop 18 which is screwed up against the washer.
As is the case with many tube bolts or rock stabilizers of the above type, either the holes in which they are located are slightly oversized or the tubes are slightly undersized to reduce the radial gripping force of the tube on the hole wall in which it is located to result in a far lower pull-out force to extract the tube from the hole than the rock stabilizer was designed to accommodate. Conventionally, this lower than design frictional gripping force remains undetected with perhaps serious consequences for the installation for which the stabilizer was specified. To check that the pull-out force of the rock stabilizer of the invention is at or above specification the stop 18, which may be flat sided or even hexagonal in plan, is pulled up against the washer 20 by means of a suitable torque measuring device to a particular torque at which the stabilizer should remain fully anchored in the hole. Should the stabilizer, however, be pulled from the hole at below the predetermined torque resistance level this will serve as an indication that the stabilizer might not initially be able to resist and so hold the stress induced fracturing and strain bursts in the rock in which it is located and the effects of which it is intended at least to minimise. The rock stabilizers shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are located in the holes in which they are intended to be used in exactly the same manner as described above with reference to the rock stabilizer of FIGS. 1 to 3. With these stabilizers of FIGS. 4 and 5 the washer support stops 18 obviously cannot be moved on the tendon tubes and the pressure of the free washer 20 exerted on the rock face surrounding the hole when the tubes are finally located is dependent on the force with which the tube was finally located in the hole.
From the above it will be appreciated that, unlike the prior art stabilizers, the smaller diameter end portion 12 of the tendon tube will not be capable of imposing any form of radial spalling pressure on the rock surrounding the mouth of the hole as that portion of the tube is out of contact with the hole at its mouth. Furthermore, the possibility of the outer end portion of the stabilizer tube jamming in the mouth of the hole prior to full location of the tube is entirely eliminated.
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This invention relates to a friction rock stabilizer which includes an elongated tendon tube which is reduced in cross-sectional dimension over a portion of its length towards one end of the tube, a slot which extends over at least the unreduced length of the tube and a radially extending stop which is located on the reduced dimension portion of the tube for supporting a face washer on the stabilizer. Preferably, the reduced cross-sectional length of the tube is parallel sided and is conveniently circular in cross-section.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 119(e) to U.S. Ser. No. 60/982,473 filed 25 Oct. 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] No federal government funds were used in researching or developing this invention.
NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
[0003] Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING
[0004] A table or a computer list appendix on a compact disc
[ ] is [X] is not
included herein and the material on the disc, if any, is incorporated-by-reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention relates to a system of processes for producing hydrogen gas that take advantage of emission of CO and CO 2 and heat from the coal-burning power plants. The hydrogen thus produced is used to synthesize hydrides at much reduced costs. The use of this invention will lead to carbon sequestration and reduce global warming. The invention is presented in two parts; part 1 deals with hydrogen production with carbon sequestration and part 2 with synthesis of hydrides for on-board hydrogen generation in automobiles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Steam methane reforming is the most common and the least expensive method to produce hydrogen at present. Coal can also be reformed to produce hydrogen, through gasification. Hydrogen production by CO 2 -emitting-free methods are either more expensive compared to those ones using fossil fuel or are in the very early stages of development. Taking into account that United States has more proven coal reserves than any other country coal based technology of hydrogen production is the most attractive. However, effective and low cost carbon sequestration technology has to be developed.
[0009] Hydrogen is regarded as the energy for future but to produce and use hydrogen either by direct combustion or in a fuel cell, we need to use other sources of energy. Thus hydrogen or use of any material in producing energy cannot be an environmentally clean and economically viable solution unless we sequester carbon in economically viable way. The use of hydrogen is being promoted on a federal level with massive support from DOE and there is little doubt that we will soon have the hydrogen solution for our transportation and other energy uses. However, it is a sad fact that such energy will continue to be dependent on the use of fossil fuel for long time and may not be economic. To turn things around, we have to use alternate methods of using coal, producing hydrogen and hydrides. Many hydrides are currently under consideration for use in on-board generation of hydrogen and the cost of producing the hydride is an important consideration. This invention is unique because although we use carbon in producing hydrogen, the carbon is sequestered simultaneously as hydrogen is produced and hydrogen is reacted with suitable metals to produce hydrides.
[0010] Coal is used extensively in producing synthetic fuels. Use of coal in gasifiers is well established and hydrogen may be produced by the reaction: C+2H 2 O=CO 2 +2H 2 . Gasifiers are operated between 800 and 1500 K, depending on the conditions involving steam, oxygen and/or air a mixture of CO 2 , CO, H 2 , CH 4 and water. The CO produced can be further processed by the shift-gas reaction to produce H 2 with production of CO 2 : CO+H 2 O=CO 2 +H 2 .
[0011] The following is an extract from “The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs (2004), National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES)” and shows the importance of the present project:
[0000] “Carbon Emissions Associated with Current Hydrogen Production
[0012] At the present time, global crude hydrogen production relies almost exclusively on processes that extract hydrogen from fossil fuel feedstock. It is not current practice to capture and store the by-product CO 2 that results from the production of hydrogen from these feedstocks. Consequently, more than 100 Mt C/yr are vented to the atmosphere as part of the global production of roughly 38 Mt of hydrogen per year.”
[0013] It would then appear that when coal is used in gasifiers or in direct burning in power- and other manufacturing-plants, CO 2 and CO are prominent among other gases. Their emission in the atmosphere is not only harming the environment but as considered here is also a waste of resources. For industry this has been an economic issue and someone else's problem. This invention will provide a clear economic incentive to sequester carbon (CO 2 and CO) without significantly affecting our current modes of operations. We consider several such processes below.
Related Patents
Carbon Sequestration
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,090, D. Dziedzic, K. B. Gross, R. A. Gorski, J. T. Johnson,
[0015] Sequestration of carbon dioxide
[0016] U.S. patent application 20030017088, W. Downs and H. Sarv
[0017] Method for simultaneous removal and sequestration of CO 2 in a highly efficient manner
[0018] U.S. patent application 20010022952, G. H. Rau and K. G. Caldeira
[0019] Method and apparatus for extracting and sequestration carbon dioxide
[0020] U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,490, T. Ebinuma
[0021] Method for dumping and disposing of carbon dioxide gas and apparatus therefore
[0022] U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,171, D. J. Bayless, M. L. Vis-Morgan and G. G. Kremer
[0023] Enhanced practical photosynthetic CO2 mitigation
[0024] U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,407, O. R. West, C. Tsouris and L. Liang
[0025] Method and apparatus for efficient injection of CO2 in ocean
[0026] U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,891, D. F. Spencer and W. J. North
[0027] Method for the production of carbon dioxide hydrates
[0028] U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,751, A. Koetsu
[0029] Method and system for throwing carbon dioxide into the deep sea
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[0031] Carbon dioxide fixation system
[0032] U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,165, M. Steinberg and Y. Dong
[0033] Method for converting natural gas and carbon monoxide to methanol and reducing CO2 emission
[0034] U.S. Pat. No. 6,987,134, R. Gagnon
[0035] How to convert carbon dioxide into synthetic hydrocarbon through a process of catalytic hydrogenation called CO2hydrocarbonation
Hydride
[0036] U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,098: Method and composition in which metal hydride particles are embedded in a silica network.
[0037] U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,553: Metal hydride compositions and methods.
[0038] U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,353 and 5,833,934: Demand responsive hydrogen generator based on hydride water reaction.
[0039] U.S. Pat. No. 20040258613: Process for the production and purification of sodium hydride.
[0040] U.S. Pat. No. 20050053547: Method for activating metal hydride material.
[0041] U.S. Pat. No. 20020100682:Hydrogen recharging system for fuel cell hydride storage reservoir.
[0042] U.S. Pat. No. 20030014917: Chemical hydride hydrogen generation system and an energy system incorporating the same.
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[0044] U.S. Pat. No. 20050058595 : Reactor and method for generating hydrogen from a metal hydride.
[0045] U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,270: anhydrous magnesium chloride
[0046] U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,220: Electrolytic magnesium production
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[0049] U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,375: Process for producing magnesium oxide
[0050] U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,108: Method for preparing active magnesium hydride
[0051] U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,129, Amendola, S. C.; Kelly, M. T. “Compositions and Processes for Synthesizing Borohydride Compounds 2002.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0067] The present invention provides a system of reactions to produce hydrogen from sodium hydroxide and CO or CO 2 and carbon. The carbon gases are produced in industrial plants burning coal and thus available at no cost. These gases also can be obtained at relatively high temperature; the reaction of CO or CO 2 with sodium hydroxide is exothermic and hence no additional heating would be required. The CO or CO 2 would react to from sodium carbonate and thus carbon will be sequestered.
[0068] Another embodiment of the present invention provides the production of hydrogen if the industrial CO or CO 2 is not available. In such a case, sodium hydroxide reacts with water and carbon producing hydrogen and no carbon is released in the environment.
[0069] In yet another embodiment of the invention, the hydrogen produced cheaply with no carbon release in the atmosphere is used to synthesize hydrides at low cost. Magnesium hydride is produced by direct reaction with powdered magnesium and the hydrogen produced in previous embodiments. It may also be produced by a reaction among powdered magnesium, water and hydrogen (produced as described above or from other sources).
[0070] In the final embodiment of this invention, a method is provided to convert sodium- or lithium-borate (NaBO 2 or LiBO 2 ) to sodium- or lithium-borohydride and also their production using borates, magnesium, water and hydrogen.
[0071] In the last two embodiments of this invention, advantage is taken of the integration of the hydride synthesis process with currently operating or future coal-burning plants; thus saving costs and providing carbon sequestration. However, the process described in each embodiment can be carried out independently of the power plants.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0072] The purpose of this invention and the tremendous advantages it entails for reduction in global warming gases needs to be fully understood from the study of the description along with the drawings wherein:
[0073] FIG. 1 shows the moles of hydrogen and sodium carbonate produced when sodium hydroxide and carbon monoxide are allowed to react. The carbon monoxide is presumably generated in a coal-burning process providing heat to another manufacturing process, e.g. synthesis of cement;
[0074] FIG. 2 shows in two parts a comparison of the calculated equilibrium compositions, which are easily verified in experiments. FIG. 2A is a well known phase diagram showing the carbon-water system in a gasifier where hydrogen and CO mixture is produced up to very high temperatures. This diagram is included here to show a comparison with the reaction adopted in the present invention shown in FIG. 2B . The temperature of hydrogen production is much lowered and the gas is pure hydrogen.
[0075] FIG. 3 shows that in absence of an industrial source of carbon-oxygen gases, this invention provides for the production of hydrogen from water, carbon and sodium hydroxide reaction with no emission of C—O gases. FIG. 3A . Calculated results. FIG. 3B . The mixture of NaOH and C was heated from 25° C. to 700° C. and the polythermal results of hydrogen production are shown. FIG. 3C . The same mixture heated isothermally at 525, 575, 625 and 675° C.
[0076] FIG. 4 shows a possible method of hydrogen production. The stirred mixture of sodium hydroxide is reacted with CO 2 from coal-burning and C and heated to 800 K with heat contributions from hot hydrogen, hot CO 2 and hot air from the power plant. The reaction kinetics may be improved by use of a catalyst such SiO 2 and/or continuous stirring as shown in the figure.
[0077] FIG. 5 shows the cost of hydrogen production with carbon sequestration. The analysis depends on the current price structure of sodium products. Any reaction hydrogen producing reaction discussed in the text can be used with this arrangement.
[0078] FIG. 6 shows that the synthesis of a hydride using metal+water+heated H 2 is accomplished in this reactor which may be heated using hot air exhausted from a power plant according to this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0079] The present invention provides a novel method of producing hydrogen with carbon sequestration; the novelty lies in the fact that gases produced in a coal-burning plant are used both for the energy and for the substance to react with sodium hydroxide reducing the cost simultaneously with eliminating the emission. If we further couple the metal hydride producing reaction with the above reactor system, we can also reduce the cost of metal hydrides for automobile use.
[0080] Hydrogen Production
[0081] We may use the following reactions:
[0082] 2NaOH (c)+CO(g)=Na 2 CO 3 (c)+H 2 (g) ΔH=−1.19E5 J (600 K)
[0083] 4 NaOH (c)+C (c)+CO 2 (g)=2Na 2 CO 3 (c)+2 H 2 (g) ΔH=−6.62 E4 (600 K)
[0084] 2 NaOH (c)+C(c)+H 2 O(1)=Na 2 CO 3 (c)+2 H 2 (g) ΔH=6.458 E4 (600 K)
[0085] 3 NaOH (c)+C(c)=Na 2 CO 3 (C)+Na+1.5 H 2 ΔH=−2.52E5 J (1100 K)
[0086] Reactions (1) and (2) are exothermic. Reaction (2) can be considered as a combination of the Boudouard reaction:
[0087] C+CO 2 =2 CO and reaction (1). Reaction (2) may also be considered as a combination of
[0088] 2 NaOH+CO 2 =Na 2 CO 3 +H 2 O and
[0089] 2 NaOH+C+H 2 O=Na 2 CO 3 +2 H 2
[0090] Process 1: Use of CO From Coal Burning
[0091] CO is not produced in coal burning because high ratio of air to coal is used. However if the heating requirement for the plant is fully met with a lower ratio such that CO is actually produced in some quantity, we could use the CO for producing hydrogen according to the following reaction
[0092] (1) 2NaOH+CO=Na 2 CO 3 +H 2
[0093] If NaOH costs 42 cents per kg and Na 2 CO 3 sells for 36 cents per kg, the hydrogen cost will be only the cost of the energy for this exothermic reaction, which would be an excellent value.
[0094] An equilibrium calculation in FIG. 1 shows that Na 2 CO 3 also known as soda ash and hydrogen are produced over a wide temperature range starting from 400 to 1100 K. The reaction kinetics may be improved by use of a catalyst such SiO 2 and/or continuous stirring as described later.
[0095] However, if we switch to coal-burning plant design that produces significant CO, we will have to burn more coal for the same thermal effect as can be seen by calculating at 1000 K
[0096] C+Air (N 2 4,O 2 1 mole)=CO2, ΔH=−2.746E5 J
[0097] C+Air (N 2 2,O 2 0.5 mole)=0.763 CO+0.118 CO 2 +0.12 C, ΔH=−6.628E4 J
[0098] A comparison of ΔH shows that 4 times heat is produced when CO 2 is maximized. Thus in order to maximize CO, we will have to burn 4 times carbon; since in doing so, we will produce as much more hydrogen and Na 2 CO 3 , the economics would not change.
[0099] Process 2: Use of CO 2 From Coal-Burning Plant
[0100] For existing power stations, where CO 2 is produced, we may choose another alternative and use CO 2 to react with water and Sodium hydroxide according to the reaction:
[0101] (2) 4NaOH+C+CO 2 =Na 2 CO 3 +2H 2
[0102] One may compare this reaction with the combination of the gasifier reaction C+2H 2 O=CO 2 +2H 2 and the CO 2 absorbing reaction 2NaOH+CO 2 =Na 2 CO 3 +H 2 O to accomplish similar result. It is shown in FIG. 2 (A and B) that the reaction (3) has definite advantage being the carbon-sequester and hydrogen producing reaction. The reaction kinetics may be improved by use of a catalyst such SiO 2 and/or continuous stirring as described later.
[0103] A comparison of the two figures shows that much higher temperature is required to obtain a significant amount of hydrogen mixed with CO in FIG. 2A than is required when using reaction (2) ( FIG. 2B ).
[0104] Process 3: Hydrogen Generation Without Input of CO or CO 2
[0105] We may consider reaction (3), if CO or CO 2 are not available from an industrial plant:
[0106] (3) 2 NaOH+C+H 2 O=Na 2 CO 3 +2 H 2
[0107] While this is an endothermic reaction, less amount of solids are required to produce the same amount of hydrogen. This may be helpful if the cost structure of the sodium compound alters in time. In this process 20 kg of NaOH will yield 26.5 kg of Na 2 CO 3 for each 1 kg of hydrogen. Reaction (3) was considered by Saxena et al. (25) followed by Ishida et al. (26). However, this is the first demonstration that the process is cost effective (see below). FIG. 3A shows the equilibrium calculated results while FIG. 3B and C show the experimental results.
[0108] Hydrogen Production Details
[0109] FIG. 4 shows one possible construction of a plant comprising of a ceramic-lined steel cylinder. Engineering designs of various types may be possible. In this container, a mixture of NaOH: pulverized coal in 43:12 ratio by weight is introduced. Hot CO 2 from the power plant is entered from one end. The solid mixture is continually stirred with heating partly provided by the hot air from the coal-burning plant and partly by other heaters until all NaOH is converted to Na 2 CO 3 and H 2 . The exit gases are monitored for the CO 2 and the flow rate is adjusted accordingly. Reaction (1) may be similarly carried out and no carbon will be needed. Catalysis of the reactions, where coal is involved may be needed and has been discussed in detail in literature (17) (e.g. Probstein and Hicks, 2006). A high production rate would result if the hydrogen is formed by continuous flow processes. As envisaged here, the reactor is a closed system with a complete conversion of fixed ratio of reactants and production of the carbonate and hydrogen. Catalysis and partial conversion of the reactants will affect the costs.
[0110] The Cost Analysis
[0111] FIG. 5 and Table 1 show the cost analysis. Through reaction (2), we will sequester 11 kg of CO2 for every 43 kg of sodium hydroxide producing 1 kg of hydrogen and 53 kg of sodium carbonate. If we accept the following per kg prices:
[0112] If we accept the per kg prices in Table 1, there is an advantage in offsetting the energy costs. The new hydrogen DOE cost goal of $2.00-3.00/gge (delivered, untaxed, 2005$, by 2015) is independent of the pathway used to produce and deliver hydrogen. Better cost calculations are needed to insure the economic viability of the project. Note that less energy is required to electrolyze sodium chloride to produce sodium hydroxide than to produce sodium. It will be necessary to integrate the production of NaOH at the power plants instead of purchasing it from an outside manufacturer. In-house sodium hydroxide manufacturing will provide significant shipping cost savings, efficient process integration, and safety. There are many uses of Na 2 CO 3 and as long as the use does not release the CO 2 to the atmosphere, the carbon sequestration remains effective.
[0000] TABLE 1 Materials cost calculated assuming equilibrium compositions CO 2 Solid Solid sequestered/ Reactant Product Kg of H 2 Per Kg Per Kg Solid $Cost/Kg Source produced H 2 H 2 NaOH 0.18 The innovation- Group Na 2 CO 3 0.187 USGS Na 3.50 Coal 0.06 Titan- America H 2 from 1.04 0.0 coal H 2 from 3.52 0.0 natural gas H 2 −(1.36)* Zero NaOH, Na 2 CO 3 , (Reaction 3) emission 20 26.5 H2 −(26) Zero NaOH, Na 2 CO 3 , 35 + (Reaction 4) emission 40 Na, 7.7 H 2 −(2.72)* 14 Kg CO NaOH, Na 2 CO 3 , (Reaction 1) 40 53 H 2 −(2.72)* 11 Kg CO 2 NaOH, Na 2 CO 3 , (Reaction 2) 40 53 *Materials cost only; Cost of energy and other production cost not included.
The analysis depends on the current price structure of sodium products.
[0113] We may also consider the following reaction to use sodium carbonate gainfully:
[0114] Na 2 CO 3 (cr)+2 C (graphite)=2 Na (g)+3 CO (g) (5)
[0115] This reaction is endothermic with H of 1. 16E6 J/mol and is largely complete around 1400 K. Since we rely on coal to provide the heat, the energy cost is not an issue. If we use this reaction to reduce the amount of sodium carbonate produced in reactions (1)-(4), we will further decrease the dependence on the selling price of Na 2 CO 3 .
[0116] Part 2: Reduction in CO 2 Emission
[0117] United States tops in CO 2 -emissions per capita; in 2003, 121.3 metric tons of CO 2 were released in the atmosphere. In 2004 the total carbon release in North America was 1.82 billion tons. World-wide industrial nations were responsible for 3790 million metric tons of CO 2 (Kyoto-Related Fossil-fuel totals). It is clearly not practical to consider that we can sequester all this carbon with reaction (2) which would require production of NaOH on a massive scale which would cause further emission of CO 2 if fossil fuel is used in the production. However in all situations where industry is producing carbon gases and heat anyway, the production of hydrogen according to the reactions presented here, would lead to reduction of carbon in the atmosphere. Most benefit will be obtained if non-fossil sources of energy (hydroelectricity, nuclear-energy, solar and wind) are used for NaOH production.
[0118] More than 100 Mt C/yr are vented to the atmosphere as part of the global production of roughly 38 Mt of hydrogen per year. Through reaction (2), we will sequester 3 Mt carbon (11 Mt of CO 2 ) for every 40 Mt of sodium hydroxide producing 1 Mt of hydrogen and 53 Mt of sodium carbonate. The US production of NaOH is currently 16 Mt per year. 1300 Mt of NaOH will be needed to sequester all the carbon which is currently emitted in hydrogen production. In this process 33 Mt of H 2 will result. Sodium hydroxide is produced (along with chlorine and hydrogen) via the chloralkali process. This involves the electrolysis of an aqueous solution of sodium chloride. The sodium hydroxide builds up at the cathode, where water is reduced to hydrogen gas and hydroxide ion. The total H 2 produced in these reactions (reactions 1, 2 and electrolysis) if used in automobiles and other energy devices will have a very large effect on CO 2 -emission.
[0119] We should also consider the possibility of simply removing the CO 2 emission by the reaction:
[0120] 2NaOH+CO 2 =Na 2 CO 3 +H 2 O
[0121] In this process, 1 kg of CO 2 will be removed as 2.41 kg of sodium carbonate consuming 1.818 kg of NaOH. We will gain 11 cents per kg of CO 2 removal in material costs. The energy cost is separate. This is all based on the prices remaining at this level.
[0122] What is proposed here depends critically on maintaining the cost difference between Na 2 CO 3 and NaOH at the current level.
[0123] Part 3: Hydride Production
[0124] With the availability of hydrogen already at a high temperature (hydrogen has the same heat capacity as air), we may use the hot gas in any innovative use in producing a hydride.
[0125] Synthesis of MgH 2
[0126] A direct reaction such as:
[0127] Mg+H 2 =MgH 2 (ΔH=−7.22E4, 400 K) may be used; methods of activating a metal for reaction with hydrogen has been described amply in literature (1-7) e.g. for Mg by McClane et al.(1). With the hot H 2 provided in the present set up, there will be a further reduction in the cost of MgH 2 as is used in the Safe Hydrogen Method (1).
[0128] Two other methods are proposed here which take the advantage of the available hot hydrogen. In the first method, MgH 2 is synthesized as follows:
[0129] 3 Mg+H 2 O+H 2 =2 MgH 2 +MgO (ΔH=−4.56E5,400 K)
[0130] The addition of water promotes the above reaction to proceed forward vigorously.
[0131] Recycling of sodium- or lithium-borohydride from NaBO 2 or LiBO 2
[0132] A method to produce hydrogen on board using a borohydride and methods to synthesize it have been discussed in literature (8-15). Millenium Cell Inc (16) has demonstrated the use of NaBH 4 in fuel-cells which may be usable for running small devices as well as automobiles. For sodium borohydride to be widely utilized as an energy storage medium for hydrogen, the cost must be reduced by at least an order of magnitude from its present price. We propose the following set of reactions to solve this problem:
[0133] NaBO 2 +4Mg+2H 2 O=NaBH 4 +4MgO
[0134] (ΔH, 300 K=−1.04E6 to ΔH,800 K=−8.95 Kj)
[0135] LiBO 2 +4 Mg+2 H 2 O=LiBH 4 +4 MgO
[0136] (ΔH, 300 K=−9.92E5 to ΔH, 600 K=−9.11Kj)
[0137] The sodium compound can be synthesized over 300 to 800 K, while the lithium compound over 300 to 600 K. Both of these reactions can be modified considering that H 2 is produced cheaply as discussed in this document as follows:
[0138] NaBO 2 +3 Mg+1 H 2 O+1 H 2 =NaBH 4 +3 MgO (ΔH=−6.9 Kj, 600 K),
[0139] LiBO 2 +3 Mg+1 H 2 O+1 H 2 =LiBH 4 +3 MgO (ΔH=−6.5 Kj, 600 K), thereby reducing the amount of MgO to be processed.
[0140] Since NaBO 2 or LiBO2 is the product in the hydrolysis reaction:
[0141] Na/LiBH 4 +2 H 2 O=Na/LiBO 2 (aq)+4 H 2 the major cost is for the reduction of MgO to Mg, which is discussed by Saxena et al. (18). They studied the reaction 2Mg+H 2 O producing MgH 2 and MgO or Mg(OH) 2 . With the possible recycling of MgO using the SOM process [19], the cost of producing the hydride will be substantially reduced. The energy costs (which in this case since the reaction is exothermic and we may be able to use hot H 2 ( FIG. 4 ) as well as hot air from coal-burning power plants as used for electric generation or for manufacturing industrial products such as cement (FIG. 4 - 5 )), the energy cost can be minimized.
[0142] Hydride Production Details
[0143] FIG. 6 shows that the synthesis of a hydride using metal+water+heated H 2 is accomplished in this reactor which may be heated using hot air exhausted from a power plant according to this invention. Freshly powdered metal is used with water and the newly produced hydrogen from the reactor is used for the production.
[0144] Related References
[0145] Andrew W. McClaine, Kenneth Brown, Sigmar Tullmann, Chemical Hydride Slurry for Hydrogen Production and Storage, DOE Hydrogen Program 2 FY 2006 Annual Progress Report.
[0146] A. W. McClaine, S. Tullman and K. Brown: Chemical hydrogen slurry for hydrogen production and storage. FY 2005 Progress Report: DOE hydrogen program.
[0147] A. W. McClaine, R. W. Breault, C. Larsen, R. Konduri, J. Rolfe, F. Becker and G. Miskolczy, Proceedings of the 2000 U.S. DOE Hydrogen Program Review NREL/CP-570-28890.
[0148] M. Klanchar, B. D. Wintrode, J. Phillips, Energy & Fuels, 11, 931-935 (1997).
[0149] L. P. Cook, E. R. Plante, NBSIR 85-3282: National Bureau of Standards: Gaithersburg, Md., (1985).
[0150] J. Besson, W. Muller, Compt. Rend., 247, 1869-1872, (1958).
[0151] S. H. Chan, C. C. Tan, Combust. Flame, 88, 123-136 (1992).
[0152] Hurd, D. T. “The Preparation of Boron Hydrides by the Reduction of Boron Halides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1949, 71, 20-22.
[0153] Amendola S C, Sharp-Goldman S L, Janjua M S, Spencer M S, Kelly M T, Petillo P J, Binder M. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2000; 25:969-75.
[0154] Amendola S C, Sharp-Goldman S L, Janjua M S, Spencer N S, Kelly M T, Petillo P J, Binder M. J Power Sources 2000; 85:186-9.
[0155] Kojima Y. Haga T. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2003; 28:989-93.
[0156] Holzmann, R. T., Ed. Production of the Boranes and Related Research; Academic Press: New York, 1967.
[0157] King, A. J. “A New Method for the Preparation of Borohydrides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1956, 78, 4176-4176.
[0158] Schlesinger, H. I.; Brown, H. C.; Finholt, A. E. “The Preparation of Sodium Borohydride by the High Temperature Reaction of Sodium Hydride with Borate Esters” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1953, 75, 205-209.
[0159] Li, Z. P.; Morigazaki, N.; Liu, B. H.; Suda, S. “Preparation of Sodium Borohydride by the Reaction of MgH 2 with Dehydrated Borax through Ball Milling at Room Temperature” J. Alloys Compd., 2003, 349, 232-236.
[0160] Wu, Y Process for the regeneration of soldium borate to sodium borohydride for use as hydrogen storage source. Report 2005, Contract ID #: DE-FC36-04GO14008.
[0161] Probstein, R. F. and Hicks, R. E. Synthetic fuels, Dover, N.Y., 2006.
[0162] S. K. Saxena, Vadym Drozd and Andriy Durygin, Synthesis of metal hydride from water. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, In Press on-line, March 2007.
[0163] Uday B. Pal and Adam Powell, “Solid Oxide Membrane Technology (SOM) for Electrometallurgy”, J. of Metals, 59(5), 2007, p. 44.
[0164] Gupta, H.; Mahesh, I.; Bartev, S.; Fan, L. S. Enhanced Hydrogen Production Integrated with CO 2 Separation in a Single - Stage Reactor; DOE Contract No: DE-FC26-03NT41853, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University: Columbus, OH, 2004.
[0165] Ziock, H-J.; Lackner, K. S.; Harrison, D. P. Zero Emission Coal Power, a New Concept. Proceedings of the First National Conference on Carbon Sequestration, Washington, D.C., May 15-17, 2001.
[0166] Rizeq, G.; West, J.; Frydman, A.; Subia, R.; Kumar, R.; Zamansky, V.; Loreth, H.; Stonawski, L.; Wiltowski, T.; Hippo, E.; Lalvani, S. Fuel - Flexible Gasification - Combustion Technology for Production of H 2 and Sequestration - Ready CO 2; Annual Technical Progress Report 2003, DOE Award No. DE-FC26-00FT40974. GE Global Research: Irvine, Calif., 2003.
[0167] “The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs (2004),)” Carbon Emissions Associated with Current Hydrogen Production: “National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES).
[0168] Xu, X, Xiao, Y. and Quaio, C. System design and analysis of a direct hydrogen from coal system with CO2 capture. Energy & Fuels 2007, 21, 1688-1694.
[0169] Saxena, S. K. Hydrogen production by chemically reacting species. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2003, 28,49.
[0170] Ishida, M., Toida, M., Shimizu, T., Takenaka, S. and Otsuka, K. Formation of hydrogen without CO x from carbon, water and alkali hydroxide, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2004, 43, 7204-7206.
[0171] The references recited here are incorporated herein in their entirety, particularly as they relate to teaching the level of ordinary skill in this art and for any disclosure necessary for the commoner understanding of the subject matter of the claimed invention. It will be clear to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the above embodiments may be altered or that insubstantial changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is determined by the scope of the following claims and their equitable Equivalents.
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This invention describes a complete sequestration of carbon (CO 2 and CO) from coal burning plants. In this process, hydrogen can be generated which in turn permits the reduction in the cost of hydride synthesis. The hydrides store hydrogen for on-board application for automobiles and fuel cells. Hydrogen generation and synthesis of hydrides is accomplished by using an integrated approach in which coal is used as a fuel and carbon is sequestered in the process. The CO and or CO 2 produced in coal burning power plants and the heat is used when available for producing hydrogen and hydrides. Carbon is used both as a reactant and as a fuel. Economically hydrogen production cost is comparable to or less than the current price of hydrogen produced from fossil-fuel with the added benefit of carbon sequestration and reducing global warming. Specific processes for synthesizing important hydrogen storage materials, hydrides are described. A hydrogen based automobile becomes viable as the cost of the hydrogen production and hydride synthesis is reduced. Although coal-burning power plant is specified here, any power plant, coal- or natural gas-burning, can be subjected to similar treatment.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/168,540, filed on Jun. 24, 2011, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEARCH WITH THE AID OF IMAGES ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCT CATEGORIES, which in turn claims priority to and is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/359,057, filed on Jun. 28, 2010, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEARCH WITH THE AID OF IMAGES ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCT CATEGORIES. The subject matter of the earlier filed applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention describes a system, method and computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for searching an object. The invented system's search process takes advantage of images associated with certain properties of the object (e.g., consumer product) the user is looking for. The invented system facilitate the search process by taking graphical depiction of one or more properties of the desired object and comparing it with the corresponding images common to groups of objects similar to the desired object. This invention is based on a simple method, included here by reference (see below), for building a category tree for the objects among which the desired object is being searched. The invention is applicable to search of any items, and is illustrated with an example of various applications from the consumer product searches. The disclosed embodiments relate generally to electronic devices with one or more physical nodes, and more particularly, to search systems and methods.
To illustrate motivation for the invention let us consider a search process of a consumer product in online store. For example, we want to find a certain knife in online store of one of the major retailer such as Target. If we do not have precise or sufficient description of the knife we are looking for, the online search engine will return hundreds of items matching word “knife” (see FIG. 1A ) and leave us with no option but to scroll through description of all of these objects one by one through many pages. While this example is very specific it is not unique. Whatever information was entered by the user (e.g., us) into the search system, most likely we have not entered all the information we have about the knife we are looking for. This situation occurs frequently because we do not know how to describe what we know about the object, e.g., its shape, certain design style, combination of color, etc. Most of the time, even if we could, the system does not provide means for us to enter all that information, simply because designing a universal user interface is impossible. Thus there is a need for a system and method that utilizes somehow the additional information that has not been provided to the system. This application incorporates by reference the entire contents of the “Attribute Category Enhanced Search” application, which provides search process enhancement through contsructing a tree with the nodes representing groups of objects with similar values for some categories. The present invention further improves the search process by allowing the user to enter graphical depiction (image) of the desired object. Then the invented system will automatically match user entered image to one (or more) images of the categories of objects in the search domain. If a good match is found the search process will continue along the corresponding path.
BACKGROUND
Searching is a popular topic in the computing world. With users wanting and demanding faster application, increase in information processing speeds, more memory, and smarter computers, searching and a system's ability to return accurate results very quickly is viewed as an important aspect of the computer experience. Some of the recent patents try to address this problem. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,664,739 “Object search ui and dragging object results” an object navigation system, user interface, and method that facilitate faster and smoother navigation of objects are provided. The invented, the system can generate a plurality of objects that can be rendered on a display space that spans a single page in length, thereby mitigating the need to navigate through multiple pages. The objects can also be viewed in a film strip format that is infinitely scrollable. While such techniques undoubtedly make search process more convenient compared to page-by-page navigation through search results, they fail to address the crucial requirement of fast search speed. Another shortcoming of the above mentioned patent is the lack of ability of the invented system to automatically reduced search space based on digital representation of information provided by the user about the object the user wants to find.
Digital image based search was also addressed in the industry. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,565,139 “Image based search engine for mobile phone with cameras”, the inventors improve user's search experience by allowing him to take a digital photograph of an object, match it with an item in the remote database and provide full information about the object to the user. Key ideas facilitating the search process include doing the initial search on the mobile phone, so that database access overhead is minimized, and sending low resolution image to the server, so that less bandwidth is needed thus improving the response time of the application. Unfortunately this and other search related intentioned we examined do not provide an effective solution in case when exact image or description of the desired object is not available. Conventional search systems display or present search results in the form of a column or list to the user (e.g., see FIG. 1A ). This format can be problematic from the user experience point of view for several reasons. The list may span many (sometimes hundreds) pages. Therefore the process of examining search results quickly becomes cumbersome and time-consuming. The user examining search results page by page gets tired and may skip important information. Thus only the item located on the top of the list will get full attention of the user.
Example of a typical example of search results for a consumer product on the internet is shown in FIG. 1A . For illustration purposes we use online product search tool of one of the major retail stores TARGET. Search for a word “knife” on www.target.com returns a list of 585 items. The search can be refined by specifying more precisely the desired object, e.g. by entering “kintchen knife”, etc. The result however is still a rather long list of “matching objects”. As is seen in FIG. 1B , the user would have to examine upto 277 “kitchen knifes”. This situation is not uncommon for other other widely available products such consumer electronics, a piece of furniture, bicycle, more recently even solar screen, etc. Therefore, a more efficient system and method is needed that can guide the consumer through the search process, that matches his visual expectation and leads quickly to the right object.
Thus, in this invention we address the problem of improving the effectiveness of finding a roughly described object in a large set of similar object. We illustrate the invention using example of search for a knife. It will obvious from the description presented later in this disclosure, the system and method are applicable for search of any object.
SUMMARY
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the systems and/or methods discussed herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the systems and/or methods discussed herein. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of such systems and/or methods. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
Main idea of the invention is based on enhancing search process by splitting all available objects (after some pre-selection) into categories and walking the user through the tree constructed from these categories and automatically matching one or more depictions of the object (or parts of it) with shapes/images corresponding to groups of objects in the search domain.
The subject application relates to a system(s) and/or methodology that facilitate viewing and refining search results. In particular, the application involves an improved data representation, improved search method and enhanced navigation method that when taken together, provide a smoother and more efficient search experience for a user. Contrary to traditional user interface and navigation means, the results are not paginated across multiple pages. Rather, they are essentially maintained on a single page, whereby the length of the page can depend in part on the number of objects attributes grouped in categories (defined later). Thus, they can be scrolled through all at once mitigating the need to page over and over again to see more results.
Solution presented in this invention disclosure consists of a system that takes initial input describing the desired object (e.g., consumer product) form the user. Then the system retrieves all the objects (e.g., products) matching the entered search criteria, constructs a tree structure based on objects' detailed description, and guides the user through that tree so that the user finds the desired product in a much fewer steps than going through the original long list. Construction of the tree structure and walking through the tree is facilitated by the auxiliary images matching categories related to the objects, whenever it is possible. By visually matching each category with the associated picture, the user can quickly determine the right category of objects, thus narrowing the search space and finding the desired object quickly.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed and the subject invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention may become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a snapshot from www.target.com online search results for “knifes”;
FIG. 1B is a snapshot from www.target.com online search results for “kitchen knifes”;
FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of a generally conventional computing device or personal computer that is suitable for analysis of data records in connection with the interactive display table, in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3A is an example of a flow chart illustrating the main steps of the invented method;
FIG. 3B is an example of a flow chart illustrating STEP 32 from FIG. 3A (retrieval of information from the database), in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3C is an example of a flow chart illustrating STEP 34 from FIG. 3A (matching contour of an image with another contour), in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is an example of a flow chart illustrating attribute category tree construction in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an example of a flow chart illustrating alternative contour matching method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6A-FIG . 6 D examples of images representing shape categories;
FIG. 6E example of image of a product;
FIG. 7A-7B blade length selection graphical interface;
FIG. 8A-8B are examples illustrating steps in matching a knife from FIG. 6E with one of two shapes in accordance with a matching method described in FIG. 3C ;
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of certain embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. The figures illustrate diagrams of the functional blocks of various embodiments. The functional blocks are not necessarily indicative of the division between hardware circuitry. Thus, for example, one or more of the functional blocks (e.g., processors or memories) may be implemented in a single piece of hardware (e.g., a general purpose signal processor or a block or random access memory, hard disk, or the like). Similarly, the programs may be stand alone programs, may be incorporated as subroutines in an operating system, may be functions in an installed imaging software package, and the like. It should be understood that the various embodiments are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Aspects of the present invention can be used in connection with a computing device including a touch screen. With reference to FIG. 2 , an exemplary system 1 suitable for implementing various portions of the present invention is shown. The system includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a conventional computer (PC) 12 , provided with a processing unit 112 , a system memory 118 , and a system bus 11 . The system bus couples various system components including the system memory to processing unit 112 and 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. The system memory includes read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). A basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the PC 12 , such as during start up, is stored in ROM. The PC 12 further includes a hard disk drive 1161 for reading from and writing to a hard disk (not shown), an optical disk drive 1111 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk, such as a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical media. Hard disk drive 1161 and optical disk drive 1111 are connected to system bus 11 by a hard disk drive interface 116 and an optical disk drive interface 111 , respectively. The drives and their associated computer readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable machine instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for PC 12 . Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk and removable optical disk, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media, which can store data and machine instructions that are accessible by a computer, such as magnetic disks, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks (DVDs), Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.
A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, optical disk, ROM, or RAM, including an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. A user may enter commands and information via the PC 12 and provide control input through input devices, such as a keyboard 1151 or a pointing device 1152 . Pointing device 1152 may include a mouse, stylus, wireless remote control, or other pointer, but in connection with the present invention, such conventional pointing devices may be omitted, since the user can employ the touch sensitive interactive display for input and control. As used hereinafter, the term “mouse” is intended to encompass virtually any pointing device that is useful for controlling the position of a cursor on the screen. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, haptic joystick, yoke, foot pedals, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input/output (I/O) devices are often connected to processing unit 112 through an I/O interface 115 that is coupled to the system bus 11 . The term I/O interface is intended to encompass each interface specifically used for a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, a keyboard port, and/or a universal serial bus (USB).
System bus 11 is also connected to a camera interface 119 . The digital video camera may be instead coupled to an appropriate serial I/O port, such as to a USB port. A monitor 1132 can be connected to system bus 11 via an appropriate interface, such as a video adapter 113 . The system also has a touch screen display 1131 which can provide richer experience for the user and interact with the user for input of information and control of software applications. The touch screen display 1131 is communicatively coupled to a touch sensor and controller 1133 . Touch sensor and controller can be combined in one block 1131 or they can be separate communicatively coupled blocks. It should be noted that the touch screen display 1131 and the touch screen sensor and controller 1133 can be enclosed into a single device as well. User interface can be implemented through the optional monitor 1132 coupled with the touch sensor and controller 1133 though the video adapter 113 or directly via internet, wireless, or another connection. It will be appreciated that PCs are often coupled to other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers (through a sound card or other audio interface—not shown) and printers.
A cell phone 142 is connected to PC 12 thought the wireless base station 141 and the network interface card 114 . The wireless base station 141 can be connected to the network interface card 114 either directly or through the internet 140 . Therefore PC 12 can communicate with the cell phone 142 . Combination of various protocols such as, IP, Wi-Fi, GSM, CDMA, WiMax, UMTS and the like, can be used to support communication between the PC 12 and the cell phone 142 .
The present invention may be practiced on a single machine, although PC 12 can also operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 1142 . Remote computer 1142 may be another PC, a server (which can be configured much like PC 12 ), a router, a network PC, a peer device, or a satellite or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above in connection with PC 12 . The logical connection 13 depicted in FIG. 1B can be a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). Such networking environments are common in offices, enterprise wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.
When used in a LAN networking environment, PC 12 is connected to a LAN through a network interface or adapter 114 . When used in a WAN networking environment, PC 12 typically includes a modem (not shown), or other means such as a cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) interface, or an Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) interface for establishing communications over WAN, such as the Internet. The modem, which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus 11 or coupled to the bus via I/O device interface 115 , i.e., through a serial port. In a networked environment, program modules, or portions thereof, used by PC 12 may be stored in the remote memory storage device. 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, such as wireless communication and wide band network links.
Conventional search systems display or present search results in the form of a column or list to the user. Example of such output of search results is shown in FIG. 1B . The list may span many pages. Hence the process of examining search results becomes cumbersome and time-consuming. The user examining search results page by page gets tired and may skip important information. Thus only the item located on the top of the list will get full attention of the user. Clearly, this is not the best user experience, for someone who wants to find the desired product quickly.
This invention provides a smarter search solution, which takes however minimum information the user may has about the object he is trying to find, and guides him quickly to the searched object. The main steps of the invented method are illustrated in FIG. 3A below. Each of the steps shown in FIG. 3A is described in detail in the following paragraphs.
Step 31 : The system 1 takes the initial input describing the desired object (e.g., a consumer product such as knife) form the user via one or several user interfaces shown in FIG. 2 . Methods of entering information about the desired object include but are not limited to text or audio description, digital image input as a file or as a reference to picture on the internet. For example, regular description of the object can be entered as text using the keyboard 1151 and displayed in monitors 1132 or 1131 . The user would access the GUI and enter, for example, “The knife is serrated and is made in France with an animal imprint on the blade”. The user may provide object description in the form of a picture taken by a digital camera or mobile phone and uploaded to the Processing unit 112 of the system through the camera interface 119 or USB interface 1171 . The entered digital photo does not have to be a picture of the exactly the same object. As will be seen later a picture of an object resembling the desired object may suffice. An image resembling the desired object can also be submitted as a digital file (in JPG, GIF or another format) stored on a CD or DVD an accessible by the system's software via optical drive 1111 . Using a touch screen interface 1131 the user can enter hand-drawn sketch of the desired object or part of it, e.g. distinct shape of knife blade. The system can also accept a universal record locator (URL) of an image resembling the desired object available on the remote computer (such as PC 1142 ) via HTTP (web page, or ftp site, etc, and downloadable to the system via internet. Audio description of the desired product can also be entered through the microphone 1176 connected to the audio-card 1175 and processed by speech recognition system.
Step 32 : Some information entered by the user (e.g., price range, warranty period, manufacturer, etc.) will be of the same type as columns in one or more the database tables, and could, therefore, be usable for constructing an SQL query. We will refer to such information as structured. However some information may not be easily translated into a structured query, but yet can be used by the user to guide to navigate through the search process and find the desired product quickly. This will be illustrated in Step 34 below. Based on the structured input, software running on processor 112 of the system 1 will form a query to the database 1141 and retrieves information about all the objects (products) matching the entered search criteria. Original data can be stored in the database 1141 in various formats as explained in more detail in Appendix B of above referenced disclosure “Attribute Category Enhanced Search”. A flow chart illustrating this procedure is shown in FIG. 3B . If no information matching the query built based on the entered the criterion is returned, the system will prompt try to widen the interpretation of the entered data and looks for objects matching the new interpretation of data. If user enters via GUI object description “The knife is serrated and is made in France with an animal imprint on the blade” as shown in the example above, the system will first try to interpret the text as a combination of structured elements of information. A query will be formed with elements such as “Product=Knife”, “MadeIn=France”, “Serrted=Yes”, etc. If not matching is found in the database, the system will view the input text as unstructured information and do search on the internet for images associated with user provided input. If that approach fails, the system will try to match it with any information previously entered by other users and earlier obtained results, etc.
In order for the system to become “smart”, it will have to learn from all previous search attempts. The system will analyze the results of each search, provide the analyzed results to the user and if the user selects one or more of the results, the system will store that information in case another user at some other time has a similar request, etc. In the unlikely event of no information matching the query is returned, the system will prompt the user to change the entries in the input or reduced the entered information. Connection of the database 1141 can be implemented via communication link 1143 , which includes but is not limited to a wire-line connection (such as Ethernet), a wireless connection (Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.), or any other connection supporting information exchange between computing devices, and via the corresponding network interface 114 . Let's assume that based on the structured information the system is able to retrieve n objects described by m attributes.
In alternative embodiment of the invention, step 32 is omitted. In that case all information entered by the user is sent to the remote computer 1145 co-located with the database 1141 . Therefore without loss of generality in the continued description of the invention we can assume that all the information is non-structured. The idea behind the usage of non-structured information is to present the user with limited choices at each step according to his understanding of the right choice in each step. Whenever possible this process is automated by matching graphical input depicting the desired product and/or set attribute values of the product.
Step 33 : In this step the system constructs a tree based on attributes of available objects with the minimum level of nodes need to complete the search process in pre-defined number of interactive search steps (described below) s. Alternatively the system may construct a tree that will keep the number of choices available to the user at each step at predefined value k, The relationship between k and s is very simple: s=log k n. The tree is constructed based on the values of objects' attributes. Each node of the tree represents a group of objects with certain attribute values being similar. Non-similar groups related to the same attribute form nodes of the tree in the same level. Once the tree is constructed, the search can be made very fast. Specifically if there are n objects, and k is the number of distinct groups for each attribute, the estimated number of step s for search completion is ┌log k n┐. For example, if we allow 4 distinct attribute groups for each attribute, the maximum number s of search steps for a set of 277 objects (as in FIG. 1B ) is 5.
The tree construction algorithm is illustrated by a flow chart in FIG. 4 in three main steps. Step 41 describes input to the tree construction algorithm. These are number n of objects, each object is described by m attributes as described earlier. We also assume that we are given maximum number k of categories for each attribute (see previous paragraph). Step 42 describes category construction for each type of attributes. Non-numeric attributes such product images are mapped to one of the image categories by default. Each such category has an image representing it. Such categories are put on top of the tree and will be used to guide a user through the selection process automatically if user provides product's picture, sketch etc. and successful matching was found. This process will be described in detail later.
For a numerical attribute j (e.g., price) we can identify range of the attribute values (in this case that would minimum and maximum price). The price range is split into k intervals each containing equal number of distinct price values. Then each price interval defines price category. It is obvious that user presented a choice of price category will be able to select the one which will guarantee that the number of choices does not exceed |S|/k, where |S| is the number of distinct price values. Step 42 is repeated for all m attributes. For example, later in the illustrate length of knife blade as another category set. Finally in step 43 , tree nodes for which graphical depiction is available in the user input, are being placed on the top of the tree. E.g., picture or contour representing the object that is being searched, known shapes of specific part of the object, etc. If a match is found between graphical depiction of user's input and one of the corresponding attributes categories, the system will automatically reduce the search space. Next levels of tree nodes are represented by categories of attributes with numeric values (e.g., price range, warranty period, length, weight, etc.) Categories of attributes with textual description are placed in the lowest levels of the tree. These attribute values are not easy to categorize and almost always the corresponding categories will be predefined. For example consider such attribute of a product as “manufacturer”. Most likely the user either will know exactly what value of such attribute he is looking for, in which case the selection is very simple, or he does not know, and at the end of the search process we will be left with a very few products to choose from, so that selection process can be completed quickly.
As stated earlier the purpose of the algorithm is to facilitate object search by the user, who has some (perhaps very limited) non-structured information about the object which has not been used yet. Each attribute A[j], 1≦j≦m, can take N[j] different values. We can assume that no two objects have the same attribute values. Therefore, n could be at most N[1]·N[2]· . . . N[m]. Examples of attributes for a product such as knife can be described A[1]=“shape of the blade”; A[2]=“length of blade”; A[3]=“quality of the material (e.g. steel that the blade is made of)”; A[4]=“handle color”, A[5]=“warranty period”; A[6]=“price” etc. Some attributes, such as “price”, “warranty period”, etc., have numeric values, others can be represented by images, e.g., “shape of the blade”. If the number of choices k at each step is predefined, for each attribute the set of distinct values is divided into k groups. For example, if k=4, then shapes of blades will be split into four categories.
The method of splitting shapes in categories utilizes one or more of known image classification algorithms. One such algorithm is described in Appendix A below. The system uses image representation of each object whenever possible. Each object in the database has a photo, and therefore all available photos can be grouped in categories. Example of such grouping is shown in FIG. 6A-D . We will refer to these images as shapes images of the corresponding categories shape-A, shape-B, shape-C, and shape-D. Whenever graphical depiction of the desired object has been entered by the user according to step 31 , the system will attempt to map that depiction to one of the category shapes (see Step- 34 ). Mapping can be done using the “The shape matching algorithm” described in Appendix A, or using “Simple Shape Matching Procedure” described in detail below (please see paragraph 42 ), or by combining results of both approaches. It should understand that suggested image mapping options are used only for illustrative purposes. Many other image comparison algorithms exist. Usage of some of them or a combination of two or more is possible without deviating from present invention. For example shape of the knife shown in FIG. 6E is closest to the shape shown in FIG. 6D , and therefore that knife will be in the category shape-D. If mapping is successful, user interaction with the system is further minimized, and the search process is made faster.
Step 34 : If an image resembling a desired product is available, the system will extract a contour of the image and try to match it with the contours of objects available in the database. For example, the system may utilize a simple shape matching algorithm flow chart of which is shown in FIG. 3C and is described in the next two paragraphs. Another algorithm that can used for shape matching was proposed in paper “From images to shape models for object detection” by V. Ferrari et al. Example illustrating possible implementation based on this algorithm is described in Appendix A below.
Simple Shape Matching Procedure:
Given a contour C and an image M, we can estimate closeness of shape of M to C as follows. Please refer to FIG. 3C for illustrative flow chart of possible implementation of the shape matching algorithm. As a closeness measure we use a metric we call closeness(M,C) will be defined precisely in step 315 below. In step 311 we start the algorithm by initializing closeness(M,C)=0, which means there is no match between shape of M and contour C. We will rotate image M and try to match with C step by step, therefore we initialize rotation step to 1 degree, and set rotation angle r=−step. The next step 312 starts our iterative procedure by setting r=r+step and rotating M by angle r. Note that M(r) denotes M rotated by angle r. Rotation can be performed, for example, by multiplying each M pixel's coordinates by the rotation matrix [cos(r) −sin(r); cos(r) sin(r)]. Then we extract image E consisting of pixels forming edge of M. There are several methods that can be used for this procedure, e.g., edge(M(r)) function from Matlab. In step 313 we transform images E and C into binary images and resize E to match the size of C. These are also straightforward image processing procedures that are easily implementable, for example, using standard Matlab routines. In step 314 we perform the distance transform of binary images E and C and get images dE and dC. In particular, for each pixel in E (and C) we assign a number that is the distance between that pixel and the nearest nonzero pixel of E (and C). The distance can be Euclidean, “cityblock” (sum of absolute values of coordinate differences for two pixels), “chessboard” (maximum of the absolute differences for x and y coordinates of two pixels), etc. For illustrative purposed we used “cityblock” distance in step 314 . In step 315 we estimate closeness(r) of the rotated images's shape to C as a ratio 1/(1+q/t), where q is the sum of squares of pixel-wise difference for dE and dC, and t is the sum of squares of pixel-wise sum for dE and dC. It is obvious that the ratio is 1 when dE and dC are identical. Therefore, we compare closeness(r) with closeness(M,C) in step 316 , and let the higher value to be the updated value of closeness(M,C) in step 317 . In step 318 , we check the rotation angle to see if we completed full circle, if not, we repeat the procedure from 312 , otherwise we return the highest closeness estimate closeness(M,C) in step 319 .
It should be noted that the above procedure can be repeated to a mirror image of M, to ensure we maximize our chances of finding true match to M's shape. Moreover, value of rotation angle steps can be tuned in to find acceptable performance of the algorithm. Many of these steps would unnecessary and the matching procedure would be very fast if all the images are taken in consistent manner. Results of matching shape of an image to a contour are illustrated in FIG. 8A . Category shape represented by contour 108 is being compared with the edge of image 102 . Resized (scaled) image 104 is used for obtaining a distance transform and computing corresponding matching factor (see item 106 ). In this case matching factor is 0.90. Figures FIG. 8B illustrate similar analysis for another shape 109 closer resembling image 102 . In this case the original image 102 is re-scaled to image 105 , and the resulting matching factor is 0.93. The system therefore will conclude that based on image contour analysis image 102 is closer to a category represented by image 109 than to category represented by image 108 .
Step- 35 : If matching of depicted user input to one of the category images fails, the system will present the user with an option to select one of the available categories for the given attribute (level of the tree). For example, the system will show shapes shown in FIG. 6A-6D , and ask the user to select one closely matching the product he is looking for.
Steps 36 - 37 : Now assume the system has determined that the shape of the knife the user wants is matching FIG. 6C , and the user has not specified length of the blade. In that case the system select the branch of the tree under selected shape option shown in FIG. 6C and expand the tree below that node. Thus the system will present the user with available blade length choices. (Here we assume that blade length is one of the attributes describing knifes. This particular attribute example is used for illustrative purposes only. It can easily extended to any other numerical attribute.) By default the original tree must have k or less length categories. Assume that originally the length attribute was grouped into k=4 categories, but after the selection of shape-C( FIG. 6C ) it was determined that knifes of particular shape are available only in three length-categories shown in FIG. 7A : 2″-4″ length category depicted by icon 71 , 5″-7″ category shown as icon 72 , and 11″-12″ category shown by icon 73 . The user can select one of these three categories by pressing in any of the category icons, or he can use the sliding bar 74 and select the exact length by touching the button 75 and sliding it along the sliding bar 74 until the desired length value appears inside the button 75 . Then the user can select the knife with specified blade length by pressing the button 75 . According to one embodiment these functions will be performed by the user using touch screen interface available through touch screen display 1131 and touch screen sensor and controller 1133 shown in FIG. 2 . Alternatively, system can provide conventional graphical user interface where the user can slide and press button 75 using a pointing device 1152 such as mouse or touchpad device.
In one embodiment whenever a certain option is available the color of the sliding button 75 will be green. In cases when certain length options are not available, the color of the button will be clear or red, and/or the appropriate message will be displayed inside the button 75 . For example in FIG. 7B , the unavailability of a knife of length 9″ is shown. In another embodiment proper matching or availability of certain options will be communicated to the user via audio announcements. For example, the system may announce “You may select 3 blade length options”. Or alternatively, the system may say “selected blade shape of length 9” is not available” if the user tries to select such option, etc. Implementation of audio announcement can be done, for example, as follows. Assume the current tree level corresponds to Category=“blade length”. The system knows the size of each of the category nodes at each level. Therefore the software which runs on the main processor 112 (see FIG. 2 ) will check the size of each node in a given tree level, identify the number Z of the nodes containing at least one object. Then generate an ascii string A, for example, in C language syntax, by executing the following code A=sprintf(“You may select % d % s options”, Z, Category);
As the result, A=“You may select 3 blade length options” is now stored in memory 118 . Conversion to an audio message is implemented using a text-to-speech routine. Text-to-speech software runs on the main processor unit 112 and can be performed by one of widely available commercial or free speech synthesis solutions (see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_synthesis). The system can deliver audio signal to the user via the speakers 1177 connected to PC 12 and shown in FIG. 2 . Text can be converted to an audio-format, e.g. MP3, and stored for later use or for delivery to the user via email, in case search job has been queued and is not happening in real time. The audio announcement can be also delivered to the user if the system can contact him via user's cell phone 142 .
Steps 38 - 39 : Similar approach can be used for any numerical attribute such as price range, warranty period, etc. In other words, the user does not have to specify all these attributes. The system will automatically guide the user through the available options, thus quickly narrowing the search space. The process will continue until the desired product is found.
The purpose of the algorithm is to identify input images as belonging to one of the given classes. Each class is represented by a typical object contour. The algorithm can be implemented according to the flow chart shown in FIG. 5 . There are four main steps in the algorithm. Step- 51 : In this step the system takes user input of an image that has to be matched to and classified based on some etalon images. In the context of present invention it could be graphical depiction of user input such as contour of the object the user is searching for, a digital photograph of an object itself or another object resembling it, etc. The etalon images are category images described earlier. For each of the etalon images the system has a well defined and high quality contour available for later contour matching step.
Step- 52 : An edge detector method must be chosen and applied to query images. Edge detection methods include but are not limited to the methods based on the following two algorithms. One example of specific edge detection algorithm is “Berkley” edge detector, which yields almost natural edge representation of the image. Another example is the classical and faster “Canny” edge detector algorithm. In one embodiment the system will have a configuration option for selecting edge detection method depending on the previous results and timing of the search process. In another embodiment, the system will try first one method after another until satisfactory matching with available contours is found. In another embodiment, the system could try all method and use there cumulative matching results to make final matching decision.
Step- 53 : In this step the system attempts to do direct matching of the contour of the input image with contours of the category images. This option works well if the input image is not very complex. If match not found the matching process ends, if not the system will attempt to do a more sophisticated matching based on classification of contour elements called categorization. Particular realization of categorization depends on the quality of category shapes and/or on the characteristics of depictions of based user's input (e.g., contour of the product, etc.). The direct matching approach is based on construction of Contour Segment Network (CSN) for query images and etalon shapes. Etalon shapes should be previously normalized in some way, as they should correspond to edge detector output. The construction of the network includes two stages: 1) edge fragments linking and the extraction of almost straight segments from the linkage result; 2) connecting segments into the network. The linkage rules for these two stages are quite different. CSN are constructed for each etalon shape and for query image. The direct matching between query and etalon CSN takes into account the global network shape and also the single segment scale and orientation.
Step- 54 : If the direct matching fails, the contour classification approach should be chosen. In that case additional etalon images may have to be provided to train the system, and before it works well, some manual intervention may be needed. However, once the system is trained, the search process will work well. The classification approach should be used if the quality provided by the direct matching is not sufficient. In this case some number of images should be categorized manually and used as an additional etalon images. The main idea of the approach is to construct Pair of Adjacent Segments (PAS) features to describe pairs of adjacent contour segments. The segment extraction stage is similar to one used in the CSN approach. PAS features encode the location, scale and the orientation of segment pair. To train the classifier on PAS features the bag-of-features paradigm can be used. The idea of this approach is to find two contours with the sufficient number of similar features.
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The present application describes performing a user initiated search query comprising receiving user input comprising description details of at least one desired object, retrieving a plurality of objects from a database sharing one or more of the description details of the user input, retrieving an image of the at least one desired object based on one or more of the plurality of objects, generating a contour of the image and comparing the generated contour with other related contours of other images stored in the database, displaying all of the available contours of all of the images that match the generated contour, receiving a selection of one of the available contours from the user and performing the search query based on the user selected contour.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Irons are known which use the steam generated by themselves to facilitate ironing and basically comprise a tank in which water is stored to be supplied through a duct (at the time of ironing) to a vaporizing chamber that is located in the soleplate of the iron and is heated by electric resistors. In these irons there is no possibility of closing off passage through the duct nor, therefore, of regulating the quantity of steam in accordance with the needs of the garment to be ironed, but rather the duct is always open and water constantly flowing through and being vaporized in the vaporizing chamber.
Steam irons are also known which correct the problem indicated by disposing of a lock pin in the drip valve inserted in the water bypass to the vaporizing chamber.
These irons equipped with drip valve with lock pin, though improving on their predecessors, present the disadvantage that the passage of water to the vaporizing chamber, when the lock pin is in the proper position, occurs without the chamber having reached sufficient temperature and that results, at the beginning of ironing or because of the reduction of temperature due to ironing itself, in the discharge of unvaporized drops of water outside the iron, overly dampening the garment and making ironing difficult.
With a view to solving this problem, irons are known that dispose of a bimetallic element and a lock pin, the head of which, in normal operation of the iron, is permanently seated on the drip valve until the vaporizing chamber acquires sufficient temperature and the bimetallic element is excited and displaces the head of the pin from its seat to the extent corresponding to the position selected by an external regulating control. An iron of this type is that corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,953.
The most important characteristic of this type of iron is that excitation of the bimetallic element is used directly to displace the lock pin from its permanent seat and as locking is ensured by the action of a resilient spring, this means that:
the lock pin must have a special configuration or be connected with the bimetallic element through some intermediate piece, so that the movement of the bimetallic element is converted into a pin opening displacement;
the bimetallic element has to possess special characteristics of mechanical strength, since stresses capable of overcoming the resistance of the resilient spring ensuring the seating of the lock pin are accomplished by the movement of the bimetallic element and bimetallic elements are not normally subjected to such stresses;
the resilient spring as well as the bimetallic element must be perfectly calibrated so that on different irons a given position of the regulating control will always correspond to the same degree of discharge of steam, for otherwise the quality of ironing and of the iron itself would be affected. This calibration also has to be such that it enables the bimetallic element to compress the spring in the opening, without impairing the pressure necessary for seating of the pin, which is also entrusted to the spring;
the end of the lock pin as well as the element on which it is seated suffer excessively due to the continuous reciprocal seatings that are necessary in this mode of operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an improved water bypass valve for a steam iron of the type that controls the flow of water between the water tank and the vaporizing chamber. A displacement plate controls the flow of water into the valve from the water tank. The head of the displacement plate closes off a hole between the water tank and the valve. A bimetallic element acts on the tail of the displacement plate such that when the temperature in the vaporizing chamber is sufficiently high to excite the bimetallic element, water is permitted to flow into the valve from the water tank. The bypass valve also has a locking pin, one end of which is connected to an external regulating control and the other end of which is seated in the water outlet port of the valve. The external regulating control determines whether the other end of the locking pin is seated in the water outlet port or is retracted from the water outlet port. The external regulating control also determines the amount of water flowing into the vaporizing chamber by controlling the degree of separation between the other end of the locking pin and the outlet. The locking pin and displcement plate operate independently of each other.
To have an iron which incorporates the present invention function as a `steam iron`, the external regulating control is adjusted such that the other end of the locking pin is retracted from its seated position. To have this iron function as a `dry iron`, the external regulating control is adjusted such that the other end is seated in the outlet port of the valve.
The operation of the present invention, according to this simple recommended arrangement, is as follows:
When sufficient temperature exists in the vaporizing chamber, the bimetallic element is excited, acting on the tail of the small displaceable plate and causing the head of the small displacement plate to unblock the port between the water tank and the valve body; if at that time the control is in the dry ironing position, the pin will be locking the outlet of the valve body and the water will not pass to the through the outlet of the valve body; on the other hand, if the control is in any of the steam ironing positions, the end of the pin will be separated from its seat to the corresponding degree and will permit passage of the water to an equal extent to the vaporizing chamber.
To understand the nature of this invention better, we present on the attached drawing a schematic representation of its use, being absolutely nonrestrictive and therefore subject to additional changes that do not alter the essential characteristics.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of the front part of the iron, representing a partial section of the iron in order to show the internal arrangement of the members. The end of the pin separated from its seat and the bimetallic element in rest position are represented in the iron.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are expanded views of the zone of FIG. 1 in which the lower part of the lock pin, the valve body, the displaceable plate and the bimetallic element appear. On FIG. 2 the same position of FIG. 1 is represented and in FIG. 3 the bimetallic element is excited and the water bypass is open.
FIG. 4 is an elevation representing the upper valve half-body sectioned along line IV--IV indicated on FIG. 5.
FIG. 5 is a lower plan view according to FIG. 4 of the upper valve half-body unsectioned.
FIG. 6 is an upper plan view according to FIG. 4 of the upper valve half-body.
FIG. 7 is a right side elevation according to FIG. 4, representing the upper valve half-body.
FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the displaceable plate, in which the spherical projection of the head is shown.
FIG. 9 is an upper plan view according to FIG. 8, representing the displaceable plate.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention is an improved water bypass valve for steam irons that control passage between the water tank 1 situated at the top and the vaporizing chamber 2 defined in the soleplate 3 of the iron, in which the heating resistor 4 is incorporated.
As is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the valve body consists of an upper half-body 5 and a lower half-body 6, both of elastomer material and stepped configuration, which half-bodies are coupled opposite each other by placing their circular faces of greater diameter back to back, so that the wider center part of the valve body formed is located right between the floor 7 of the water tank 1 and the roof 8 of the vaporizing chamber, while the part of lesser diameter of the upper half-body 5 is tightly fitted through the floor 7, and the corresponding one of the lower half-body 6 is tightly fitted in the roof 8.
Between both half-bodies 5, 6 a recess 9 is defined inside, which is limited at the top by an opening 20 that permits the moving member of the valve, or lock pin 10 to slide while also providing a seal. The recess 9 being limited at the bottom by a seating piece 11 for the end 12 of the pin 10, which is of ceramic, metal or other material of suitable hardness, and that is embedded in the lower half-body 6, which in turn has a drill hole 11A that connects the recess 9 outside through the seating piece 11 of the pin 10, when the end 12 of the latter is not blocking drill hole 11A.
The lock pin 10 is worked solely and exclusively by the external control 13, by means of which is selected the desired mode of ironing, dry or steam, and the quantity of steam required. The mode, generally, being selected according to the characteristics of the fabric to be ironed. Working this control 13 will determine at any time the position of the end 12 of the pin 10, independent of what is the status of the bimetallic element 14, so that seating between the end 12 of the pin 10 and the piece 11 will only take place when the control 13 is in the position corresponding to dry ironing, that is, with absence of steam.
The recess 9 is joined laterally by a bypass 15 with the water tank 1, which bypass 15 can be blocked by the head 17 of a displaceable plate that has its body 18 inserted in the elastomer material of the upper half-body 5 and that presents outside the latter a tail 19 which is brought face to face vertically with the free end of a bimetallic element 14, having its other end fastened on the roof 8 and therefore detecting the temperature existing in the chamber 2 with great accuracy.
As is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, in order to obtain an effective blocking of the bypass 15, in the present invention it is arranged for the head 17 of the displaceable plate 16 to possess a spherical cap-shaped projection 22 that ensures perfect lock seating on the mouth of the bypass 15, although there can be reasonable variations in the positioning of the head 17 between some irons and others. It is to be noted at this point that between the body 18 and the tail 19 of the plate 16 a step 23 exists, which favors the positioning of said tail 19 opposite the bimetallic element 14.
FIGS. 4 to 7 show in detail the arrangement of the upper half-body 5, in which the following parts are defined: the inlet 20 for the exact tight passage of the pin 10; the upper part of the inner recess 9; the water bypass 15 from the tank 1 to the recess 9; the mortise 21 in which the body 18 of the displaceable plate 16 is inserted.
With this arrangement of the present invention, when a high enough temperature exists for vaporization of the water in the chamber 2, the bimetallic element 14 is excited, making the displacement of its free end work on the tail 19 of the displaceable plate 16, which will to be able to return to the rest position and reseal the mouth of bypass 15 once bimetallic element 14 is not in an excited state thanks to the resilience of the material of the half-body 5 in which its body 18 is inserted; this tipping will make the head 17 drop, freeing the opening of the bypass 15, which in rest position is kept permanently blocked by the projection 22 of the head 17. Once the bypass 15 has thus been unblocked, the water from the tank 1 will have access to the recess 9 and from there to the chamber 2, if the end 12 of the pin 10 is separated from the piece 11, that is, if the operating mode selected on the control 13 is steam ironing. On the other hand, if the operating mode is dry ironing, the end 12 of the pin 10 will be seated on the piece 11 and then, even when the bypass 15 is open to the passage of water, the latter will be retained in the recess 9 and no steam will be produced.
The nature of this invention as well as its industrial application having been sufficiently described, it only remains to be added that it is possible to introduce changes of form, material and arrangement in the invention as a whole and in its components, as long as such alterations do not involve any substantial variation of same.
The following features are indicated in the drawings:
1. Water tank
2. Vaporizing chamber
3. Soleplate
4. Resistor
5. Upper valve half-body
6. Lower valve half-body
7. Floor of the tank (1)
8. Roof of the chamber (2)
9. Valve recess
10. Lock pin
11. Valve seating piece
12. End of pin (10)
13. External control
14. Bimetallic element
15. Water bypass
16. Displaceable plate
17. Head of displaceable plate
18. Body of displaceable plate
19. Tail of displaceable plate
20. Inlet of pin (10)
21. Mortise
22. Spherical projection
23. Step
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A water bypass valve for a steam iron controls the passage of water between a tank and a vaporization chamber. The valve has an inlet which is opened and closed by a temperature sensitive element that prevents water from entering into the valve until the vaporization chamber is of sufficient temperature. The outlet of the valve is opened and closed by a locking pin that is controlled by the operator and is not temperature sensitive. The temperature sensitive element is separate and distinct from the locking pin.
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This is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/469,039, filed on Dec. 21, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,600.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention generally pertains to motor vehicles and more particularly to a vehicle sliding door device. More specifically, but without restriction to the particular embodiment and/or use which is shown and described for purposes of illustration, the present invention relates to a method for controlling a vehicle sliding door device having manual and fully automatic operational modes.
2. Discussion
In various types of motor vehicles, including minivans, delivery vans, and the like, it has become common practice to provide the vehicle body with a relatively large side openings that are located immediately behind the front doors which are opened and closed with a sliding door. The sliding door is typically mounted with hinges on horizontal tracks on the vehicle body for guided sliding movement between a closed position flush with the vehicle body closing the side opening and an open position located outward of and alongside the vehicle body rearward of the side opening. The sliding door may be operated manually, as is most generally the case or with a power operated system to which the present invention is directed.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,061, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, discloses a powered sliding side door for a motor vehicle. The door is operated with a power drive mechanism that is pivotally mounted on the door and extends through a side opening in the door. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the drive mechanism includes a reversible electric motor that drives a friction wheel which is spring biased to forcibly engage a drive/guide track located beneath the vehicle floor and attached to the vehicle body. The friction drive wheel rides on the drive/guide track to open and close the door and additionally guides and stabilizes its sliding movement.
While the arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,061 provided certain improvements in the pertinent art, several drawbacks have been noted. These drawbacks included, for example, the appearance of the power sliding door, and the cost, reliability and performance of the drive apparatus.
Another type of power sliding side door utilizes a power drive mechanism having a reversible electric motor which is mounted in the vehicle body and connected to operate the door through a cable system. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,301. Another type of power sliding door utilizing a rack and a pinion gear to effect the movement of the side door is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,729. Arrangements of both of these types requires considerable accommodating space and modifications to the body structure and are not readily installed in an upgrading manner to convert an existing manually operated sliding door to a power operated sliding door.
Consequently, there remains a need in the art for an improved power sliding door system for a motor vehicle, and a method for controlling same, having improved reliability and performance which may be readily installed in an upgrading manner to convert an existing manually operated sliding door to a power sliding door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved control methodology for a power sliding door system.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a control methodology for a power sliding door system which arrests the operation of the sliding door system in a power-assisted mode when any of the handles of the door system are actuated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control methodology for a power sliding door system with enhanced child guard features.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control methodology for a power sliding door system which arrests the operation of the sliding door system in a power assisted-mode when a fuel door is in the path of the sliding door.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a control methodology for a power sliding door system which detects the presence of obstacles in the path of the sliding door and inhibits movement of the sliding door in response to the detection of two obstacles.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a control methodology for a power sliding door system which does not require the door drive means or inertia to actuate the latch mechanism and latch the sliding door.
A method is provided for controlling a power sliding door system having a power drive mechanism for propelling the sliding door and a power latching mechanism for latching the sliding door in a latched condition. The methodology provides enhanced monitoring and control of the power sliding door system to improve the operation of the sliding door in both the power-assisted and manual modes. The control methodology inhibits the operation of the power sliding door system in response to the actuation of any of the sliding door handles or if a fuel door is in the path of the sliding door. The control methodology also inhibits the operation of the sliding door system if a child guard mechanism is enabled. The control methodology includes an obstacle detection routine which detects obstacles in two directions of travel. The control methodology does not require the power drive mechanism or inertia to cause the latch mechanism to latch the sliding door in the latched condition.
Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle equipped with a power sliding door system constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention shown incorporated into an exemplary motor vehicle;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the interior of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the rear of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 with the rear tailgate in the open position;
FIG. 3B is a bottom view of the light bar shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the light bar shown in FIG. 3B taken along the line 3 C— 3 C;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the vehicle illustrated in FIG. 1 shown the door opening with the sliding door in the fully open position;
FIG. 6 is a top view of the door opening of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the door opening taken along line 7 — 7 of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a top view of the rack portion of the first guide rail illustrated in FIG. 5;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of the rack portion shown in FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the interior side of the power sliding door of FIG. 1 shown partially cut-away;
FIG. 11 is a top perspective view of a portion of the lower mounting assembly and power door drive mechanism coupled to the first guide track;
FIG. 12 is a bottom perspective view of a bottom portion of the lower mounting assembly and power door drive mechanism coupled to the first guide track;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of the lower front corner of the door assembly shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 14 is a top view of a portion of the power door drive mechanism meshingly engaged with the rack portion;
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the rear of the power latching mechanism of the present invention;
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the front of the power latching mechanism illustrated in FIG. 15;
FIG. 17A is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 15, illustrated with the power drive assembly removed for purposes of illustration;
FIG. 17B is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 17A, showing the actuation of the unlatching mechanism when the child guard mechanism is disengaged;
FIG. 17C is another perspective view similar to that of FIG. 17A, showing the actuation of the unlatching mechanism through the interior unlatch lever when the child guard mechanism is engaged;
FIG. 18 is a top view of the latch mechanism of the present invention with the cover removed;
FIG. 19 is a portion of the latch mechanism illustrated in FIG. 18 showing the relationship between the sensor arm and the pawl switch when the latch ratchet rotates the dog member to release the pawl;
FIG. 20 is a bottom view of the latch mechanism of the present invention with the base portion removed;
FIG. 21 is a side view of the latch mechanism of the present invention with the latch means in the fully open position;
FIG. 22 is a side view similar to that of FIG. 21, showing the latch means in the ajar position;
FIG. 23 is another side view similar to that of FIG. 21, showing the latch means in the fully latched position;
FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the power drive assembly;
FIG. 25 is a top view of the first housing portion;
FIG. 26 is a bottom view of the second housing portion;
FIG. 27 is an exploded section view of the second member taken through its center;
FIG. 28 is a top view of a portion of the exterior and interior unlatch levers showing the first and second Bowden cables exploded from their respective cable retention means;
FIG. 29 is an end view of the exterior and interior unlatch levers shown in FIG. 28;
FIG. 30 is a top view of a cable and cable retention means constructed in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 31 is a top view of the power door drive mechanism according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 32 is a portion of the power door drive mechanism shown in FIG. 31 with the drive clutch disengaged;
FIG. 33 is a portion of the power door drive mechanism shown in FIG. 31 with the drive clutch engaged;
FIG. 34 is a perspective view of the door panel of the present invention;
FIGS. 35A, B, C are schematic diagrams in flowchart form of a first portion of the method of the present invention for controlling a power vehicle door;
FIGS. 36A, B are schematic diagrams in flowchart form of a second portion of the method of the present invention for controlling a power vehicle door; and
FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram in flowchart form of the power door interrupt subroutine of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With initial reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a power sliding door system constructed in accordance with the teachings of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally identified by reference numeral 10 . The power sliding door system 10 is incorporated into a vehicle 12 illustrated as a minivan. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the teachings of the present invention have applicability to other vehicle types in which a sliding door is desired.
With additional reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, vehicle 12 is shown to include a vehicle body 14 having a side opening 16 positioned on the right side of vehicle 12 immediately rearward of a forward door 18 . Side opening 16 is defined by an upper horizontal channel 20 , a lower horizontal channel 22 , a first body pillar 24 and a second body pillar 26 . Lower horizontal channel 22 includes a door sill 28 formed under the floor 30 of vehicle body 14 between a first sidewall 32 and a second sidewall 34 . Side opening 16 is adapted for receiving a sliding door 36 , with the sliding door 36 being slidably mounted on a first guide track 38 and a second, conventionally designed guide track 40 . While not illustrated, it will be understood that vehicle 12 may be equipped with a substantially identical power sliding door on the left side thereof.
With brief reference to FIG. 4, vehicle 12 is schematically illustrated and is shown to include an engine 42 , an automatic transmission 44 , a gear shift lever 46 , an engine controller 48 , an automatic transmission controller 50 , a body control module 52 , the sliding door 36 , a data buss 53 and a control module 54 . Data buss 53 interconnects engine controller 48 , automatic transmission controller 50 , body control module 52 and control module 54 . Preferably, data buss 53 is a J1850 buss which allows the controllers and control modules to share data on various vehicle dynamics.
Referring back to FIG. 1 and with additional reference to FIGS. 3A through 3C, vehicle body 14 is also shown to include a rear opening 55 positioned on the rear side of vehicle 12 . Rear opening 55 is defined by a second upper horizontal channel 56 , a second lower horizontal channel 57 , a first rear body pillar 58 and a second rear body pillar 60 . Second lower horizontal channel 57 includes a rear door sill 62 formed above the floor 30 of vehicle body 14 between a first and second rear body pillars 58 and 60 , respectively. Rear opening 55 is adapted for receiving a tailgate 64 , with the tailgate 64 being pivotably mounted to second upper horizontal channel 56 . Tailgate 64 includes a tailgate panel 65 , a key switch 66 and a light bar assembly 67 . Tailgate panel 65 is stamped from a metal material or preferably molded from a plastic material. Key switch 66 and light bar assembly 67 are fixedly coupled to tailgate panel 65 . Light bar assembly 67 includes a bar portion 67 a , a pair of lights 67 b , a tailgate handle switch 67 c , a wire harness 67 d and a resilient sealing grommet 67 e.
Bar portion 67 a includes a handle aperture 68 a having an arcuate first surface 68 b in the area across from tailgate handle switch 67 c and a substantially flat second surface 68 c in the area adjacent tailgate handle switch 67 c . The configuration of handle aperture 68 a creates an ergonomically shaped and positioned handle 69 with which to manually actuate tailgate 64 .
Tailgate handle switch 67 c is fixed to bar portion 67 a and extends into handle aperture 68 a in a manner where it is substantially parallel second surface 68 c . Preferably, tailgate handle switch 67 c is a paddle-type switch which when actuated is operable for producing a tailgate switch output signal. The paddle-type switch is preferred in that it provides the operator of the vehicle door with the feeling that they are actuating a conventional mechanical door handle.
With reference to FIGS. 5 through 7, first guide track 38 is shown to curve inward relative to the interior of vehicle 12 as it approaches first body pillar 24 and generally follows the curved path of first sidewall 32 . First guide track 38 includes a channel shaped portion 70 and a rack portion 72 . Channel shaped portion 70 formed from a material such as steel, aluminum or plastic and preferably from a material such as nylon. Channel shaped portion 70 includes a first rear abutting surface 74 , a front abutting surface 76 , a plurality of mounting apertures (not shown), a plurality of generally rectangular tab apertures 80 , and first and second guide surfaces 82 and 84 , respectively. Channel shaped portion 70 is fixedly secured to second sidewall 32 and floor 30 with a plurality of threaded fasteners (not shown).
Rack portion 72 is preferably formed from a Nylon material, but may also be formed from any other durable plastic material or metal. Rack portion 72 includes a second rear abutting surface 86 , a plurality of mounting tabs 88 , a dust lip 90 and a plurality of rack teeth 92 which collectively form a rack 94 . Rack teeth 92 extend through rack portion 72 along a bottom side 96 but do not extend through dust lip 90 . With brief additional reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, mounting tabs 88 are shown to be spaced along the length of second rear abutting surface 86 at predetermined intervals. Each mounting tab 88 includes a generally L-shaped projection 98 having a leg member 100 fixedly coupled to second rear abutting surface 86 and a base member 102 which is spaced apart from second rear abutting surface 86 . The tip 104 of base member 102 includes first and second chamfers 106 and 108 , respectively. A chamfer 110 is also included on the side of leg member 100 . Chamfers 106 , 108 and 110 aid in the assembly of rack portion 72 to channel shaped portion 70 by guiding each mounting tab 88 into its respective tab aperture 80 , as well as guiding base member 102 over second guide surface 84 . Dust lip 90 covers rack 94 along a substantial portion of its length and protects rack 94 from contact with dirt and grime that typically falls from the shoes of passengers as they enter and exit vehicle 12 . Dust lip 90 terminates at a rearward point along the length of rack 94 to enable sliding door 36 to be installed to or removed from vehicle 12 .
With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 10 , sliding door 36 is shown to include a lower mounting assembly 120 , an upper mounting assembly 122 , a power door drive mechanism 124 , a power latching mechanism 126 , a hold-open latch, a handle mechanism 130 the control module 54 , a wire track assembly 132 , a plurality of interior switches 134 ′ and a door assembly 136 having a door panel assembly 138 and a trim panel assembly 140 .
Handle mechanism 130 includes an exterior handle assembly 142 , an interior handle assembly 144 and a handle switch 146 . Exterior handle assembly 142 includes an exterior handle 148 which is fixed to the exterior side of door panel assembly 138 . Exterior handle 148 is coupled to power latching mechanism 126 through a first Bowden cable 150 and is operable for unlatching door assembly 136 from first body pillar 24 to allow sliding door 36 to be moved from the closed position as shown in FIG. 1 to the open position as shown in FIG. 2 . In the particular embodiment illustrated, exterior handle 148 is operable between a retracted position in which first Bowden cable 150 does not cause power latching mechanism 126 to unlatch, and an extended position in which first Bowden cable 150 causes power latching mechanism 126 to unlatch.
Interior handle assembly 144 includes an interior handle 152 which is fixed to door panel assembly 138 and extends through trim panel assembly 140 . Interior handle 152 includes a release button 152 a which is coupled to power latching mechanism 126 through a second Bowden cable 154 and is operable for unlatching door panel assembly 138 to allow sliding door 36 to be moved from the closed position to the open position. In the particular embodiment illustrated, release button 152 a is operable between an extended position in which second Bowden cable 154 does not cause power latching mechanism 126 to unlatch, and an depressed position in which second Bowden cable 154 causes power latching mechanism 126 to unlatch.
Handle switch 146 is mechanically coupled to handle mechanism 130 and is operable for producing a handle signal that indicates that one of the exterior and interior handles 148 and 152 , respectively, have been moved from their retracted positions toward their extended positions.
Hold-open latch 128 is pivotably coupled to lower mounting assembly 120 and is operable for mechanically engaging first guide track 38 when sliding door 36 is positioned at the fully open position to inhibit sliding door 36 from closing. Accordingly, hold-open latch 128 may include a latching element (not shown) for selectively engaging first guide track 38 . Hold-open latch 128 is caused to release first guide track 38 through the operation of handle mechanism 130 or power latching mechanism 126 .
As best shown in FIG. 10, upper mounting assembly 122 is attached to an upper forward corner of sliding door 36 relative to the front of vehicle 12 . Upper mounting assembly 122 includes an upper hinge member 160 which is fixedly coupled to door panel assembly 138 and an upper guide roller 162 which is rotatably coupled to upper hinge member 160 and adapted for cooperation with second guide track 40 . Lower mounting assembly 120 is attached to a lower forward corner of sliding door 36 relative to the front of vehicle 12 . As best shown in FIGS. 11 through 14, lower mounting assembly 120 is shown to include a lower hinge member 168 , first and second lateral guide rollers 170 and 172 , respectively, a vertical guide roller 174 and a articulating head 176 . The articulating head 176 is pivotably attached to the end of the lower hinge member 168 by a pivot pin 178 . Articulating head 176 is generally U-shaped, having a pair of furcations 180 and 180 ′ which extend below lower hinge member 168 . Furcations 180 and 180 ′ each include a cylindrical aperture (not shown) for receiving a vertically extending roller pin 182 , each one of which journally supports one of the first and second lateral guide rollers 170 and 172 . A tongue 184 extends in a perpendicular direction between furcations 180 and 180 ′ includes a cylindrical aperture (not shown) for receiving a horizontally extending roller pin 186 which journally supports the vertical guide roller 174 .
The lower mounting assembly 120 is adapted for cooperation with the first guide track 38 wherein the vertical guide roller 174 contacts first guide surface 82 and first and second lateral guide rollers 170 and 172 contact second guide surface 84 . As such, cooperation between the guide rollers and their respective guide surfaces ensures proper vertical and lateral alignment of lower mounting assembly 120 to rack 94 . Since the articulating head 176 is pivotably attached to the lower hinge member 168 , rollers 170 , 172 and 174 are capable of traversing the curved length of first guide track 38 .
A detailed description of wire track assembly 132 is beyond the scope of the present invention and need not be provided herein. Briefly, wire track assembly 132 is operative for providing electrical power from vehicle body 14 to sliding door 36 and, as shown in FIG. 10, includes a wire harness 190 having a plurality of wires which are enclosed in a limiter 192 . Wire harness 190 is operable for electronically coupling control module 54 and body control module 52 to permit the exchange of electronic signals therebetween, as well as for supplying electric current to power door drive mechanism 124 , power latching mechanism 126 and control module 54 .
Limiter 192 is comprised of numerous main track links 192 a . Limiter 192 is described in more detail in commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 09/211,729, filed Dec. 15, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. With additional reference to FIG. 5, a plurality of protrusions 194 are included along the length of door sill 28 to assist in guiding wire track assembly 132 when sliding door 36 moves between the closed position and the fully open position. Insofar as the present invention is concerned, it will be understood that electric power is preferably hard wired from vehicle body 14 to sliding door 36 in such a manner. However, electric power may alternatively be routed to sliding door 36 through sliding contacts or other manners well known in the art.
Referring now to FIGS. 10 through 13, power sliding door system 10 is shown to include a power door drive mechanism 124 mounted within sliding door 36 . In the preferred embodiment, power door drive mechanism includes a power unit 200 , a flexible driveshaft 202 , a drive unit 204 , a drive clutch 206 and a drive pinion 208 . Power unit 200 includes a drive motor 210 , a gearbox 212 and a Hall effect sensor 214 .
Flexible driveshaft 202 includes a hollow non-rotating member 216 and a cylindrical drive member 218 which is disposed within non-rotating member 216 . Cylindrical drive member 218 is coupled to an output member of gearbox 212 at a first end and to an input member of drive unit 204 at a second end. Drive torque from gearbox 212 is transmitted from the gearbox output member through cylindrical drive member 218 into drive unit 204 where it is received by an input member (not shown).
Drive unit 204 and non-rotating member 216 are fixedly coupled to lower hinge member 168 . Drive unit 204 includes a torque input axis which is coaxial with its input member, a torque output axis which is coaxial with its output shaft 220 and drive pinion 208 , and a gear train (not shown) which is operable for changing the direction of the rotational energy between the input and output axes. Drive pinion 208 includes a plurality of spur gear teeth 230 which meshingly engage rack teeth 92 . As such, drive pinion 208 rotates when sliding door 36 is moved relative to vehicle body 14 or vice versa.
Preferably, drive motor 210 , gearbox 212 and drive unit 204 cooperate to provide drive pinion 208 with sufficient drive torque to enable sliding door 36 to operate while vehicle 12 is on 20% fore and aft grades with a velocity approximately 0.7 to 1.5 m/s. Drive clutch 206 is preferably an electromagnetic clutch 213 coupled to gearbox 212 and flexible driveshaft 202 which is operable between a disengaged position wherein the transmission of drive torque between drive motor 210 and drive pinion 208 is inhibited, and an engaged position wherein the transmission of drive torque between drive motor 210 and drive pinion 208 is permitted. Preferably, drive clutch 206 is normally maintained in the disengaged position which prevents drive pinion 208 from back-driving drive motor 210 when sliding door 36 is manually moved between the fully-open and closed positions. Configuration in this manner permits sliding door 36 to be opened and closed manually without substantially increasing the force required to propel the door as compared to a completely manual sliding door. Hall effect sensor 214 is operable for generating a position signal indicative of the position of drive motor 210 at a predetermined position. Hall effect sensor 214 is coupled to control module 54 , enabling control module 54 to receive the position signal and monitor the operation of drive motor 210 , including the speed by which it rotates.
As shown most particularly in FIG. 11, lower hinge member 168 includes a raised portion 240 which extends around drive pinion 208 and flexible driveshaft 202 . Raised portion 240 functions as a guard to prevent foreign objects from contacting spur gear teeth 230 of drive pinion 208 as it rotates, as well as providing drive pinion 208 and flexible driveshaft 202 with additional protection against impacts caused by persons or equipment entering or exiting vehicle 12 through side opening 16 , as well as providing structural strength to lower hinge member 168 .
With reference to FIGS. 15-23, power latching mechanism 126 is illustrated to include a latch mechanism 250 , a power drive assembly 252 , a bracket member 254 , an unlatch mechanism 256 and a child guard mechanism 258 . Latch mechanism 250 is shown to include a housing 260 , a latch ratchet 262 , a latch sector 264 , a pawl 266 , a dog member 268 , first, second and third spring means 270 , 272 and 274 respectively, first and second pins 276 and 278 , respectively, a pawl switch 280 , a ratchet switch 282 and a lock switch 714 .
Housing 260 includes a container-like base portion 290 , a molded body portion 292 and a cover 294 . With particular reference to FIGS. 16 through 18, base portion 290 is shown to include a front surface 296 , a side surface 298 , a pair of pin apertures 300 sized to receive first and second pins 276 and 278 , a slotted aperture 302 formed into front and side surfaces 296 and 298 and a plurality of retaining tangs 304 . Body portion 292 includes a mid-wall 306 defining first and second cavities 308 and 310 , respectively, a striker receiver 312 , first and second pin apertures 314 and 316 , respectively, sized to receive first and second pins 276 and 278 , respectively, a contact tab aperture 318 and a pawl actuation aperture 320 . First cavity 308 includes a first boss 322 , a second boss 324 and first and second spring apertures 326 and 328 , respectively. Second boss 324 extends through midwall 306 into second cavity 310 . Cover 294 includes a drive aperture 330 , a pair of pin apertures 332 sized to receive first and second pins 276 and 278 and a plurality of tang apertures 334 sized to receive retaining tangs 304 .
As shown particularly in FIGS. 20-22, latch ratchet 262 is a disc-shaped fabrication which includes a slotted striker aperture 340 , a first boss aperture 342 , a pawl contact surface 344 having first, second and third pawl contact portions 346 , 348 and 350 , respectively, a latch sector contact surface 352 , a spring tab 354 and first and second pawl apertures 356 and 358 , respectively. Latch ratchet or member 262 is coupled to body portion 292 in first cavity 308 such that first boss 322 extends through first boss aperture 342 . First spring means 270 is disposed within first spring aperture 326 and contacts spring tab 354 to thereby normally urge latch ratchet 262 clockwise (as shown in FIG. 20) into a fully unlatched position. First pawl contact portion 346 is configured to contact ratchet switch 282 when pawl 266 is engaged against either second or third pawl contact portions 348 and 350 .
Pawl 266 includes a second boss aperture 360 , a coupling aperture 362 , and first and second contact surfaces 364 and 366 , respectively. Pawl 266 is coupled to body portion 292 in first cavity 308 such that second boss 324 extends though second boss aperture 360 . Second spring means 272 is disposed within second spring aperture 328 and contacts pawl 266 along a side opposite first contact surface 364 . Second spring means 272 urges pawl 266 against pawl contact surface 344 , causing pawl 266 to rotate toward latch ratchet 262 when positioned proximate one of the first and second pawl apertures 356 and 358 . As first spring means 270 urges latch ratchet 262 in an opposite direction, contact between latch ratchet 262 and pawl 266 is maintained between second pawl contact portion 366 and second pawl contact portion 348 when pawl 266 is positioned in first pawl aperture 356 , thereby locking latch ratchet 262 in an ajar position. Similarly, contact between latch ratchet 262 and pawl 266 is maintained between third pawl contact portion 350 and second contact surface 366 when pawl 266 is positioned in second pawl aperture 358 , thereby locking latch ratchet 262 in a fully latched position.
Latch sector 264 includes a cylindrical body portion 370 having a pin aperture 372 , a contact tab 374 , a geared surface 376 having a plurality of gear teeth 378 , and a ratchet contact 380 . First pin 276 couples latch sector 264 to housing 260 . First pin 276 supports latch sector 264 for rotation about first pin 276 between a returned position and an extended position as shown in FIG. 16 . Third spring means 274 is coupled to latch sector 264 and body portion 292 and is operable for normally urging latch sector 264 to rotate about first pin 276 to the returned position. Geared surface 376 is proximate drive aperture 330 and allows latch ratchet 262 to be rotated about first pin 276 by a power drive assembly 252 . Contact tab 374 extends through contact tab aperture 318 such that rotation of latch sector 264 about first pin 276 in a first direction permits contact tab 374 to contact latch sector contact surface 352 and rotate latch ratchet 262 toward the fully latched position.
Dog member 268 includes an actuation arm 382 , a third boss aperture 384 , a pawl arm 386 , a sensor arm 388 , and a ratchet contact surface 390 . Actuation arm 382 includes a lever aperture 392 . Dog member 268 is coupled to body portion such that second boss 324 extends through third boss aperture 384 . Pawl arm 386 extends through pawl actuation aperture 320 and is received into coupling aperture 362 to couple dog member 268 and pawl 266 for rotation about second boss 324 . Dog member 268 is therefore operable for rotating pawl 266 outward from latch ratchet 262 to disengage pawl 266 from first and second pawl apertures 356 and 358 to permit latch ratchet 262 to return to the fully unlatched position. Actuation arm 382 cooperates with unlatch mechanism 256 to cause dog member 268 to rotate about second boss 324 to unlatch latch ratchet 262 . Latch sector 264 is also operable for rotating dog member 268 about second boss 324 to unlatch latch ratchet 262 . Rotation of latch sector 264 in a second direction opposite the first direction enables ratchet contact 280 to contact ratchet contact surface 390 to cause dog member 268 to rotate pawl 266 and unlatch latch ratchet 262 . Sensor arm 388 is configured to contact pawl switch 280 when pawl 266 is engaged in either of the first and second pawl apertures 356 and 358 .
First and second pins 276 and 278 extend through their respective pin apertures in base portion 290 , body portion 292 and cover 294 . Retaining tangs 304 extend through their respective tang apertures 334 and are preferably bent over to secure base portion 290 to cover portion 294 . Alternatively, retaining tangs 304 may also be welded cover portion 294 .
Slotted striker aperture 340 is sized to receive a striker 394 and is operable between a fully unlatched position as shown in FIG. 21, an ajar or partially latched position as shown in FIG. 22, and a fully latched position as shown in FIG. 23 . Slotted striker aperture 340 is configured in a manner which permits latch ratchet 262 to rotate toward the fully latched position when striker 394 contacts slotted striker aperture 340 . As such, latch ratchet 262 can be actuated to the fully latched position by manually placing sliding door 36 into the closed position.
Pawl switch 280 is coupled to control module 54 and is operative for producing a digital signal indicative of the position of latch ratchet 262 . In the particular embodiment illustrated, pawl switch 280 is shown to be a limit switch 396 . However, it will be understood that other switches, such as proximity switches, may also be used to generate a signal indicative of the position of latch ratchet 262 . When the signal produced by pawl switch 280 is high (i.e., open to ground), pawl 266 is engaged in one of the first and second pawl apertures 356 and 358 , indicating that latch ratchet 262 is in one of the ajar and fully latched positions. When the signal produced pawl switch 280 is low (i.e., closed to ground), latch ratchet 262 is in the fully unlatched position.
Ratchet switch 282 is also coupled to control module 54 and produces a digital signal indicative of the position of latch ratchet 262 . In the particular embodiment illustrated, ratchet switch 282 is similarly shown to be a limit switch 398 . Again, it will be understood that other switches, such as proximity switches, may also be used to generate a signal indicative of the position of latch ratchet 262 . When the signal produced by ratchet switch 282 is high, latch ratchet 262 is in the fully latched position. When the signal produced by ratchet switch 282 is low, latch ratchet 262 is in one of the ajar and fully unlatched positions.
Control module 54 utilizes the signals from ratchet switch 282 and pawl switch 280 to determine the position of sliding door 36 relative to striker 394 . For example, if both the signals produced by pawl and ratchet switches 280 and 282 , respectively, are low, power latching mechanism 126 is in the fully unlatched position. If the signal produced by pawl switch 280 is high and the signal produced by ratchet switch 282 is low, power latching mechanism 126 is in the ajar position. If both the signals produced by pawl and ratchet switches 280 and 282 , respectively, are high, power latching mechanism 126 is in the fully latched position.
With particular reference to FIGS. 15 and 24, power drive assembly 252 is shown to include a housing 410 , a cinch motor 412 , a gear train 414 , a cinch clutch 416 and a wiring harness 418 . Cinch motor 412 is operable in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction. Cinch motor 412 includes a body portion 420 having a plurality of retaining slots 422 , first and second power terminals 424 and 426 , respectively, first and second body journals 428 and 430 , respectively, and an output shaft 432 . First and second body journals 428 and 430 extend from body portion 420 and are coaxial to both body portion 420 and output shaft 432 . Output shaft 432 includes a plurality of longitudinally splined teeth 434 at the end opposite body portion 420 .
Housing 410 includes a first housing portion 440 , a second housing portion 442 and a plurality of threaded fasteners 444 to couple first and second housing portions together. With additional reference to FIG. 25, first housing portion 440 is shown to include a wiring aperture 450 , motor support means 452 , first and second gear axles 454 and 456 , respectively, a cylindrical recess 458 , a bushing aperture 460 , a hollow cylindrical bushing 462 , a wire harness stop 464 and a plurality of retaining apertures 466 . Motor support means 452 includes first and second retaining tabs 468 and 470 , respectively, and first and second support tabs 472 and 474 , respectively. First and second retaining tabs 468 and 470 each extend inward from a sidewall 476 which bounds first housing portion 440 along its sides. Retaining tabs 468 and 470 engage retaining slots 422 and are operable for preventing body portion 420 from rotating relative to first housing portion 440 . First support tab 472 extends upward from the base 478 of first housing portion 440 and includes a slotted aperture 480 which is sized to receive first body journal 428 . Second support tab 474 extends upward from base 478 and is coupled to sidewall 476 in two locations. Second support tab 474 includes a slotted aperture 482 sized to receive second body journal 430 , a first vertical slot 484 sized to receive a portion of wiring harness 418 and first power terminal 424 , and a second vertical slot 486 sized to receive second power terminal 426 . First and second support tabs 472 and 474 cooperate to align the axis of output shaft 432 as well as the position of drive motor 210 in their proper orientations relative to first gear axle 454 .
With reference to FIG. 26, second housing portion 442 is shown to include a motor entrapment means 490 , first and second axle bores 492 and 494 , respectively, a cylindrical recess 496 , a bushing aperture 498 , a hollow cylindrical bushing 500 and a plurality of retention apertures 502 . First and second axle bores 492 and 494 are sized to receive first and second gear axles 454 and 456 , respectively. Motor entrapment means 490 includes first and second tabs 508 and 510 extending from the top surface 512 of second housing portion 442 . First and second tabs 508 and 510 are positioned along top surface 512 so as to be proximate first and second support tabs 472 and 474 , respectively when first and second housing portions 440 and 442 are coupled together. As such, first and second tabs 508 and 510 are operable for limiting the movement of first and second body journals 428 and 430 , respectively to thereby control the orientation of output shaft 432 relative to first gear axle 454 .
Referring back to FIG. 24, gear train 414 is shown to include a worm gear 520 and a plurality of reducing gears 522 a and 522 b which cooperate to drive an output pinion 524 . Worm gear 520 is conventional in construction and includes thread like teeth 526 and a central aperture (not shown). Worm gear 520 is pressed onto output shaft 432 and engages splined teeth 434 to prevent relative rotation between worm gear 520 and output shaft 432 . As such, worm gear 520 is coupled for rotation with output shaft 432 .
Reducing gear 522 a includes an axle aperture 528 , a plurality of helical gear teeth 530 having a first pitch diameter and a plurality of spur gear teeth 532 having a second, smaller pitch diameter. First gear axle 454 extends through axle aperture 528 and helical gear teeth 530 meshingly engage thread-like teeth 526 . As such, rotation of worm gear 520 causes reducing gear 522 a to rotate about first gear axle 454 .
Reducing gear 522 b includes an axle aperture 534 , a plurality of first spur gear teeth 536 having a first pitch diameter, and a plurality of second spur gear teeth 538 having a second, smaller pitch diameter. Second gear axle 456 extends through axle aperture 534 and first spur gear teeth 536 meshingly engage spur gear teeth 532 . As such, rotation of reducing gear 522 a causes reducing gear 522 b to rotate about second gear axle 456 .
Cinch clutch 416 is operable for interrupting the transfer of drive torque from cinch motor 412 to output pinion 524 . Preferably, cinch clutch 416 permits output pinion 524 to freely rotate about its axis when cinch clutch 416 is disengaged. Operation in this manner permits power latching mechanism 126 to be operated manually or automatically.
Cinch clutch 416 is preferably electronically controlled and includes an electromagnet 540 , a selectively engagable reducing gear 542 and a low friction element 543 disposed between electromagnet 540 and selectively engagable reducing gear 542 . Electromagnet 540 is generally cylindrical in shape and includes an inductive coil 540 a and a casing 540 b . Inductive coil 540 a is shown to include a central aperture 544 and positive and negative power leads 546 and 548 , respectively. Electromagnet 540 and cinch motor 412 are coupled to wire harness 418 in a parallel manner such that activation of cinch motor 412 also activates electromagnet 540 . Wire harness stop 464 is operable for preventing gear teeth 538 from contacting wire harness 418 to ensure reliable operation of electromagnet 540 .
Selectively engagable gear mechanism 542 includes first and second members 550 and 552 , respectively. With additional reference to FIG. 27, first member 550 is shown to include a first gear member 560 , a second gear member 562 , a washer 564 , a spring means 566 and a retaining ring 568 . First gear member 560 is generally cylindrical in shape and includes a plurality of spur gear teeth 570 which meshingly engage second spur gear teeth 538 , a plurality of radial apertures 572 , a second member pocket 574 and a shoulder 576 having a central aperture 578 and a ring groove 580 sized to receive retaining ring 568 . Second gear member 562 includes a disc-shaped geared portion 582 and a plurality of cylindrical, pins 584 . Geared portion 582 includes a plurality of radial splines 588 and an aperture 586 having a counter bore 592 of a first diameter and a through-hole 594 of a second, smaller diameter. Radial apertures 572 are each sized to receive a cylindrical pin 584 which are installed to geared portion 582 by press-fitting. Through-hole 594 is sized to receive shoulder 576 . Counter bore 592 is sized to provide both radial and axial clearance for washer 564 , spring means 566 and retaining ring 568 . Second gear member 562 is installed to first gear member 560 by engaging cylindrical pins 584 into their respective radial apertures 572 and engaging shoulder 576 into through-hole 594 . Spring means 566 is preferably a spring washer 596 which biases second gear member 562 upward into second member pocket 574 . Cylindrical pins 584 are operable for guiding second gear member 562 in an axial direction relative to first gear member 560 and also for ensuring the transmission of drive torque between first and second gear members 560 and 562 .
Second member 552 includes first and second shaft portions 600 and 602 , respectively, gear member 604 and output pinion 524 . First shaft portion 600 is sized to rotate within aperture 578 and bushing 462 . Second shaft portion 602 is sized to rotate within aperture 544 and bushing 500 . As such, second member 552 is supported for rotation within first and second housing portions 440 and 442 . Gear member 604 is fixed for rotation with first shaft portion 600 and includes a plurality of radial splines 608 that are similar to those of second gear member 562 . Second shaft portion 602 is coupled for rotation with gear member 604 and is supported for rotation within bushing 500 . Output pinion 524 is coupled for rotation with second shaft portion 602 and includes a plurality of spur gear teeth 610 having a pitch diameter smaller than that of spur gear teeth 570 . Gear teeth 610 extend through drive aperture 330 and meshingly engages gear teeth 378 such that latch sector 264 rotates when output pinion 524 rotates about its axis.
As spring means 566 normally biases second gear member 562 upward into first gear member 560 , radial splines 588 and 608 are not normally engaged. Consequently, rotation of first member 550 does not normally cause rotation of second member 552 and vice-versa. Therefore, the size of third spring means 274 may be reduced since returning latch sector 264 to the returned position does not “back drive” gear train 414 .
Operation of cinch motor 412 in either of the first and second rotational directions also causes the energization of electromagnet 540 . When electromagnet 540 is energized, a magnetic field (not shown) is created which draws second gear member 562 toward gear member 604 so that radial splines 588 and 608 meshingly engage. Once radial splines 588 and 608 have engaged, drive torque input to first gear member 560 from second reducing gear 522 b is transmitted to gear member 604 causing second shaft portion 602 to rotate. Rotation of second shaft portion 602 in a first direction causes output pinion 524 to drive latch sector 264 about first pin 276 in a first direction. Contact between contact tab 374 and latch sector contact surface 352 which occurs as latch sector 264 is driven about first pin 276 in the first direction causes latch sector 264 to drive latch ratchet 262 in a direction toward the fully latched position. It should be apparent from the above description that as latch ratchet 262 is brought into the fully latched position, contact between latch ratchet 262 and striker 394 draws sliding door 36 into the fully latched position. Rotation of second shaft portion 602 in a second direction causes output pinion 524 to drive latch sector 264 about first pin 276 in a second direction. Contact between ratchet contact 380 and ratchet contact surface 390 which occurs as latch sector 264 is driven about first pin 276 in the second direction causes latch sector 264 to drive dog member 268 in a direction which causes pawl member 266 to disengage latch ratchet 262 .
Referring back to FIGS. 15 through 17, bracket member 254 may be fabricated as an individual component or may be combined with another component, such as the housing 260 of latch mechanism 250 . Bracket member 254 includes a unlatch mechanism stop 620 , first, second and third Bowden cable support apertures 622 , 624 and 626 , respectively, first and second spring apertures 628 and 630 , respectively, first and second pin apertures 632 and 634 , respectively, and first and second child guard lever apertures 636 and 638 , respectively.
Unlatch mechanism 256 includes an interior unlatch lever 640 , an exterior unlatch lever 642 , a dog lever 644 , first and second pins 646 a and 646 b , a first spring means 648 , a latch lock mechanism 650 and second spring means (not shown). Exterior unlatch lever 642 includes a pin aperture (not shown), a slotted aperture 654 , a stop means 656 , a generally L-shaped slot 658 and cable retention means 660 . With additional reference to FIGS. 28 and 29, cable retention means 660 is formed in a container-like shape having a plurality of sidewalls 662 and an end wall 664 . A cable slot 666 extends though sidewalls 662 a and 662 b into a portion of end wall 664 and terminates in a seat aperture 668 .
Interior unlatch lever 640 includes a pin aperture 670 , a generally L-shaped slotted aperture 672 , a contact surface 674 , first and second Bowden cable retention means 676 and 678 , respectively, and a spring aperture 680 . First Bowden cable retention means 676 includes a base member 682 and a generally L-shaped leg member 684 . Base member 682 is fixed to interior unlatch lever 640 , thereby coupling first Bowden cable retention means 676 to interior unlatch lever 640 . Leg member 684 includes a base portion 686 and a leg portion 688 . Leg portion 688 spaces base portion 686 apart from base member 682 a predetermined first distance. A cable slot 690 extends through leg member 684 and into a portion of base member 682 where it terminates in a seat aperture 692 .
Second Bowden cable retention means 678 also includes a base member 694 and a leg member 696 . Base member 694 is fixed to interior unlatch lever 640 , thereby coupling second Bowden cable retention means 678 to interior unlatch lever 640 . Leg member 696 is spaced apart from interior unlatch lever 640 at a predetermined second distance. A cable slot (not shown) extends through base member 694 where it terminates in a seat aperture (not shown).
Dog lever 644 includes a pin aperture (not shown), a slotted aperture 700 and a dog actuation lever 702 . First pin 646 a is inserted through the pin apertures in dog lever 644 , interior and exterior unlatch levers 640 and 642 , and press-fit into aperture 632 , thereby coupling interior and exterior unlatch levers 640 and 642 and dog lever 644 to bracket member 254 as well as supporting these levers for rotation about first pin 646 a . Dog lever 644 and actuation arm 382 are coupled together such that dog actuation lever 702 extends into lever aperture 392 . As such, dog lever 644 and actuation arm 382 are operable for actuating one another.
Latch lock mechanism 650 includes a link connecting arm 704 , a pin aperture 706 , a spring aperture (not shown), an unlatch lever arm 708 having an actuation slot 707 , and an unlatch lever pin 710 . Second pin 646 b is inserted through pin aperture 706 and press-fit into pin aperture 634 , thereby coupling latch lock mechanism 650 to bracket member 254 was well as supporting the mechanism for rotation about second pin 646 b . Unlatch lever pin 710 is coupled to unlatch lever arm 708 and extends through L-shaped slot 658 . Rotation of latch lock mechanism 650 about second pin 646 b is operable for placing unlatch lever pin 710 in an engaged mode or a disengaged mode. Unlatch lever pin 710 is positioned in the engaged mode when it lies within the narrow slotted tip portion 712 of L-shaped slot 658 . Unlatch lever pin 710 is positioned in the disengaged mode when it does not lie within the narrow slotted tip portion 712 of L-shaped slot 658 .
A lock switch 714 is coupled to control module 54 and produces a digital signal indicative of the status of latch lock mechanism 650 . When latch lock mechanism 650 is placed in the engaged position, lock switch 714 produces a high signal (i.e., open to ground) which causes control module 54 to inhibit the operation of sliding door 36 in an automatic mode unless the position of latch lock mechanism 650 is first changed to the disengaged position.
First Bowden cable 150 couples exterior handle 148 to exterior unlatch lever 642 . First Bowden cable 150 includes a hollow cable sheath 716 , a resilient retaining grommet 718 coupled to cable sheath 716 , a braided wire cable 720 disposed within cable sheath 716 and a first Bowden cable retainer 722 . As shown in FIG. 28, first Bowden cable retainer 722 is an aluminum sphere 724 which is staked or otherwise secured to the end of braided wire cable 720 . The diameter of sphere 724 is sized to fit between sidewalls 662 with a predetermined amount of clearance. The predetermined amount of clearance prevents first Bowden cable retainer 722 from binding one or more sidewalls 662 as exterior unlatch lever 642 is operated. However, the amount of predetermined clearance is sufficiently small to ensure that if an assembly or service technician attempted to place a Bowden cable retainer from another cable into first Bowden cable retainer 722 , the Bowden cable retainer would either be too large to fit within sidewalls 662 or would fit too loosely within sidewalls 662 so as to make such assembly errors readily apparent to the technician. Similarly, the predetermined first distance between base member 682 and leg member 684 is selected so as to render the misassembly of first Bowden cable retainer 722 into first Bowden cable retainer 676 apparent to the technician. First Bowden cable 150 is threaded into cable slot 666 and sphere 724 is positioned between sidewalls 662 . Retaining grommet 718 is inserted into first support aperture 622 to secure first Bowden cable 150 to bracket member 254 . Retaining grommet 718 is sized to fit first support aperture 622 and is either too large or small to fit second and third support apertures 624 and 626 properly. As such, the misassembly of first Bowden cable 150 to second or third support apertures 624 or 626 will be immediately apparent to assembly and service technicians.
A second Bowden cable 154 couples interior handle 152 to interior unlatch lever 640 . Second Bowden cable 154 similarly includes a hollow cable sheath 726 , a resilient retaining grommet 728 coupled to cable sheath 726 , a braided wire cable 730 disposed within cable sheath 726 and a second Bowden cable retainer 732 . Second Bowden cable retainer 732 is an aluminum sphere 734 which is staked or otherwise secured to the end of braided wire cable 730 . The diameter of sphere 734 is sized to match the distance between base portion 686 and base member 682 with a predetermined amount of clearance similar to that discussed above for first Bowden cable retainer 722 . The diameter of sphere 734 , however, is sufficiently different from that of sphere 722 so as to prevent its insertion into cable retention means 660 . Second Bowden cable 154 is threaded into cable slot 690 and sphere 734 is positioned between base portion 686 and base member 682 . Retaining grommet 728 is sized to fit second support aperture 624 and is either too large or small to fit first and third support apertures 622 and 626 properly. As such, the misassembly of second Bowden cable 154 to first or third support apertures 622 or 626 will be immediately apparent to assembly and service technicians.
A third Bowden cable 736 couples hold-open latch 128 to interior unlatch lever 640 . Third Bowden cable 736 again similarly includes a hollow cable sheath 738 , a resilient retaining grommet 740 coupled to cable sheath 738 , a braided wire cable 742 disposed within cable sheath 738 and a third Bowden cable retainer 740 . Third Bowden cable retainer 740 is fabricated from aluminum and includes a sphere portion 740 a and a plate portion 740 b which is fixedly secured to sphere portion 740 a . Third Bowden cable retainer 740 is staked or otherwise secured to the end of braided wire cable 742 . The unique configuration of third Bowden cable retainer 740 prevents or renders apparent the misassembly of the Bowden cable retainer 740 to either cable retention means 660 or first Bowden cable retention means 676 . Third Bowden cable 736 is secured to second Bowden cable retention means 678 in a manner similar to that described above for second Bowden cable 154 . Retaining grommet 740 is inserted into third support aperture 626 to secure third Bowden cable 736 to bracket member 254 . Retaining grommet 740 is sized to fit third support aperture 626 and is either too large or small to fit first and second support apertures 622 and 624 properly. As such, the misassembly of third Bowden cable 736 to first or second support apertures 622 or 624 will be immediately apparent to assembly and service technicians.
Referring briefly to FIG. 30, a cable retention means and a Bowden cable retainer according to an alternate embodiment are shown. As shown, Bowden cable retainer 750 is generally cylindrical in shape, formed from a material such as aluminum and coupled to an end of braided wire cable 752 in a conventional manner. Cable retention means 754 is generally shaped in the form of a hollow cylinder and includes an T-shaped cable slot 756 with a first portion 758 extending parallel to the axis of cable retention means 754 and a second portion 760 which extends around a portion of the perimeter of cable retention means 754 . Bowden cable retainer 750 is sized in a manner which includes a predetermined amount of clearance as described above. Wire cable 752 is threaded into cable slot 756 and Bowden cable retainer 750 is inserted into the hollow interior of cable retention means 754 . When wire cable 752 reaches second portion 760 , Bowden cable retainer 750 is rotated within cable retention means 754 to guard against the withdrawal of Bowden cable retainer 750 .
In one application, the aluminum sphere 724 of first Bowden cable retainer 722 has a diameter of approximately 6 mm, the aluminum sphere 734 of second Bowden cable retainer 732 has a diameter of approximately 8 mm and the distance between sidewalls 662 is approximately 6.5 mm. Accordingly, as second Bowden cable retainer 732 will not fit into cable retention means 660 , any assembly errors would be rendered immediately apparent. In further illustration of the error-proofing method of the present invention, the diameter of first support aperture 622 is approximately 12 mm and the diameter, the diameter of first retaining grommet 718 is approximately 11.5 mm, the diameter of second support aperture 624 is approximately 8.5 mm and the diameter of second retaining grommet 728 is approximately 8 mm. Accordingly, as the diameter of first retaining grommet 718 is substantially larger than second support aperture 624 to prevent its insertion therein, any assembly errors would be rendered immediately apparent.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the error-proofing of an assembly having multiple wire cables can be accomplished by utilizing a series of cables having Bowden cable retainers of the same shape which are sized differently and/or by utilizing cables with Bowden cable retainers of different shapes.
With additional reference to FIG. 17B, actuation of exterior handle 148 creates a force that is transmitted through first Bowden cable 150 and acts against end wall 664 to cause exterior unlatch lever 642 to rotate about first pin 646 a . If unlatch lever pin 710 is in the engaged mode, unlatch lever pin will contact unlatch lever arm 708 , as well as exterior unlatch lever 642 along the narrow portion 712 of L-shaped slot 658 , causing unlatch lever pin 710 to rotate about second pin 646 b in actuation slot 707 . As unlatch lever pin 710 extends through exterior unlatch lever 642 , rotation of exterior unlatch lever 642 about first pin 646 a causes unlatch lever pin 710 rotate outward from second pin 646 b and rotate dog lever 644 about first pin 646 a . If dog lever 644 is sufficiently rotated about first pin 646 a , actuation lever 702 contacts actuation arm 382 which in turn causes dog member 268 to rotate pawl 266 away from latch ratchet 262 to permit first spring means 270 to rotate latch ratchet 262 to the fully open position. If, however, unlatch lever pin 710 is in the disengaged mode, rotation of exterior unlatch lever 642 will not cause unlatch lever pin 710 to contact dog lever 644 , and as such, actuation lever will not contact actuation arm 382 to cause dog member 268 to rotate pawl 266 and release latch ratchet 262 .
With reference to FIG. 17C, actuation of interior handle 152 (i.e., release button 152 a ) creates a force that is transmitted through second Bowden cable 154 and acts against base member 682 to cause interior unlatch lever 640 to rotate about first pin 646 a . Actuation of interior handle 152 also creates a force which is transmitted through third Bowden cable 736 , which in turn causes hold-open latch 128 to pivot about its connection to door assembly 138 and release first guide track 38 . Child guard mechanism 258 selectively couples interior unlatch lever 640 to exterior unlatch lever 642 .
Child guard mechanism 258 includes a first link 780 which is pivotably coupled to bracket member 254 at first child guard lever aperture 636 , a second link 782 which is pivotably coupled to bracket member at second child guard lever aperture 638 , and a third link 784 . First link 780 includes a selector arm 786 and an actuation arm 788 . Selector arm 786 is operable between an engaged position which permits latch ratchet 262 to be unlatched only by manual operation of exterior handle 148 and a disengaged position which permits latch ratchet 262 to be unlatched by automatic operation or by manual operation of the exterior or interior handles 148 and 152 . Second link 782 is coupled to first link 780 such that movement of first link 780 between the engaged and disengaged positions causes second link 782 to rotate about second child guard lever aperture 638 . Third link 784 is pivotably coupled to second link 782 and includes an actuation pin 790 . Actuation pin 790 extends through slotted aperture 654 and L-shaped slot 672 .
Positioning of child guard mechanism 258 into the disengaged position places actuation pin 790 in a portion of L-shaped slot 672 proximate its tip 792 . Therefore, when child guard mechanism 258 is disengaged and interior unlatch lever 640 is rotated about first pin 646 a , actuation pin 790 is brought into contact with the side of L-shaped slot 672 , causing exterior unlatch lever 642 to rotate about first pin 646 a with interior unlatch lever 640 . Consequently, the actuation of interior handle 152 when child guard mechanism 258 is disengaged permits interior unlatch lever 640 to rotate exterior unlatch lever 642 and unlatch power latching mechanism 126 as described above.
Positioning of child guard mechanism 258 into the engaged position places actuation pin 790 in a portion of L-shaped slot 672 proximate its base 794 . Therefore, when child guard mechanism 258 is engaged and interior unlatch lever 640 is rotated about first pin 646 a , actuation pin 790 does not contact the side of slotted aperture 672 and the position of exterior unlatch lever 642 is not affected. Consequently, the actuation of interior handle 152 when child guard mechanism 258 is engaged does not permits interior unlatch lever 640 to rotate exterior unlatch lever 642 and unlatch power latching mechanism 126 .
Child guard mechanism 258 permits exterior handle 148 to actuate hold-open latch 128 to release first guide track 38 . Specifically, the rotating motion of exterior unlatch lever 642 in a direction tending to unlatch power latching mechanism 126 is transmitted to interior unlatch lever 640 to cause it to similarly rotate about first pin 646 a.
From the foregoing discussion of latch mechanism 250 and power drive assembly 252 , above, it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that power latching mechanism 126 may be configured in a manner to permit its integration into other vehicle closure systems, including tailgates and other passenger doors which are pivotably coupled to a vehicle body, as wells as trunk lids and hoods. With reference to FIGS. 1, 3 A and 3 B, a power latching mechanism according to an alternate embodiment which is tailored for use in tailgate 64 is generally indicated by reference numeral 126 ′. Power latching mechanism 126 ′ does not include a bracket member or a child guard mechanism. Power latching mechanism 126 ′ is otherwise generally similar to power latching mechanism 126 except that unlatch mechanism 256 ′ is highly simplified and consists of a single lever 800 pivotably coupled to housing 260 ′. Wire harness 67 d extends into a hole 801 in tailgate panel 65 which is sealed by sealing grommet 67 e . Wire harness 67 d is coupled to body control module 52 .
Power latching mechanism 126 ′ is fixedly coupled to tailgate panel 65 . Lever 800 is mechanically coupled through a link member 802 to key switch 66 . Rotation of key switch 66 in a first direction causes link member 802 to rotate lever 800 which in turn causes dog member 268 to rotate about second pin 278 and release pawl 266 to unlatch power latching mechanism 126 ′. Power latching mechanism 126 ′ is electrically coupled to body control module 52 . Body control module 52 is operable for monitoring the state of the pawl and ratchet switches 280 and 284 and determining the latched state of power latching mechanism 126 ′. Body control module 52 is also operable for monitoring the output signals generated by tailgate handle switch 67 c , an interior switch 134 or a remote keyless-entry control device 962 . Upon receiving an output signal from tailgate handle switch 67 c , interior switch 134 or remote keyless-entry control device 962 indicative of a command to cause power latching mechanism 126 ′ to unlatch, body control module 52 is first determines whether latch ratchet 262 is in the fully unlatched position. If latch ratchet 262 is not in the fully unlatched position, body control module 52 is operable controlling cinch motor 412 to operate and drive latch sector 264 in the second direction to cause ratchet contact 280 to contact ratchet contact surface 390 and rotate pawl 266 to release latch ratchet 262 as described above.
Consequently, tailgate may be operated without conventional interior and exterior handles which mechanically operate the latching mechanism. This construction is advantageous in that it permits any holes in the exterior surface 804 of tailgate panel 65 to be sealed against entry by dirt and water under conditions in which vehicle 12 would normally be operated. This construction is also advantageous due to the ability to reduce the number of parts comprising the tailgate, as well as the ability to eliminate issues relating to the design and adjustment of conventional mechanical linkages associated with conventional interior and exterior handles for mechanically actuating the latch mechanism.
From the foregoing, it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that other power latch mechanism may be employed to eliminate conventional handles for mechanically operating the latch. Consequently, the scope of this aspect of the present invention is not limited to a power latching mechanism having cinching capabilities, but extends to any latching mechanism which may be electrically or electro-mechanically operated in an unlatching manner. It should also be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that this aspect of the present invention has applicability to other types of door handles and doors and as such, it not limited to lightbar assemblies or tailgates.
It should also be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the power latch mechanism of the present invention may be coupled to the opposite side of the sliding door to engage a striker coupled to the second body pillar (i.e., second body pillar 26 ). This configuration is especially advantageous in that the hold-open latch may be designed in a manner to engage the striker when the sliding door is in the fully open position.
A power door drive mechanism according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention is generally indicated by reference numeral 124 ′ in FIGS. 31 through 33. Power door drive mechanism 124 ′ includes power unit 200 , a drive unit 204 ′, a drive clutch 206 ′, and a drive pinion 208 ′. Power unit 200 includes drive motor 210 , gearbox 212 and driveshaft 202 .
Drive pinion axle 900 extends through an aperture 902 in drive pinion 208 ′ and couples drive pinion 208 ′ to lower hinge member 168 ′. Drive pinion axle 900 also supports drive pinion 208 ′ for rotation about the longitudinal axis of drive pinion axle 900 . Drive pinion 208 ′ includes a plurality of drive pinion teeth 230 ′ which meshingly engage rack teeth 92 .
Drive unit 204 ′ includes a worm gear 904 , a reducing gear 906 , an idler gear 908 , first and second axles 910 and 912 and a mounting assembly 914 . Mounting assembly 914 supports worm gear 904 for rotation about its longitudinal axis. Driveshaft 202 is coupled to worm gear 904 and drives it about its longitudinal axis. Reducing gear 906 includes an axle aperture 916 , a set of first gear teeth 918 which meshingly engage the teeth 920 worm gear 904 , and a set of second gear teeth 922 . First axle 910 is disposed through lower hinge member 168 ′, mounting assembly 914 and axle aperture 916 and thereby supports reducing gear 906 for rotation about the axis of first axle 910 . First axle 910 also supports drive unit 204 ′ for rotation about the axis of first axle 910 . Idler gear 908 includes an axle aperture 924 and a set of gear teeth 926 which meshingly engage second gear teeth 922 and the teeth 230 ′ of drive pinion 208 ′. Second axle 912 is disposed through mounting assembly 914 and axle aperture 924 and thereby supports idler gear 908 for rotation about the axis of second axle 912 .
Drive clutch 206 ′ includes first and second hinge members 930 and 932 , respectively, which are pivotably connected by a pivot pin 934 . First hinge member 930 is generally L-shaped and includes a cam 936 at the intersection of base portion 938 and leg portion 940 . A pivot pin 942 couples first hinge member 930 to the portion of mounting assembly 914 proximate idler gear 908 . Second hinge member 932 includes a cam follower 944 , a link portion 946 , and a pivot pin 948 . Cam follower 944 is coupled to link portion 946 includes a cam follower edge 950 which abuts leg portion 940 when drive clutch 206 ′ is not actuated. Link portion 946 is pivotably coupled to first hinge member 930 by pivot pin 934 . First and second hinge members 930 and 932 are coupled to unlatch mechanism 256 ′ by first and second links 954 and 956 , respectively. First and second links 954 and 956 are preferably Bowden cables having a braided wire cable material.
When one or both of the exterior and interior handles 148 and 152 are placed in their extended positions, first link 780 creates a force as shown by direction arrow A in FIG. 33 which causes first hinge member 930 to rotate about pin 934 . In response thereto, cam 936 is caused to act against cam follower 944 and rotate mounting assembly 914 about first axle 910 into a disengaged position wherein idler gear 908 is disengaged from drive pinion 208 ′ to permit sliding door 36 ′ to be operated manually. Depending upon the configuration of cam 936 and cam follower 944 , drive clutch 206 ′ may be locked into the disengaged position by the actuation of either one of the exterior or interior handles 148 and 152 .
Second link member 932 is coupled to a linear actuator 960 which, when actuated upon the occurrence of one or more predetermined conditions, creates a force as shown by direction arrow B in FIG. 33 which causes second link member 932 to rotate about pin 910 such that cam follower edge 950 abuts leg portion 940 and idler gear 908 engages drive pinion 208 ′.
Referring back to FIGS. 4 and 10, control module 54 is operable for selectively controlling the operation of sliding door 36 . Control module 54 is coupled to body control module 52 as well as various other electronic control devices throughout vehicle 12 , such as automatic transmission controller 50 and engine controller 48 . As a result, control module 54 receives data on numerous vehicle dynamics, including vehicle speed, ignition status, presently engaged gear ratio and requests to open sliding door 36 generated from one of the interior switches 134 or a remote keyless-entry control device 962 . Control module 54 is also coupled to drive motor 210 , drive clutch 206 , hall effect sensor 214 , pawl switch 280 , ratchet switch 282 , hold open switch 964 , lock switch 714 , cinch clutch 416 , cinch motor 412 , handle switch 146 , and a child guard switch 966 .
Control module 54 controls both the actuation of drive motor 210 and the direction with which it rotates. Operation of drive motor 210 in a first direction causes drive pinion 208 to be rotated in a direction which tends to push door panel assembly 138 into the open position. Conversely, operation of drive motor 210 in a second direction causes drive pinion 208 to be rotated in a direction which tends to push door panel assembly 138 into the closed position.
Control module 54 receives signals from various sensors located throughout vehicle 12 , determines the operational state of vehicle 12 , determines the appropriate actions that should be made with respect to sliding door 36 and initiates any necessary command signals to initiate such actions. Accordingly, upon receipt of a command to cycle sliding door 36 from one of the interior switches 134 or remote keyless-entry control device 962 , control module 54 determines the state of the sliding door (e.g. fully closed) and causes power door drive mechanism 124 and power latching mechanism 126 to operate according to a predetermined control strategy.
With reference to FIGS. 10 and 34, door assembly 136 includes trim panel assembly 140 and a stamped metal or molded plastic door panel assembly 138 that includes an exterior panel 1000 and an interior panel 1002 . Interior panel 1002 is fixedly coupled to exterior panel 1000 and includes a recessed cavity 1004 having a first portion 1006 adapted for housing control module 54 and a second portion 1008 adapted for housing a portion of power door drive mechanism 124 . In the particular embodiment illustrated, second portion 1008 includes a power unit cut-out 1012 , adapted to house drive motor 210 and gearbox 212 , and a driveshaft pocket 1014 , adapted to house a portion of flexible driveshaft 202 . Trim panel assembly 140 covers recessed cavity 1004 to conceal drive motor 210 , gearbox 212 and control module 54 from the view of the passengers, as well as to dampen any noise and vibration produced during the operation of sliding door 36 . Accordingly, trim panel assembly 140 may include an insulating material disposed between control module 54 , drive motor 210 and/or gearbox 212 and the interior of vehicle 12 .
The configuration shown is particularly advantageous due to its ability to be used across a wide range of vehicle trim levels. For example, should a completely manual sliding door be desired, the vehicle manufacturer need only omit power door drive mechanism 124 and control module 54 , substitute a completely mechanical version of the latching mechanism for power latching mechanism 126 and substitute a less complex wiring harness for wiring harness 190 . Preferably, the completely mechanical version of the latching mechanism is identical to power latching mechanism 126 except that any components or assemblies associated with the power latching and unlatching (e.g., power drive assembly 252 , latch sector 264 ) have been omitted or substituted with other components, such as spacers, to provide substantial similarity between the latch mechanisms in their installation and operation.
Similarly, should a manual sliding door with power locks be desired, the vehicle manufacturer need only omit power door drive mechanism 124 and control module 54 , substitute an electronically-actuated latching mechanism for power latching mechanism 126 and substitute a less complex wiring harness for wiring harness 190 . While the electronically-actuated latching mechanism may be the same component as the power latching mechanism 126 , it preferably substitutes a less-complex mechanism than power drive assembly 252 for actuating dog member 268 to permit latch ratchet 262 to return to the fully unlatched position. Configuration in this manner permits the cost of the latching mechanism to be minimized while maintaining substantial similarity between the latch mechanisms in their installation and operation.
It will be understood, however, that the cavity for drive motor 210 , gearbox 212 and/or control module 54 could alternatively be formed between exterior panel 1000 and interior panel 1002 (i.e., the cavity may be formed in door panel assembly 138 ). Accordingly, the particular embodiment illustrated is not intended to be limiting in any manner.
Referring to FIG. 35, the methodology for controlling sliding door 36 is shown in schematic flow-diagram form. The methodology is entered at bubble 2000 and progresses to decision block 2004 where control module 54 determines whether body control module 52 has issued a command signal (C55 command) to open or close the sliding door 36 . If body control module has not received a C55 command, the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 . If body control module 52 has received a C55 command, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2008 .
In decision block 2008 , control module 54 evaluates data received from automatic transmission controller 50 to determine if vehicle is in a gear ratio corresponding to park or neutral. If vehicle is not in a gear ratio corresponding to park or neutral, the methodology returns to decision block 2004 . If vehicle is in a gear ratio corresponding to park or neutral, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2012 where control module 54 evaluates data received from engine controller 48 to determine if the speed of vehicle 12 is above a predetermined maximum speed.
If the speed of vehicle 12 is above the predetermined maximum speed in decision block 2012 , the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 . If the speed of vehicle 12 is not above the predetermined maximum speed, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2016 where the status of pawl switch 280 is evaluated. If pawl switch 280 is in an open state (i.e., open circuit to ground), latch ratchet 262 has been placed in one of the fully latched and partially latched positions. The methodology proceeds to decision block 2020 where the methodology determines if ratchet switch is open. If ratchet switch 282 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2024 where the methodology determines if a new C55 command has been generated by body control module 52 . If a new C55 command has not been generated, the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 . If a new C55 command has been generated, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2028 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in an opening or a closing cycle.
If sliding door is not being operated in an opening or closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2032 where the methodology proceeds along branch 2 c . Referring now to FIG. 36B, the methodology then proceeds from bubble 2032 to decision block 2036 where the status of ratchet switch 282 is evaluated. If ratchet switch 282 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2040 where the status of pawl switch 280 is evaluated. If pawl switch 280 is open, sliding door 36 is fully closed, and the methodology proceeds to bubble 2044 which, referring briefly to FIG. 35A, causes the methodology to loop back to decision block 2004 . Returning to decision block 2040 in FIG. 36B, if pawl switch 280 is not open, the methodology proceeds to block 2048 where cinch motor 412 is turned n in a closing direction, cinch clutch 416 is turned on and the cinch latch timer (CLT) is started. Referring back to decision block 2036 , if ratchet switch 282 is not open, the methodology proceeds to block 2048 .
The methodology proceeds to decision block 2052 where the status of ratchet switch 282 is evaluated. If ratchet switch 282 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2056 . In decision block 2056 , the methodology determines if the value of the CLT has exceeded a predetermined maximum time (T2). In the particular example shown, T2 is four seconds. If the value in the CLT has not exceeded T2, the methodology loops back to decision block 2052 . If the value of the CLT has exceeded T2, the methodology proceeds to block 2060 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology proceeds to block 2064 where a diagnostic troubleshooting code (DTC) is stored in the memory of control module 54 . The particular DTC stored aids technicians in evaluating failures in the power sliding door system 10 and also causes control module 54 to disable the automatic operation of sliding door 36 .
Referring back to decision block 2052 , if ratchet switch 282 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2068 where the status of pawl switch 280 is evaluated. If pawl switch 280 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2072 where the methodology determines if the value in the CLT has exceeded T2. If the value in the CLT has not exceeded T2, the methodology loops back to decision block 2068 . If the value of the CLT has exceeded T2, the methodology proceeds to block 2060 and progresses as described above.
Returning to decision block 2068 , if pawl switch 280 is open, the methodology proceeds to block 2076 where the CLT is cleared. The methodology then proceeds to block 2080 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology then proceeds to bubble 2044 and progresses as described above.
Referring back to decision block 2028 in FIG. 35A if sliding door 36 is operating in an opening or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2084 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is operating in an opening cycle. The methodology is able to determine the direction of operation through the use of the hold open switch 964 , the pawl and ratchet switches 280 and 284 , and through the use of a register which records whether the last cycle was an opening cycle or a closing cycle. For example, if the register indicated that the last cycle had been a closing cycle, the methodology will generally operate in an opening cycle the next time the power sliding door system 10 is activated. An exception to this general rule of operation is where the hold open switch 964 had indicated that sliding door 36 was already in the fully open position. In such a situation, the rower sliding door system will operate in a closing cycle.
Similarly, if the register indicates that the last cycle was an opening cycle, the methodology will generally operate in a closing cycle the next time the power sliding door system 10 is actuated. An exception to this general rule of operation is where the pawl and ratchet switches 280 and 284 indicate that sliding door 36 is already in the fully latched position. In such a situation, the power sliding door system will operate in an opening cycle. If sliding door is operating in an opening cycle, the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 . If sliding door 36 is not operating in an opening cycle in decision block 2084 , the methodology proceeds to block 2088 of FIG. 35 B and turns cinch motor 412 on in a releasing direction (i.e., such that latch sector 264 is operated in the second direction), cinch clutch 416 is turned on, and the cinch latch release timer (CLRT) is started.
The methodology then proceeds to decision block 2092 where the status of pawl switch 280 is evaluated. If pawl switch 280 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2096 where the methodology determines if the value in the CLRT has exceeded a predetermined maximum time (T2). If the value in the CLRT has not exceeded T2, the methodology loops back to decision block 2092 . If the value of the CLRT has exceeded T2, the methodology proceeds to block 2100 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology proceeds to block 2104 where a DTC is stored in control module 54 which prevents further operation of sliding door 36 in an automatic mode.
Returning to decision block 2092 , if pawl switch 280 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2108 where ratchet switch 282 is evaluated. If ratchet switch 282 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2112 where the value in CLRT is evaluated. If the value in CLRT has exceeded T2, the methodology proceeds to block 2100 . If the value in CLRT has not exceeded T2, the methodology loops back to decision block 2108 .
Referring back to decision block 2108 , it ratchet switch 282 is not open, the methodology proceeds to block 2120 where drive motor 210 is turned on and the power sliding door interrupt (PSDI) subroutine is started. The PSDI subroutine is discussed in detail below. The methodology proceeds to decision block 2124 .
In block 2124 , the methodology evaluates the speed of drive motor 210 utilizing the signal produced by Hall effect sensor 214 . If the speed of drive motor 210 is not greater than a predetermined speed (MSPD), the methodology proceeds to block 2128 where a DTC is stored in control module 54 which aids in the trouble shooting of power sliding door system 10 , but which does not disable the operation of sliding door 36 in a fully automatic mode. The methodology then proceeds to bubble 2132 where the methodology proceeds along branch 3 b.
Referring to FIG. 36A, the methodology progresses from bubble 2132 to block 2136 where the present direction of drive motor 210 is reversed. The methodology proceeds to block 2140 where the logic for the HEC is adjusted to alter the value in the HEC in accordance with the new direction in which sliding door 36 is being moved. The methodology then proceeds to block 2144 where the C55 command is cleared and the obstacle detection subroutine is started. The obstacle detection subroutine utilizes information from Hall effect sensor 214 to determine whether sliding door 36 has contacted an obstacle. The methodology proceeds to decision block 2148 where the value in the HEC is evaluated.
If the value in the HEC is greater than a first predetermined counter value (C1), such as 560 counts, the methodology proceeds to block 2152 where the speed of drive motor 210 is decelerated to a predetermined motor speed. The methodology then proceeds to decision block 2156 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 has contacted an obstacle. The methodology concludes that sliding door 36 had detected an obstacle, for example, if the value in the HEC is greater than a predetermined maximum counter value indicating that drive clutch 206 has experienced excessive slippage due to contact between sliding door 36 and an obstacle.
If sliding door 36 has not contacted an obstacle, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2160 where the status of pawl switch 280 is evaluated. If pawl switch 280 is open, the methodology to block 2164 where drive motor 210 is turned off and the PSDI subroutine is terminated. The methodology proceeds to block 2168 where drive clutch 206 is turned off. The methodology then proceeds to decision block 2004 of FIG. 35 A and continues in the manner described above.
Returning to decision block 2160 , if pawl switch 280 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2172 where the value in the HEC is evaluated. If the value in the HEC is not greater than a second predetermined counter value (C2), the methodology proceeds to decision block 2176 where the C55 command is evaluated. If a new C55 command has not been issued, the methodology loops back to decision block 2156 . If a new C55 command has been issued, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2180 and proceeds along branch 2 b to FIG. 35 C.
Returning briefly to decision block 2172 , if the value in HEC is greater than C2, the methodology proceeds to block 2184 where a DTC is stored in control module 54 which aids in the trouble shooting of power sliding door system 10 , but which does not disable the operation of sliding door 36 in a fully automatic mode. The methodology then proceeds to bubble 2180 and proceeds along branch 2 b.
Returning briefly to decision block 2156 , if an obstacle has been detected, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2180 and proceeds along branch 2 b.
Returning to decision block 2148 , if the value in HEC does not exceed C1, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2188 where the C55 command is evaluated. If a new C55 command has been issued, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2180 where the methodology progresses along branch 2 b . If a new C55 command has not been issued, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2192 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 has contacted an obstacle. If sliding door 36 has contacted an obstacle, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2180 and progresses along branch 2 b . If the methodology has not detected an obstacle, the methodology loops back to decision block 2148 .
Referring back to FIG. 35C, the methodology proceeds from bubble 2180 to block 2196 where the present direction of drive motor 210 is reversed. The methodology proceeds to block 2200 where the logic for the HEC is adjusted to alter the value in the HEC in accordance with the new direction in which sliding door 36 is being moved. The methodology then proceeds to block 2204 of FIG. 35B where the C55 command is cleared and the obstacle detection subroutine is started. The methodology proceeds to decision block 2208 of FIG. 35A where the value in HEC is evaluated. If the value in HEC is not greater than a third predetermined counter value (C3), the methodology proceeds to decision block 2212 where the C55 command is evaluated.
If a new C55 command has been issued in decision block 2212 , the methodology proceeds to bubble 2132 and proceeds along branch 3 b of FIG. 36A as described above. If a new C55 command has not been issued in decision block 2212 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 2216 where the methodology determines if an obstacle has been detected. If an obstacle has been detected, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2132 and proceeds along branch 3 b as described above. If an obstacle has not been detected, the methodology loops back to decision block 2208 .
In decision block 2208 , if the value in the HEC is greater than C3, the methodology proceeds to block 2220 where rive motor 210 is decelerated to a predetermined speed. The methodology then proceeds to decision block 2224 of FIG. 35C where the value in the HEC is evaluated. If the value in the HEC is greater than C2, the methodology proceeds to block 2232 where a DTC is stored in control module 54 which aids in the trouble shooting of power sliding door system 10 , but which does not disable the operation of sliding door 36 in a fully automatic mode. The methodology proceeds to block 2236 where drive motor 210 and drive clutch 206 are turned off and the PSDI subroutine is terminated. The methodology then loops back to decision block 2004 of FIG. 35 A.
Returning to decision block 2224 , if the value in the HEC is not greater than C2, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2240 where the status of hold open switch 964 is evaluated. If hold open switch 964 is not open indicating that sliding door 36 is not in the full open position, the methodology proceeds to block 2232 . If hold open switch 964 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2244 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 has contacted an obstacle. If sliding door 36 has not contacted an obstacle, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2248 where the status of the C55 command is evaluated. If a new C55 command has been issued in decision block 2248 , the methodology proceeds to bubble 2132 and proceeds along branch 3 b as described above. If a new C55 command has not been issued in decision block 2248 , the methodology loops back to decision block 2224 .
Referring back to decision block 2244 , if sliding door 36 has contacted an obstacle, the methodology proceeds to block 2252 where the drive clutch is turned on. The methodology proceeds to decision block 2256 .
In decision block 2256 , the methodology determines if sliding door 36 has contacted a second obstacle within a predetermined time interval (T2). If sliding door has contacted an obstacle within T2, the methodology proceeds to block 2260 where a DTC is stored in control module 54 which aids in the trouble shooting of power sliding door system 10 , but which does not disable the operation of sliding door 36 in a fully automatic mode. The methodology proceeds to block 2236 and progresses as described above.
Returning to decision block 2256 , if sliding door 36 has not contacted a second obstacle within T2, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2164 and progresses along branch 3 f . With brief reference to FIG. 36A, the methodology proceeds from bubble 2264 to block 2140 and progresses as described above.
Referring back to decision block 2124 of FIG. 35B, if the speed of drive motor 210 is greater than SPD, the methodology proceeds to block 2266 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology then proceeds to block 2204 and progresses as described above.
Returning to decision block 2020 of FIG. 35A, if ratchet switch 282 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2268 where the status of hold open switch 964 is evaluated. If hold open switch 964 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2272 of FIG. 35B where the status of lock switch 714 is evaluated. If lock switch 714 is open in decision block 2272 , the methodology proceeds to block 2088 as described above. If lock switch 714 is not open in decision block 2272 , the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 of FIG. 35 A.
Returning to decision block 2268 , if hold open switch 964 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2276 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle. If sliding door 36 is not being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to block 2280 where a DTC is stored in the memory of control module 54 which aids technicians in evaluating failures in the power sliding door system 10 and also causes control module 54 to disable the automatic operation of sliding door 36 . If, however, sliding door 36 is operating in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle in decision block 2276 , the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 .
Referring back to decision block 2016 , if pawl switch 280 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2284 where the status of ratchet switch 282 is evaluated. If ratchet switch is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2288 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle. If sliding door 36 is being operating in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology loops back to decision block 2004 . If sliding door 36 is not being operating in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle in decision block 2288 , the methodology proceeds to block 2292 where a DTC is stored in the memory of control module 54 which aids technicians in evaluating failures in the power sliding door system 10 and also causes control module 54 to disable the automatic operation of sliding door 36 .
Referring back to decision block 2284 , if ratchet switch 282 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2296 where the status of hold open switch 964 is evaluated. If hold open switch is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2300 ere the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle. If sliding door 36 is not being operating in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to block 2304 where the methodology determines that sliding door 36 is being operated manually. The methodology then loops back to decision block 2004 . Returning to decision block 2300 , if sliding door 36 is being operating in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2308 .
In decision block 2308 , if sliding door is not being operated in an opening cycle, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2312 where the value in the HEC is evaluated. If the value in the HEC is greater than C1, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2316 and proceeds along branch 2 d . With brief reference to FIG. 36A, the methodology proceeds from bubble 2316 to decision block 2188 and progresses as described above. Returning to decision block 2312 in FIG. 35A, if the value in the HEC is not greater than C1, the methodology proceeds to bubble 2320 and progresses along branch 2 e . With brief reference to FIG. 36A, the methodology proceeds from bubble 2320 to decision block 2176 and progresses as described above.
Referring back to decision block 2308 in FIG. 35A, if sliding door 36 is being operated in an opening cycle, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2324 the value in the HEC is evaluated. If the value in the HEC is not greater than C3, where proceeds to decision block 2212 and progresses as described above. If the value in the HEC is greater than C3, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2248 of FIG. 35 C and progresses as described above.
Returning to decision block 2296 of FIG. 35A, if hold open switch 964 is not open, the methodology proceeds to block 2328 of FIG. 35C where the HEC is set to 0. The methodology proceeds to block 2332 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned on and the cinch latch timer is started. The methodology proceeds to decision where the status of hold open switch 964 is evaluated. If hold open switch 964 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 2340 where the value in the cinch latch timer is evaluated.
If the value in the cinch latch timer is not greater than T2, the methodology loops back to decision block 2336 . If the value in the cinch latch timer is greater than T2, the methodology proceeds to block 2344 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology proceeds to block 2352 where a DTC is stored in the memory of control module 54 which aids technicians in evaluating failures in the power sliding door system 10 and also causes control module 54 to disable the automatic operation of sliding door 36 .
Referring back to decision block 2336 , if hold open switch 964 is open, the methodology proceeds to block 2356 where drive clutch 206 is turned on. The methodology next proceeds to block 2360 where drive motor 210 is turned on and the PSDI subroutine is started. The methodology then proceeds to decision block 2364 where the speed of drive motor 210 is evaluated. If the speed of drive motor 210 is not greater than SPD, the methodology proceeds to block 2368 where a DTC is stored in control module 54 which aids in the trouble shooting of power sliding door system 10 , but which does not disable the operation of sliding door 36 in a fully automatic mode. The methodology proceeds to block 2196 and progresses as described above.
Returning to decision block 2364 , if the speed of drive motor 210 is greater than SPD, the methodology proceeds to block 2372 where cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology proceeds to bubble 2376 and progresses along branch 4 . With brief reference to FIG. 36A, the methodology proceeds along branch 4 from bubble 2376 to block 2144 and progresses as described above.
With reference to FIG. 37, the PSDI subroutine is entered through bubble 3000 and proceeds to decision block 3004 where the methodology determines if ignition switch 980 is being operated to start engine 42 . If ignition switch 980 is being operated to start engine 42 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 3008 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle. If sliding door 36 is not being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology loops back to bubble 3000 . If sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to block 3012 where control module 54 determines if drive motor 210 or cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are operating and halts their operation. The methodology loops back to bubble 3000 .
If ignition switch 980 is not being operated to start engine 42 in decision block 3004 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 3014 where the methodology determines whether a fuel door 3015 pivotably coupled to vehicle body 14 is in an open position in the path of sliding door 36 . Preferably, the methodology determines the position of fuel door 3015 from a fuel door position sensor 3015 a which produces a fuel door position sensor signal indicative of the position of fuel door 3015 . Preferably, fuel door position sensor 3015 a is a limit switch which produces a digital signal in response to the placement of fuel door 3015 into or removal of fuel door 3015 from its closed position. Alternatively, the obstacle detection methodology may also be employed to determine whether fuel door 3015 has been positioned in the path of sliding door 36 . If the methodology determines that fuel door 3015 has been placed in the path of sliding door 36 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 3008 and proceeds as described above. If fuel door 3015 has not been placed in the path of sliding door 36 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 3016 .
In decision block 3016 the methodology determines if the operation of sliding door 36 was interrupted by the operation of ignition switch 980 or the placement of fuel door 3015 in the path of sliding door 36 . If the operation of sliding door 36 was not interrupted by the operation of ignition switch 980 or the placement of fuel door 3015 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 3024 . If the operation of sliding door 36 was interrupted by the operation of ignition switch 980 or the placement of fuel door 3015 , the methodology proceeds to block 3020 where control module 54 causes drive motor 210 or cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 to resume their operation. The methodology proceeds to decision block 3024 .
In decision block 3024 , the methodology determines if vehicle 12 is being operated in one of the park and neutral gear settings. If vehicle 12 is not being operated in one of the park and neutral gear settings, the methodology proceeds to decision block 3028 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle. If sliding door 36 is not being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology loops back to decision block 3004 . If sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to block 3032 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in an opening cycle. If sliding door 36 is not being operated in an opening cycle, the methodology loops back to decision block 3004 . If sliding door 36 is being operated in an opening cycle, the methodology proceeds to block 3036 where the current direction of drive motor 210 is reversed and the logic for the HEC is adjusted to alter the value in the HEC in accordance with the new direction in which sliding door 36 is being moved. The methodology then loops back to decision block 3004 .
Returning to decision block 3024 , if vehicle 12 is being operated in one of the park and neutral gear settings, the methodology proceeds to decision block 3048 where the methodology evaluates the speed of vehicle 12 . If the speed of vehicle is not approximately 0 miles per hour, the methodology proceeds to decision block 3028 . If the speed of vehicle 12 is approximately 0 miles per hour in decision block 3048 , the methodology proceeds to decision block 3052 where the status of child guard switch 966 is evaluated. If child guard switch 966 is open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 3056 where the methodology determines if the C55 command to initiate the automatic actuation of sliding door 36 was issued in response to a request from internal switch 134 ′. If the C55 command was issued in response to a request from internal switch 134 ′, the methodology proceeds to block 3060 where drive motor 210 , drive clutch 206 , cinch motor 412 and cinch clutch 416 are turned off. The methodology then loops back to decision block 3004 . If the C55 command was not issued in response to a request from internal switch 134 ′, the methodology proceeds to decision block 3064 where the status of handle switch 146 is evaluated. If handle switch 146 is open, the methodology proceeds to block 3060 . If handle switch 146 is not open, the methodology proceeds to decision block 3068 where the methodology determines if sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle. If sliding door 36 is not being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology proceeds to bubble 3072 where the subroutine terminates. If sliding door 36 is being operated in either an opening cycle or a closing cycle, the methodology loops back to decision block 3004 .
While the invention has been described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment illustrated by the drawings and described in the specification as the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include any embodiments falling within the description of the appended claims.
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A method is provided for controlling a power sliding door system having a power drive mechanism for propelling the sliding door and a power latching mechanism for latching the sliding door in a latched condition. The methodology provides enhanced monitoring and control of the power sliding door system to improve the operation of the sliding door in both the power-assisted and manual modes. The control methodology inhibits the operation of the power sliding door system in response to the actuation of any of the sliding door handles or if a fuel door is in the path of the sliding door. The control methodology also inhibits the operation of the sliding door system if a child guard mechanism is enabled. The control methodology includes an obstacle detection routine which detects obstacles in two directions of travel. The control methodology does not require the power drive mechanism or inertia to cause the latch mechanism to latch the sliding door in the latched condition.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new valve, and also to a container, in particular of the type which can be thrown away after use, fitted with such a valve.
The invention will be defined and described with reference to apparatus with a gas burner, of portable type, having different functions such as cooking and lighting, operating by means of a throw-away container containing a fuel gas, for example butane in liquefied condition and under pressure. But it should be understood that the claims of the present patent and the scope of the invention should not be limited to this technical area.
In general, the apparatus mentioned above have:
(a) a main body, generally of metal, having a passage for flow of fuel gas under pressure to the burner;
(b) a means for control of the rate of flow of gas to the burner, consisting of a simple valve, for example a needle valve, for apparatus known as "direct pressure", or of an adjustable pressure-reducing valve for apparatus known as "indirect pressure" or reduced pressure.
(c) a means of securing the throw-away container to the main body, on the one hand enabling rigid location of the said container relative to the said body, and on the other hand ensuring a gastight connection between the interior of the container, once the latter has been opened, and the passage for flow of fuel gas; all of this in a reversible manner so that one can replace an empty used container by a new full one.
PRIOR ART
Among the apparatus thus defined in general terms one should distinguish two particular categories of apparatus.
The first, known as "for pierceable cartridges" uses containers of the type which can be pierced, generally constituted like a can for food by a cylindrical body closed at one end by a convex wall, filled with liquefied butane, and then closed at the other end by a concave base crimped onto the body.
Apparatus of this first category differ from the general definition above by the fact that the means of securing the pierceable cartridge comprise:
(1) a gas inlet head, forming part of the main body, having: firstly, a tubular push rod movable axially by sliding in a gastight manner (for example by means of a toroidal seal) relative to the said body and urged downwards by resilient means, for example a spring; secondly an annular seal carried by the free end of the push rod, intended to be engaged sealingly against the central part of the convex wall of the cartridge; thirdly a piercing needle, arranged within the tubular push rod and mounted on the body of the gas inlet head, for example having an extension opposite from the free end of the needle, gripped between the body of the gas inlet head and one end of the spring.
(2) a support intended to cover the convex wall of the cartridge, open downwards for this purpose, on which is permanently fixed the main body with the gas inlet head, or on which the same body is fixed in a removable manner, for example by screwing; means complementary to the support, for example a screw-up case or folding arms, enabling the pierceable cartridge to be fixed to the body once the latter is in position on the support.
Such an apparatus is described for example by patent FR-C-2,398,962.
The second type, known as "for valved cartridges", uses containers of the type of those used as aerosol generators. These cartridges comprise in general a can constituted by a cylindrical body with a concave base crimped on, possibly a dome mounted on the body, and a valve crimped in a gastight manner on the can, for example after filling. This valve is of the "female" type, that is it does not have any means enabling the user to open it directly, such as a rod standing out from the valve.
The valve in question, made for many years and in millions, has in general the shape of a solid of revolution about an axis, and comprises:
(1) a metal cup, for example having an overall diameter of 2.5 cm, forming, in succession from the outside towards its center, an annular rim, a bottom situated in a lower transverse plane (perpendicular to the axis of the valve) situated below the annular rim, an axial boss having for example an external diameter of 9.5 mm, standing out from the transverse bottom, the top of which has a central opening for example having a diameter of 3 to 3.25 mm; the central opening of the boss is generally surrounded by an external annular rim, having in axial section the shape of a hook.
(2) a valve body of plastic material, of cylindrical shape, fixed to the interior of the axial boss, for example by inward shrinking, in a gastight manner, due to a flat resilient seal gripped between the wall of the body and the top of the boss; this seal has a central hole having for example a diameter of 2.5 to 3.8 mm.
(3) a valve member of plastic material, movable in the interior the body, urged resiliently towards the top of the boss by a spring, having a central part and a peripheral lip, having for example an internal diameter of 3.1 to 4 mm, engaging against the transverse seal in the closed position of the valve member; the travel of the valve member between the closed position and the position with the spring totally compressed is for example 2.5 mm, while its thickness is for example 2 mm.
The dimensions given above by way of example correspond for example to a valve known as "one inch", of "female" type.
The apparatus for valved cartridges differ from the general definition above by the fact that the means for securing the cartridge comprises:
(1) a gas inlet head, forming part of the main body, having a tubular push rod intended to pass through the central opening of the axial boss of the cup and make sealing contact with the transverse seal, and possibly a sealing means externally with the axial boss.
(2) means for rigid securing of the body and its gas inlet head on at least one of the following elements of the cup, namely on the interior and underneath the annular rim, on the exterior and underneath the rim of the can onto which is crimped the annular rim of the valve, and below the shrunk part of the axial boss.
Such apparatus are for example described by French patent FR-C-2,407,423.
It will be apparent from the description above that the apparatus for pierceable cartridges are distinct as regards use from apparatus for valved cartridges, and that in particular a pierceable cartridge, without a valve, cannot be used on an apparatus for valved cartridges.
Nevertheless, a manufacturer has already proposed valved cartridges which can be used with an apparatus for pierceable cartridges. Here one is concerned with cartridges fitted with conventional aerosol valves, of the "female" type as described above.
Used with an apparatus designed for pierceable cartridges, such cartridges are not free from risks, in particular in relation to the sealing needed between the valve and the body of the apparatus.
This sealing presumes a coaxial abutment of the annular seal of the tubular push rod against the central boss of the cup of the valve. In this connection, this boss does not allow one to compensate for any variation in coaxiality, due to tolerances of manufacture of the cup and/or of the gas inlet head of the apparatus.
This sealing also presumes maintenance of the valve in operational condition, in its closed position, because the user is in the habit of removing the cartridge from his apparatus, not necessarily empty, after using the latter. Now, using an apparatus for pierceable cartridges with a valved cartridge amounts to using the piercing needle as a push rod. Since this needle is relatively free with respect to the axis of the valve and of the apparatus, and since the apparatus is in general fixed to the cartridge by screwing, the needle then behaves like a machining tool, and can permanently damage the axial boss and/or the valve member, and hence the gastightness of the latter, especially as a consequence of departures from concentricity.
In consequence, for all these reasons, it is the opinion of the applicant that using cartridges with conventional valves with apparatus for pierceable cartridges can cause danger to the user, since any escape of fuel gas from the cartridge (valved) on its own, or from the assembly of cartridge and apparatus (at the connection between the axial boss and the gas inlet head) must be prevented.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new valve permitting a cartridge fitted with such a valve to be used without danger with an apparatus for pierceable cartridges.
A valve according to the present invention differs from a conventional aerosol valve by a particular shape of the axial boss of the cup, suited to a particular dimensioning of the central opening of the said boss and of other functional elements of the valve associated with that opening.
According to the invention, first of all the central opening of the axial boss of the valve is relatively wide, as compared with that of conventional aerosol valves, and is equal to at least 4 mm in diameter. Correspondingly, on the one hand the diameter of the central hole of the transverse seal, and on the other hand the internal diameter of the peripheral lip of the valve member, are beyond those found in a conventional aerosol valve; and the same is true of the overall diameter of the axial boss.
Furthermore, according to the invention, and cooperating with the choice of dimensions above, on the one hand the top of the axial boss has externally a concave surface, extending radially from the central opening, and on the other hand the transverse seal assumes the concave shape of the top as mentioned above.
The larger diameter of the central opening and of the functional elements of the valve associated with associated with it permits the piercing needle to enter, without doing damage, within the limits of departures of the needle from coaxiality.
Since the axial boss has a greater diameter than that of aerosol valves, the gastightness between the lip of the valve member and the transverse seal would normally be impaired, because it would occur on the flat, along an annular zone of greater diameter. Owing to the concave shape according to the invention, both of the top of the axial boss and of the transverse seal, the same gastightness is produced along a circle corresponding to the line of contact between the edge of the lip of the valve member and the transverse seal; thus one obtains a good specific sealing, compensating for the increase in diameter, yet with a comparable bearing force from the spring.
It should be added that this concave shape of the axial boss enables self-centering of the tubular push rod for sealing, which is particularly favorable to the overall gastightness of the connection between cartridge and apparatus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a view in axial section of a valve according to the present invention, before being crimped onto the body of a can of aerosol type;
FIG. 2 shows a view in axial section of a container according to the present invention, in the filled condition, in particular a valved cartridge containing butane;
FIG. 3 shows a view, partly cut away, of a cartridge according to the invention mounted on a traditional apparatus for pierceable cartridges;
FIG. 4 shows in axial section, on a larger scale, the connection between, on the one hand the head of the apparatus for pierceable cartridges as shown in FIG. 3, and on the other hand the valve according to the invention, in the open condition, corresponding to the operating position shown in FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIG. 1, a valve according to the invention has the shape of a solid of revolution about an axis, and comprises:
(1) a metal cup (1) forming, in succession from the outside towards its center, an annular rim (1a), a bottom (1b) situated in a lower transverse plane (perpendicular to the axis of the valve), below the annular rim (1a), an axial boss (1c) standing out from the transverse plane (1b), the top (1d) of which has a central opening (1e); this top (1d) has externally a concave shape, more particularly spherical, extending radially starting from the central opening (1e); the plane in which the edge of the concave face (1d) lies is situated below the plane in which the annular rim (1a) lies.
(2) a valve body (2), fixed by inward shrinking of the boss (1c) against the shoulder (2a) of the said body; this body is mounted in a gastight manner to the interior of the boss (1c), by means of a resilient transverse seal (3), assuming the concave shape of the top (1d) of the boss, gripped between the wall of the body (2) and the top (1c) of the said boss; this seal (3) likewise has a central hole (3a), lying within the opening (1e) of the boss (1d); the wall of the body (2) has openings (2b) towards the exterior, and also a tube (2c) directed downwards, forming a retaining shoulder for a spring (5) which will be considered later.
(3) a valve member (4) which is movable in translation in the interior of the body (2), urged resiliently by the spring (5) towards the top (1d) of the boss (1c), having a central part (4a) and a peripheral lip (4b), the latter bearing on the transverse seal (3), in the closed position of the valve member shown in FIG. 1; the central part (4a) is extended downwards by a spigot (4c) serving for retention and guidance of the spring (5).
As indicated in the introduction of the present description, the valve described above has dimensional and functional characteristics which distinguish it from the conventional valves for aerosol containers.
The diameter of the circle inscribed within the central opening (1e) is equal to at least 4 mm, and is for example of the order of 5.2 mm.
Correspondingly, the peripheral lip (4b) of the valve member (4) has an internal diameter equal to at least 4.5 mm and is for example of the order of 5.2 to 5.7 mm. Also correspondingly, the external overall diameter of the boss (1c) is equal to at least 10 mm and is for example equal to 11.5 mm.
As shown in FIG. 1, the central hole (3a) of the transverse seal (3) has a diameter (that of the inscribed circle) less than that of the central opening (1e), so that its edge stands out from that of the said opening (1e); this diameter is for example of the order of 4.4 mm. Hence, the seal (3) can act as a guide for the piercing needle of an apparatus for valved cartridges, when the latter enters into the central opening (1e).
As is also shown in FIG. 1, the concave surface (1d) of the boss (1c), in the shape of a dish, is perfectly uniform and smooth, from the flat edge of the central opening (1e) to the peripheral rim of the same boss (1c), rounded towards the bottom of the cup; this being different from conventional valves, the central opening of which has an edge turned back upwards, having a hook shape in axial section. This characteristic enables one to avoid any alteration or deterioration of the annular seal of an apparatus for pierceable cartridges, when the latter comes into contact with the top (1d) of the boss (1c) as described below.
In the closed position of the valve member shown in FIG. 1, the external face (4d) of the central part (4a) is located at a distance equal to at most 3 mm from the center of the central opening (1e). Despite the small distance of penetration of the piercing needle of an apparatus for pierceable cartridges into the valve shown in FIG. 1, this feature enables one to depress the valve member (4) sufficiently to provide a sufficient flow of emerging gas, even if the piercing needle penetrates by screwing for a slight distance into the central part (4a) of the valve member.
The thickness of the central part (4a) of the valve member (4) is equal to at least 2 mm, which allows the latter to withstand suffer any "machining" caused by the linear and rotational movement of the piercing needle of an apparatus for pierceable cartridges.
Between its totally compressed condition, against the shoulder (2c) of the valve body (2), and its expanded condition shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to the closed condition of the valve, the spring (5) determines a travel of the valve member equal to at least 3 mm. This travel enables one to accommodate the movement of the valve member (4) in the least favorable case corresponding to a maximum penetration of the piercing needle into the opening (1e), under the effect of cumulation of dimensional variations along the axis of the valve.
The manufacture and assembly of the valve described above are carried out in a conventional manner. However, the shaping of the top (1d) and the punching of the opening (1e) are performed with particular care, so as not to produce any visible edge or burr capable of cutting, that might damage the annular seal of an apparatus for pierceable cartridges.
FIG. 2 shows a container of the throw-away cartridge type with a valve, comprising a body (6) or can in the opening of which is fixed, by crimping, in a gastight manner owing to the seal (7), a valve according to the present invention and described above with reference to FIG. 1. This container holds a charge of liquefied butane (8).
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, without there being the need to enter into details, a conventional apparatus for pierceable cartridges comprises:
(1) a gas inlet head (9a), being part of the main body (9) of the apparatus, comprising firstly a tubular push rod (10) slidably movable axially in a gastight manner (for example by means of a toroidal seal (11)) relative to the body (9), and urged downwards by a spring (12); secondly an annular seal (13) carried by the free end of the push rod (10), which is intended normally to be applied in a gastight manner against the central hollow portion of the convex wall of a pierceable cartridge; thirdly a piercing needle (14), pointed at its free end, arranged in the interior of the tubular push rod (10), and mounted in a rotationally fixed manner on the body (9) of the gas inlet head by means of an extension (14a) (opposite to the free end (14b)) held between the body (9) of the gas inlet head and the end of the spring (12) opposite to the one abutting against the push rod (10).
(2) a support (15), for example in the form of a bell, intended to cover the convex part of the pierceable cartridge, open downwards for this purpose, on which the body (9) is fixed by screwing, thus being removable, this body having a thread (9b) cooperating with a threaded sleeve (16) fixed on the support (15); supplementary means (17), for example folding arms, enabling one to secure the pierceable cartridge to the body (9) once the latter has been fully screwed up into position on the support (15).
As regards pierceable cartridges, the method of use of an apparatus such as has been described above is the following:
one has in the interior of the support (15) a cartridge which is full and has not been pierced, and one folds the arms (17) into a vertical position around the cartridge (as shown in FIG. 3);
then one screws the body (9) onto the support (15) by means of the threaded sleeve (16); in this way the tubular push rod (10), provided with its seal (13), comes into sealing engagement against the central part of the convex dome of the cartridge, then the piercing needle (14) breaks through the wall of the cartridge within the annular seal (13); and conversely when dismantling the apparatus, for removing a cartridge which is pierced and empty.
With a cartridge according to the present invention, the method of use is absolutely identical to that described above, with the difference that a valved cartridge according to the invention can be removed at will from an apparatus, without there being the need to consider whether the cartridge is empty or not.
As shown in FIG. 4, when one uses a cartridge according to the invention, and following the method of use described above, firstly the annular seal (13) makes a sealing engagement against the concave wall (1d) of the central boss (1c) of the valve, and then the piercing needle (14) enters into the opening (1e), while being guided by the central hole (3a) in the seal (3) so as to engage the central part (4a) of the valve member (4).
From this moment, the latter is then displaced by the needle (14b), which causes opening of the valve, with previous complete gastightness between the apparatus and the cartridge. As shown in FIG. 4, the piercing needle (14b) can machine the central part (4a) of the valve member during its rotating descent, without any possibility of this leading to damage to the valve.
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The present invention relates to a valve and container provided with such a valve, which can be used with portable apparatus using fuel gas, normally operating with piercable cartridges. The valve according to the invention is characterized by the presence of a concave surface on the top of the axial boss of the cup. The corresponding transverse seal assumes the same concave shape as the top of the boss.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to noise suppression in radio receivers and more particularly to noise blanking circuits with squelch.
Blanking circuits for use in communication radio receivers are well known in the art. Generally, the blanker circuits detect noise signals introduced by the transmitting medium and which are received at the antenna along with transmitted information signals. Several means for detecting the noise have been devised. The detected noise signals are processed whereby a blanking signal is produced which blanks the receiver for the duration of a blanking signal, thus preventing a noise burst from being heard by the listener.
It has been proposed heretofore, to provide in a radio receiver, an RF amplifier stage receiving transmitted radio frequency signals and noise signals from a receiver antenna, the output of the RF amplifier stage being supplied to one input of a mixer stage having a second input supplied with a signal from a local oscillator, the mixer converting the radio frequency signal from the amplifier to an intermediate frequency and supplying the intermediate frequency signal to one input of a blanker gate which receives a blanking signal from a blanking signal source at a second input thereof. The blanker gate in normal operation, passed intermediate frequency signals from the mixer stage to an intermediate frequency filter and amplifier stage, but in response to a blanking signal from the blanking signal source, the blanker gate decouples the mixer from the intermediate frequency filter and amplifier stage. Signals from the IF filter and amplifier stage are detected and demodulated by means of an amplitude limiter and discriminator, into audio signals, and these audio signals are applied via an audio amplifier to a transducer such as a loud speaker.
The audio signal output from the amplitude limiter and discriminator, is applied to a noise squelch circuit which detects noise frequencies above a predetermined frequency. If the noise frequencies exceed a selected amplitude, a squelch signal is generated and supplied from the squelch circuit to the audio amplifier to block or mute the audio signals.
Current FM squelch circuits use peak detectors and no noise blanking, and are susceptible to spiky noise.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to eliminate squelch false muting by blanking pulse spikes and to reduce the susceptibility of false squelching by high peak to average ratio noise.
Another object of the invention is to provide in a squelch circuit, a detector which provides a DC output proportional to the average input voltage waveform envelope.
A further object of the present invention is to stabilize the threshold in a pulse detector thereby eliminating false triggering caused by input noise being detected when the threshold shifts, due to carriers present at the input changing the DC condition. An AGC output is additionally provided.
Thus, according to one aspect of the invention there is provided a radio receiver including means for receiving radio frequency signals, tuner means for processing the received radio signals and producing audio output signals in response thereto, a blanker circuit for detecting noise pulses in the received radio frequency signals and producing blanking pulses for blanking the tuner means in response thereto, an FM squelch circuit responsive to said audio output signals and to noise signals above a predetermined frequency to generate squelch signals when the noise signals exceed a predetermined amplitude to mute said audio signals, and said squelch circuit including a detector responsive to blanking pulses from said blanker circuit to eliminate squelch false muting in response to blanking pulse spikes from the blanker circuit and to reduce the susceptibility of false squelching.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided in said squelch circuit of said radio receiver, an averaging detector responsive to noise signals and responsive also to noise blanking signals produced in response to the receipt of radio frequency signals including noise signals, said averaging detector providing a DC output voltage proportional to the average level of the input voltage waveform envelope. The averaging detector forms the subject of co-pending U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 130,931, filed on Mar. 17, 1980, based on United Kingdom priority Application Ser. No. 7,914,883, filed on Apr. 30, 1979.
According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided in said radio receiver, a pulse detector responsive to radio frequency input signals and including a feedback loop to adjust the DC bias of the detector to compensate for varying signal input levels and to produce an AGC voltage output related to the total carrier level, the detector being rendered immume to false triggering by maintaining the detector threshold. The pulse detector forms the subject of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 130,932, filed on Mar. 17, 1980, based on United Kingdom priority Application Ser. No. 7,914,882, filed on Apr. 30, 1979.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described by way of example only with particular reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio receiver circuit showing the pulse detector, FM squelch blanking circuit and the averaging detector of the latter;
FIGS. 2A to 2K are waveform diagrams of the signals present in the radio receiver circuit of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit of the averaging detector of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 4A to 4D are waveform diagrams of the signals present in the averaging detector of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a detailed circuit diagram of a modified averaging detector with threshold voltage reduction;
FIG. 6 is a graph of the transfer function of the averaging detector with threshold offset;
FIG. 7 is a detailed circuit diagram of a tracking pulse detector; and
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the operating point characteristic of a transistor of the tracking pulse detector of FIG. 7 showing the collector current I c plotted to a base of base/emitter voltage V BE .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a frequency modulated radio receiver 10 includes an antenna 11 for receiving transmitted radio frequency signals and noise signals commonly introduced by the transmitting medium. Signals from the antenna are supplied to a radio frequency amplifier stage 12, which generally includes tuning circuitry for tuning the receiver to an appropriate channel or station. The output of a radio frequency amplifier 12 is supplied to one input of a mixer stage 13, a signal from a local oscillator 14 being applied to a second input of the mixer stage 13. The mixer 13 converts the received radio frequency signal from radio frequency amplifier 12 to an intermediate frequency. A blanker gate 15 couples the output of the mixer 13 to the input of an intermediate frequency filter 16. The blanker gate 15 normally passes intermediate frequency signals from the mixer 13 to the intermediate frequency filter 16, but in response to a blanking signal applied to input 17 of the blanker gate, the gate 15 decouples the mixer 13 from the intermediate frequency filter stage 16, thereby blanking the receiver. Signals from the intermediate frequency filter 16 are supplied to an intermediate frequency amplifier and limiter stage 18, the output of which is connected to the input of a discriminator 19 where the signals are demodulated to audio signals and applied to the input of audio amplifier 20. The amplified audio signals are applied to one input of a further gating device 21, the output of which is connected via a further audio amplifier stage 22 to a loudspeaker 23 where the signals are transduced to audibility.
The incoming signals at antenna 11 are also supplied to a second radio frequency amplifier 24 which forms the input to the blanking pulse generating circuit. This circuit includes a pulse detector 25 responsive to transmitted radio frequency signals and noise signals from amplifier 24 and which detects any pulses present above a predetermined threshold level. These pulses are passed to pulse shaper circuit 26 where a blanking pulse is shaped for application to the second input 17 of blanker gate 15.
The use of a noise blanker circuit comprising pulse detector 25 and pulse shaper 26 to generate blanking pulses to blank impulsive noise gives rise to audio inputs at frequencies corresponding to the passband limits of the intermediate frequency filter 16 where rapid phase/amplitude change is occurring. These are higher audio frequencies and are detected by the frequency modulation squelch circuit shown in FIG. 1. In general these frequencies occur as random ringing at the IF limit frequency. By including in the FM squelch circuit, an averaging detector 27, rather than a peak detector, some advantage is achieved since the high peak output following the blanking pulse is averaged. This delays the FM squelch lock up by such ringing until a higher repetition rate is reached. In order to eliminate FM squelch lock up, it is necessary to blank the FM squelch detector for the duration of the ring. This is achieved by means of the averaging detector circuit shown in FIG. 3.
In FIG. 1, the blanking pulse from the output of pulse shaper 26 is applied via a pulse stretching circuit 28 to one input of a blanking switch 29 whose output is connected to the input of the averaging detector 27, the output of which is applied via level detector 30 and one input of audio switch 21 to the input of audio frequency amplifier stage 22. The output of discriminator 19 is connected to the second input of blanking switch 29 via high pass filter 31 and noise amplifier 32.
Referring to FIG. 2, waveform A represents impulsive noise on the carrier which is required to be blanked, waveform B represents the blanking pulses applied at input 17 of blanker gate 15, waveform C represents the input signals applied to IF filter 16 and the output from filter 16 which is a hybrid of AM and FM signals is shown at D. The output from the amplitude limiter 18 is shown at E from which it is seen that FM ringing remains. The output signals from the discriminator 19 are shown at F. Blanking pulses stretched after passing through pulse stretcher 28 and applied to the FM squelch detector circuit are shown at G and waveform H represents the squelch detector input after blanking. The output from the blanked FM squelch detector to eliminate lock up is shown at I and is compared with the waveform (2J) of an unblanked averaging detector 27 and the output waveform (2K) from an unblanked peak detector. Waveforms 2A to 2I are also indicated at the appropriate stages of the radio receiver circuit of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 3, the averaging detector 27 comprises an NPN transistor Q 1 , and capacitor C 1 being connected in the V IN line and resistor R 1 being connected across the base and emitter of transistor Q 1 . A resistor R 2 is connected in series with capacitor C 1 and to the base of a further NPN transistor Q 2 . The collectors of transistors Q 1 , Q 2 are connected to the +ve line and the base of transistor Q 1 is also connected to the output voltage line V o . The emitter of transistor Q 2 is connected via resistor R 3 to the output voltage line V o and capacitor C 2 and resistor R 4 are connected in parallel between the OV line and the line V o . An inhibit switch comprising a further NPN transistor Q 3 is connected between the base of transistor Q 2 and the OV line, and this is used for blanking, as described hereafter.
With the circuit in the quiescent state i.e. V o =0, on application of a voltage greater than the threshold voltage 2 V BE , the first positive going cycle of V IN , reverse biases transistor Q 1 and forward biases transistor Q 2 . The impedance seen by capacitor C 1 is high and mainly that of resistor R 1 and the full positive swing available is followed by the emitter of transistor Q 2 to charge capacitor C 2 through resistor R 3 forming a rectified average. As V IN goes negative, transistor Q 2 is reverse biased at a higher voltage than it became forward biased in the previous cycle due to the charging of capacitor C 2 . Also transistor Q 1 becomes forward biased at a higher voltage for the same reason. When transistor Q 1 is forward biased, capacitor C 1 sees a very low impedance and becomes charged to a potential difference equal to V o . The next positive going cycle of V IN has a positive DC shift equal to V o . This causes transistor Q 2 to become forward biased in the same way as the first cycle but offset. Capacitor C.sub. 2 receives a further charge and on the negative cycle of V IN , transistor Q 1 becomes forward biased and charges up capacitor C 1 . This process is repeated until a balance is reached between the half cycle charging through resistor R 3 and the continuous discharge through resistor R 4 .
The circuit described above is an averaging detector and can be used as the detector in FM squelch, where it exhibits greater immunity to very short duration spikes or bursts, than a peak detector. However, the averaging detector has application in circuits other than the radio receiver circuit of the present invention and could be used as an AGC detector or as an AM detector. As previously indicated, the averaging detector forms the subject of above-mentioned U.S. co-pending patent application Ser. No. 130,931.
In the modification of the circuit of FIG. 3, the threshold voltage can be reduced by offsetting the voltage on the base of transistor Q 1 by up to 2 V BE above 0. One method, using a pair of forward biased diodes, is shown in FIG. 5. In this circuit resistor R 1 is connected between the base and collector of transistor Q 1 and a pair of forward biased diodes D 1 , D 2 , are connected between the base of transistor Q 1 and output line V o , a capacitor C 3 being connected across diodes D 1 , D 2 .
The inhibit switching transistor Q 3 grounds the base of transistor Q 2 , to eliminate FM squelch lock for the duration of the random ringing occurring at the IF limit frequency, the transistor Q 3 being turned on during and for a short time after the IF blanking pulse.
It should be noted that resistor R 2 is not an essential part of the circuit of FIG. 5, except when it is blanked by grounding the base of transistor Q 2 . Resistor R 2 then prevents overload of transistor Q 1 . Resistor R 1 defines with the transistor Q 2 input impedance, the input time constant. Capacitor C 1 should not approach the value of capacitor C 2 to maintain small charging currents in transistor Q 1 .
The present invention also provides a tracking pulse detector as the detector 25 of FIG. 1 and which is immune to false triggering caused by input noise being detected when the threshold shifts due to carriers present at the input changing the DC condition.
The tracking pulse detector is operated at a low current in a feedback loop. The average current in the detector is kept approximately constant independent of supply and signal conditions. The feedback loop adjusts the detector DC bias to compensate for varying signal levels. Noise present at the input is thus kept below the detector threshold independent of the level of slow varying carriers. Any carrier level variation faster than the feedback loop time constants are detected. An AGC voltage related to total carrier level is produced. The tracking pulse detector forms the subject of the copending patent application Ser. No. 130,932 filed Mar. 17, 1980, but is applicable to the radio receiver circuit of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 7 the RF signals from the RF amplifier receiving signals from the antenna are applied to the base of transistor Q 4 via capacitor C 4 , a voltage divider comprising series resistors R 5 , R 6 being connected to the base of transistor Q 4 and between the positive and OV lines. The emitter of transistor Q 4 is connected to the OV line via resistor R 7 which is connected in parallel with capacitors C 5 , C 6 . A fourth capacitor C 7 is connected between the collector of transistor Q 4 and ground. Resistor R 8 which in current detectors is connected to the collector of transistor Q 4 , is connected in the detector of the present invention, between the collector of transistor Q 4 and the base of a second transistor Q 5 and in series with resistor R 9 to form a voltage divider. Voltage divider resistors R 10 , R 11 are connected in series between the collector of transistor Q 5 and the emitter of transistor Q 4 , the transistor Q.sub. 5 and resistor R 10 , R 11 forming the aforementioned feedback loop. The emitter of transistor Q 5 is connected to the positive line and the AGC output is taken from the junction between resistors R 10 , R 11 , a further capacitor C 8 being connected between the AGC output line and the OV line.
In the quiescent state of the detector, transistor Q 4 is forward biased by voltage divider chain R 5 , R 6 and causes current to flow through resistor R 8 and the base of transistor Q 5 . Transistor Q 5 amplifies this base current and increases the voltage across resistor R 7 which increases the voltage on the emitter of transistor Q 4 , and hence reduces the forward bias of transistor Q 4 . The current in transistor Q 4 diminishes until a balance point is reached such that transistor Q 4 is passing the small base current of transistor Q 5 , plus the current in resistor R 9 which after amplification by transistor Q 5 is providing the bias across resistor R 7 . This provides automatic setting of transistor Q 4 , at the bias point required to provide detection, i.e. just forward biased.
For detection, when a burst of RF is applied to the base of transistor Q 4 , positive going cycles cause the collector current to decrease the potential on capacitor C 8 whilst negative going cycles reverse bias transistor Q 4 (R 8 C 7 <<ΥRF). The bias on the emitter of transistor Q 4 remains fixed due to the long time constants of resistors R 10 , R 11 and capacitor C 8 and resistor R 7 and capacitors C 6 , C 5 . A negative going envelope is thus produced across capacitor C 7 .
When a steady carrier or continuous noise is impressed on the base of transistor Q 4 , the current through resistor R 8 increases and after the time required by time constants R 10 , R 11 , C 8 ; R 7 , C 5 , C 6 ; the bias on the emitter of transistor Q 4 is raised to bias transistor Q 4 such that only the peaks of the input are detected by transistor Q 4 to provide the new bias current in transistor Q 5 . This corresponds to a small change in DC voltage on capacitor C 7 . Additionally, the bias change required to adjust transistor Q 4 to detection of wave peaks, is reflected as an amplified shift in the DC voltage on capacitor C 8 . This is the AGC output.
Transistor Q 4 is now operating at a slightly larger bias but still is essentially just forward biased and hence can detect any rapid increase in carrier level i.e. an impulsive noise burst.
The bias point required by the detector is just forward biased. If the detector is operated reverse biased, it exhibits a threshold and is hence less sensitive. If the detector is operated well forward biased, it no longer detects, but acts as an amplifier and low pass filter with no detection characteristic. If a carrier were allowed to shift the detector's operating point towards well forward biased, it would first detect the noise present alongside the carrier as a slight modulation i.e. it would have no noise threshold protection, and eventually would be desensitized by the forward biasing.
In a noise blanker radio, the effect of bias point shift due to a carrier allowing the noise to appear as a modulation output, is called false noise triggering and can send a noise blanker radio into rate shut off as the noise bandwidth is of the order of hundreds of kilohertz. As shown in FIG. 8, where the collector current of transistor Q 4 is plotted to a base of the potential between the base and emitter electrodes thereof, when the detector is reverse biased, a large threshold is exhibited as shown at (a). As shown at (b o ) in the quiescent state, the detector exhibits low gain to small excursions (noise). A shift in the operating point to (b l ) in the presence of a carrier with the tracking detector of the present invention still provides low gain to small excursions (noise). At point (c) there is considerable gain to noise for a non-tracking detector and hence noise is seen by subsequent stages and causes false triggering. The characteristic at point (d) shows the detector desensitized i.e. no longer operating as a detector in the presence of a large carrier.
The base of transistor Q 5 may be additionally utilized to provide a gain control point for IM protection and level shut off from the main receiver but this feature is not illustrated in FIG. 7.
It will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to considerable modification and is not to be deemed limited to the particular circuit details described by way of example only.
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A radio receiver including an RF amplifier stage arranged to receive transmitted RF signals and noise signals from an antenna, a mixer stage for converting the RF signals to intermediate frequency (IF) signals and supplying the IF signals to a blanker gate receiving blanking signals from a blanking signal source, the gate normally passing IF signals to discriminator means to demodulate the IF signals to audio signals, but decoupling the mixer stage from the demodulator when the blanking signal is present. The audio signal output from the discriminator is applied to a noise squelch circuit which detects noise frequencies above a predetermined frequency. If the predetermined frequency is exceeded, a squelch signal is generated to block or mute the audio signals. In the present invention, the squelch circuit employs an averaging detector instead of a peak detector in order to eliminate short duration spikes in the squelch circuit. The blanking signal generator circuit employs a tracking pulse detector which is immune to false triggering by maintaining the detector threshold.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally relates to explosive compositions and more particularly to explosive compositions containing inorganic perchlorates.
Many explosives presently in use utilize RDX as an essential ingredient since this explosive composition is usually necessary to attain relatively high energy levels. Due to this extensive use, however, RDX is presently in rather short supply. In view of this, suitable replacements for this material have been sought so that this critical shortage could be relieved. Among the approaches used to find such a replacement material has been a search for materials which would act as sensitizing agents for other readily available materials such as, for example, sensitizing agents for ammonium perchlorate or other inorganic perchlorates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide an explosive composition.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of sensitizing a readily available explosive material.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an explosive composition that has an energy level similar to that of RDX.
A further object of this invention is to provide an explosive composition which can be used as a replacement for RDX.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a material which can be used to replace RDX in order to relieve the shortage of this material.
These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providing an explosive composition comprising an inorganic perchlorate and 1-8 weight percent copper chromite wherein said percentage of copper chromite is based on the weight of inorganic perchlorate.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The sensitized explosive composition of this invention which has an energy level roughly equal to that of RDX comprises an inorganic perchlorate and about 1-8 weight percent copper chromite (CuCr 2 O 4 ). It is preferable to have about 1-5 weight percent of copper chromite based on the weight of the inorganic perchlorate and the most preferred perchlorate is ammonium perchlorate.
Although the sensitized compositions of this invention can be used to replace all of the RDX in an explosive composition it is usually desirable to have it replace only a portion of the RDX. A particularly good combination of ingredients in addition to the ammonium perchlorate and copper chromite include RDX, aluminum, a binder comprising a readily curable prepolymer, a crosslinker which may optionally be identical to the prepolymer, a curing agent, a catalyst or other desired additive, and a compatible energetic plasticizer diluent such as bis(2,2-dinitropropyl) formal and bis(2,2-dinitropropyl) acetal.
The general nature of the invention having been set forth, the following example is presented as specific illustration thereof. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to this specific example but is susceptible to various modifications that will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art.
EXAMPLE
A 550 gram size batch of explosive composition was prepared by mixing at 135°-140° F., 49.8 weight percent ammonium perchlorate, 5 weight percent RDX, 25.8 weight percent aluminum powder and 2 weight percent copper chromite (this quantity is about 4 weight percent based on ammonium perchlorate) with a prepolymer portion comprising 15 equivalents of polyoxyethylene glycol (equivalent weight 2217), 85 equivalents of trimethylol propane (equivalent weight 45) and 107 equivalents of tolylene diisocyanate (equivalent weight 87) plasticized 75 weight percent with a 1:1 mixture of bis (2,2-dinitropropyl) formal and bis(2,2-dinitropropyl) acetal and containing 0.25 weight percent phenylbeta-naphthylamine antioxidant and 0.01 weight percent of ferric acetylacetonate catalyst.
It should be noted that the sensitized explosive composition of this invention can be used in any explosive composition and is particularly useful in explosive compositions which utilize RDX.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teaching. It is therefore understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
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An inorganic perchlorate is sensitized by adding about 1-8 percent by wei of copper chromite to said perchlorate. The mixture of inorganic perchlorate-copper chromite can be used as a substitute for RDX.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a small observation, security cage for pet reptiles, especially snakes, that is easy to clean and highly secure, and that includes a waterproof tray and that has thermal control features for accommodating a cold-blooded creature.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,909, issued Jul. 3, 1973 to Yellin, shows a cage for pets and the like. The cage shown includes rigid linear wires and a removable tray. One of the problems with this cage is that it is not suitable for reptiles because there is no solid bottom to the structure of the cage, so that when the cleaning tray is removed for cleaning, the reptile could escape through the bottom. Typically, cages for animals or birds also are not suitable for reptiles, because it is too difficult to control temperature within a cage. Reptiles often need a heating element, such as a lamp or heating rock, to maintain body temperatures at desired time periods in an environment having a preselected temperature (depending on the species), since they are cold-blooded creatures that require external heating to achieve proper bodily functions.
The present invention overcomes problems in the prior art by providing an observation cage that includes a clear glass or plastic frame panel and a plastic waterproof tray that can hold water for the reptile and be easily removed and cleaned, within a fully enclosed cage.
The present invention also includes a ventilation and light transmittal screen as a top, movable door, so that the proper heating lamp for the creature can be disposed at a predetermined location manually to allow the proper disposition of light and heat within the cage for the reptile. With the cage in accordance with the present invention, snakes, lizards, and amphibians can easily be healthfully kept in a very cleanable, yet observable, cage. In addition, tree branches or simulated tree branches may be permanently affixed to the rigid back or side walls of the cage for practical purposes to allow the reptile to have a place to nest or be supported when the cage is being cleaned, while at the same time adding aesthetics to the cage.
The present invention also includes a top cage door aperture for receiving an electrical cord to allow a heating rock to be disposed properly within the cage if desired.
With the use of the present invention, the reptile is easily observable through a window-like front wall, while being maintained healthfully in a cage that includes a waterproof tray that is easily cleaned, and easy access to the animal from the top, while allowing for proper lighting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A domestic cage for pet snakes, lizards, and amphibians that allows for secure retention of the pet with excellent observation and easy cleaning of the cage without escape of the pet.
The improved cage includes three rigid, flat, vertical walls (two sides and one back) which may be translucent or opaque, and a rigid, flat, bottom floor permanently attached to the three vertical walls, and a front wall that includes a clear plastic or glass plate from the top to almost the bottom wall. The front wall terminates in a pair of horizontal support braces connecting parallel side walls together, forming a rigid structure. A small opening exists between the floor and the lower horizontal front brace. The glass or plastic wall is clear or transparent so that one can readily see through the front wall of the cage to observe the reptile. The rigid, horizontal support braces may be made of wood or plastic, and of the same material as the side, vertical walls, the back vertical wall, and the floor.
A slidable, rectangular, removable tray (the size of the floor) is formed of four vertical side walls joined together in a rectangular array and a transparent or translucent or clear plastic, waterproof floor in the tray are joined together to form a waterproof structure that will retain water to prevent leakage. The tray side walls are sized vertically in height to snugly fit against the bottom of the floor and the horizontal brace along the front wall so that it can still slide in and out, such that in the closed position, the entire tray is disposed within the cage, except for at least one handle that protrudes from the front. For the cleaning position, the tray is manually pulled out to a position where the back wall of the tray is in the plane of the front wall and the horizontal brace. A pivotal fastener may be used to lock the tray in place so that the tray cannot be moved by the creature or accidentally removed. Preferably the tray may be made of a clear plastic material that is both waterproof and can be adhesively sealed along the wall joints or molded as one piece to prevent water from leaking out of the tray. The back end wall of the tray fits snugly against the brace, thus preventing the animal from leaving the cage while the tray is in an extended, outward position.
In the preferred embodiment, the tray may be anywhere from 1 to 7 inches in height, and the length of the tray will be such that the tray bottom covers the inside area of the floor of the cage.
The top wall frame is attached by hinges to the back wall to form a pivotal door having a wire mesh interior portion, providing an opening that allows access into the cage for adding, removing, or positioning of the reptile in the cage. The wire mesh provides ventilation for the cage, allowing air flow in and out of the cage through the wire mesh. In addition, the wire mesh also allows for direct support for a lamp, having a predetermined light wattage, to be placed directly on top of the wire mesh, to allow illumination of the interior of the cage so that the reptile can receive sufficient heat and warmth from the radiation from the light bulb to raise its body temperature to the best range for the particular species. Note that the metal lamp reflector housing can be placed along the metal wire mesh because the wire mesh covers most of the top of the cage. By positioning the light bulb at one side of the cage, this allows the creature to move freely from a warmer zone to a cooler zone to find an accommodating temperature.
In an alternate embodiment, an electrically powered heating rock can be placed inside the cage. The top frame member of the cage also includes a small aperture to receive an electrical cord to be disposed through the top opening of the cage to power the heated rock that may be controlled by a thermostat or timer for heating one portion of the cage. The top screen door also includes a manually actuated support brace to hold the door open in a particular predetermined position.
The window in the front of the cage provides a large viewing area, while still safely enclosing the reptile. Inside the cage, a tree or bush branch or simulated branch may be mounted on the back or side walls that allows for aesthetic realism of the environment for the reptile and an elevated support for the reptile to rest, especially during the time when the bottom tray may be moved to its cleaning position.
The top wire mesh door includes a large, rectangular mesh vent, reaching substantially to all sides of the cage, with a small portion being the actual frame itself that supports the door and the top of the cage. A fastener is included that rotates to lock the top of the cage door in place.
Thermal control of the environment for the cage may include a thermostat within the cage that is connected to a heat lamp or heat rock, that is set for a predetermined temperature, that turns heating elements on and off to provide a proper temperature environment for the reptile. This is extremely important since reptiles cannot live or function below certain predetermined temperatures, so that it is important that proper heat be maintained for the reptiles.
To utilize the present invention, the tray is in its closed position inside the cage and water may be introduced into the tray, either directly or within a separate dish, for use by the reptile. Thus, the bottom of the cage is waterproof because of the tray. Therefore, the cage bottom itself does not need to be waterproof. The reptile is introduced into the cage and the top door is closed. A heat source, such as a lamp, is chosen and is placed on the wire mesh at one particular side of the cage, so that portions of the cage are more heated than others, with the light being allowed to shine down through. A thermostat may be maintained in the cage for turning the heat lamp on and off as required.
To clean the cage, one could grasp and position the reptile on the simulated or real branch that is on the back wall of the cage. The reptile is supported above the tray. The tray can then be moved forward to a position where the back wall of the tray occupies the space between the lower horizontal brace and the bottom floor of the cage. In this position, the tray may be cleaned without fear of escape by the reptile, or the tray can be quickly removed and dumped, wiped out, and put back in place. The opening is quite restricted because of the lower cross-brace coming across the tray front.
Once the tray has been cleaned, it is then inserted back into the cage and the cycle is complete. In the alternative embodiment, a heat rock may be placed in the tray and in the cage, with the cord being disposed down through the door frame aperture.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved reptile cage, especially for safely securing pet reptiles at home, such as snakes, amphibians, or lizards, that is easily cleaned, but highly secure to keep the reptiles in, and that is environmentally adapted to provide the proper heating and ventilating necessary for maintaining reptiles.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved reptile cage that includes a top wire screen or mesh door for ventilation and heating, using an incandescent light bulb that can be positioned strategically along the top and placed against the wire mesh safely for proper thermal heating of the reptile inside. A thermostat may be maintained inside the cage that is connected to an electrical circuit that can turn the light bulb on and off as desired.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved reptile cage that allows for vivid observation of the reptile through a large, clear front wall with sufficient security to keep the reptile within the cage at all times, even when the tray is removed for cleaning.
In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view from the front of the cage in accordance with the present invention, with the top door closed and the tray closed.
FIG. 2 shows the same perspective view from the front as in FIG. 1, including the top mesh door being open and the tray open.
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view from the front of the present invention that includes a heating element and a thermostat.
FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the present invention, with the tray in an open position, the top door in an open position, and a branch that is used to support a snake, with the heating element in the cage.
FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention shown in a perspective view in which the heating element is an incandescent lamp mounted on top of the wire screen or mesh door.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1, the present invention is shown generally at 10, comprised of a rigid, planar bottom wall 22, permanently and rigidly affixed to three rigid side walls 14, 16, and 18, which may be attached by adhesive 28 or threaded fasteners 26. The bottom wall 22 is typically substantially flat, made of a rigid material such as wood, plastic, or metal, as are the vertical side walls 14, 16, and 18 attached thereto.
The front wall 17 is a thin, planar pane of glass or thin sheet of transparent plastic, such as plexiglass, that is rigid and occupies substantially the full front area of the cage, terminating and connected in a sealed manner to rigid cross bars 24 and 25 (made of wood or plastic) that are fastened to the sidewalls 14 and 16.
A withdrawable, slidable, clear plastic tray 20 is mounted beneath the horizontal supporting brace 24 and is described in greater detail below. A handle 42 allows the tray 20 to be manually moved from its position inside cage 10 to a cleaning position substantially outside of cage 10, as described herein.
The cage includes a movable top door 30 that has a supporting frame 30a that can be attached to vertical wall 18 by hinges 34. When open, door 30 can include support arm 30b to maintain door 30 in the open position. When closed, door 30 rests on at least one support members 36 which are connected to the vertical side walls 14 and 16, thus forming a rigid polyhedron enclosure. The support members 36 may be made of wood, plastic, or metal and are permanently attached to the vertical walls. Top door 30 which includes a rigid frame 30a attached to a metal wire mesh or screen 32 and occupies most of the area inside vertical walls 14, 16, and 18. The purpose of the wire mesh screen is to permit ventilation for the reptile within, and to provide a horizontal support surface for supporting a light bulb or heating element that provides radiant heat to a reptile in the cage in a designated area.
It is important to provide thermal control and heat addition within the cage to insure that a proper temperature for the desired species is achieved in the cage, which is necessary for the health of reptiles, including snakes. By having a wire mesh screen at the top, a light bulb and light reflector housing can be positioned directly on the metal screen 32 without danger of fire, while allowing direct illumination through the wire screen along a separate portion of the cage, so that the reptile in the cage can be at one end directly in the rays of the light for heating purposes, or seek a cooler area in the cage away from the light.
The cage may also contain a thermostat that allows for temperature control by turning the light on and off as desired by the thermostat. A pair of conventional hinges 34 are attached to the door frame 30a so that access to the cage can be gained from the top to allow the pet owner to add or remove reptiles to the cage as desired.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the cage 10 is shown with the mesh screen 32 and door 30 raised to an open position. Note that the frame 30a has a notched portion 38 in one corner, which is sized to be small enough to prevent a reptile from leaving the cage, but large enough to permit an electrical appliance, such as a heating rock, to be placed directly in the cage with the electrical cord disposed through notch 38 in frame 30a. A fastener 44 which is rotatable is used to lock the cage door 30 in place when desired.
The service tray 20 moved to a cleaning position by handle 42 manually. A fastener 45, similar to fastener 44, is used to lock tray 20 in place. The bottom wall or floor 22 of the cage and the back wall 20c of the tray are visible. The tray 20 includes a back wall 20c that is vertical, side walls 20a that are all vertical, attached together with a bottom wall 20b in a manner that allows the tray to be waterproof. The wall structure, as described for the tray may be molded as one plastic piece or glued together in a rectangular polyhedron shape and snugly but slidably fit between the bottom wall 22 of the cage and the cross brace 24 so that the reptile cannot escape when the tray is either in a cleaning position as shown in FIG. 2 when tray back wall 20c is abutted in line with cross brace 24, or when the tray is in a closed position, which also has a locking device 45. Note that with the total enclosure of the cage, including the bottom floor wall 22, even when the tray 20 is withdrawn so that the back wall of the tray 20c abuts or is lined up with brace 24, the reptile cannot escape through the bottom of the cage. The structure shown provides essentially a double bottom to the cage, one provided by the tray 20 and the other provided by the floor bottom wall 22. The tray structure 20 and side walls 20a, back wall 20c, and bottom wall 20b may all be made of a plastic material, such as plexiglass, that is clear and allows for easy cleaning, and is waterproof. However, other materials may be utilized.
FIG. 3 shows the cage 10 with a heated rock 60 connected by electrical cord 62 through notch 38 in the top door 30, which allows the heated rock to be disposed in the cage with the reptile. By having a notch through the uppermost door frame, the rock can be conveniently placed in the cage with the electrical cord supported vertically if the notch is small enough to accommodate the diameter of the cord, while at the same time allowing the owner to move the heated rock to any desired location within the cage.
FIG. 3 shows a thermostat 70 mounted inside the cage 10 which has a control arm 72 that allows for manually setting the temperature shown on a scale on the thermostat which is connected to a control box 74, which allows the heated rock 60 to be plugged in by plug 64 so that the heated rock 60 can be turned on and off to control the temperature in the cage as necessary for the reptile's well-being.
FIG. 4 shows a simulated or actual tree branch 52 permanently affixed to back wall 18 by connector 50 which may be a threaded connector or fastener that will rigidly support the simulated tree branch 52. The branch provides the reptile a support platform above the floor, especially when tray 20 is moved to a cleaning position. The reptile owner can place the reptile on the tree limb 52 during the cleaning operation.
FIG. 5 shows the cage 10 with an incandescent light and reflector housing 80 mounted on the mesh platform 32 which allows for light radiation on the reptile in the cage. The mesh or screen wire is metal and spaced approximately one-quarter to one-half inch apart, depending on the size of the cage, in ventilation holes to permit both air and light to pass through, and resists melting or fire damage, and provides a platform that allows illumination to pass through the wire mesh without danger of overheating the platform. Also, the light 80 may be moved manually to any side of the cage to a desired position by the owner.
In summary, the reptile cage in accordance with the present invention provides for an easily cleanable, waterproof tray that slides from a closed position to an open position, which still prevents the reptile from escaping, while providing a wide, clear, forward window for constant unobtrusive observation of the reptile inside. The top of the cage provides both ventilation and a thermal support screen for illumination for heating the reptile. The inside of the cage is readily accessible through a top door, and also includes thermal adjustment using the thermostat and control devices for heating devices, such as a thermal rock. Finally, the cage can include an actual or simulated tree limb that allows intermediate raised support for the reptile, especially during the cleaning operation when the tray is moved.
The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
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A small security cage for housing a pet reptile, such as a snake, lizard, or amphibian, and observation of the reptile. The cage includes a floor wall, side walls, a rear wall, a transparent front wall for viewing and a removable lower tray for cleaning the cage. An openable top door includes a wire mesh for ventilation and access to the reptiles contained therein. A heating element, light, and thermostat can be included to maintain the environment suitable for a desired species.
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RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This U.S. Utility patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/030,161, which was filed on Feb. 20, 2008.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] The subject invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for calcining gypsum, and in particular to methods and apparatuses for continuously calcining natural gypsum, synthetic gypsum, or combinations of natural and synthetic gypsum. Calcined gypsum, more commonly known as stucco, is useful as a major ingredient of gypsum wallboard and plaster-based products. Stucco has the valuable property of being chemically reactive with water and will “set” rather quickly when the two are mixed together. It is this quick setting time that makes stucco ideal to work with in the mass production of wallboard.
[0003] Typically, wallboard consists essentially of a gypsum core sandwiched between two sheets of paper and is used as a cost-effective replacement of conventional plaster walls. To be commercially profitable, wallboard is typically manufactured by continuous high speed processes. Typically, gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate) predominately makes up the wallboard. Manufacturers mine (or receive synthetic gypsum) and transport gypsum to a board mill in order to dry it, grind it and calcine it to yield stucco (the “milling process”). Drying refers to the removal of the free water from the gypsum (water not bonded to calcium sulfate) and calcination refers to the conversion of calcium sulfate dihydrate to calcium sulfate. The reaction for the creation of stucco is characterized by the following equation:
[0000] CaSO 4 .2H 2 O+heat→CaSO 4 .½H 2 O+1½H 2 O
[0000] This equation shows that calcium sulfate dihydrate plus heat yields calcium sulfate hemihydrate (stucco) plus water vapor. This process is normally conducted in a flash calcination impact mill, of which there are several types known in the art. Such an impact mill simultaneously dries, grinds, and calcines the gypsum to produce stucco.
[0004] As mentioned above, calcined gypsum (stucco) has the valuable property of being chemically reactive with water, and will “set” rather quickly when the two are mixed together. This setting reaction reverses the above-described stucco chemical reaction performed during the calcination step. The reaction proceeds according to the following equation:
[0000] CaSO 4 .½H 2 O+1½H 2 O→CaSO 4 .2H 2 O+heat
[0000] In this reaction, the calcium sulfate hemihydrate is rehydrated to its dihydrate state over a fairly short period of time. The actual time required for this setting reaction generally depends upon the type of calciner employed, reagents added, and the type of gypsum rock that is used.
[0005] In manufacturing wallboard, a “stucco slurry” is formed by mixing together dry and wet ingredients in a pin mixer. The dry ingredients can include, but are not limited to, any combination of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (stucco), fiberglass, accelerator(s), and in some cases natural polymer (i.e., starch) The wet ingredients can be made up of many components, including but not limited to, a mixture of water, paper, pulp and potash. The stucco slurry is then discharged from the mixer through a tube which spreads the slurry on a moving, continuous bottom facing material (e.g., cover paper), which is slightly wider than the desired board width. A moving, continuous top facing material (e.g., cover paper) is placed on the slurry and the bottom facing material so that the slurry is positioned in between the top and bottom layers of the facing materials to form a “wet wallboard.” Typically, forming plates are used to form the wallboard to the desired thickness and width. The board then travels along rollers for several minutes, during which time the setting reaction occurs and the board stiffens. The boards are then cut into a desired length and then fed into a large, continuous oven/kiln for drying. The end product is a wallboard with a gypsum core.
[0006] While conventional gypsum wallboard products have many advantages, it has also long been desired to reduce the cost of manufacturing gypsum wallboard. One method of reducing the cost of manufacturing gypsum wallboard has been to reduce the amount of water used in the manufacturing of the wallboard. Reduction in water reduces the amount of free water left in the wallboard after the setting reaction. A lower amount of free water left in the wallboard results in less drying energy being expended to remove the free water, which in turn saves energy costs associated with drying wallboard (i.e., the fuel cost associated with operating a kiln to dry the wallboard).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The included drawings are for illustrative purposes and serve only to provide examples of possible structures for the disclosed invention. These drawings in no way limit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the invention by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system for the commercial manufacture of wallboard; and
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a close up view of region 11 of FIG. 1 .
SUMMARY
[0010] As discussed herein, the present invention relates to systems and methods for producing a stucco slurry with a portion of the stucco being conditioned. Such systems and methods involve dividing a supply of stucco into two separate portions conditioning and aerating one portion of the stucco prior to supplying it to the mixer, and then adding the conditioned portion of the stucco along with the unconditioned portion of the stucco to the mixer with at least water to produce a stucco slurry that is used to manufacture gypsum wallboard.
[0011] In one embodiment, a portion of the stucco is conditioned by utilizing a blender to aerate and cool the first portion of the stucco. Such blenders can range in size and height, but an example of such a blender used can have a diameter that falls within the range of about 12 inches to about 24 inches. The blender can also be equipped with a mechanism to introduce cold air into the blender. An example of such a mechanism is equipping the bottom half of the blender with a water jacket and equipping the top half of the blender with vortex tubes and air nozzles. The supply of stucco to the blender and to the mixer can be controlled by feed control mechanisms that control the rate that a portion of the stucco to be conditioned is supplied to the blender and controls the rate of the remaining portion of the stucco is supplied to the mixer. In one example, the rate that the portion of stucco is supplied to the blender falls within the range of about 10 tons per hour to about 19 tons per hour.
[0012] To divide the stucco, multiple conveyors can be used in association with a gate that directs the portion of the stucco to be conditioned to the blender and directs the portion of the stucco that is unconditioned to a separate conveyor. In the use of the blender, the portion of the stucco to be conditioned travels from the stucco source (e.g., an impact mill) to the blender and the portion of the stucco that is not conditioned travels from the stucco source to the mixer. The two portions of the stucco can either be separately supplied to the mixer or the two portions of the stucco can be mixed back together prior to adding them to the mixer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wallboard manufacturing system 10 for the commercial manufacture of wallboard. As shown in FIG. 1 , a bottom cover paper 21 A is supplied by a bottom cover paper supply source 20 A comprising two large spindles, each capable of supporting one huge roll of cover paper or like facing material used to manufacture wallboard. A top cover paper 21 B is supplied by a separate top cover paper supply source 20 B, which configuration is substantially similar to the configuration 20 A for the bottom cover paper. While “cover paper” is used throughout this disclosure to discuss the facing materials used to create the wallboard, it is appreciated that any suitable facing material, including but not limited to fiberglass, can be used to create the wallboard.
[0014] As the bottom cover paper 21 A leaves its point of origin, it travels along a conveyor, roller, belt or other like system 13 to a point where its edges are scored and upturned at substantially right angles with respect to the otherwise horizontally oriented bottom cover paper. Methods and devices for creating such upturned edges on cover paper on the fly are well known in the art, and any such methods and devices for performing this function may be utilized. A stucco slurry 12 is produced by adding the wet ingredients and dry ingredients to a mixer 50 . While any suitable mixer can be used, a pin mixer is utilized in this embodiment to form the slurry 12 .
[0015] FIG. 2 shows a close up view of region 11 of the gypsum wallboard manufacturing system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 2 , a chute 52 , commonly known as a boot, extends off of the mixer 50 and forms a pathway for the slurry 12 to exit out of the mixer 50 and onto the moving continuous sheet of bottom cover paper 21 A. While the chute is shown in a vertical arrangement, it is appreciated by one skilled in the art that the chute can be a horizontal arrangement as well. The slurry 12 exits at a given location, which is preferably after the edges on the bottom cover paper have been upturned to form a shallow trough for receiving and containing the slurry. The slurry 12 quickly settles and evens out within the moving bottom cover paper 21 A due to the liquid state of the slurry and the ongoing forward motion of the bottom cover paper.
[0016] Still referring to FIG. 2 , the stucco 6 is supplied from a stucco source 70 (e.g., an impact mill) to either conveyor 54 or blender 55 . A gate 72 can occupy a first position (see FIG. 2 ) that blocks stucco from being placed on conveyor 54 , so that all the stucco leaving the impact mill 70 will enter blender 55 . Gate 72 can move over to a second position that blocks stucco from being placed on blender 55 , so that all stucco leaving the impact mill 70 will enter conveyor 54 . Conveyor 54 leads to a hopper, funnel or similar device 60 which feeds stucco 6 a to the main stucco conveyor 58 . In this manner, gate 72 allows a portion of the stucco 6 b to be diverted through a blender 55 before being added to the main stucco conveyor 58 and allows a portion of stucco 6 a to be diverted to the main stucco conveyor 58 through funnel 60 . It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that while gate 72 is described as a slide gate that any type of diversion mechanism can be used to direct stucco to the blender 55 and conveyor 54 , including but not limited, to a rotor gate.
[0017] Conveyor 54 leads to a measurement device 74 a that measures the amount of stucco 6 a that is provided to the main stucco conveyor 58 . Moreover, a measurement device 74 b can be used to measure that amount of stucco 6 b that is provided to blender 55 . The combination of stucco 6 a and 6 b comprises the desired amount of stucco to pin mixer 50 to create the stucco slurry.
[0018] Through the use of the device 74 b, the blender is fed at a desired rate which is largely dependent upon the size of the blender. In one embodiment, the blender is fed at a rate of anywhere from about 10 tons per hour to about 19 tons per hour. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that any number of feed control mechanisms could be used as devices 74 a and 74 b, including without limitation a bin discharger, milltronics, a rotary-plow type discharger, or a weigh belt. Once device 74 b transfers stucco 6 b to blender 55 , blender 55 is operated to aerate and cool the stucco 6 b prior to stucco 6 b being added to mixer 50 . While it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that any sized blender could be used to condition the stucco based off a manufacturer's needs, exemplary blenders used in system 10 can range in diameter from about 12 inches to about 24 inches and can average about eight feet in length. Blender 55 can be equipped with any number of paddles 90 that are rotated by a rotary shaft 92 to circulate and condition the stucco.
[0019] In this embodiment, once stucco 6 a passes through conveyor 54 , device 74 a and funnel 60 and stucco stream 6 b passes through device 74 b and blender 55 , both stucco 6 a and 6 b are added to the main stucco conveyor 58 . Once combined back into stucco stream 6 , the unconditioned stucco 6 a and conditioned stucco 6 b are added to mixer 50 by passing it through hopper 56 . While any suitable conveyors may be used to transport the stucco 6 to the mixer 50 , conveyors 54 and 58 comprise a screw conveyor in this embodiment. Other suitable conveyors include a high angle type conveyor, a chain conveyor, or a recirculation conveyor. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that instead of combining stucco 6 a and 6 b in a main stucco conveyor, stucco 6 a and 6 b can instead be added directly to and combined in the mixer.
[0020] In other embodiments, blender 55 can be equipped with a water jacket on the bottom half of the blender and air nozzles and vortex tubes attached to the top half of the blender in order to introduce cold air to cool the blender while the stucco is being conditioned. For example, cold air can be added to the blender 55 by utilizing Vortec® cold air and vortex tubes manufactured by ITW Air Management. Vortex tubes create cold air and hot air by forcing high pressure compressed air through a generation chamber which spins the air centrifugally along the inner walls of the tube at approximately one million revolutions per minute towards the control valve. A percentage of the hot, high speed air is permitted to exit at the control valve. The remainder of the (now slower) air stream is forced to counter flow up through the center of the generation chamber finally exiting through the opposite end as extremely cold air. Such tubes are capable of generating temperatures down to 100° Fahrenheit below the inlet compressed air temperature using 100 pounds per square inch compressed air. After the vortex tubes create cold air, the cold air is introduced into the blender 55 by the air nozzles. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that any suitable sources of cold air can be used to introduce cold air into the blender 55 and that the use of a water jacket, vortex tubes, and air nozzles are only one example.
[0021] Referring to both FIGS. 1 and 2 , the top cover paper 21 B, at some distance after the slurry 12 has been deposited onto the bottom cover paper 21 A, is directed into place atop the wet slurry and bottom cover paper, thereby forming a “sandwich” of slurry within sheets of cover paper. The top cover paper leaves its point of origin at source 20 B and travels along a similar but separate conveyor, roller, belt or other like system 80 until it is directed into place atop the slurry and bottom cover paper. A “wet” wallboard is formed at this point, and several minutes are generally required until the wet wallboard has set sufficiently such that it can be cut and dried further. Because the manufacturing process would be considerably slowed by allowing this newly formed “wet” wallboard to sit in place while it sets for cutting, this newly formed wallboard is continually moved forward on conveyor 13 so that new wet wallboard can continue to be made while setting occurs. This conveyor 13 can be referred to as a “board line” and can extend for hundreds or thousands of feet before cutting.
[0022] A cutting mechanism such as a rotary knife 30 is located at the end of the board line and is used to cut the now set wallboard into smaller and more manageable sections 31 . Although a rotary knife or blade type device is preferred, other cutting mechanisms, as would be readily understood by those skilled in the art, may also be used. This rotary knife 30 generally comprises a blade that extends across the width of passing wallboard and rotates in a direction compatible with the direction of the wallboard when activated to cut passing wallboard. The rotary knife 30 is also preferably controlled by or at least receives information from a control system 40 that is capable of measuring various parameters, assisting in the optimal placement of cover paper splices, and adjusting the timing of the knife cuts as necessary to isolate selected defects.
[0023] After this initial cutting of the wallboard by the rotary knife 30 , the cut wallboard sections 31 are then placed onto a separate conveyor or roller system 14 by automated means so that they can be processed through heating kiln 15 or any other appropriate device for fully hardening and drying wallboard. Once these wallboard sections are sufficiently dried and hardened by the drying kilns or other drying device, they can then be further cut, bundled, packaged and processed in accordance with the desires of the manufacturer and the needs of consumers, through standard methods that are readily known to those skilled in the art. Such drying, bundling and packaging steps may be undertaken in any of a variety of ways.
[0024] By utilizing blender 55 to aerate and cool a portion of the stucco prior to it being added to the pin mixer, a manufacturer can decrease the amount of water needed in the hydration process by about 6 to about 8 percent, increase line speeds by about 10 to 15 feet per minute and reduce kiln drying temperatures. Each of these reductions produce a cost savings to manufacturers.
[0025] The following example is included to demonstrate some of the possible embodiments of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art should, in light of the present disclosure, appreciate that many changes can be made in the specific described example which is disclosed and still obtain a like or similar result without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
[0026] To determine the reduction of water that could be obtained by conditioning a portion of the stucco in this manner, one-half inch thick wallboards were produced utilizing the slurry formulation outlined below in Table I.
[0000] TABLE I Typical Formulation by Mass Percent Based on Stucco Stucco 100% Accelerator 0.08%-0.60% Starch .20%-.90% Coalescing Additive 0 Potash .02%-.15% Pulp Paper .09%-.15% Pulp Water 5.0%-12.6% Gauging Water 49%-68% Dispersant .19%-.75% Retarder .01%-.02% Soap 0.03%-.12% Foam Water 7.5%-18.7%
In this embodiment, the blender was 12 inches in diameter and 8 feet in length and was obtained from Hayes & Solz Ind. MFG. Co., Inc. The blender was equipped with four atomizing nozzles with cold air tubes, a water jacket, and was fed at a rate of 10 tons per hour. The blender operated at high-speed during the trial. The trial resulted in an average reduction of the water required to form the wallboard by approximately 6 to 8%.
[0027] While the subject invention has been described in detail with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, such are offered by way of a non-limiting example of the invention, as other versions are possible. For example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other means aside from utilizing a blender may be used to aerate and cool a portion of the slurry prior to adding it to a pin mixer. It is anticipated that a variety of other modifications and changes will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art and that such modifications and changes are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
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A process and system for manufacturing gypsum wallboard that aerates and cools a portion of the stucco used in the manufacturing process. This conditioning of the stucco reduces the amount of water needed to manufacture the gypsum wallboard which in turn reduces the amount of energy and cost needed to manufacture the wallboard.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/364,010, filed 2 Feb. 2009.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a seeding machine having a seed metering system and a seed delivery system for delivering seed from the meter to the ground.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An agricultural seeding machine such as a row crop planter or grain drill places seeds at a desired depth within a plurality of parallel seed trenches formed in soil. In the case of a row crop planter, a plurality of row crop units are typically ground driven using wheels, shafts, sprockets, transfer cases, chains and the like or powered by electric or hydraulic motors. Each row crop unit has a frame which is movably coupled with a tool bar. The frame may carry a main seed hopper, herbicide hopper and insecticide hopper. If a herbicide and insecticide are used, the metering mechanisms associated with dispensing the granular product into the seed trench are relatively simple. On the other hand, the mechanisms necessary to properly meter the seeds, and dispense the seeds at predetermined relative locations within the seed trench are relatively complicated.
The mechanisms associated with metering and placing the seeds generally can be divided into a seed metering system and a seed placement system which are in series communication with each other. The seed metering system receives the seeds in a bulk manner from the seed hopper carried by the planter frame or by the row unit. Different types of seed metering systems may be used, such as seed plates, finger plates, seed disks, etc. In the case of a seed disk metering system a seed disk is formed with a plurality of seed cells spaced about the periphery of the disk. Seeds are moved into the seed cells with one or more seeds in each seed cell depending upon the size and configuration of the seed cell. A vacuum or positive air pressure differential may be used in conjunction with the seed disk to assist in movement of the seeds into the seed cell. The seeds are singulated and discharged at a predetermined rate to the seed placement or delivery system.
The most common seed delivery system may be categorized as a gravity drop system. In the case of the gravity drop system, a seed tube has an inlet end which is positioned below the seed metering system. The singulated seeds from the seed metering system merely drop into the seed tube and fail via gravitational force from a discharge end thereof into the seed trench. The seed tube may have a rearward curvature to reduce bouncing of the seed as it strikes the bottom of the seed trench and to impart a horizontal velocity to the seed in order to reduce the relative velocity between the seed and the ground. Undesirable variation in resultant in-ground seed spacing can be attributed to differences in how individual seeds exit the metering system and drop through the seed tube. The spacing variation is exacerbated by higher travel speeds through the field which amplifies the dynamic field conditions. Further seed spacing variations are caused by the inherent relative velocity difference between the seeds and the soil as the seeding machine travels through a field. This relative velocity difference causes individual seeds to bounce and tumble in somewhat random patterns as each seed comes to rest in the trench.
Various attempts have been made to reduce the variation in seed spacing resulting from the gravity drop. U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,706 shows two approaches. One approach uses a belt with flights to transport the seeds from the meter to the ground while the other approach uses two belts to grip the seed and transport it from the meter to the ground. While these approaches control the seed path and reduce variability due to dynamic events, neither approach seeks to deliver the seed with as small as possible horizontal velocity difference relative to the ground. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,651,570, 7,185,596 and 7,343,868 show a seed delivery system using a brush wheel near the ground to regulate the horizontal velocity and direction of the seed as it exits the seeding machine. However, there is still a gravity drop bet the seed meter and the brush wheel which produces variation in seed spacing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a seed delivery system that removes the seed from the seed meter by capturing the seed. The delivery system then moves the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed rearward to a horizontal velocity approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seeding machine such that the seed, when discharged, has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Rolling of the seed in the trench is reduced as a result of the near zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Furthermore, as the seed experiences a controlled descent from the point at which it is removed from the meter to a point very near the bottom of the trench, the system becomes nearly impervious to the field dynamics experienced by the row unit. The combination of controlled descent and discharge at a substantially zero horizontal speed relative to the ground reduces seed spacing variability.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a planter having the seed delivery system of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of a row unit of the planter of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the seed delivery system of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a top view of a planter row unit showing the metering system orientation in one alternative arrangement of the metering system and delivery system of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a top view similar to FIG. 4 illustrating the delivery system with the meter housing removed;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the row unit of FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the seed disk used in the seed meter shown in FIGS. 4-6 ;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view along the line 8 - 8 of FIG. 7 illustrating the orientation of the seed disk and brush or the seed delivery system of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a side view of a row unit showing the orientation of the delivery system of the present invention and a vacuum belt seed meter;
FIG. 10 is a side view of another orientation of the seed delivery system of the invention with a vacuum belt seed meter; and
FIGS. 11-13 are side views
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to FIG. 1 an example planter or seeding machine 101 , shown containing the seed delivery system of the present invention. Planter 10 includes a tool bar 12 as part of a planter frame 14 . Mounted to the tool bar are multiple planting row units 16 . Row units 16 are typically identical for agree planter but there may be differences. A row unit 16 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2 . The row unit 16 is provided with a central frame member 20 having a pair of upwardly extending arms 21 ( FIG. 4 ) at the forward end thereof. The arms 21 connect to a parallelogram linkage 22 for mounting the row unit 16 to the tool bar 12 for up and down relative movement between the unit 16 and toolbar 12 in a known manner. Seed is stored in seed hopper 24 and provided to a seed meter 26 . Seed meter 26 is of the type that uses a vacuum disk as are well known to meter the seed. Other types of meters can be used as well. From the seed meter 26 the seed is carried by a delivery system 28 into a planting furrow, or trench, formed in the soil by furrow openers 30 . Gauge wheels 32 control the depth of the furrow. Closing wheels 34 close the furrow over the seed. The gauge wheels 32 are mounted to the frame member 20 by arms 36 . The toolbar and row unit are designed to be moved over the ground in a forward working direction identified by the arrow 38 .
The row unit 16 further includes a chemical hopper 40 , a row cleaner attachment 42 and a down force generator 44 . The row unit 16 is shown as an example of the environment in which the delivery system of the present invention is used. The present invention can be used in any of a variety of planting machine tapes such as but not limited to, row crop planters, grain drills, air seeders, etc.
With reference to FIG. 3 , the seed delivery system 28 is shown in greater detail. Delivery system 28 includes a housing 48 positioned adjacent the seed disk 50 of the seed meter. The seed disk 50 is a generally flat disk with a plurality of apertures 52 adjacent the periphery of the disk. Seeds 56 are collected on the apertures from a seed pool and adhere to the disk by air pressure differential on the opposite sides of the disk 50 in a known manner. The disk may have a flat surface at the apertures 52 or have seed cells surrounding the apertures 52 . The disk rotates clockwise as viewed in FIG. 3 as shown by the arrow 54 . At the top of FIG. 3 , seeds 56 are shown adhered to the disk.
The seed delivery system housing 48 has spaced apart front and rear walls 49 and 51 and a side wall 53 therebetween. An upper opening 58 in the housing side wall 53 admits the seed from the metering disk 50 into the housing. A pair of pulleys 60 , 62 are mounted inside the housing 48 . The pulleys support a belt 64 for rotation within the housing. One of the pulleys is a drive pulley while the other is an idler pulley. The belt has a base member 66 to engage the pulleys and elongated bristles 70 extending therefrom. The bristles are joined to the base member at proximal, or radially inner, ends of the bristles. Distal, or radially outer, ends 74 of the bristles touch, or are close to touching, the inner surface 76 of the housing side wall 53 . A lower housing opening 78 is formed in the side wall 53 and is positioned as close to the bottom 80 of the seed trench as possible. As shown, the lower opening 78 is near or below the soil surface 82 adjacent the trench. The housing side wall forms an exit ramp 84 at the lower opening 78 .
Returning attention to the upper portion of FIG. 3 , a loading wheel 86 is provided adjacent the upper opening 58 . The loading wheel is positioned on the opposite side of the seeds 56 from the brush 64 such that the path of the seeds on the disk brings the seeds into a nip 88 formed between the loading wheel and the distal ends 74 of the bristles 70 . At the location of the nip 88 , the air pressure differential across the seed disk 50 is terminated, freeing the seed from the apertures 52 in the disk. The bottom surface of the loading wheel, facing the seed disk 50 , has recesses 90 formed therein. The recesses 90 receive seed agitators 92 projecting from the seed disk 50 . The moving agitators, by engagement with the recesses in the loading wheel, drive the loading wheel in a clockwise rotation.
In operation, the belt 64 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction. As the belt curves around the pulleys, the bristles will naturally open, that is, separate from one another as the distal ends of the bristles travel a larger circumferential distance around the pulleys than the inner ends of the bristle at the belt base member. This produces two beneficial effects as described below. The seeds are transferred from the seed meter to the delivery system as the seeds are brought by the disk into the nip 88 . There the seeds are pinched off the seed disk between the loading wheel and the bristles 70 to remove the seed from the seed disk and seed meter. The seeds are captured or entrapped in the bristles by insertion of the seed into the bristles in a radial direction, that is from the ends of the bristles in a direction parallel to the bristle length. This occurs just as the belt path around the pulley 60 ends, when the bristle ends are closing back together upon themselves, allowing the bristles to close upon, and capture the seeds therein. As shown in FIG. 3 , the bristles are flexible and wrap around the seeds. The seeds deflect the bristles from their natural positions. As the belt continues to move, the bristles move or convey the seeds downward to the housing lower opening. The side wall 53 of the housing cooperates with the bristles 70 to hold the seed in the brush bristles as the seed is moved to the lower opening.
The lower opening 78 and the ramp 84 are positioned along the curved belt path around the pulley 62 . The bristle distal ends thus cause the linear speed of the seeds to accelerate relative to the speed of the belt base member 66 and the housing as shown by the two arrows 94 and 96 . The seeds are then propelled by the bristles over the ramp 84 and discharged through the lower opening 78 into the seed trench. The angle of the ramp 84 can be selected to produce the desired relationship between the seed vertical and horizontal speeds at discharge. The forward travel direction of the row unit is to the left in FIG. 3 as shown by the arrow 38 . At the discharge, the horizontal speed of the seed relative to the ground is minimized to reduce roll of the seed in the trench.
The belt shown in FIG. 3 has relatively long bristles. As a result of the long bristles and the seed loading point being at the end of the curved path of the brush around the pulley 60 results in the seeds being loaded into the belt while the bristles have slowed down in speed. The bristle speed at loading is thus slower than the bristle speed at the discharge opening as the belt travels around the pulley 62 . This allows in the seed to be loaded into the belt at a relatively lower speed while the seed is discharged at the lower end at a desired higher speed. As described above, it is preferred that the horizontal velocity of the seed at the discharge be equal to the forward travel speed of the planter but in the rearward direction such that the horizontal velocity of the seed relative to the ground is close to or equal to zero. The long bristles can be used to increase the speed of the seed as it travels around the pulley. However, a short bristle brush can be used as well. With a short bristle brush, there will be little acceleration in the speed of the seed as the seed travels around the pulleys. The belt will have to be driven at a speed to produce the desired horizontal velocity of the seed at the discharge. Even with a short bristle brush, the seed is still accelerated in the horizontal direction. As the belt travels around the pulley, the direction of travel of the seed changes from the predominantly vertical direction, when the seed is moved downward from the seed meter, to a predominantly horizontal direction at the discharge. This produces an acceleration of the seed velocity in the horizontal direction.
With the delivery system 28 , the seed is captured by the delivery system to remove the seed from the seed meter. The seed is then moved by the delivery system to the seed discharge point where the seed is accelerated in a rearward horizontal direction relative to the housing. From the seed meter to the discharge, the seed travel is controlled by the delivery system, thus maintaining the seed spacing relative to one another.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the seed disk and the front and rear was 49 , 51 of the housing 48 lie in planes that are generally parallel one another. As shown, the plane of the delivery system is generally parallel to the direction of travel of the row unit. Other relationships between the seed meter and delivery system are shown and described below.
As shown in FIG. 3 , the side wall 53 is divided by the upper and lower openings 58 , 78 into two segments, 53 a and 53 b . Segment 53 a is between the upper and lower openings in the direction of belt travel while the segment 53 b is between the lower and upper openings in the direction of belt travel. It is the gaps in the side wall 53 that form the upper and lower openings. It should be understood, however, that the delivery system will function without the segment 53 b of the side wall. It is only the segment 53 a that functions together with the belt bristles to deliver the seed from the meter to the seed trench. Thus, the term “upper opening” shall be construed to mean a open area before the side wall segment 53 a in the direction of belt travel and the term “lower opening” shall mean an open area after the side wall segment 53 a in the direction of belt travel.
With reference to FIGS. 4-7 , the delivery system 28 is shown in combination with the seed meter and row unit structure in an alternative arrangement of the seed meter and delivery system 28 . The seed meter 200 is shown mounted to the row unit with the seed disk 202 in a vertical orientation but at an angle to the forward travel direction shown by the arrow 38 . FIG. 4 shows of the seed meter orientation in the row unit without the delivery system 28 . The seed meter includes a housing having two halves 204 and 206 releasable joined together in a known manner. The seed meter is driven through a transmission 208 coupled to a drive cable, not shown.
In FIG. 5 only the seed disk 202 of the meter is shown with the seed delivery system 28 . As previously mentioned, the seed disk 202 is in a vertical orientation but it does not lie in a plane parallel to the forward direction 38 . Instead, the meter is oriented such that the disk is at a 60° angle relative to the forward direction when viewed from above. The seed of delivery system 28 is generally identical to that shown in FIG. 3 and is driven by a motor 65 . The delivery system, including of the brush belt 64 , is generally vertical and aligned with the fore and aft direction of the planter such that the angle between the brush and the seed disk is approximately 60°. The angle between the delivery system and a seed disk produces a partial “cross feed” of the seed into the brush. That is, the seed is fed into the brush at an angle to the lengthwise direction of the bristles. This is in contrast to FIG. 3 where the seed enters the brush in a direction substantially parallel to the lengthwise direction of the brush bristles. If the brush and seed disk were oriented at 90° to one another, a total cross feed would be produced with seed entering the brush perpendicular to the bristles.
The seed disk 202 is shown enlarged in FIGS. 7 and 8 . The disk 202 has opposite sides, a vacuum side 216 and seed side 218 . The seed side 218 has a surface 219 near the periphery that defines a reference plane. The reference plane will be used to describe the features of the disk near the disk periphery. An outer peripheral lip 220 is recessed from the reference plane. The peripheral lip 220 creates a radially outward edge face 222 . A circumferential row of spaced apart apertures 224 is arranged around a circular path radially inward of the edge face 222 . Each aperture extends through the disk between the vacuum side 216 and the seed side 218 . Radially inward of each aperture 224 , there is a radially elongated recess 226 . The recess 226 is recessed axially into the disk from the reference plane. In operation, the disk rotates in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 228 . During rotation, the recesses 226 agitate the seed in the seed pool.
Surrounding each aperture 224 is a tapered recess, or shallow seed cell, 232 that extends axially into the disk from the reference plane. Seed cell 232 begins at a leading edge 234 in the direction of rotation of the disk and is progressively deeper into the seed side 218 to a trailing edge formed by an axially projecting wail 236 . The tapered recess or seed cell 232 reduces the vacuum needed to pick-up and retain seed in the apertures 2 , 4 . The seed cell also enables the seed to sit lower relative to the seed side 218 of the disk, allowing the seed to be retained while the seed singulator removes doubles or multiples of seed from the apertures 224 . In addition, the recess well 236 agitates seed in the seed pool, further aiding in seed pick-up. The wall 236 extends lengthwise in a predominately radial direction as shown by the dashed line 238 . The walls 236 , while predominately radial, are inclined to the radial direction such that the inner end of the wall 236 is leading the outer end of the well in the direction of rotation. Immediately following each well 236 , as the disk rotates, is a projection, or upstanding peg 240 extending axially from the disk seed side. The pegs engage seed in the seed pool for agitation to aide in seed pick-up. The pegs 240 are located slightly radially inward of the circular path of apertures 224 to avoid interference with the seed singulator.
With reference to FIG. 8 , the disk 20 e is shown in operation and in position relative to the belt 64 in the delivery system 28 . As seeds 244 are carried by the disk 202 into the bristles of the brush 64 , the wall 236 and the pegs 240 act to push the seed 244 into the bristles of the brush 64 and assist in keeping the seed from being knocked of the disk upon the seed's initial contact with the brush bristles. Once the seed is inserted into the brush bristles, the vacuum from the opposite side of the disk is cut-off, allowing the brush to sweep the seed off the disk in a predominately radial direction relative to the disk. An insert 246 overlies the lip 220 at the point of seed release to hold the seed in the brush bristles in the transition between the disk and the side wall 53 ( FIG. 3 ) of the delivery system housing. The disk 202 is inclined to the length of the brush bristles at approximately a 60 degree angle. This produces the partial cross-feed of the seed into the brush bristles.
FIG. 9 shows the brush belt seed delivery system 28 in combination with a vacuum belt metering system having a metering belt 302 . The vacuum belt meter is fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/363,968, filed Feb. 2, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,918,168 and incorporated herein by reference. The belt 302 picks-up seed at a pick-up region 304 at a lower, front location of the belts path and transports it to the delivery system at a release region 306 at an upper, rear location of the belt's path. In this arrangement of the belt meter and the brush delivery system, the delivery system is again partially cross fed with seeds from the meter.
Another arrangement of the delivery system together with a vacuum meter belt is shown in FIG. 10 . The delivery system 28 is in-line with the belt meter 124 . This allows the distal ends of the brush bristles to sweep over the surface of the metering belt 126 to capture the seed therefrom. The meter belt 126 is wrapped around pulleys 128 . The metering belt 124 is similar and functions as the belt 302 mentioned above.
The delivery system of the present invention can also be used with seed meters other than air pressure differential meters. For example, with reference to FIG. 11 , a finger pick-up meter 130 is shown, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,601 and incorporated herein by reference. Seed is ejected from the meter through an opening 132 . The delivery system 134 has a brush belt 136 wrapped about pulleys 138 and 140 . As shown, the belt pulley 138 shares a common drive shaft with finger pick-up meter 130 . A hub transmission such as a spherical continuously variable transmission or a three speed hub can be used to drive the belt 135 at a different speed from the meter 130 . The delivery system housing includes a side wail 142 . A ramp 146 is formed at the lower end of the wall 142 adjacent the lower opening 148 . At the upper end of the delivery system, the upper opening is formed in the housing rear wall adjacent the opening 132 through which seeds are ejected from the seed meter. The seeds are inserted laterally into the brush bristles in a complete cross-feed. As in the other embodiments, the seed is captured in the brush bristles, moved downward to the lower opening, accelerated rearward and discharged through the lower opening 148 .
The endless member of the delivery system has been described as being a brush belt with bristles, in a broad sense, the bristles form an outer periphery of contiguous disjoint surfaces that engage and grip the seed. While brush bristles are the preferred embodiment, and may be natural or synthetic, other material types can be used to grip the seed such as a foam pad, expanded foam pad, mesh pad or fiber pad.
Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.
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A seed delivery system for use in a seeding machine that removes seed from a seed meter by capturing seed therefrom. The delivery system moves seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates seed horizontally rearward to a speed approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the machine such that the seed, when discharged has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. The delivery system uses a brush belt to capture, move and accelerate the seed. By capturing the seed and moving it from the meter to the discharge, each seed is held in place relative to other seeds and the planter row unit. As a result, the seeds are isolated from row unit dynamics thereby maintaining seed spacing.
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[0001] This is a Continuation-In-Part Application of International Application PCT/DE02/02796 filed Oct. 31, 2002 and claiming the priority of German application 101 38 319.3 filed Aug. 10, 2001.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention resides in a membrane body and in a method for producing such a membrane body.
[0003] Micro-, ultra-, and nanofiltration membranes are generally manufactured from solutions of polymers. In conventional methods for the manufacture of flat membranes, the polymer solution is applied as a film to a support structure using a casting box, a wiper or a slot-nozzle and the solvent is then evaporated possibly while the support structure is moved through an evaporation chamber. Then the polymer on the substrate is subjected to a coagulation medium. In the coagulation medium, the polymer film solidifies and forms a membrane. Such manufacturing methods. are described for example in the book “Membran und Membrantrennprosesse, Grundlagen und Anwendungen” (VCH Verlags-gesellschaft mbH, Weinheim 1992).
[0004] In this state of the art, furthermore hollow fiber membrane modules for example for the drying of gases (compressed air) are known. DE 197 46 752 A1 describes such a module of a membrane body and a housing which includes connections for the introduction and the discharge of a (humid) air flow, the dried air flow and the permeate flow which contains the water vapors removed from the air. The membrane body itself consists of a bundle of hollow fiber membranes whose individual hollow fibers are open at their ends. The feed flow is conducted through the lumen of the hollow fibers, the water vapor permeates through the membrane and the dried air leaves the hollow fibers at their opposite ends.
[0005] Furthermore, membrane modules are known wherein a small hollow fiber membrane is disposed within a larger hollow fiber membrane. But the construction of such a module is quite complicated. In addition, the manufacturing process is discontinuous.
[0006] Based on this state of the art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a membrane body of a simple design which is also easy to manufacture. In addition, the membrane body should be capable to separate more than two components from a medium.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In a membrane body and a method for producing such a body, at least one hollow membrane is provided which is joined to, and at least partially surrounded by, a flat membrane to form a combined hollow and flat membrane body for separating more than one component from a fluid mixture. The hollow membrane and the flat membrane are always joined by way of a contact area. With the combined arrangement of hollow and flat membranes, the membrane body is capable of separating at the same time at least three components. With a larger number or, respectively, additional combinations of hollow and flat membranes even more components can be separated. In such arrangements, the membranes may consist of different materials.
[0008] With the arrangement and the embodiment of hollow membranes and flat membranes a membrane body of simple configuration can be provided which is furthermore easily controllable and easy to manufacture.
[0009] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the hollow membrane may be completely surrounded by only one flat membrane. In another embodiment, the hollow membrane is surrounded at least partially or in sections by at least two flat membranes which, dependent on the requirements of the membrane body, may consist of different materials.
[0010] In order to achieve a good separation of the media and to provide for a good stability of the membrane body, the hollow membrane and the flat membrane are joined. A good connection between the two membranes is formed particularly by lattice-like polymerization, for example, by way of a chemical or radio-chemical reaction.
[0011] It is further advantageous if the hollow membrane and/or the flat membrane consist of at least one polymer and/or a copolymer. Polymers or copolymers have proofed to be good and suitable materials in connection with membranes. The membranes or, respectively, the membrane materials may also be modified. A chemical modification can be achieved by a copolymerization or graft-copolymerization. The radio-chemical modification comprises photo- plasma- or electron beam methods, whereby a modification with respect to hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties and polar group or polar reactive groups can be achieved.
[0012] It is particularly advantageous if the hollow membrane comprises at least a second hollow membrane and/or is in the form of a hollow membrane mat, or respectively hollow membrane bundle, preferably of polypropylene. With the use of a membrane structure comprising an inner hollow fiber in a hollow fiber membrane, the utilization possibilities of a membrane body according to the invention are further expanded since a further separation stage by the second hollow fiber membrane can be established. In a configuration of the hollow membrane as a mat or a bundle, the hollow membrane can easily be arranged on a flat membrane. It has been found that polypropylene is a suitable material for manufacturing such a hollow membrane.
[0013] Further advantages are obtained if the flat membrane is manufactured from a polymer solution, particularly from a 10% polyacryl nitrile/dimethyl formamide polymer solution, since polymer solutions have been found reliable in the manufacture of flat membranes. This applies particularly to polyacrylnitrile/dimethyl formamide.
[0014] The mechanical stability of the membrane body can be increased by providing in the membrane body support means particularly in the form of particles fleeces or fibers. If the membrane body is exposed to relatively high mechanical stresses, the support means prevent a destruction of the membrane body. In addition, with the support means, the membrane may be shaped for adaptation to different applications.
[0015] It is also the object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a membrane body wherein at least one hollow membrane is provided with a flat membrane such that the flat membrane at least partially surrounds the hollow membrane.
[0016] It is the aim of the method to combine hollow and flat membranes in such a way that a membrane body is formed which can separate at least three materials at the same time and to manufacture such a membrane body at relatively low costs.
[0017] In an advantageous embodiment of such a method the hollow membrane is fully surrounded by a flat membrane. Alternatively, the hollow membrane is enclosed by several, particularly between two, flat membranes.
[0018] Preferred embodiments of the manufacturing method for the membrane body according to the invention as described above will become more readily apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments of the invention on the basis of the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] [0019]FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the membrane body according to the invention,
[0020] [0020]FIG. 2 a and FIG. 2 b show modified embodiments of the membrane body, and
[0021] [0021]FIG. 3 shows another membrane body according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] [0022]FIG. 1 shows a membrane body 10 in cross-section. The membrane body 10 comprises a flat membrane 12 , into which hollow membranes 11 of circular cross-section are embedded. The hollow membranes 11 are completely surrounded by the flat membrane 12 . In the manufacture of the membrane body 10 , the hollow membranes 11 are manufactured separately before they are embedded in the flat membrane 12 . Before the embedment, the hollow membranes may be present as individual membranes or as a bundle or in the form of a mat.
[0023] The hollow membranes 11 may be manufactured in a wet spin process (with or without evaporation stage) or in an extruder.
[0024] The hollow membranes 11 may be embedded in the flat membrane 12 by pulling a polymer solution with a wiper over the hollow membranes 11 or by means of a double-slot extrusion nozzle. With a double slot nozzle, one or several polymer layers may be applied to the opposite sides of a hollow membrane or a hollow membrane mat or bundle.
[0025] The flat membrane 12 as well as the hollow membrane 11 may consist of one or several polymers or, respectively, copolymers. The flat membrane 12 may furthermore comprise one or several layers of one or several polymers or, respectively copolymers.
[0026] In both membranes 11 , 12 , particles, fleeces, fibers or other membrane stabilization structures may be contained in order to form a mechanically stable membrane body.
[0027] As the hollow membrane 11 , a common hollow membrane (also called hollow fiber membrane) may be used. It is of course also possible that another hollow fiber is disposed in the hollow fiber membrane.
[0028] In addition, the connection or interlacing of the two membranes 11 , 12 can be improved by a chemical or radio-chemical reaction.
[0029] [0029]FIGS. 2 a and 2 b also show membrane bodies 10 in cross-section, wherein the hollow membrane 11 is only partially or, respectively, in sections surrounded by the flat membrane 12 . While in the embodiment of FIG. 2 a , the hollow membrane 11 and the flat membrane are arranged in an alternating pattern, in the embodiment of FIG. 2 b , the hollow membranes are partially embedded in the flat membrane 12 . A part of the hollow membrane 11 projects from the flat membrane 12 .
[0030] In the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, the hollow membrane 11 is disposed between two flat membranes 12 . The two flat membranes 12 at the top and the bottom sides of the hollow membranes 11 are not in contact with each other and form, in combination with two adjacent hollow membranes 11 , an intermediate space 13 . This intermediate space 13 may be used in certain application as an admission or discharge passage.
[0031] In all three exemplary embodiments, the membrane body 10 can be easily manufactured at low expenditures. The membrane body 10 can be manufactured in a continuous as well as in a discontinuous way.
[0032] In addition in accordance with the invention, several flat membrane layers with different properties with regard to permeability, selectivity etc. may be used.
[0033] Furthermore, several hollow membranes may be embedded concurrently or subsequently in several membrane layers of the same or different materials and one or several layers may then again be dissolved out of the compound structure. In this way, spaces, such as the intermediate space 13 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, may be formed.
[0034] Because of its capability of separating several materials, the material body according to the invention may be used in numerous areas.
[0035] Bioreactors including membranes are used for example in many biotechnological and biomedical areas where adhesion dependent and adhesion independent cells are cultured. The membranes act on one hand as diffusion barrier for controlling the entrance or exit of certain materials in a desired way. In a membrane body according to the invention, the hollow fiber can advantageously. be used for the oxygenation of a medium or cells. In addition, the membranes should serve as supports for adhesion dependent cells, wherein the cells are cultivated on one side of a flat membrane or in a hollow fiber membrane or, respectively, in the intermediate spaces (see FIG. 3) of a membrane body.
[0036] With a partial embedment of the hollow fiber membranes in the flat membrane, cells can be cultivated partially on the outside surface of the hollow fiber membranes and partially on the flat membrane surface. Such a hollow- and flat membrane construction permits therefore the admission of two or three supply media by way of one hollow or flat membrane for example an improved oxygen supply for the cells. A membrane body as shown in FIG. 3 for example can be used as a bioreactor for growing an artificial liver.
[0037] The membrane body according to the invention may also be used in the technical area, wherein the hollow membranes of the membrane body may act as additional material or heat barriers. Alternatively, the hollow membrane of the membrane body may have the function of a material or heat-exchange bridge. A medium flow through the hollow membrane depends on the respective application and is therefore application-specific and not always necessary.
[0038] One or both membrane types may be effective in a selective way in processes such as gas separation, pervaporation, vapor permeation or for the import of one or several gases into fluids. The selectivities and/or permeabilities of the hollow and flat membranes may, in accordance with the intended application, be larger or smaller than those of the hollow or flat membrane structures formed. Media flows may be established in the hollow membrane and/or on the flat membranes.
[0039] For example, two components can be separated out of a multi-component mixture with a subsequent particular selection.
[0040] To this end, the hollow membrane is embedded halfway in different polymers and is permeable for example for two components of a fluid. Both components permeate through the hollow membrane depending on the drive force applied (for example, pressure, concentration) and are separated in accordance with the properties of the two flat membranes layers depending on the drive forces (for example, charge, concentration) each exiting from one side of the membrane.
[0041] In first method steps using the hollow flat membrane arrangement, first two components are separated from a fluid. Subsequently, these two components are separated from each other.
[0042] Analogous therewith, the same separation result could be achieved with the separation of two components from a fluid with a subsequent selection of the components when the fluid comes into contact with one side of the flat membrane whereby the two components are separated in a drive force- and/or material dependent manner. One of the drive force- and/or material dependent components permeates into the hollow membrane whereas the drive component permeates through the flat membrane, but not into the hollow membrane.
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In a membrane body and a method for producing such a body, at least one hollow membrane is provided which is joined to, and at least partially surrounded by, a flat membrane to form a combined hollow and flat membrane body for separating more than one component from a fluid mixture.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Application claims the benefit of the filing date of Provisional Application No. 60/390,076, filed Jun. 20, 2002, and herein incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates generally to steering wheels and vehicle steering assemblies, and more particularly to a steering wheel or steering assembly having increased resistivity to rotational vibration.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A longtime goal of automotive designers has been minimizing vibration in various vehicle systems during operation. Reductions in vibration can offer the advantages of less wear and tear on vehicle parts and higher operating efficiency due to less energy wasted by vibrating components, as well as greater comfort for the operator. Because structural and functional details of automobiles differ greatly among different vehicle lines and models, vibration suppression criteria for one vehicle may differ from that of other vehicles. Moreover, vibrational characteristics change when new system or structural technologies, and even new styling designs are incorporated into existing vehicle models.
[0004] Of particular interest to designers has been the development of vibration dampeners in vehicle steering wheels. Lessening vibrations communicated through the steering system can reduce operator fatigue and vehicle noise, and enhance overall driving enjoyment. Some methods of reducing vibration in the steering system have focused on the use of damper weights to absorb vibrations communicated through the steering column, and various methods are known in the art. In one approach, resilient members are used to join an airbag module to the steering wheel, thereby allowing the airbag module to act as a mass damper. In this approach, however, such systems require a relatively heavy airbag module to effectively suppress rotational vibrations. Other systems utilize a mass damper directly associated with the steering column. Again, such systems are relatively complex and require a relatively large mass.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In one aspect, a steering wheel for a motor vehicle is provided. The steering wheel includes a core member having a central mount portion and a plurality of spokes connecting the mount portion with a substantially circular rim. At least one dampening element is secured to the rim, wherein the dampening element is formed from a material having a density greater than a density of the core member, and is secured in vibrational communication with the core member.
[0006] In another aspect, a method of manufacturing a steering wheel is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a steering wheel core member having a circular rim section with a channel, and positioning at least one dampening element in the channel, the dampening element having a density greater than the core member. The method further includes the steps of positioning the core member and dampening element in a molding apparatus, and delivering a flowable curable material into the molding apparatus, wherein the cured material adheres to the dampening element and the core member, and secures the dampening element in vibrational communication with the core member.
[0007] In still another aspect, a steering wheel is provided, the steering wheel being manufactured by a method including the steps of providing a steering wheel core member having a circular rim section with a channel, and positioning at least one dampening element in the channel, the dampening element having a density greater than the core member. The method further includes the steps of positioning the core member and dampening element in a molding apparatus, and delivering a flowable curable material into the molding apparatus, wherein the cured material adheres to the dampening element and the core member, and secures the dampening element in vibrational communication with the core member.
[0008] In still another aspect, a method of optimizing rotational vibration in a vehicle steering wheel is provided. The method includes the steps of forming a steering wheel core member having a substantially circular rim portion, the core member being connectable to a vehicle steering system, and attaching mass to the core member by providing at least one dampening element, and securing it about the rim portion, the dampening element preferably being positioned in substantial radial symmetry about the core member and having a density greater than the density of the core member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] [0009]FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a steering wheel according to a preferred constructed embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] [0010]FIG. 2 is a partial elevational view of a steering wheel according to a preferred constructed embodiment of the present invention similar to FIG. 1;
[0011] [0011]FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a steering wheel according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] [0012]FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a steering wheel according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there are shown partial views of a steering wheel 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Steering wheel 10 has a core with a substantially circular rim 12 ; preferably, a metallic machined or die cast rim, and preferably having a circumferential channel 11 . A dampening element 14 is secured about rim 12 and is preferably positioned at least partially within channel 11 , and secured therein. In a preferred embodiment, the steering wheel core is die cast aluminum or magnesium, and is formed as a unitary core member having a plurality of spokes (not shown) connecting rim 12 to a central body (not shown), and mounted to a vehicle steering system in a conventional manner. When fully assembled, steering wheel 10 is preferably covered with a known covering material, for example plastic, leather, or fabric. Securing dampening element 14 , preferably formed of a relatively dense material, to rim 12 increases the moment of inertia of the steering wheel as well as the rotational mass moment of inertia, increasing its resistance to rotational vibration. It should be appreciated that actually providing a channel in rim 12 is not critical for purposes of the present invention, however, a channel helps in positioning and retaining the dampener weight, and thus represents a preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that securing dampener 14 “about” rim 12 encompasses a wide variety of securing means, and it is not necessary that dampener 14 be actually attached to rim 12 itself.
[0014] Channel 11 is preferably substantially U-shaped in cross-section, but might vary considerably without departing from the scope of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, channel 11 is molded when casting the unitary core member, however, the channel might instead be machined. Alternatively, the entire rim 14 might be manufactured as a separate piece, and attached to spokes and a central mount portion to assemble the core member. Rather than a U-shaped channel, rim 12 might have, for example, a T-shaped, square, semi-circular, or V-shaped channel. FIG. 3 illustrates a T-shaped channel 111 mounted in a steering wheel 110 . Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, dampener 14 can similarly be formed having a variety of cross-sectional geometries, preferably designed to substantially match the cross section of channel 11 , wherein dampener 14 is positioned. In a preferred embodiment, channel 11 is continuous around circular rim 12 , however, it should be appreciated that rim 12 might have a plurality of channels, separated by filled-in regions, positioned circumferentially around rim 12 . One preferred die casting process leaves portions of the channel filled wherein the die is gated for molten metal delivery. Dampener 14 is preferably a complete or partial ring made from a material denser than rim 12 , for instance lead, steel, tungsten, or some other metal. The dampening element(s) may also be a sufficiently dense non-metallic material, for example, a dense polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Various designs are possible, and rather than a ring or partial ring, dampener 14 might instead comprise a plurality of pieces preferably positioned substantially symmetrically around steering wheel 10 . Although the dampening element is preferably substantially radially symmetrical about the rim, alternative constructions are contemplated in which the mass may be asymmetrically oriented about the center of the wheel. In yet another embodiment, two partial circle members are utilized rather than a continuous ring. In this embodiment, the two distinct members can be positioned in channel 11 , allowing the discontinuous dampener structure 14 to accommodate the solid regions resulting from the gates in the die. In the present description, dampener 14 is referred to in the singular, however, it should be appreciated that the descriptions herein are equally applicable to embodiments employing multiple dampeners. In still other contemplated embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a channel 211 is filled with a metallic powder or metal grindings/turnings 214 that can be pressed in the channel 211 to retain the material therein or, alternatively, heated and pressed to form dampening members that can be manipulated similar to dampener members/rings, as described above.
[0015] A variety of different methods of mounting dampener 14 about rim 12 are contemplated. In a preferred embodiment, dampener 14 is mounted substantially within channel 11 ; however, it might be mounted wholly or only partially within channel 11 depending on the dimensions of the dampener and the channel itself. Thus, as used herein, the term “within” will be understood to mean fully, as well as partially in the channel 11 . Moreover, as described above, the use of a channel is not critical, and a weighted dampener member might be secured to the steering wheel rim by other means. For example, rather than a channel in the rim, the rim itself might be formed with a rounded outer surface matable with a channel in the dampener. Further, a channel type of interface is not necessary at all. The dampening element might, for instance, be formed with a flattened side that could be positioned flush with a flattened portion of the rim. The dampening element could be attached to the rim with fasteners, adhesive, or even spot welded. Various additional alternatives are possible, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that a great variety of different shaped rims and dampeners might be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. “Vibrational communication,” as used herein, will be understood to mean that vibrations are communicated between two structures. In a preferred mounting method, the rim 12 (and core member) with the inserted dampener 14 is positioned in an injection mold (not shown) with channel 11 facing upward. Next, a multiple-component elastomeric foaming material is delivered to the mold, in a process known in the art as reaction injection molding. The foam material, or adherent, is preferably a polyurethane foam or composite as known in the art, and adheres to dampener 14 and to rim 12 , holding dampener 14 in its desired position and providing a resilient coating layer on the exterior of the wheel. The article may subsequently be painted, or covered with leather, plastic, etc. to finish the steering wheel. It should further be appreciated that dampener 14 is preferably formed from a material having a melting point sufficient to withstand the temperature during reaction injection molding, which generally ranges from 100° C. and above, and more specifically from 100° C. to 120° C. An illustrative example of a suitable injection molding method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,063 to Hayashi et al., herein incorporated by reference. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a wide variety of known adhesives and elastomeric materials could be used as the steering wheel covering/dampener-retaining material without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0016] Dampener 14 is thus secured in the channel by the foam, however, the preferably flexible, resilient nature of the foam can impart a degree of freedom of movement to dampener 14 . Dampener 14 can be mounted in channel 11 such that the dampener piece(s) are in continuous contact with the rim 12 , allowing translational and rotational vibrations from the core to be transmitted directly to the dampener. Alternatively, a layer of foam or other resilient material might be disposed between the dampener and the core, allowing the foam to absorb energy before transmitting the energy to the dampener. Such a design allows some of the energy of rotational vibration to be absorbed by expansion and contraction of the foam. Likewise, the use of resilient foam also increases resistance to translational vibration, expansion and contraction of the foam allowing the dampener to suppress non-rotational, i.e. linear vibrations. Other methods of affixing dampener 14 to the core member are contemplated, including mechanical attachment(s), such as rivets or screws, or tabs attached to rim 12 that can be bent over to secure dampener 14 in place. In an embodiment utilizing tabs to hold dampener 14 in place, the tabs may be formed integrally with rim 12 in a die casting process, or they may be attached separately after forming rim 12 . Still other contemplated methods of affixing dampener 14 to rim 12 include press-fitting dampener 14 into channel 11 , or crimping rim 12 to secure dampener 14 therein.
[0017] Adding weight around the rim of steering wheel 10 increases the polar mass moment of inertia of the wheel, increasing resistance to rotational vibration in the steering wheel. When mass is added at the exterior of the wheel, the rotational inertia of the wheel increases more than when an equal mass is added closer to the axis of rotation of the wheel (center body). The value of rotational inertia for a hoop rotated about a cylinder axis, similar to the rim of a steering wheel rotated about the steering column, can be expressed by the equation:
I=MR 2
[0018] “I” is the rotational inertia, “M” is the mass of the rim (hoop), and “R” is the radius of the hoop. Although this expression only approximates the result of attaching the instant dampener 14 to the steering wheel, those skilled in the art will appreciate that rotational inertia generally increases with the square of the distance between the point where the mass is added and the axis of rotation. In many steering wheel designs, the actual axis of rotation is not at the exact center of the wheel, however, this mathematical relationship is generally applicable. Therefore, with greater rotational inertia, i.e. greater force required to initiate or reverse rotation of the steering wheel, the wheel has an increased resistance to rotational vibration. Because mass is added only where it has the most efficacious dampening effect, at the rim, the total mass that must be added to reduce vibration is minimized. By minimizing the required mass, the natural frequency of vibration of the steering wheel is not lowered as much as in systems that, for example, utilize a relatively larger mass, added closer to the center of the wheel. It has been a goal of designers to avoid constructing steering wheel systems with a natural vibration frequency close to natural frequencies encountered in operation of the vehicle as a whole, for instance that of the engine or the vehicle itself. As presently understood, the present invention allows a minimal amount of mass to be added, maintaining the natural frequency of vibration of the steering wheel at a value different from the vehicle or engine natural vibration frequencies, thereby minimizing undesirable resonance vibration of the steering wheel. Furthermore, avoiding the need to add an excessive amount of mass is less expensive and reduces the risk of significantly altering the crash performance of the steering system and related components, a problem that can arise where relatively large masses are added to the airbag module, or elsewhere close to the wheel's axis of rotation.
[0019] A problem related to rotational vibration involves the phenomenon known in the art as “lumpy return.” When a vehicle is directed into a turn, the steering wheel's subsequent return to its center position may take place through a series of jerky or bumpy motions rather than the desired smooth action. Adding mass to the wheel, particularly the addition of mass at the exterior, reduces the degree to which variations in the road surface, as well as fluctuations in the power steering operation, can reduce the smoothness of the wheel's return to its center position. Likewise, adding mass to the steering wheel as a whole increases the resistance of the wheel to translational, i.e. non-rotational vibrations.
[0020] In a related aspect, the present invention provides a tunable method of optimizing, e.g. increasing resistivity to, rotational vibration in a vehicle steering wheel. In different vehicle lines, and even in vehicles of the same make and model, subtle differences in components and production may cause optimal rotational vibration characteristics to vary. In a preferred embodiment, dampeners having various densities, sizes, configurations, and weights are made available for attachment to steering wheel 10 . Simulation apparatuses, well known in the art, are used to simulate, for example, smooth road, bumpy road, and turning conditions encountered by a vehicle steering system. Thus, objective measurements of vibration amplitude and frequency can be recorded under varying simulated conditions. During testing, different rings or alternative dampening structures are inserted into the channel 11 , giving the steering system greater or lesser resistance to rotational vibration, and greater or lesser natural vibration frequencies. In this fashion, the individual ring(s) or dampeners imparting vibration characteristics appropriate to a particular vehicle may be selected. A preferred testing sequence involves assembling a steering wheel apparatus without a dampening insert 14 , then mounting the steering apparatus on the simulator to determine the vibration characteristics under different conditions. The next step, if necessary, involves mounting the heaviest of a plurality of available dampeners into the channel 11 , then performing a second series of tests to determine the vibration characteristics with the weighted steering wheel. If satisfactory, the “heavy” dampener will be used for that vehicle, or line of vehicles. If unsatisfactory, the various other dampeners will be tested with the steering apparatus until the optimum dampener(s) is/are determined. A test rig for assessing rotational vibration characteristics of a steering wheel, and a method of doing so is described in Giacomin, J., Shayaa, M. S., Dormegnie, E. and Richard, L. 2001, A Frequency Weighting Curve For The Evaluation Of Steering Wheel Rotational Vibration, Submitted to the Journal of Sound and Vibration, and viewable on the internet at www.shef.ac.uk/mecheng/dynam/ra/human.htm. Other methods of determining the appropriate dampeners to insert into a particular steering wheel are contemplated, such as actual vehicle operation tests, and subjective data obtained from test drivers. For example, rather than the use of a simulation apparatus, drivers might operate a vehicle under different conditions and at different speeds, allowing experimenters to select the optimum dampener based on the stated preferences and experience of the test drivers. In some instances, the steering system may be fully assembled into the vehicle, with the exception of the dampener 14 . Driving tests can be undertaken with various weighted rings and dampener designs held in the steering wheel, and a dampener permanently molded in place only after the optimum dampener is selected.
[0021] The present description is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed to limit the breadth of the present invention in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications might be made to the presently disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in terms of the claims set forth below.
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A steering wheel ( 10 ) for a motor vehicle includes a core member with a circular rim ( 12 ). At least one dampening element ( 14 ) is attached to the rim ( 12 ), preferably in a channel ( 11 ), the dampening element ( 14 ) having a density greater than the density of the core material, and preferably positioned substantially radially symmetrically around the rim ( 12 ). A method of manufacturing the steering wheel ( 10 ) is also provided, the method including steps of providing a steering wheel core member ( 12 ) having a circular rim section ( 12 ) with a channel ( 11 ), positioning at least one dampening element ( 14 ) in the channel ( 11 ), and delivering a flowable curable material around the rim section 12 to secure the dampening element therein.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rakes and, more specifically, to a rake for golf course sand traps or bunkers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Among the techniques golf courses employ to increase the level of difficulty of a particular golf hole is to provide bunkers or sand traps near areas of the fairway or green where golfers are likely to hit golf balls. It can take a golfer several strokes to hit a golf ball back out of a bunker onto the fairway or green, even with a special golf club such as a sand wedge. Golfers typically leave footprints in the sand when they step into the bunker to hit golf ball s back onto the fairway. Furthermore, when the golfer takes a stroke with a golf club, he or she will invariably displace the sand in the bunker.
To return the bunker to its condition before the golfer retrieved his or her golf ball, it is common to use a rake. One problem with conventional rakes is that they tend to leave lines or ridges in the sand where the tines of the rake passed over the sand. Seeking to solve this problem, the Saksun patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,150, teaches a rake for a golf course bunker having a reversible head with tines on one side of the head and a flat portion on the other side of the head. The side of the head with the tines is used to substantially even out the sand in the bunker, the head is then turned over, and the flat portion is used to smooth over the lines formed by the tines on the surface of the sand. The tines are round and the head is substantially cylindrical.
One problem with conventional rakes is durability. Since rakes on golf courses are typically left on the courses 24 hours a day, they must stand up to the elements. Also, it would be desirable to have a rake with tines that do not bend or break, even when subjected to large forces, such as golf cart tires in the event someone accidentally runs over the rake. Another problem is that the handle has a tendency to become dislodged from the head of the rake. This is due to inadequate dimensions of the head portion of the rake. As explained below, the present invention overcomes these and other problems in prior art rakes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a rake having a handle and a head, the head having a row of tines on the front surface and a raised ridge on the opposite or rear surface. In the preferred embodiment, the head is egg-shaped in cross-section and has a central sleeve or bore extending through the top end of the head to receive the handle and terminating at the bottom end of the head to hold the handle in place and prevent foreign objects from entering the handle. The egg-shape of the head provides room for a longer sleeve to support the handle than conventional rakes. By coordinating conventional securing means, such as a set screw, with the longer sleeve in the head portion for receiving the handle, a more reliable connection is achieved.
An important aspect of the present invention is the shape of the tines extending from the head. Instead of flat or cylindrical tines, a tapered shape is used. The tines are wider and oval-shaped at their base on the front surface of the head of the rake, and taper to a circular cross-section at their top, with a hemispherical tip. In the preferred embodiment, the tines are positioned at the widest point on the head of the rake. Also, the taper is only in one direction, i.e., on one side of the tine, whereas the other side of the tine is straight, such that the tine has a webbed-L shape, with the long part of the tine extending outward from the widest point on the head of the rake, and the short part of the tine and the webbed area extending toward the top of the head. The tapered shape imparted to the tines provides the tines with added strength over conventional tines.
On the rear surface of the head, positioned opposite the row of tines, a ridge extends along the length of the head. The ridge is preferably approximately 3/8 inch high and 1/4 inch wide, and is supported by six strategically placed tapered braces that extend between the ridge and the surface of the head of the rake, having their widest point at the surface of the head and their most narrow point at the top of the ridge, opposite the surface of the head of the rake. The ridge provides an effective surface for smoothing over lines in sand made by the row of tines on the opposite side of the head. It is found that this ridge smoothes sand more effectively than conventional rakes which utilize the flat portion on the rear of the head to smooth over lines made by such a rake's tines. When the whole flat portion is used, the rake has a tendancy to skip off the surface of the sand, or dig too deep into the sand. The curvilinear surface of the egg-shaped head, combined with the raised ridge, enable the rake to be easily pulled or pushed along the surface of the sand, thereby displacing and moving the desired amount of material to level and smooth the sand without the need for repetitive raking to correct for gaps or ditches made by the rake head.
The handle is made from wood, fiberglass, or plastic and includes a thermoplastic golf grip on the end where a user holds the handle. The grip serves the dual purposes of facilitating the user's handling of the rake and extending the life of the handle by protecting it from the elements. Conventional fiberglass rake handles tend to splinter over time due to exposure to sunlight. The thermoplastic grip therefore also protects a user's hands from getting any fiberglass splinters. The grip is similar to grips on golf clubs, which offers familiarity to golfers so they will be more likely to use the rake to repair a bunker after hitting a golf ball back onto the fairway or green.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
This invention can be more easily understood with the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of the rake of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the rake;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rake showing the ridge;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rake using the tine side of the rake to smooth a golf course bunker.
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rake using the ridge side of the rake to cover the grooves made by the tine side of the rake.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FIGS. 1-3, a rake for a golf course bunker shown generally as 10 consists of a handle 11 and a head 12. The head 12 has a front surface 13, a rear surface 14, a row of tines 15 extending across the front surface 13, a ridge 16 extending across the rear surface 14, a top 17, a bottom 18, and end walls 19 and 20. Each of the tines on the front surface of the rake includes a lower end 22 at the front surface of the rake and tapers to a rounded top with a hemispherical tip 23. It is recognized that the tip 23 of the tines may alternatively be flat or dimpled inward, rather than hemispherical, without losing significant strength of the rake. Only one side of the tine is tapered in the preferred embodiment, with the other side of the tine being straight, resulting in a tine having a webbed-L shape. The long part of the webbed-L shape extends outward from the head of the rake at the widest part of the head, and the short part of the tine and the webbed portion extend toward the top 17 of the head. The tines are approximately 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch at the surface of the head, and have a diameter of approximately 1/4 inch at the tip 23. The tines are preferably arranged equally spaced from one another along the front surface of the head, and project from the head such that the more narrow 1/4 inch portion of each of the tines tills the sand of a golf course bunker over the entire tine, rather than the 1/2 inch wide portion where the webbed-L shape intersects with the surface of the head. In this orientation, structural strength is provided to the tines without hindering the ability to till the sand. It is found that tines shaped according to the present invention are stronger than conventional tines and resist breakage.
On the rear surface 14, the ridge 16 is supported by several supporting braces 21 which extend between the ridge 16 and the head 12.
The head 12 includes a sleeve or a bore 24 in the top 17 extending to the bottom 18 in order to receive the handle 11. The handle 11 is secured to the head 12 by means of a set screw 25 which seats i n bore 27 in the front 13 of the head of the rake. Besides the front surface 13, the rear surface 14, the top 17, the bottom 18, the end walls 19, 20, and the bore 24, the head 12 is otherwise hollow. Because bore 24 is only open at the top 17 of the head, there is an end wall 18a to the bore 24 that is integral with the bottom is of the head. The end wall 18a keeps the handle from protruding outward through the bottom of the rake head, and reduces stresses on set screw 25. It is recognized that an additional benefit of end wall 18a is that foreign elements such as sand, water, and grass clippings are less likely to permeate into the hollow rake head cavity or the handle. Such foreign elements are undesirable in either the rake head or the handle, as they tend to add weight to the rake and make the rake sound-like a salt shaker when it is moved. The handle 11 can be made from materials such as wood, fiberglass or plastic, and includes a grip portion 26. In the preferred embodiment, the handle is made of fiberglass and is provided with a honeycomb core 26a that tends to strengthen the handle. The grip portion is made of thermoplastic material and serves several purposes, including protecting the user's hands from fiberglass splinters on the handle, protecting the handle from natural elements, and providing the user with a cushioned grip, similar to golf club grips, to provide familiarity and facilitate raking. The grip portion 26 is preferably long enough for a user to hold the grip with both hands. Slipping between a user's hands and the grip portion is prevented by the grip portion being tapered downward in the direction toward the head of the rake, and textured with dimples 26b and at least one spiral indention 26c that winds down the length of the grip.
The head 12 is preferably egg-shaped or ovoid, with the portion of the egg-shape having a wider radius of curvature being closest to the ground and the portion of the egg-shape having a narrower radius of curvature being adjacent to and receiving the handle. The cross-section of the head is approximately 17/8 inch by 27/8 inch. This shape provides several advantages. First, the bore 24 for receiving the handle 11 extends nearly 3 inches, which is a greater distance than in conventional golf course rake heads, and provides a more stable connection between the handle 11 and the rake head 12. Conventional cylindrical rake heads typically have a diameter of approximately 2 inches, which necessarily limits the length of the bore or sleeve which supports the rake handle. Second, egg shapes perform quite well when subjected to compressive forces.
The length of the head can vary depending on such factors as the shape of the sand trap and the preference of the user. For particularly large sand traps, it may be desirable to provide a longer head having tines and a ridge extending over a greater distance, to minimize raking time. A standard size is a length of approximately 16 inches. It is recognized that substantially longer heads can be implemented having the same cross-sectional shape, tine shape, and handle securing means as the rake described above.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rake is preferably operated by first applying the front surface of the rake 13 having the tines 15 to a sand golf course bunker 30 and evening the surface of the sand to a desired level by pulling and/or pushing the tines of the rake through the sand using the rake handle, then rotating the rake using the handle so the rear surface 14 with the ridge 16 faces the sand, and finally, pushing or pulling the ridge side to smooth over the area of the sand where grooves were left by the tines on the rake by pulling and/or pushing the ridge portion of the rake head through the sand with the handle. It is recognized that the ridge side of the rake head may also be used as a squeegee on golf greens to dissipate accumulation of water on the greens after rain showers.
The rake 10 is manufactured using an injection molding process to form the rake head 12. It is recognized that higher quality materials such as ABS plastic, injection molded under high pressure, yields a more uniform and stronger rake head than using lower quality materials or less costly molding processes, such as blow molding. The handle 11, the head 12, and the grip 26 are all provided with ultraviolet, or "UV" protection, in order to increase the rake's resistance to long term exposure to sunlight.
It will be understood that while in the foregoing specification a detailed description of specific embodiments of the invention were set forth for the purpose of illustration, many of the details herein can be varied considerably by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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A rake for sand golf course bunkers having an egg-shaped head shape, a row of tines extending outward from one surface of the head, each of which taper from a wide oval shape at the surface of the rake head to a round tip, and a ridge on the opposite surface of the head for smoothing over lines formed in the sand by the tines.
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