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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/507,305, filed Jun. 18, 2012, which is a continuation-in-part and claims the benefit of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 12/928,628 filed on Dec. 15, 2010 by the present inventor which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/284,253 filed on Dec. 15, 2009 by the present inventor, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/520,881 filed on Jun. 15, 2011 by the present inventor, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processing food and beverages, and more particularly to an apparatus and method capable of modifying at least one organoleptic property of a food or beverage by controlled exposure to wave energy in the form of light with energy on the order of about 1 KJ/L to about 10000 KJ/1, at peak wavelengths longer than 350 nanometers, with advanced user interface, process controls, and methods to modify pH, ORP, chemical composition, and increase ethyl acetate concentration, and/or decrease 2-methoxyphenol (“guaiacol”) concentration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The photonic wine processor (“Processor”) is useful for treating one or more beverages with light including, but not limited to, ethanolic beverages, alcoholic beverages, fermented beverages, raw ethanolic distillates, wine, port wine, sherry, liquor, grain alcohol, vodka, gin, brandy, whiskey, bourbon, tequila, rum, coffee, and juices.
It is widely reported that the human sensory responses are due in part to activation of Transient Receptor Potential (“TRP”) channels.
The TRPV1 channel is a specific TRP channel related to taste and the burning sensation produced by piquant foods including, but not limited to, foods with capsaicin above a perception threshold, jalapeno peppers.
A TRP channel related to TRPV1 is the TRPA1 channel. The TRPA1 channel activation is responsive to environmental conditions including, but not limited to, temperature, mechanical stretching, and concentrations of certain combinations of TRPA1 agonist found in food and beverages. TRPA1 channel activation is indicated in sensations including the burning sensation resulting from temperature extremes.
Alcoholic beverages produce varying degrees of a characteristic burning sensation when consumed. An alcoholic beverage that produces a significant burning sensation is commonly associated with the term “rough”. An alcoholic beverage that produces a low burning sensation is commonly associated with the term “smooth”. It is useful to provide a method to manipulate the burning sensation in a food, since many consumers make decisions based on combinations of one or more product attribute including, but not limited to, roughness, smoothness, degree of burning perception.
Without being bound by the theory, I think that the process is modifying combinations of one or more of the concentration of compounds including, but not limited to, TRPV1 agonists, TRPA1 agonists, acrolein, or acetaldehyde.
Note: The term alcoholic beverage, unless otherwise specified, are considered herein to have ethanol as the highest concentration alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are also referred to as ethanolic beverages.
Actinic light produces free radicals and reactive oxygen species in gas, liquid, and solid phases. Reactive oxygen species oxidize aldehydes to produce acids. Acids react with alcohols and produce esters. Ester tend to have fruity flavor and smells. Also esters tend to polymerize to polyesters under actinic light. Polyester and polymerized compounds tend to have less flavor and a softer mouthfeel. The actinic light used in the process provides energy to polymerize polymerizing compounds including, but not limited to, esters.
Certain compounds in the vanilloid family of compounds are TRPV1 agonists, including, but not limited to, capsaicin. Capsaicin is not normally encountered in a high enough concentration in wine, and distilled spirits to be noticeable. Some beverages manufactures increase the capsaicin concentration purposefully.
Transient Receptor Potential (“TRP”) channels in general and the TRP involvement with the perception of environmental stimulus, including temperature, and flavors.
Acrolein and acetaldehyde are reported to be TRPA1 agonists. The actinic light increases the potential of oxidation reactions involving acrolein and acetaldehyde by the production of reactive oxygen species in aqueous solution leading to an increase in carboxylic acid concentrations which results in a lower pH.
The lower pH trend has been measured and is reported in Table 1 herein to be a common response of the light sensitive foodstuff, which supports the theory that carboxylic acids are produced from aldehydes by the Processor operating methods.
The methods of transformation upon exposure to light is very complicated and the present invention does not imply a limitation of the use of the present invention to any subset of responses. Rather the example are included herein to describe a subset of the possible outcomes.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The Processor method includes a) turning on the Processor, b) turning off the Processor before too much processing occurs. Too much processing can produce off-flavors and it is an important step to avoid over processing.
The piquancy of certain beverages (Bourbon, Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy, Tequila) has been shown to decrease with increasing exposure in most instances.
TRPA1 agonists acrolein (ethylene aldehyde), acetaldehyde, and cinnamaldehyde which are known constituents in ethyl alcohol beverages are considered off-flavors and are intended to be reduced by fractional distillation process by partially separation and discarding the “head cut” as the lightest distillates. A portion of the acrolein and acetaldehyde remains in the “heart cut” which is the portion of the fractional distillate that is the basis of the consumable product. Lower cost beverages tend to have more off-flavors because the manufacturer discards less of the headspace.
The most common off-flavor producing component is acetaldehyde, and the present invention process decreases the acetaldehyde concentration by proving oxidation mechanism to transform the acetaldehyde into acetic acid, and a secondary oxidation of acetic acid into ethyl acetate.
Actinic light increases the available total energy to increase kinetics of chemical reactions. Considering the well known kinetic rate of reaction equation (Arrhenius Equation) the temperature does not change significantly in the Processor, which implies that the energy of activation is lower in an environment with more available photons as is found the Processor chamber.
Aqueous solution chemistry theory: Aldehyde oxidizes to carboxylic acid. Carboxylic acid reacts with alcohol to produce ester. For example, acetaldehyde oxidizes to acetic acid. Acetic acid reacts with ethanol to produce ethyl acetate.
Ethyl acetate production by the Processor limits the practical limits of use of the Processor to a range that has an ethyl acetate concentration lower than a perception threshold of 120 mg/L.
Head-space chemistry theory: Alcohol vapor oxidizes to aldehyde in headspace. Aldehydes partial vapor pressure increases in the head-space and are absorb into solution.
In general the Processor promotes aldehydes oxidizing to a carboxylic acids which reduces acetaldehyde (“ethyl aldehyde”), cinnamaldehyde, and propenal (“ethylene aldehyde”) reduces the activation of TRPA1 channels which have been reported to be involved with the burning mouth-feel. The carboxylic acids lower the pH as has been measured in the following table. in general carboxylic acids react with alcohols to form an esters which increase the fruit-like flavors.
There is a need for a Processor operator to be able to confirm that the Processor has actinic light within the conversion chamber. To provide a useful benefit of one or more indicator ports to measure the intensity of the light in the conversion chamber through combinations of one or more light measurement system including, but not limited to, a visual light measurement system, and an electronic light measurement system.
The visual light measurement system preferably modulates the wavelength of the transmitted light emitted to the observer using a visual indicator optical path modulation system including, but not limited to, a fluorescence capable material for a conversion of a portion of the wavelength range shorter than 400 nm to a wavelength longer than about 400 nm, and an optical long pass filter to reduce or substantially eliminate wavelength shorter than about 400 nm. As an example, the fluorescence capable material is a combination of one or more materials including, but not limited to, paper, bleached paper, ink, fluorescent ink.
The electronic light measurement system is comprised of one or more electronic light measuring systems components including, but not limited to, semiconductor, phototransistor, photodiode, photoresistor, or external emission to provide a useful function including, but not limited to, the function of providing an indicator of the operational condition of the Processor's active light source.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the indicator ports include a shutter capable of controlling the amount and direction of the actinic light. For example, when the visual indicator is not in use the shutter would preferably close and include a substantially actinic light reflective surface to reflect the actinic light back toward the processing chamber to provide one or more useful purposes including, but not limited to, increasing the efficiency of the actinic light source.
There is a need to determine if the lamps are functioning and modify the power to the lamp to make a consistent processing time or to modify the processing time to the output of the lamps. The dose of the lamps power integrated over time is the dose of the Processor and the assumption being that the dose measured in Joules has a first order linear relationship.
In most embodiments the processing time is the most controllable attribute but has the disadvantage of not providing the user of a consistent response. The lamp intensity is also controllable to a lesser degree than time and the lamp intensity control range varies by lamp technology. A Light Emitting Diode (“LED”) has a more controllable intensity range than fluorescent bulbs which are more controllable than Compact Fluorescent Lamps (“CFL”). CFL technology have a ballast integrated into the Processor and therefore have a fixed response to mains power supply frequency in cycles per second (“Hz”) and voltage. Therefore an irradiance measurement from a light detector is used to control the dose according to a function defined in a controller.
A simple window with a fluorescent film provides a port from which the user can determine the operational status of the Processor. The most useful indication is to determine if the lamps are emitting light when the lamp power is applied.
For example, if a bottle of a beverage were placed in the Processor on a hot day and the ambient temperature was higher than the Processor recipe called for, then a user interface would be activated indicating the condition allowing for the operator to either remove the bottle or alternatively to delay the start of the processing until the ambient temperature was within the allowed processing range.
The Processor's fault controller will delay start until all start conditions are met or exceeded. Operate until a fault condition exists. Halt until conditions are met. Conditions include suitable ambient temperature available or other condition met. Accumulate process time over multiple sub-sequences with suitable operating conditions are met. Operate the cooling system past process end to allow time to cool bulbs off to avoid additional bottle temperature rise for either a set time or until the light source temperature reaches ambient plus a cool-off-margin offset temperature.
An alternate embodiment of the present invention uses differing methods to cool the lamps and the liquids; e.g., forced air to cool the lamps, and liquid cooling to cool the beverage.
An alternate embodiment of the invention incorporates one or more electrical hazard safety component including, but not limited to, ground fault current interrupter (“GFCI”), ground fault interrupter (“GFI”), appliance leakage current interrupter (“ALCI”), safety switches, trip switches, residual current circuit breaker with overload protection (“RCBO”), residual current processor. The electrical hazard safety component is useful in operating an environment containing involving electrically conducting solids or liquids in the proximity of an electrical appliance, as is the case with the present invention. The alternate embodiment provides a grounded wire electrically connected to the metal enclosure and to the ground wire of the electrical hazard safety component.
The preferred materials incorporated in the invention are one that do not add fuel to a fire including, but not limited to, metal, glass, PVC wire, semiconductors, ceramics. For example, a 5 gallon pail serves as an enclosure platform to build the invention. However, a metal enclosure such as a 5 Gallon metal pail with metal lid servers is preferred over a 5 Gallon plastic pail with plastic lid for use as an enclosure platform.
The enclosure platform has combination of one or more holes cut to provide port including, but not limited to, port for inserting a bottle, port for extracting a bottle, port to for coolant inflow, port for coolant outflow, port for gaseous coolant inflow, port for gaseous coolant outflow, port for air coolant inflow, port for air coolant outflow, port for liquid coolant inflow, port for liquid coolant outflow, port for power, port for electrical power, port for communication, port for networking, port for controls, port for visual indicator of operational status.
The port to insert a bottle has a smaller minimum dimension than the bottle processing volume processing minimum dimensions because coolant flow space is required to exist near the bottle surface area.
If the bottle insertion port were not restrictive to a smaller dimension than the bottles processing dimensions then there could be a problem with coolant flow around the bottle.
It is common for retail products to be shipped in non-circular containers.
Non-circular inserts are used to adapt the Processor to process non-circular containers.
When a bottle is not recommended for use in the Processor, then the method to overcome this limitation is to a) open the bottle, b) transfer the beverage to a bottle compatible with the Processor, c) process the beverage in the compatible bottle, d) use the compatible bottle or transfer the processed beverage back to the original container.
An alternate embodiment of the present invention incorporates a catch-basin of sufficient volume to collect the liquid contents from a broken bottle of the maximum volume of bottle allowed in the Processor. For example, a sufficient volume would be as large or larger than the volume needed to keep the liquid from contacting any active electrical components incorporated within the Processor. An advantage of the catch-basin is to reduce or substantially eliminate external spills which might leave a stain the local environment. Another advantage of the catch-basin is to eliminate or substantially reduce electrical hazards due to liquid in the Processor containing an electrically active component.
Alternate embodiments of the present invention incorporates a spigot for the catch-basin to release beverage.
Alternate embodiments of the present invention incorporates washable components such that a spill can be cleaned to increase the efficiency of the Processor at exposing the target foodstuff to light.
Alternative embodiments of the present invention incorporate combinations of one or more liquid detectors including, but not limited to, air gap capacitance change detector, weight change detector. The useful purpose of the liquid detector is to provide a signal to the fault detection controller to turn off the electrical power to the Processor lower the risk of electrical hazards.
Alternative embodiments of the present detector incorporate an tilt detector to reduce the hazards associated with operating the Processor in an non-preferred orientation.
An alternate embodiment of present invention incorporates a fault detection controller which is responsive to one or more fault signals including, but not limited to, tilt detector, spilled liquid, unexpected weight change, over-voltage, over-current, temperature out of range. The fault detection controller turns the reduces the power or turns power off.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an air inlet port below the air outlet port in order to use convection of heated air increase the heat removal. For example, this is especially important in conditions where the active cooling fails and the fault detector fails to turn the power off, then it is important that at air is naturally convected to lower the overall temperature of the run-away Processor.
There is a need to process beverage evenly over the volume for consistent and predictable results. Performing the processing on 750 ml and 1.5 Liter (“L”) bottle allows for the consistent treatment because the light penetrates the bottles and the liquid is mixed by vibration, shaking, or stirring. An atypical recipe would call for uneven processing for increase complexity of results.
When there is only one container available, then a barrier can be incorporated to split a container into two sections using one or more bladders to keep process liquid separate from unprocessed liquid. Make use of multiple containers to separate the processed liquid from the unprocessed liquid.
In large containers the light does not penetrate fully or evenly and therefore an advantage is to have multiple containers, or have 1 or more bladder within the container to partition the beverage into more processed and less processed partitions. Alternatively, if the batch is not finished then the beverage could be switched from bladder 2 back to bladder 1 in whole or in part, iterate method as needed. Using a partitioned container to move processed beverage back and forth lowers the risk of over-processing portions of the beverage that would increase the statical likelihood that portions of the total beverage volume would recycle more than other portions standard deviation of beverage portions in the process. Partitioning the volume lowers the standard deviation of portions having too much or too little processing. The bladder allows the process to be performed on a single tank instead of requiring multiple tanks to partition the beverage.
A temporary partition in one embodiment is a bag style where the bag expands as the process flow into the partition. In another embodiment the temporary partition is has an edge seal that conforms to the wall of the tank and slides to change the volume of beverage held in the partition.
The pressure to create fluid flow through the Processor is from pressurizing devices including, but not limited to, pumps, gravity. Gravity can be from elevation or from the weight of the sealed partition.
The Processor cooling system is a combination of one or more cooling system including, but not limited to, passive cooling, and active cooling. The active cooling systems included combination of one or more active cooling system components including, but not limited to, forced-air, forced-liquid, refrigeration cycles, thermoelectric devices, Peltier devices, and thermionic devices.
Liquid-Cooling Per Bottle
Liquid-Cooling System: Air cooling is useful when the ambient air is low enough to provide a heat sink. The minimum forced-air ambient temperature is the temperature at which forced air convection is not required to keep the temperature of the beverage within the preferred temperature range. Ambient temperatures lower than the minimum forced-air ambient temperature would trip a control alarm to inform the operator that a minimal temperature condition was reached, at which point the processing would automatically stop and additional processing would not start until the minimum forced-air ambient temperature was exceeded. The control system would halt the accumulation of processing time control variable for that recipe step. The control system would also wait to start processing until the ambient temperature was in a range that the available forced air cooling could handle. The available forced air cooling has a default capacity which the control system could calibrate and monitor the capacity of the cooling system to control, and the control system would adjust the allowable ambient temperature range to proceed with any step of the processing.
Unless otherwise described processing is done without distinction to liquid and headspace when in a bottle. If the entire bottle fits in the Processor, then the headspace and the liquid are processed. There are situations where the headspace and the liquid produce improved results when processed separately. In general, chemical reactions and reaction rates vary depending on gaseous, liquid, or solid phases. In additional concentrations of chemical compounds vary in the different phases of a chemical system. An advantage to process the different phases using different recipes. Therefore, in an alternate embodiment of the invention the lights in close proximity to the headspace are not the same type as the lights in close proximity to the liquid phase.
In general, the Processor makes every effort to not add chemicals to the beverage. However, this does not mean that normal chemical additions are not allowed unintentionally, as through a leaky cork, or intentionally, as in mixing prior to, or during processing. While the invention is capable of operating on target beverages without the addition of, or loss of, molecular mass, it is an object of the present invention to operate on a varying mass and of varying chemical concentrations.
A particular operating method of the present invention is referred to herein as the Headspace Processing Method (“HPM”). The purpose of the HPM is to provide a suitable headspace before the exposure method, during, and after the control the pressure and chemical composition of the headspace reduce or substantially eliminate headspace of the bottle. First determine the type of The composition of the headspace a the diatomic oxygen (‘O2’) molecules from the beverage container. When O2 is present in the headspace there is a tendency for additional aldehyde formation from the oxidation in the headspace. The processing of the liquid to lower the concentration of aldehydes, including acetaldehyde, and propenal through oxidation of the aldehydes in solution is a purpose of this invention.
Since O2 and alcohols co-exist in the headspace there aldehyde formation in the headspace. The actinic light increases the available energy for aldehyde to form from gaseous O2 and vapor phase alcohols in the headspace. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention a shroud is placed over the bottle to reduce or substantially eliminate the direct exposure of the headspace to the actinic light. In some cases the beverage manufacturer provides a wrapper over the headspace that has an substantially equivalent effect as a shroud in the reduction or substantial elimination of headspace exposure. The recipe would include a suggestion for replacing, deforming, or removing the manufacturer supplied headspace shroud in a manner suitable for the recipe.
The removable headspace shroud is selected from a set of Headspace Shroud with one or more suitable Headspace Shroud properties to improve the likelihood of meeting the recipe suggested processing method. The set of Headspace Shroud vary in Headspace Shroud properties including but not limited to size, spectral reflectivity, or spectral transmission.
Methods of Processor operation include steps: a) the operator looks up the recommendation for the particular bottle by referring to an operating guide or by using a smart-phone to scan a bar code with an app that requests a remote service to query combination of one or more databases including, but not limited to, beverage databases, personal preferences databases, and recommendation databases, b) the operator selects to automatically download the recipe into the Processor or manually enter the recipe, c) the operator modifies the recipe prior to starting the process. A suggested operating mode is supplied as a response to the request which includes suggested processing methods including, but not limited to, a recipe.
An example of a Processor recipe describing a method of use, is the method of using the apparatus to lower the level of burning sensation in a foodstuff by applying specific energy sources that result in a change in the level of burning sensation.
The vacuum removes headspace and modifies it and compresses it, and it compresses it and modifies it or combinations of both. Additional gases can be introduced into the headspace. Helium (“He”) and nitrogen (“N2”) is effective at eliminating additional O2 in the headspace.
A method of indicating process state is to place a photosensitive label on the bottle cap to provide a visual indicator of the total accumulated exposure. The photosensitive labels are well-known in the prior art for use as a skin tanning aid to determine accumulated exposure to ultraviolet light.
Port wine produced an excellent change. There is a chemical in port wine which is increased which makes the Processor very useful for accelerated aging.
Wine with certain cloudy characteristic can be substantially cleared with the Processor.
Table 1 is a table of values for pH versus time in hours for sample retail products processed in 16×BLB with air in the headspace. The pH meter was Hanna Instruments pH/ORP meter was calibrated using 4 pH and 9.86 pH. This is an example of pH trends which indicate that pH tends to get lower when air is in the headspace. Sample1 is a whiskey, Sample2 is a high-quality 100% agave tequila, Sample3 is value-line tequila. Sample1, Sample2, and Sample3 are all 40 percent ethanol by volume and brown liquors, had air in the 40 milliliter headspace in the approximately 200 milliliter clear glass bottles. The samples were processed together in the Processor at about 25 degrees Celsius and about 31 Watts of light with a peak at 365 nanometers. A portion of the liquid was removed to test with the pH meter and then replaced for further processing. Without being bound by exceptions to the overwhelming trend indicating that ethanolic beverages decrease in pH with exposure to the inventions actinic light.
As the accumulated dose increases the pH decreases linearly initially. Over time the rate of decrease decreases, until there is no longer substantial decrease in pH for additional processing at which time the chart pH versus dose becomes asymptotic. The pH is an indirect measurement of processing completion and is input to the fault detector to detect pH out of range of recipe.
In the majority of examples tested there was a decrease in pH with increased processing. Table 1 describes three
Table 1 indicates results of 16×BLB, 50 ml air, 200 ml clear bottle, 25 degree Celsius, all sample processed together, Processor name ‘16×BLB’
TABLE 1
Time [Hours]
pH Sample 1
pH Sample 2
pH Sample 3
0
4.08
4.42
4.60
2
4.06
4.40
4.59
4.5
4.04
4.38
4.57
8
4.01
4.36
4.55
12
3.99
4.35
4.53
16
3.96
4.34
4.52
20
3.94
4.33
4.51
24
3.92
4.32
4.51
28
3.90
4.31
4.51
Table 2 describes increasing pH with exposure, 60 ml Tequila, 60 ml clear bottle, 25 degree Celsius, pH and color difference from control, time in [Hours].
TABLE 2
DEVICE
Time
pH diff.
color change
Taste Change
Control
0.00
66x450
2.00
0.00
much lighter
much fruitier
1K415
2.00
0.00
slightly lighter
fruitier
3x365
2.00
0.01
about the same
smokier
6xBLB
2.00
0.03
about the same
smokier
16xBLB
2.00
0.11
about the same
much smokier
Table 2 discloses the evidence that not in all cases is the pH an increasing or a suitable indicator. An example is a tequila that did not have a decreasing change in pH and the indicator of process was the color change. In this example color change is used to quantify the increased agave fruit flavors.
TABLE 3
Table 3: Names of Processor with varous
characteristics all with average reflectivity of about 70
percent over the emitted wavelengths.
Approximate
Approximate
Approximate
Approximate
Peak
Full Width
Processing
Optical
Device
Wavelength
Half Max
Volume
Power
Label
[nm]
[nanometers]
milliliters
[WATTS]
66x450
450
12
700
43
3x365
365
12
700
2
1Kx415
415
15
700
9
16xBLB
365
n/a
1500
35
6xBLB
365
n/a
1500
13
To increase the ethyl acetate concentration from about 45 milligrams per liter to about 64 milligrams per liter in a 60 ml sample of brandy with minimal headspace in a 60 ml clear bottle, perform the following method: a) at substantially room temperature and 1 atmosphere of pressure rinse a 60 a clean dry clear bottle with beverage, b) fill bottle to maximum capacity to reduce oxygen effects, c) expose the bottle with beverage to about 1.2 Watts of ultraviolet light from an light emitting diode with a peak wavelength of about 365 nanometers over a period of about 14 hours and 10 minutes in a chamber of about 700 milliliters volume and a reflectivity on average of about 70 percent over the range of emitted light.
Ethyl acetate is the ester of ethanol and acetic acid. Ethyl acetate is also referred to the systematic name of ethyl ethanoate. Many, but not all people, have an Ethyl acetate perception threshold concentration of about 120 milligrams per liter (“mg/L”) in some common ethyl alcoholic beverages including, but not limited to, wine. The general population can be categorized by ranges of ethyl acetate concentration in foodstuffs. The present invention provides useful methods including, not limited to, exposing suitable foodstuffs to a dosage of light of a suitable wavelength capable of modifying ethyl acetate concentration in a suitable foodstuff.
The method to determine the completion of a processing batch is to first take a pH reading from unprocessed beverage, then iterate the step of processing the beverage and taking an additional pH reading, until stopping the processing when the difference between the initial pH reading and the current pH reading reaches the preferred difference.
Guaiacol is often said to produce a charred flavor Excess guaiacol is considered an off-flavor. To decrease the guaiacol concentration from about 148 micrograms per liter to about 64 micrograms per liter in a 60 ml sample of brandy with minimal headspace in a 60 ml clear bottle, perform the following method: a) at substantially room temperature and 1 atmosphere of pressure rinse a 60 a clean dry clear bottle with beverage, b) fill bottle to maximum capacity to reduce oxygen effects, c) expose the bottle with beverage to about 1.2 Watts of ultraviolet light from an light emitting diode with a peak wavelength of about 365 nanometers over a period of about 14 hours and 10 minutes in a chamber of about 700 milliliters volume and a reflectivity on average of about 70 percent over the range of emitted light.
Additional experiments were conducted and the pH decreased with actinic light exposure.
The different wavelength ranges produce different flavor responses in most but not all cases. For example, the blue wavelength ranges temp to produce less of an ethyl acetate flavor than violet, which produces less of an ethyl acetate flavor than lamps with a peak of about 365 nanometers. The different wavelength ranges also produce different changes in color as describe in Table 2.
Experiments indicate that more optical energy is required to effect a substantial change is a given beverage. For example, blue (peak at about 450 nm) light requires about 5 times more energy than violet (peak at about 400 nm), and violet requires about 5 times more energy than ultraviolet (peak at about 365 nm).
To produce a product with a smother, less harsh, less piquancy there is a benefit to reduce the amount of available oxygen which lowers the generation of aldehydes. A recipe which tends to reduce the harshness would reduce the aldehyde generation in the headspace by reducing the amount of available oxygen in the headspace. Aldehyde reducing headspace gas (“ARHG”) includes combinations of one or more gases including, but not limited to, carbon-dioxide (“CO2”), gaseous nitrogen (“N2”), helium (“He”), or 1,1,1,2-tetraflouroethane (“CF3CH2F”). The ARGH would preferably have a dioxygen (“O2”) concentration than is suitable for a preferred product. A lower O2 concentration tends to produce a smoother product.
Anosmics are people who require a higher concentration of irritants to pass a perception threshold for that particular irritant than for normal people. Anosmics who prefer a product with a higher piquancy may select a recipe that calls for a substantial concentration of available O2 in the headspace. Therefore, not all replacement headspace gases have a reduced or a substantially eliminated O2 concentration. The literature reports findings on the differences between normal and anosmic subjects perceptual thresholds are orders of magnitude higher.
The present invention provides methods to control the headspace gas during the processing.
The present invention comprising a solid catalyst that is incorporated into a removable surface area increases the reaction rate conversion of volatile organic compounds including, but not limited to, acrolein to propenoic acid.
The present invention is directed toward methods of modifying aldehydes or other irritants concentrations in the product. In a beverage there is normally a liquid and a gas phase. However, there are atypical conditions where there is only a liquid or a gas phase where the Processor is used.
A method of the present invention is to reduce or substantially eliminate the gas phase to by providing a variable volume container that expands or contracts to keep the gas phase minimal. To keep the pressure higher a mechanically translating volume in incorporated to adjust the pressure. Such a mechanically translating device comprising one or more of a mechanically translating component including, but not limited to, a flexible material, a balloon, a screw, displacement piston.
The displacement piston displaces the air in the bottle for a volume of material comprising a combination of one or more piston materials including, but not limited to, glass, metal, plastic, titanium, copper, Teflon. The surface of the displacement piston material has displacement piston properties including, but not limited to, a catalytic surface.
The displacement piston is capable of displacing substantially all of the gases in the headspace or a portion of the gases in the headspace in response to a operator preference control. The operator preference control may be manually implemented or part of an automatic control mechanism responsive to improve the probability of meeting recipe directions.
When the consumer preference is to increase the smoothness or decrease harshness the Processor user interface controls are set by the operator to reduce the concentration of aldehydes. The Processor reduces or substantially eliminates the oxygen in the headspace by combinations of one or more methods including, but not limited to modifying the headspace volume, modifying the headspace chemical composition, modifying the headspace temperature, modifying the headspace pressure.
If the recipe recommends a cooling mode the recipe may call for freezing the product and separating the product. An alternative embodiment of the present invention incorporates a cooling system capable of freezing a beverage. An alternative embodiment of the present invention incorporates a cooling system capable of separating a beverage.
A distillation column can be incorporated to control temperature and concentration of chemical constituents.
A continuous process includes a distillation tower and the Processor would be exposing light within the distillation tower.
The continuous process has at least one tank for reflow. To minimize the portion of the re-flow that has not been exposed to light, a second container is employed to receive the processed beverage. If there exists only one mechanically sound container, then the container may be partitioned to create more than one volume to store beverages in various stages of processing. The partition in the container may be combinations of one or more partition components including, but not limited to, flexible bags, translating container surfaces.
A pump is employed to move the product through the Processor's processing volume.
The Processor can also has multiple containers that are filled and held prior to emptying and receiving unprocessed product. By partitioning the product there is a direct correlation between processing time and volume. Even in a pipe with laminar and non-laminar flow there are portions of the product that will receive differing amounts of processing. Without partitioning there is a chance that a portion of the product will have too much or too little processing to meet the recipe. Some recipes have a more relaxed specification on the consistency of processing. Therefore, partitioning for a continuous process is optional. A method to determine the recipe is to process a sample and determine the results by taste and/or by analytical techniques.
Analytical techniques for process control include combinations of one or more analytical techniques including, but not limited to, gas chromatography (“GC”), liquid chromatography (“LC”), mass spectroscopy (“MS”), nuclear magnetic resonance (“NMR”). Different chemicals have differing useful detection techniques. Chemicals are hard to detect with direct measurement, and therefore may or may not be directly detected with analytical techniques. In some case, such as with aldehydes of low molecular weight, the solution would be reacted with chemicals to create derivative compounds that are more detectable. The present invention makes use of the analytical methods to provide information to control the Processor.
Example Carbon-dioxide in headspace. Carbon-dioxide was produced by collecting excess gassing from a 2000 milliliter (“ml”) soda bottles in a plastic bag and subsequently injected into a headspace of about 40 ml over a sample of vodka of about 20 ml. Prior to processing the vodka had moderate to high piquancy taste and a harsh mouth-feel. [NAME THE Processor] Processing for 2 hours with a 1.5 watt optical power produced had a lower piquancy and smoother mouth-feel compared to the unprocessed vodka. The higher concentration of CO2 in the head-space produced a flavor in the vodka resembling an pickled olive flavor.
A 1,1,1,2-Terafluoroethane process produced a sweet flavor.
Air headspace increased the piquancy and harsh mouth-feel. The color of a Canadian whiskey became much lighter.
Minimal headspace lowered the piquancy and harsh mouth-feel without adding additional flavors to the beverage. Blue light produces less change in the flavor while reducing the piquancy and harsh mouth-feel than Violet (315 nanometer (“nm”) peak). Violet (315 nm peak) reduced the piquancy and harsh mouth-feel more than Blue and less than ultraviolet (365 nm peak). The 655 nm peak wavelength produced a palatable product with a smaller dose than violet. Violet produced a palatable product with a smaller dose than blue.
The term “dose” herein is referring to optical power applied to the target beverage. Dose is measured in Watts multiplied by the time in seconds to produce Joules. Available dose is different that absorbed dose. Available dose is the optical power emitted from the light sources that could be absorbed by the beverage. The absorbed dose for clear beverages is less than the absorbed dose for dark beverages. The optical properties of the chamber is a key property of the system. A higher reflective Processor is more efficient than a less reflective Processor for the same available dose. The efficiency of the system can be estimated by comparing the amount of available optical power required to produce a change compared to a semi-infinite bottle to produce the same change over a longer period of time. The semi-infinite bottle absorbs substantially all of the available light but is less practical for a low processing time. A semi-infinite bottle represents a maximum efficiency and more practical Processors would have a lower efficiency.
Red wine changes substantially on the order of exposure to about 50 KJ/L of light with a peak wavelength of 365 nanometers.
Distilled ethanolic beverages take substantially more power to effect a preferred change than wine. Distilled ethanolic beverages changes substantially on the order of exposure to about 400 KJ/L of light with a peak wavelength of 365 nanometers, whereas Violet light (peak 450 nm) requires about 2000 KJ/L, whereas Blue light (peak 450 nm) requires about 10000 KJ/L. More or less processing could be performed depending on recipe.
The available cooling capacity affects the time to apply the dose of light energy to the foodstuff. The more cooling available then the more intense the light can be applied. The intention of the invention is to reduce or substantially eliminate the effects of undesired chemical changes due to temperature on the beverage. In some cases specific temperatures are called for by the recipe which sets the requirement for cooling capacity required for the available light source. Unless otherwise noted, the examples described herein had sufficient cooling capacity to keep the temperature rise of the liquid under about 2 degrees Celsius.
Delay to start control. The controller has a all-systems-go mode of operation which requires the control inputs to be in an all-systems-go operating state to for processing. The all-systems-go operating state is a combination of one or more states of measurement inputs including, but not limited to, the ambient temperature is within a maximum and minimum for processing.
The present invention changes processing time to total dose based on light source intensity. Light source intensity signal is a combination of one or more light source intensity signal variables including, but not limited to, estimated lamp intensity, measured lamp intensity.
Wherein estimated lamp intensity is computed on a function of the lamp operating history of the lamps. Lamps intensity changes over time and each separate lamp would have a generic control history for the type of lamp and a specific control history for that particular lamp serial number.
Wherein actual lamp output is a measured variable and the processing time is adapted to control the total dose of the process.
Wherein total dose is controlled to meet a range of allowed spectral power and processing time as a function of spectral power intensity. The function can be a mathematical power series with variables of temperature, mass, spectral power.
Because having a clean surface of reflective walls and transmission through transparent walls increases efficiency of the processing there is a need to provide a Processor that can be cleaned by cleaning methods including, but not limited to, rinsing, washing with detergents.
To decrease the time to clean the surfaces separate chamber are supplied to the lamps and the processing chamber. The separate chamber for the lamps reduces contamination and decreases the need to clean the lamp chamber. An additional benefit of separate chambers is to keep the lamp material from contacting the foodstuff. An example is to reduce or substantially eliminate the possibility of mercury from a broken compact fluorescent lamp from contacting the foodstuffs or foodstuff bottle.
The distilled ethanolic beverages used in the examples disclosed herein have about 40% ethanol by volume unless otherwise noted. The wines described have about 14% ethanol by volume unless otherwise noted. The temperature of processing is about 25 degrees Celsius unless otherwise noted. The environmental pressure was about 1 atmosphere unless otherwise noted. Nominal shaking, stirring, and vibration were applied without excess. | An apparatus and method for modifying the organoleptic properties of a beverage, such as wine in a bottle, said apparatus having a least one light-source, said light-source applying peak wavelengths at intensities and time durations optimal for modifying said beverage's organoleptic properties with a highly reflective inner surface, a translucent air flow baffle, a translucent liquid barrier, and a controlled oxygen concentration in the bottle headspace. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention directs itself to a method for laser engraving of photopolymer printing plates. In particular, this invention directs itself to a method for laser engraving photopolymers normally utilized in a chemical etch process, which are then prepared by the inventive method for laser ablation. Further, this invention directs itself to a method for laser engraving which includes steps for removing polymer particulates, previously molten by the base ablation and which have become attached to the upper surface of the engraved photopolymer printing plate, prior to the final finishing thereof.
2. Prior Art
Methods of laser engraving are well known in the art. The best prior art known to the Applicant include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,075,365; 3,549,7913; 4,898,752; 4,877,481; 4,909,895; 5,011,567; 4,323,928; 4,934,267; 4,894,115; 4,897,153; 4,925,523; 3,755,646; 4,379,022; 4,661,201; and, 3,742,853.
In some prior art systems, such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,549,733 and 4,898,752 there is disclosed methods for laser engraving printing plates and the problems associated therewith. These disclosures note the problems associated with laser engraving flexographic type plates, that is the production of residue or a ridge surrounding the depressed areas when soft polymer materials are utilized. In particular, it is noted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,752 that laser engraving of photopolymer plates result in mottled printed surfaces, and therefore the disclosed method utilizes a rubber material having a Shore A hardness of 55 or less. U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,733 suggests two possible solutions to the problem, the least practical being the use of a laser beam of sufficient intensity so as to vaporize the material without producing any melting, but then goes on to say that this method would be virtually impossible. The preferred solution, suggested by this reference is the use of a particular material, an acetal resin such as DELRIN which could be engraved without forming any ridge around the depressed areas. However, neither of these disclosures suggest methods by which the photopolymer material, widely used to produce flexographic printing plates, and the associated photopolymer processing equipment, could be utilized in a laser engraving process. Flexographic printing plate manufacturers have a large investment in materials and equipment for chemical etch processing of photopolymer plates, which can be utilized to produce laser engraved flexographic printing plates by the method of the instant invention.
In other systems, such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,877,481 and 4,909,895 there is disclosed methods for removing residue or ridges adjacent laser engraved surfaces. Although these disclosures are not directed to laser engraving of flexographic printing plates, they note the formation of a residue resulting from laser ablation. The disclosed processes solve the problem by adding a coating layer to the surface of the material to be laser engraved, and then remove the coating layer subsequent to laser engraving, to thereby remove the residue therewith. Whereas in the method of the instant invention a process for removing the residue without the addition of additional coatings is provided, thereby providing a more efficient process. The novel method of the instant invention providing an economical method for providing high quality laser engraved photopolymer printing plates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method for laser engraving of photopolymer printing plates is provided. First, the photopolymer printing plate material is cured to provide at least an entire upper surface layer of photopolymer cured to a predetermined depth. The upper surface of the photopolymer material is then laser engraved in a particular pattern. Subsequent to laser engraving, photopolymer residue is removed from the upper surface of the engraved photopolymer printing plate.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of producing flexographic printing plates from photopolymer materials without the use of graphic art film or photographic masks.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method for producing high quality photopolymer flexographic printing plates using laser engraving.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method of laser engraving photopolymer printing plates utilizing conventional photopolymer processing equipment in combination with a laser engraver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the method for laser engraving photopolymer printing plates;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the photopolymer material showing residue particulates which form subsequent to laser engraving; and,
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the photopolymer material shown subsequent to removal of the residue particulates.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown, a block diagram representing the method steps for laser engraving of a photopolymer printing plate. As will be seen in following paragraphs, the novel method provides high quality flexographic printing plates utilizing laser engraving of conventional photopolymer materials, which heretofore had not been laser engraveable by conventional methods. Although not restricted to commercial flexographic printing, the novel method described herein is particularly adapted for use in providing highly detailed flexographic printing plates of relatively soft durometer.
As in conventional preparation of photopolymer flexographic printing plates, the sheet photopolymer material is cut to size prior to preparation for engraving. In a liquid photopolymer system, the photopolymer material is molded into a sheet of appropriate size, trimmed if necessary, and then processed in substantially the same manner as the sheet material. In the first step 10, the photopolymer plate is cured in a manner which is unique to the instant method, as compared to conventional chemical etch methods. As in conventional chemical etching of photopolymer printing plates, the entire back surface of the printing plate is exposed to ultraviolet light for a predetermined period, the length of time of exposure, and the intensity thereof determining the depth of cure obtained through the back surface,
In a chemical etch process the front surface of the photopolymer printing plate is exposed to ultraviolet light through a photographically prepared negative, acting as a mask, to cure only those portions of the plate surface which are not to be removed by the chemical etch solution. Whereas in the instant method the entire upper surface of the photopolymer printing plate is exposed to ultraviolet light for a predetermined period in order to provide the entire surface with a cured layer of material, thereby eliminating the process steps and expense of preparing the graphic art negative and applying it to the photopolymer material to provide a photographic mask. It is desirable to cure the photopolymer material throughout its thickness. To insure a complete cure, the photopolymer material is exposed from both sides in a two step procedure, since existing photopolymer processing equipment is designed for single sided exposure. Obviously, other equipment could be utilized to simultaneously expose both front and back surfaces of the photopolymer plate without departing from the inventive concept. Alternately, the photopolymer plate could be exposed on a single side, but for a longer period of time, to provide a full cute. This method avoids the criticality of the conventional method, wherein the photopolymer must be cured to a particular depth and any over, or under cure has deleterious effects on the finished printing plate.
Subsequent to the curing method step 10, the release layer supplied with the photopolymer material may be removed in step 20. The release layer is a coating supplied on the photopolymer material to improve the contiguous contact between the photographic mask and the upper surface of the photopolymer, which is unnecessary in a laser engraving process.
The laser engraving step can be carried out through the release layer, the release layer could then be removed in step 40, simultaneously with the photopolymer residue. Step 20 includes the step of washing the printing plate in a solvent solution, the plate being immersed in the solvent for a predetermined time period, and at a predetermined temperature. Following the solvent step, the plate is then dried, exposed to a predetermined temperature for a predetermined length of time. The time and temperature is controlled to provide proper drying, driving off the solvent which has been absorbed by the plate, and thereby prevent solvent swelling which would otherwise make the plates uneven in gauge.
In step 30, the dried plates are laser engraved. The laser engraver control unit can be supplied input data through artwork which is scanned as the photopolymer plate is engraved, or alternately, supplied with a digitized representation of the engraving directly from a separate computer system wherein the artwork is provided utilizing computer aided design (CAD) software, digitization of photographic or drafted artwork, or a combination thereof. While the use of a laser to engrave the photopolymer printing plate permits fine line, intricate patterns to be formed, the laser energy causes the production of a particulate residue surrounding the depressed areas formed by the laser beam. This residue formation on the plate would produce a mottled printed surface if otherwise not removed. However, the transition through a molten state has made the particulates extremely tacky, adhering to both the plate and themselves.
The residue produced by the laser ablation step 30 is removed in step 40 by immersing the engraved photopolymer printing plate in a solvent solution for a predetermined time period and at a predetermined temperature. The residue particulates which form on the plate, and particularly on the edges surrounding the laser ablated areas, are readily removed in a solvent wash step. This step is accomplished without causing removal of the photopolymer material which defines the printable pattern, since the engraving is performed on fully cured material and not soluble in the solution. The engraved plate is immersed in the solvent solution for a predetermined time and at a predetermined temperature to remove the tackiness from the residue and thereby provide sharp edges at the perimeter of the ablated areas, as the particulates are easily removed by brushing when they are no longer self adhering. Following the washout step to remove the residue, the engraved plate is dried at a predetermined temperature for a time period sufficient to drive off any absorbed solvent, as was previously done in the release layer removal step 20.
Following the removal of the uncured residue the engraved plate then goes through the finishing step 50. In step 50 surface tack is removed from the engraved plate and the surface is hardened. There are typically two ways in which such surface tack can be removed and the surface hardened. One method is exposure of the front surface of the engraved printing plate to high energy ultraviolet light for a predetermined period of time. The other method is a chemical finishing method wherein the engraved plate is immersed in a halogen solution, a solution containing chlorine, bromine or iodine. The finished plate is then ready for mounting on a printing press.
As described above, the novel method for laser engraving photopolymer printing plates permits the plate manufacturer to utilize standard materials. The materials which are used in chemical etch processing and with which the manufacturer is familiar being adaptable to laser engraving by the instant method. A major advantage being that the equipment utilized for processing the photopolymer material remains unchanged, that is the ultraviolet light exposure equipment formerly utilized to define the printing pattern on the plate can be utilized for preparation step 10 wherein the photopolymer plate is cured. One such exposure unit being provided by the E.I. Dupont Company for use with their CYREL® plate making system, and having the designation 2001, has been successfully utilized. Exposure units of this type typically utilize forty 100 watt ultraviolet light tubular lamps to expose the photopolymer material. The back surface of the photopolymer printing plate is exposed to the ultraviolet light from this source for a time period having an approximating range of one to six minutes. Subsequent to the back exposure, the entire front surface of the photopolymer is exposed to the ultraviolet light from this source for a period having an approximating range of one to six minutes to provide the desired depth of cure. Overcuring is not a problem for this method, unlike the chemical etch method where overcuring is detrimental to the process and results in defective plates.
To remove the release layer in step 20, the exposed photopolymer plate is washed utilizing a computer controlled processor conventionally used for etching of photopolymer printing plates. In conventional plate processing the release layer is required to insure good contact between the photographic mask and the plate, and is removed simultaneously with the etching of the unexposed portions of the photopolymer plate. Since the instant method provides for exposure of the entire surface of the printing plate, both front and rear, only the release layer is removed during the washing step. Although not important to the inventive concept, the solvent solution utilized for the particular photopolymer material used is a solution of heptyl acetate and isoheptyl alcohol, which is the conventional solvent utilized for etching uncured portions of photopolymer printing plates utilizing conventional processing equipment. The solvent is maintained at approximately 40.0 degrees Centigrade, with the plate remaining immersed for a time period in the approximating range of 15 to 20 minutes while being brushed by the rotating brushes of the solvent processor. Subsequently, the plate is dried at a temperature approximating 60.0 degrees Centigrade, the drying step being carried out for a time period within the approximating range of 10 to 15 minutes.
The prepared plate, having completed steps 10 and 20 is next laser engraved. The laser engraver is the only new piece of equipment required to convert conventional photopolymer printing plate preparation to a laser engraving process. One laser engraving device which has been successfully utilized in the instant method is a 1200 watt, carbon dioxide laser engraver available from Zed Instruments Limited of Hersham, England. Such laser engraving equipment has heretofore been utilized for engraving materials of harder durometer and which remain tack-free subsequent to such engraving.
The laser ablation step produces fine particulates of cured photopolymer which had been molten and attach themselves to the upper surface of the engraved photopolymer material, and particularly along the edges of the ablated regions. The tackiness of the once molten photopolymer particles provides sufficient adhesion between the particulates and the upper surface of the plate so as to require additional processing, as is provided in step 40. As shown in FIG. 2, this residue 120 is typically deposited close to the ablated region 110 of the photopolymer material 100. Such residue 120 is removed in a washing step utilizing the same processor as has previously been described for removing the release layer in step 20, wherein rotating brushes contact the plate in the presence of a solvent. Here again, the solvent is maintained at a temperature approximating 40 degrees Centigrade and the washing step carried out for a time period within the approximating range of 15 to 20 minutes. As shown in FIG. 3, the photopolymer material 100 has sharp, well-defined edges 115 surrounding the ablated region 110 subsequent to washing step 40. Following the washing step the engraved plate is dried at a temperature approximating 60.0 degrees Centigrade for a time period in the approximating range of 10 to 15 minutes.
Subsequent to removal of the residue, the engraved plate is ready for the finishing step 50. The engraved photopolymer printing plate is exposed to high energy ultraviolet light in a conventional post-exposure light finisher, utilized for conventional finishing of chemically etched photopolymer printing plates. Such light finishers utilize a germicidal lamp, such as that supplied by the Kelleigh Corporation of Avenel, N.J., having the Manufacturer's Designation #249-111A. Such exposure to the germicidal lamp removes any residual tackiness and hardens the exposed surface, making it resistant to alcohol based solvents. It is believed that ozone generated by the germicidal lamp provides this chemical change in the exposed surface of the photopolymer material. Exposure in the light finishing system is maintained for a time period approximating 10 minutes.
Alternately, a chemical finishing treatment may be utilized to provide the removal of tackiness and hardening of the printing plate surface. Such treatment is generally carried out by briefly immersing the plate in a halogen solution containing chlorine, bromine or iodine solutions. However, light finishing is considered to be superior to chemical finishing in that more uniform and more predictable results are provided by light finishing. Subsequent to finishing, the engraved photopolymer printing plate is ready for mounting in a flexographic printing press.
Although this inventive process has been described in connection with specific forms and embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that various modifications other than those discussed above may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, equivalent process steps may be substituted for those specifically shown and described, certain combinations of method steps may be used independently of other method steps, and in certain cases, particular sequences of steps may be reversed or interposed, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | A method for laser engraving photopolymer printing plates is provided. Prior to the laser engraving step (30), the photopolymer material is totally cured, followed by removal of a release layer disposed on the material. The laser engraving step (30) which follows removal of the release layer produces a plurality of tacky particulates (120) which adhere to the surface layer of the photopolymer material (100) adjacent the ablated regions (110). The particulates (120) are removed in a solvent washing step (40) to provide clean sharp edges (115) adjacent the ablated regions (110). Subsequent to removal of the photopolymer residue (120) the engraved printing plate is finished, by either chemical or light finishing methods. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to horizontal axis washers and dryers, particularly to washers and dryers for washing and drying clothes and, more particularly, to sealed and insulated washer and dryer doors having the capability to view the interior of the washer or dryer without opening the door.
(2) Description of the Related Art
When the door of a horizontal axis washer or clothes dryer is closed, it is desirable to be able to observe the interior of the appliance without opening the appliance's door so as to prevent the loss of accumulated water or heat from the dryer. The typical horizontal axis laundry appliance is comprised of a drum that rotates about a horizontal axis. The only technique normally used in the prior art is for observing the interior of the appliance without opening the appliance's door is utilize an observation window provided in the door. Examples of this former approach are legion, and include U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,559 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,169.
A problem with washer or dryer doors having transparent windows is that it is necessary to bend over in order to be able to observe the interior of the appliance. Also, there are various difficulties associated with sealing and insulating the door adequately and keeping the window clean on its interior surface.
A problem associated with clothes washers and dryers having windowed walls is that such viewing systems can be quite expensive and can require extensive structural modifications of the appliance. Further, such devices are believed to provide less than desirable observation of the interior of the appliance. In part, the difficulty associated with viewing the interior of the appliance, whether with a windowed door or a windowed wall, is that the interior light that illuminates the appliance usually is underpowered and poorly placed.
Desirably, a horizontal axis washer or dryer door would provide a highly effective technique for viewing the interior of the appliance. Any such door preferably would be sealed and well insulated, and it would include a lighting system that would effectively illuminate the interior of the appliance.
In the description and claims that follow, reference will be made to various components of the invention and their orientation through the use of such words as “upper,” “horizontally,” “vertically” and so forth. The use of such words is in conjunction with a door-closed position as will occur during normal use of the invention. It is to be understood is that the use of such terms of orientation is solely for purposes of convenience. The various components of the invention can be disposed in different orientations and can be described by different words of orientation without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the aforementioned needs, the invention contemplates a highly effective technique for viewing the interior of a horizontal axis washer or dryer while the appliance is operating, without the need to either bend over and look in the side or open the appliance's door.
The horizontal axis washer or dryer has a cavity within which clothes may be washed or dried and a marginal edge defining the boundary of the cavity. The door includes an inner panel that in use closes and seals the appliance's cavity and an outer panel spaced from the inner panel. An upper panel connects the inner and outer panels adjacent their upper edges.
An opening is formed in the inner panel and a first window, preferably in the form of a wide-angle lens, is mounted in the opening in the inner panel. A first light transmissive device is disposed between the inner and outer panels. The first light transmissive device directs light received through the first window toward the upper panel.
An opening is formed in the upper panel within which a second window is mounted. Accordingly, light can pass through the first window, through the first light transmissive device, between the inner and outer panels, and outwardly through the second window. Because the second window is adjacent the upper edges of the inner and outer panels, the user can conveniently view the interior of the appliance with minimal bending. In the preferred embodiment, the first light transmissive device is a negative mirror disposed adjacent the first window.
The invention includes alternative embodiments. A second light transmissive device may be disposed between the inner and outer panels adjacent the second window. In one alternate embodiment, the second light transmissive device comprises a mirror surface coating on the surface of a viewing tube which extends from the first window to the second window. In another alternative embodiment, the first light transmissive device is a concave lens and the second light transmissive device is a light pipe that receives light from the concave lens and directs it through a wide angle lens onto an enlarged second window.
In order to adequately illuminate the interior of the appliance, a light is secured to the inner panel and is positioned so as to illuminate the interior of the appliance when the door is closed. In an alternative embodiment, two such lights are provided, one on either side of the first window. Desirably, the lights are low-voltage halogen lights to which electrical current is supplied by contacts carried by the inner panel and the marginal edge of the appliance. The contacts engage each other when the door is closed, and are disengaged from each other when the door is opened.
As will be apparent, the invention provides an effective, relatively inexpensive technique for viewing the interior of the washer or dryer without opening the door. Among is those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the invention.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a horizontal axis laundry appliance according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a horizontal axis laundry appliance with the door open according to the invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a horizontal axis laundry appliance according to the invention, showing a viewing system whereby a user can view the interior of the appliance without opening the appliance door;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the door FIG. 1 taken along a plane through the center of the viewing system;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing another type of viewing system included as part of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing yet another type of viewing system included as part of the invention;
FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic, cross-sectional views of electrical contacts that are used to supply current to lights included as part of the viewing system according to the invention, the contacts in FIG. 7A being closed and the contacts in FIG. 7B being open
FIG. 8 is a view of the clothes appliance door showing the viewing system with an embodiment that uses two lights.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, horizontal axis laundry appliance according to the invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 . As best shown in FIG. 2, the appliance 10 has a cavity 17 which includes a marginal edge 11 that defines the external boundary of the appliance 10 . The appliance 10 includes a door 12 that closes and provides access thereto when needed. The typical horizontal axis laundry appliance has a drum assembly 16 which rotates during normal operation in order to agitate the items being either washed or dried.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the door 12 includes an inner panel 13 and an outer panel 14 of low carbon steel. . The panels 13 , 14 are parallel to each other but are spaced apart so as to form a chamber 15 , as shown in FIG. 4 .
Referring to FIG. 4, the horizontal axis laundry appliance 10 includes a viewing system that is incorporated into the door 12 . Referring to FIGS. 2 and 8, an opening 31 is formed in the inner panel 13 . A window 32 is disposed in the opening 31 . The plate 33 includes a beveled portion 34 that defines a portion of the opening 31 . The beveled portion 34 holds the lens 32 in place.
FIG. 3 shows the portion of the viewing system that the user looks into in order to view the contents of the horizontal axis laundry appliance 10 . An opening 35 is formed on the outer panel 14 of the door 12 . A window 36 is disposed in the opening 35 . The plate 37 holds the lense 36 into place. A light switch 39 is mounted on the plate 37 allowing lights inside the appliance er to be turned on and off from the panel.
Referring to FIG. 4, the preferred embodiment, a viewing tube 41 extends from the window 32 to the viewing window 36 . Mounted on the tube behind the window 32 is a negative mirror 43 . The path of light through the viewing system is indicated by the reference numeral 45 . Light enters the viewing tube 41 via the window 32 . The negative mirror 43 causes the light to be reflected upwards towards the viewing window 36 .
Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment, a viewing tube 41 extends from the window 32 to the viewing window 36 . In this embodiment, the tube itself is coated with a mirror surface 42 . Mounted on the tube behind the window 32 is a negative mirror 43 . The path of light through the viewing system is indicated by the reference numeral 45 . Light enters the viewing tube 41 via the window 32 . The negative mirror 43 causes the light to be reflected upwards towards the mirrored surface 42 . The light is then reflected to the mirrored surface 42 on the opposite side of the viewing tube 41 where the light is then reflected upwards towards the viewing window 36 .
Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 , a light 40 is mounted on inner panel 13 of the door 12 in order to illuminate the interior of the appliance . The light includes an opening 46 that is formed on the door's 12 inner panel 13 located underneath the window 32 . A low voltage halogen lamp 46 is disposed in the opening. Electrical leads 47 supply current to the lamp 46 .
Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, a pair of electrical contact 52 are carried by the inner panel 13 and the marginal boundary 11 . Upon opening or closing the door 12 by means of a hinge 53 , the contacts 52 either will be closed (FIG. 7A) or opened (FIG. 7 B). A push button, and preferably, a touch icon capacitance switch (FIG. 1) is included as part of the top plate 37 . Upon touching the button 39 , the lamp 47 can be activated whenever desired. However, whenever the door 12 is opened as shown in FIG. 7B, the contacts 52 will be disengaged so as to interrupt current to the lamp 47 regardless of the position of the button 39 . The use of make-and-break contacts is preferable to hard wiring which can fail prematurely. Preferably, lamps 47 comprise 12 volt, 20 amp halogen bulbs.
Referring now to FIG. 6, another alternative embodiment of the invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 60 . In this embodiment of the invention, a concave lens 62 is disposed adjacent the lens 32 . The lens 62 is held in place by a lens holder/spacer 64 . In the embodiment 60 , a second light transmissive device includes a light pipe 66 . The light pipe 66 has a first end 68 disposed adjacent the concave lens 62 and a second end 70 that is remote from the lens 62 . A wide-angle lens 72 is disposed adjacent the second end 70 . A pair of brackets 74 , 76 hold the lens 72 and the second end 70 close to each other. As will be apparent from an examination of FIG. 6, light passing through the lens 72 and the lens 62 will be transmitted by the light pipe 66 . Upon passing through the lens 72 , the light will be projected onto the window 36 . The window 36 is inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the horizontal.
Referring now to FIG. 8, yet another embodiment of this invention, the dryer door 12 includes a pair of lights 40 that are included as part of the door 12 . The lights 40 include an opening 46 that is formed in the inner panel 13 on either side of the lens 32 at approximately the same vertical elevation as the lens 32 . The openings 46 are formed in a manner similar to the opening 31 . A low voltage halogen lamp 47 is disposed in each opening 46 . Electrical leads 48 supply current to the lamps 47 .
It will be appreciated that although in the attached drawings the viewing systems appear fairly large (wide), in reality such systems will be considerably thinner, such systems being enlarged in order to facilitate a clear illustration of the viewing system and related parts.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the invention provides a highly effective technique for viewing the interior of a horizontal axis laundry appliance . The viewing system enables the user to view the interior of the appliance without bending over or opening the door. The viewing system can be implemented easily without requiring any modification of existing horizontal axis laundry appliances except to add suitable electrical contacts for the electric lights carried by the door. The door is well insulated in an inexpensive, effective manner. The viewing system is more energy efficient than conventional door-mounted windows. Moreover, the door-carried lighting system illuminates the interior of the appliance better than conventional lighting techniques, in part because glare is reduced and illumination is more even.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification. The present invention includes all such equivalent alterations and modifications and is limited only by the scope of the following claims. | A door for a horizontal axis laundry appliance that includes an inner panel that closes the appliance and an outer panel spaced from the inner panel. The inner and outer panels are connected adjacent their upper edges by an upper panel. The inner panel includes a first window in the form of a wide-angle lens. The upper panel includes a second window. Light-transmissive devices including a negative mirror are disposed between the inner and outer panels so as to direct light received through the lens upwardly and outwardly through the second window. The interior of the appliance is illuminated by low-voltage halogen lights mounted on the inner panel. | 3 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a national phase application based on PCT/EP02/03534, filed Mar. 28, 2002, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for reducing emission of pollutants from an internal combustion engine, particularly from a diesel engine, and to a fuel emulsion comprising water and a liquid hydrocarbon.
1. Description of the Related Art
It is known that the combustion of liquid hydrocarbons in an internal combustion engine (e.g. a diesel engine) leads to the formation of numerous pollutants, in particular soot, particulates, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and non-combusted hydrocarbons (HC), which cause a remarkable atmospheric pollution.
It is also known that the addition of controlled amounts of water to a fuel can significantly reduce the production of pollutants. It is believed that this effect is the result of various phenomena arising from the presence of water in the combustion zone. For example, the lowering of the peak combustion temperature by water reduces the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx), the formation of which is promoted by high temperatures. In addition, the instantaneous vaporization of the water droplets promotes better dispersion of the fuel in the combustion chamber, thereby significantly reducing the formation of soot, particulates and CO. These phenomena take place without adversely affecting the yield for the combustion process.
Several solution have been proposed to add water to liquid fuel at the time of use, i.e. just before the fuel is injected into the combustion chamber, or directly into the chamber itself. However, these solutions require modifications to be made to the structure of the engine and are not capable of achieving optimum dispersion of the water in the fuel, which is an essential requisite for obtaining a significant reduction in pollutants without compromising the calorific yield for the process.
Thus, the most promising and numerous efforts made hitherto were directed towards the formulation of emulsions between liquid hydrocarbons and water in the presence of emulsifiers (surfactants) for the purpose of uniformly dispersing the water in the hydrocarbon phase in the form of droplets of the smallest possible size.
For example, European Patent Application EP-A-475,620 describes microemulsions of a diesel fuel with water, which contain a cetane improver and an emulsifying system comprising a hydrophilic surfactant and a lipophilic surfactant. These surfactants are selected from ethoxylated C 12 -C 18 alkylammonium salts of a C 9 -C 24 carboxylic or sulphonic acid: the hydrophilic surfactant contains at least six ethylene oxide units, while the lipophilic surfactant contains less than six ethylene oxide units.
European Patent Application EP-A-630,398 describes a fuel in the form of an emulsion consisting of a hydrocarbon fuel, from 3 to 35% by weight of water and at least 0.1% by weight of an emulsifying system consisting of a sorbitan oleate, a polyalkylene glycol and an ethoxylated alkylphenol.
International Patent Application WO 97/34969 describes an emulsion between water and a hydrocarbon, for example a diesel fuel. This emulsion is stabilized by adding an emulsifier consisting of a sorbitan sesquioleate, a polyethylene glycol monooleate and an ethoxylated nonylphenol. This emulsifier has an overall HLB (hydrophilic-lipophilic balance) value of from 6 to 8.
A process for producing a stabilized emulsion of a liquid fuel and water is described in European Patent Application EP-A-812,615. This process involves preparing a first emulsion by mixing the fuel, the water and a surfactant, and subsequently mixing the emulsion thus obtained with more water to give the final emulsion. The emulsion is stabilized using a hydrophilic surfactant or a lipophilic surfactant, or a mixture thereof. Lipophilic surfactants which can be used are fatty acid esters of sorbitol, for example sorbitan monooleate, while hydrophilic surfactants which are suitable for this purpose are fatty acid esters of sorbitol containing a polyoxyalkylene chain, for example polyoxyethylene sorbitan trioleate. Further stabilization of the emulsion can be obtained by adding ethylene glycol or a polyethylene glycol.
International Patent Application WO 92/19701 describes a process for reducing the emission of NOx from a gas turbine, in which an emulsion of water with a diesel fuel is used. The emulsion is stabilized by adding an emulsifier selected from: alkanolamides obtained by condensing an alkylamine or hydroxyalkylamine with a fatty acid; and ethoxylated alkylphenols. The emulsifier preferably has a HLB value of less than or equal to 8. Physical stabilizers such as waxes, cellulose derivatives or resins can be added to improve the stability. As described in patent application WO 93/07238, the above emulsion can be further stabilized by adding a difunctional block polymer with a primary hydroxyl end group, in particular a copolymer containing propylene oxide/ethylene oxide blocks.
International Patent Application WO 00/15740 describes an emulsified water-blended fuel composition comprising: (A) a hydrocarbon boiling in the gasoline or diesel range; (B) water; (C) a minor emulsifying amount of at least one fuel-soluble salt made by reacting (C) (I) at least one acylating agent having about 16 to 500 carbon atoms with (C) (II) ammonia and/or at least one amine; and (D) about 0.001 to about 15% by weight of the water-blended fuel composition of a water soluble, ashless, halogen-, boron-, and phosphorus-free, amine salt, distinct from component (C). The acylating agent (C) (I) includes carboxylic acids and their reactive equivalents such as acid halides, anhydrides, and esters, including partial esters and triglycerides. The fuel may also comprise other components such as: cosurfactants selected from ionic or non-ionic compounds having a HLB of from 2 to 10, preferably of from 4 to 8; organic cetane improvers, including nitrate esters of substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic or cycloaliphatic alcohols; antifreeze agents, usually an alcohol such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, methanol, ethanol, and mixtures thereof, in a an amount of from 0.1% to 10%, preferably from 0.1 to 5%, by weight of the fuel composition.
International Patent Application WO 01/51593 describes a fuel comprising an emulsion between water and a liquid hydrocarbon, and further comprising as emulsifier a polymeric surfactant obtainable by reaction between: (i) a polyolefin oligomer functionalized with at least one group deriving from a dicarboxylic acid, or a derivative thereof; and (ii) a polyoxyalkylene comprising linear oxyalkylene units, said polyoxyalkylene being linked to a long-chain alkyl group optionally containing one or more ethylenic unsaturations. The fuel may also comprise an alcohol as antifreeze agent, such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, or a glycol, in an amount generally from 0.5 to 8% by weight, preferably from 1 to 4% by weight, with respect to the total weight of the fuel.
A reduction of NOx exhaust emissions from a diesel engine can also be obtained by controlling the functioning of the engine so as to obtain a reduction of the peak combustion temperature.
Such a reduction may be obtained for instance by recirculation of a portion of the exhaust gases into the engine intake manifold where it mixes with the incoming air/fuel charge. By diluting the air/fuel mixture under these conditions, peak combustion temperatures are reduced, resulting in an overall reduction of NOx output. Such systems are commonly known as Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) systems. The first EGR systems were introduced in the early '70s as on/off devices. However, continuous recirculation of the exhaust gases resulted in unstable engine operation, decreased power output and oil contamination due to the presence of particulates in the recirculated gases. Upon introduction of close loop computer controls for engines, the EGR systems were remarkably improved by controlling the rate or amount of recirculated exhaust gases in a manner responsive to operating conditions of the engine, particularly-during acceleration. For a general review on EGR systems see for instance “Emission Controls: Part II: GM Exhaust Gas Recirculation Systems” by M. Schultz, published in Motor , Vol. 159 (February 1983), pages 15 ff, and also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,796,049 and 4,454,854.
Another system for reducing the peak p combustion temperature, and thus the NOx emissions, by controlling the functioning of the engine is based on an electronic control of the injection timing in the combustion chamber. Particularly, delayed injection reduces NOx emissions, while excessive delay results in higher fuel consumption and HC emissions. Therefore, a precise injection timing is necessary, which is guaranteed by an electronic diesel-control system (EDC). A crankshaft reference point provides the basis for regulating the timing device setting. Extremely high precision can be achieved by monitoring the start of injection directly at the injection nozzle by employing a needle-motion sensor to monitor the needle-valve movement (control of start of injection) (see for instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,128).
Another known method to reduce NOx in exhaust gases is based on cooling compressed intake air in turbocharged engines, so as to reduce combustion temperatures in the engine, with a consequent decrease of NOx emissions. A method of this kind is disclosed for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,498.
For a general review on engine measures to reduce exhaust emissions from diesel engines see for instance “Bosch Automotive Handbook”, 4th Edition, October 1996 (pages 530-535).
In order to meet the requirements of increasingly more stringent emission standards, some attempts have been made to combine different technologies of emission reduction.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,473 a system for controlling emissions from a diesel engine is disclosed by controlling the recirculation of engine exhaust gases into the intake manifold and by modulating the injection timing schedule of the engine fuel injection pump.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,370 discloses an emulsion fuel engine having at least one cylinder with an injection nozzle for injecting an emulsion fuel, which has been formed by mixing a first fuel with a second fuel, into the cylinder. The engine comprises exhaust gas recirculation means for returning a portion of exhaust gas to an intake passage to recirculate the exhaust gas; and exhaust gas recirculation control means for controlling the amount of the exhaust gas to be recirculated. Therefore, water and diesel fuel are mixed for the first time when the engine is operated by the emulsion fuel. Alternatively, an emulsion fuel prepared in advance by mixing diesel fuel and water and stored in an emulsion fuel tank can be delivered to the injection nozzle and then injected into the cylinder.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The Applicant has felt the need of combining techniques for controlling the peak combustion temperature such as those described above with the use of a fuel emulsion which can be fed to the combustion chamber without introducing further modifications to the engine.
Moreover, the Applicant has perceived the importance of providing a fuel emulsion containing a reduced amount of water without decreasing the capability of the fuel emulsion to reduce pollutants emission, particularly particulate emission.
The Applicant has now found that the above goal and other remarkable improvements may be achieved by fueling an internal combustion engine whose functioning is controlled so as to obtain a reduction of the peak combustion temperature with a fuel emulsion comprising a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, water, at least one emulsifier and at least one oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound. The use of this fuel emulsion allows to obtain a considerable reduction of particulate emissions while maintaining or even further reducing the NOx level which is already reduced by the engine itself. A reduced amount of water in the fuel emulsion is of great importance, since it allows not to substantially affect the power output of the engine, thus allowing the use of the fuel emulsion also in applications where the power loss is a constraint, such as heavy load trucks and passenger cars. Moreover, in the case of EGR systems, a low level of particulate emission allows to reduce oil contamination.
Therefore, in a first aspect the present invention relates to a method for reducing emission of pollutants from an internal combustion engine including at least one combustion chamber, comprising:
injecting a fuel emulsion into the at least one combustion chamber; igniting the fuel emulsion in the at least one combustion chamber in the presence of air; operating the internal combustion engine so as to reduce peak combustion temperature in the at least one combustion chamber; wherein the fuel emulsion comprises a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, water, at least one emulsifier and at least one oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound.
According to a preferred embodiment, operating the internal combustion engine so as to reduce peak combustion temperature in the at least one combustion chamber comprises recirculating a portion of exhaust gases produced during ignition into the at least one combustion chamber.
According to another preferred embodiment, operating the internal combustion engine so as to reduce peak combustion temperature in the at least one combustion chamber comprises controlling injection timing of the fuel emulsion in the combustion chamber.
According to another preferred embodiment, operating the internal combustion engine so as to reduce peak combustion temperature in the at least one combustion chamber comprises compressing and cooling intake air before entering the combustion chamber.
According to a preferred embodiment, in the method according to the present invention the amount of water in the fuel emulsion is not greater than 15% by weight, preferably from 2 to 12% by weight, more preferably from 2.5 to 10% by weight, even more preferably from 3 to 8% by weight.
According to another preferred embodiment, in the method according to the present invention the amount of oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound is predetermined so as to obtain an amount of water soluble organic oxygen of from 0.1 to 5% by weight, preferably from 0.3 to 4% by weight, more preferably from 0.5 to 2.5% by weight, even more preferably from 0.8 to 2% by weight.
Unless otherwise specified, in the present description and claims the amounts are expressed as % by weight with respect to the total weight of the fuel emulsion.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to a fuel emulsion comprising a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, water, at least one emulsifier and at least one oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound as additive for reducing emission of pollutants, especially of particulate, wherein the amount of water in the fuel emulsion is not greater than 15% by weight, preferably from 2 to 12% by weight, more preferably from 2.5 to 10% by weight, even more preferably from 3 to 8% by weight, and the amount of oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound is predetermined so as to obtain an amount of water soluble organic oxygen of from 0.1 to 5% by weight, preferably from 0.3 to 4% by weight, more preferably from 0.5 to 2.5% by weight, even more preferably from 0.8 to 2% by weight.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for reducing emission of pollutants, especially of particulate, from an internal combustion engine fuelled by a fuel emulsion comprising a hydrocarbon phase and an aqueous phase dispersed in the hydrocarbon phase, the method comprising adding to the fuel emulsion at least one oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound so as to obtain a predetermined amount of water soluble organic oxygen in the aqueous phase.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to the use of an oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound to reduce emission of pollutants, particularly of particulate, from an internal combustion engine fuelled by a fuel emulsion.
The Applicant wishes to point out that the fuel emulsions according to the present invention are particularly suitable for use in fuel distribution networks dedicated to fuelling of heavy load trucks and/or passenger cars, where the need of a fuel which is able to reduce pollutant emissions, especially particulate, without substantially affecting the power output of the engine is requested.
Therefore, according to another aspect, the present invention relates to the use a fuel emulsion comprising a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, water, at least one emulsifier and at least one oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound as fuel in a distribution network for fuelling heavy load trucks and/or passenger cars.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The amount of water soluble organic oxygen is the amount of oxygen linked to the oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound dissolved in the aqueous phase of the fuel emulsion. It can be determined on the basis of the number of oxygen atoms contained in the water soluble compound, assuming that the overall amount of that compound added to the fuel emulsion is dissolved in the aqueous phase.
The water soluble compound according to the present invention (for the sake of conciseness identified herein also as “water soluble compound”) is a non-ionic organic compound having at least one oxygen-containing group, soluble in water at 20° C., usually not containing other heteroatoms such as sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, halogens. Preferably the oxygen-containing group may be selected from: hydroxyl group, ether group, ester group, ketone group, peroxy group, and combinations thereof.
Preferably, the water soluble compound has a solubility in water at 20° C. of at least 5% by weight, more preferably of at least 8% by weight.
The oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound according to the present invention may be selected from:
(i) alcohols, such as; methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, diacetone alcohol, furfuryl alcohol;
(ii) glycols such as: ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,2-propylene glycol, 1,3-propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, 1,2-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 2,3-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2,3-hexanediol, 1,3-propanediol, 2,3-hexandiol, polyethylene glycol;
(iii) polyols such as: glycerol, diglycerol, sorbitol, glycerol 2-methylether, glycerol trimethylether, glycerol monoacetate, fructose, galactose, sucrose, pentaerythritol, dipentaerythritol, tripentaerythritol;
(iv) esters such as: ethyl acetate, methyl acetate, butyl acetate, ethyl acetoacetate, ethylene glycol acetate, ethylene glycol diacetate, methyl lactate, ethyl lactate, glycerolmonoacetate, isopropyllactate, methylformate, ethylformate, butylformate, isopropylformate;
(v) ethers, such as: ethylene glycol diethylether, ethylene glycol monoethylether, ethylene glycol monoisopropylether, ethylene glycol monobutylether, diethylene glycol dimethylether, diethylene glycol monoethylether, ethylene glycol dimethylether, ethylene glycol monobutylether, triethylene glycol monoethylether, triethylene glycol dimethylether, tetraethylene glycol dimethylether, polyethylene glycol dimethylether;
(vi) ketones, such as: 2-propanone, 2-pentanone, 3-pentanone, 2-methyl-3-pentanone, 3-hydroxy-2-pentanone, 4-hydroxy-2-pentanone, 5-hydroxy-2-pentanone;
or mixtures thereof.
The fuel emulsions according to the present invention comprises at least one emulsifier. The emulsifier, or the combination of emulsifiers, has a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of from 2 to 10, preferably from 3 to 8.
The emulsifier is generally soluble in the hydrocarbon fuel and may be selected from one of the following classes of products:
(a) a product obtained by reacting (a1) a polyolefin oligomer functionalized with at least one group deriving from a dicarboxylic acid, or a derivative thereof, with (a2) a polyoxyalkylene comprising linear oxyalkylene units, said polyoxyalkylene being linked to a long-chain alkyl group optionally containing one or more ethylenic unsaturation;
(b) a product obtained by reacting (b1) a hydrocarbyl substituted carboxylic acid acylating agent with (b2) ammonia or an amine, the hydrocarbyl substituent of said acylating agent having from 50 to 500 carbon atoms.
Other emulsifiers my be selected from: alkanolamides, alkylarylsulfonates, amine oxides, poly(oxyalkylene)compounds (including ethyleneoxide-propyleneoxide block copolymers), carboxylated alcohol ethoxylates, ethoxylated alcohols, ethoxylated alkyl phenols, ethoxylated amines and amides, ethoxylated fatty acids, ethoxylated fatty esters and oils, fatty esters, glycerol esters, glycol esters, imidazoline derivatives, lecithin and derivatives, lignin and derivatives, monoglycerides and derivatives, olefin sulfonates, phosphate esters and derivatives, propoxylated and ethoxylated fatty acids or alcohols or alkylphenols, sorbitan derivatives, sucrose esters and derivatives, sulfates or alcohols or ethoxylated alcohols or fatty esters, and mixtures thereof.
More details on emulsifiers that can be used in the present invention can be found in EP-A-475,620, EP-A-630,398, WO 97/34969, EP-A-812,615, WO 92/19701, WO 93/07238, WO 00/15740 and WO 01/51593, which are herein incorporated by reference.
The amount of the at least one emulsifier to be used in the fuel emulsion according to the present invention is predetermined mainly as a function of the amount of water to be emulsified and of the type of liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Preferably, the at least one emulsifier is used in an amount of from 0.1 to 10% by weight, preferably from 0.5 to 5% by weight.
The fuel emulsion according to the present invention is generally of the water-in-oil type, wherein the water droplets are dispersed in the continuous hydrocarbon phase.
The fuel according to the present invention includes a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, generally deriving from the distillation of petroleum and consisting essentially of mixtures of aliphatic, naphthenic, olefinic and/or aromatic hydrocarbons. The liquid hydrocarbon generally has a viscosity at 40° C. of from 1 to 53 cSt, and a density at 15° C. of from 0.75 to 1.1 kg/dm 3 , and can be selected, for example, from: gas oils for use as automotive fuels or for production of heat, fuel oils, kerosenes, aviation fuels (Jet Fuels).
The water to be used in the fuel emulsion can be of any type, for example industrial or domestic mains water. However, it is preferred to use demineralized or deionized water, in order to avoid the formation of mineral deposits on the internal surface of the combustion chamber and/or on the injectors.
The fuel emulsion according to the present invention may contain other additives, such as: cetane improvers, corrosion inhibitors, lubricants, biocides, antifoaming agents, and mixtures thereof.
In particular, the cetane improvers are products which improve the detonating properties of the fuel, and are generally selected from nitrates, nitrites and peroxides of the organic or inorganic type, which are soluble in the aqueous phase or, preferably, soluble in the hydrocarbon phase, such as organic nitrates (see for example patents: EP-475,620 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,938). Of preferred use are alkyl or cycloalkyl nitrates containing up to 10 carbon atoms, such as: ethyl nitrate, amyl nitrates, n-hexyl nitrate, 2-ethylhexyl nitrate, n-decyl nitrate, cyclohexyl nitrate and the like, or mixtures thereof.
The biocides can be selected from those known in the art, such as morpholine derivatives, isothiazolin-3-one derivatives, tris(hydroxymethyl)nitromethane, formaldehyde, oxazolidines, bronopol (2-bromo-2-nitro-1,3propandiol), 2-phenoxyethanol, dimethylolurea, or mixtures thereof.
The oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound which is added to the fuel emulsion according to the present invention may act also as antifreeze. However, for some applications it could be advisable to add to the fuel emulsion also an antifreeze selected from those available in the art.
The fuel emulsions according to the present invention may also include at least one water soluble amine or ammonia salt, such as ammonium nitrate, ammonium acetate, methyalmmonium nitrate, methylammonium acetate, ethylene diamine diacetate, urea nitrate, urea dinitrate, or mixtures thereof, in ana mount of from 0.001% to 15% by weight (see WO 00/15740).
The fuel emulsion according to the present invention is generally prepared by mixing the components using an emulsifying device, in which the formation of the emulsion can result from a mechanical-type action exerted by moving parts, or from passing the components to be emulsified into mixing devices of static type, or alternatively from a combined mechanical and static action. The emulsion is formed by feeding the aqueous phase and the hydrocarbon phase, optionally premixed, into the emulsifying device. The emulsifier and the other additives which may be present can be introduced separately or, preferably, premixed either in the aqueous phase or in the hydrocarbon phase depending on their solubility properties. Preferably, the oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound is premixed in the aqueous phase, while the emulsifier is premixed in the hydrocarbon phase.
The present invention will now be further illustrated by means of some working examples.
The fuels having the compositions reported in Table 1 were tested on a diesel engine used on cars Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI 130 cv, having an EGR system and a fuel injection unit pump. The engine was tested on a chassis rolls dynamometer according to the European standard ECE R15+EUDC. The measurement cycle reproduced a urban driving cycle (ECE) combined with an extra-urban driving (EUDC) segment to account for more aggressive, high speed driving modes. The emissions were measured according to that standard and expressed as grams of pollutant per km of route.
The results are reported in Table 2.
TABLE 1
FUEL
1
2
3
4
5
Diesel Fuel
100
86.22
90.22
87.22
92.22
EN590
Water
—
12.00
8.00
8.00
4.00
Emulsifier
—
1.60
1.60
1.60
1.60
MEG
—
—
—
3.00
2.00
(*)
(**)
Cetane
—
0.15
0.15
0.15
0.15
Improver
Bactericide
—
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
The compositions are expressed as % by weight.
Emulsifier: obtained by reacting a polyoxyethylene-fatty acid monoester with a polyisobutene functionalized with maleic anhydride (according to Example 1 of WO 01/51593);
MEG: monoethyleneglycol;
Cetane improver: 2-ethylhexyl nitrate;
Bactericide: isothiazolin-3-one derivative.
(*) corresponding to 1.55% by weight of water soluble organic oxygen;
(**) corresponding to 1.03% by weight of water soluble organic oxygen.
TABLE 2
FUEL
1
2
3
4
5
NO x
0.448
0.404
0.345
0.375
0.362
(g/km)
Particulate
0.035
0.020
0.020
0.010
0.013
(g/km)
CO
0.276
0.422
0.356
0.400
0.201
(g/km) | Method for reducing emission of pollutants from an internal combustion engine including at least one combustion chamber. A fuel emulsion is injected into a combustion chamber; the fuel emulsion is ignited in the combustion chamber in the presence of air; and the internal combustion engine is operated so as to reduce peak combustion temperature in the combustion chamber. The fuel emulsion has a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, water, at least one emulsifier and at least one oxygen-containing water soluble organic compound. A considerable reduction of particulate emissions is obtained by using this fuel emulsion while maintaining or even further reducing the NOx level which is already reduced by the engine itself. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is based upon and claims benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-364152 filed on Nov. 29, 2001, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a fuel injection pump having an one-way valve for supplying fuel into a pressurizing chamber and to a method of assembling the one-way valve.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] A fuel injection system including a common rail and an injection pump for supplying pressurized fuel into an internal combustion engine is known hitherto. The fuel injection pump pressurizes fuel in a pressurizing chamber according to rotation of its driving shaft. Fuel pressurized to a predetermined level is sent out to the common rail from the pressurizing chamber. The injection pump includes a one-way valve that allows fuel to flow into the pressurizing chamber from a fuel tank while preventing fuel from flowing back into the fuel tank.
[0006] An example of a conventional one-way valve used in the fuel injection pump is shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. A spring 102 is disposed between a valve body 101 and a valve member 100 . The one-way valve is closed when the valve member 100 seats on a valve seat 103 formed on the valve body 101 . The spring 102 biases the valve member 100 in a direction to close the one-way valve. To support the biasing spring 102 between the valve body 101 and the valve member 100 , a ring-shaped washer 104 is provided at an upper end of the valve member 100 . The upward movement of the washer 104 is restricted by an E-shaped ring 105 which is fixed to the valve member 100 . Alternatively, the upward movement of the washer 104 is restricted by a stopper press-fitted to the valve member 100 .
[0007] In a process of assembling the conventional one-way valve, the E-shaped ring 105 or the stopper has to be fixed to the valve member 100 . Accordingly, a certain time is required in the assembling process for fixing the E-shaped ring 105 or the stopper. A contacting area between the E-shaped ring 105 and the valve member 100 is small as shown in FIG. 7B, and the biasing force of the spring 102 has to be received by the small contacting area. Therefore, the contacting area between the E-shaped ring 105 and the valve member 100 , including portion where the washer 104 contacts the E-shaped ring 105 , tends to wear due to abrasion during a long time operation of the one-way valve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an improved one-way valve in which the abrasion wear is suppressed. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process of assembling the one-way valve.
[0009] A fuel injection pump driven by an automotive engine pressurizes low pressure fuel led from a fuel tank and sends out pressurized fuel to a common rail. The pressurized fuel accumulated in the common rail is injected form fuel injectors into the engine in a controlled manner. A one-way valve that allows fuel to flow only in one direction is installed in the fuel injection pump. The low pressure fuel led from the fuel tank flows into a pressurizing chamber in the fuel injection pump through the one-way valve. The pressurized fuel is prevented from flowing back by the one-way valve. The pressurized fuel is sent out to an outlet passage connected to the common rail.
[0010] The one-way valve is composed of a valve body, a valve member slidably coupled with the valve body, a biasing member such as a coil spring biasing the valve body in a direction to close the one-way valve, and a supporting member coupled to the valve member for supporting the biasing member between the valve body and the supporting member. The valve member is substantially rod-shaped and includes a head portion and a neck portion connected to the head portion, both of which serve to couple the supporting member to one end of the valve member. The supporting member is substantially disc-shaped. A through-hole and a groove, crossing each other, are formed in the supporting member.
[0011] In assembling the one-way valve, the valve member is slidably coupled to the valve body, and then a cylindrical portion of the valve member is inserted into the biasing member. Then, the head portion of the valve member is inserted into the through-hole of the supporting member, and the supporting member is further pushed down against the biasing member, so that the head portion is separated from the through-hole and the neck portion is positioned in the through-hole. Then, the supporting member is rotated relative to the valve member so that the groove formed on the supporting member is aligned to the head portion of the valve member. Because the neck portion is made smaller than the through-hole, the neck portion is freely rotatable in the through-hole. Then, the force pushing down the supporting member against the biasing member is released thereby to engage the head portion with the groove. The head portion is retained in the groove, while the biasing force being applied between the valve member and the valve body. Thus, the process of assembling the one-way valve is completed.
[0012] According to the present invention, abrasion wear in the one-way valve is suppressed because the biasing force of the spring is received by the supporting member having a wide surface. The assembling process of the one-way valve is simplified because the supporting member and the valve member are coupled to each other without using a mechanical connection such as staking.
[0013] Other objects and features of the present invention will become more readily apparent from a better understanding of the preferred embodiment described below with reference to the following drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] [0014]FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a one-way valve according to the present invention;
[0015] [0015]FIG. 1B is a plan view showing the one-way valve, viewed in a direction IB shown in FIG. 1A;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire structure of a fuel injection pump in which the one-way valve is used;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the fuel injection pump, taken along a line III-III shown in FIG. 2;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 4A is a top view showing a valve member used in the one-way valve;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 4B is a side view showing the valve member, viewed in a direction IVB shown in FIG. 4A;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 4C is another side view showing the valve member, viewed in a direction IVC shown in FIG. 4A;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 5A is a top view showing a supporting member to be coupled with the valve member;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view showing the supporting member, taken along a line VB-VB shown in FIG. 5A;
[0023] FIGS. 6 A- 6 C show a process of assembling the one-way valve according to the present invention; and
[0024] [0024]FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional one-way valve; and
[0025] [0025]FIG. 7B is a top view showing a washer and an E-shaped ring used in the conventional one-way valve, viewed in a direction VIIB shown in FIG. 7A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0026] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an entire structure of a fuel injection pump 1 will be described. The fuel injection pump 1 is used in a fuel injection system having a common rail accumulating pressurized fuel therein.
[0027] A housing 10 of the fuel injection pump 1 is composed of a housing body 11 and a pair of cylinder heads 12 , 13 . The housing body 11 is made of aluminum, and the cylinder heads 12 , 13 are made of iron. A cylinder 12 a , in which a plunger 20 is slidably disposed, is formed in the cylinder head 12 . Similarly, a cylinder 13 a , in which a plunger 20 is slidably disposed, is formed in the cylinder head 13 . A one-way valve 5 is installed at an outside portion of each cylinder 12 a , 13 a . A pressurizing chamber 30 is formed in each cylinder 12 a , 13 a between the plunger 20 and the one-way valve 5 . In this embodiment, both cylinder heads 12 , 13 are formed in a similar shape, but positions of fuel passages and screw holes formed therein are little different from each other. Both cylinder heads 12 , 13 , however, may be formed in an exactly same shape.
[0028] A driving shaft 14 is rotatably supported by the housing body 11 via a journal bearing 15 . A clearance between the driving shaft 14 and the housing body 11 is sealed by an oil seal 16 . As shown in FIG. 3, a cam 17 having a cylindrical outer periphery is formed on the driving shaft 14 in an eccentric relation to a rotational axis of the driving shaft 14 . The pair of plungers 20 are disposed in the respective cylinders 12 a , 13 a at positions, 180-degree opposing to each other. A cam ring 18 having a square outer periphery is rotatably coupled to the cam 17 , and a bushing 19 is interposed as a bearing between the cam 17 and the cam ring 18 . A plunger head 22 formed at one end of the plunger 20 slidably contacts one plane of the square outer periphery of the cam ring 18 . An inner space 11 a of the housing body 11 is filled with fuel such as light oil, and the contacting surface between the plunger head 22 and the cam ring 18 is lubricated by the fuel.
[0029] The pair of plungers 20 are reciprocally driven in the respective cylinders 12 a , 13 a according to rotation of the eccentric cam 17 . Fuel is sucked into the pressuring chamber 30 through the one-way valve 5 and pressurized therein. A spring 21 biases the plunger 20 toward the cam ring 18 . The cam ring 18 orbits around the eccentric cam 17 without rotating by itself according to the rotation of the driving shaft 14 , and thereby the plunger head 22 slidably moves on the plane surface of the cam ring 18 . Thus, the plunger 20 is reciprocally driven by the cam ring 18 . An outlet passage 32 extending in a direction perpendicular to each cylinder 12 a , 13 a is formed, so that it connects an outlet port 32 a of the pressurizing chamber 30 to respective fuel passages 41 a , 42 a formed in connecting members 41 , 42 .
[0030] A fuel chamber 33 is formed in each cylinder head 12 , 13 and is connected to the outlet port 32 a through the outlet passage 32 . The fuel changer 33 is formed in a cylinder-shape having a diameter larger than that of the outlet passage 32 . An outlet one-way valve 44 is disposed in the fuel chamber 33 . Connecting members 41 , 42 are screwed in respective mounting holes 34 formed in each cylinder head 12 , 13 at a downstream end of the fuel chamber 33 . Fuel passages 41 a , 42 a each communicating with the fuel chamber 33 are formed in the respective connecting members 41 , 42 . The respective fuel passages 41 a , 42 a extend substantially in line with the outlet passage 32 .
[0031] The outlet one-way valve 44 disposed in the fuel chamber 33 is composed of a ball-shaped valve member 45 , a valve body 46 and a spring 47 . The spring 47 biases the valve member 45 toward the valve body 46 . The outlet one-way valve 44 allows the pressurized fuel to flow out of the pressurizing chamber 30 and prevents the fuel from flowing back into the pressurizing chamber 30 . The connecting members 41 , 42 are connected to the common rail (not shown) through fuel pipes (not shown). Thus, the fuel pressurized in the pressurizing chamber 30 is supplied to the common rail.
[0032] Now, referring to FIGS. 1 A- 1 B, 4 A- 4 C and 5 A- 5 B, a structure of the one-way valve 5 will be described in detail. As described above, the one-way valve 5 is disposed outside the pressurizing chamber 30 in each cylinder head 12 , 13 . The one-way valve 5 is composed of a valve body 60 , a valve member 50 , a supporting member 80 , and a spring 70 . The valve member 50 is substantially rod-shaped and includes a head portion 51 , a neck portion 52 , a cylindrical portion 53 , and a flange portion 54 , all integrally formed in this order from its top side.
[0033] The head portion 51 is formed substantially in a rectangular rod shape, as shown in FIGS. 4 A- 4 C. The head portion 51 is connected to the cylindrical portion 53 by the neck portion 52 extending in an axial direction of the cylindrical portion 53 . A top surface of the head portion 51 is a substantially rectangular shape, as shown in FIG. 4A, having a pair of straight long sides parallel to each other and a pair of circular short sides. The head portion 51 is connected to the cylindrical portion 53 by the neck portion 52 . As shown in FIG. 4A, a cross-sectional shape of the neck portion 52 on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the valve member 50 has a pair of straight long sides and a pair of circular short sides. As shown in FIG. 4B, a width between the long sides of the neck portion 52 is the same as that of the head portion 51 . As shown in FIG. 4C, a dimension between the circular sides of the neck portion 52 is shorter than that of the head portion 51 .
[0034] As shown in FIG. 1A, the flange portion 54 having a diameter larger than a diameter of the cylindrical portion 53 is formed at the bottom end of the valve member 50 . The flange portion 54 is disc-shaped and has a valve surface 55 that contacts a valve seat 61 formed on the valve body 60 . The cylindrical portion 53 slidably inserted in an inner bore 64 of the valve body 60 .
[0035] The valve body 60 includes a fuel passage 62 that communicates with a fuel supply pump through a fuel supply passage (not shown) formed in each cylinder head 12 , 13 . A bottom surface 63 of the valve body 60 faces the pressurizing chamber 30 thereby forming one end surface of the pressurizing chamber 30 . The inner bore 64 into which the valve member 50 is slidably inserted is formed in the valve body 60 in a direction perpendicular to the fuel passage 62 . The valve seat 61 is formed at a corner of a bottom opening of the valve body 60 . When the valve member 50 is reciprocally driven in the inner bore 64 of the valve body 60 , the valve surface 55 contacts the valve seat 61 or separated therefrom. As shown in FIG. 1A, the supporting member 80 is coupled to the upper end of the valve member 50 in a manner described later. The coil spring 70 is disposed between the supporting member 80 and a the valve body 60 in a compressed manner, so that a biasing force of the spring 70 is applied to the valve member 50 in a direction to establish contact between the valve surface 55 and the valve seat 61 .
[0036] As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the supporting member 80 is substantially disc-shaped. A through-hole 81 is formed through the supporting member 80 from its upper surface 83 to its bottom surface 84 , and a groove 82 is formed on the supporting member 80 . The shape of the through-hole 81 corresponds to the shape of the head portion 51 of the valve member 50 , and is made a little larger than that of the head portion 51 so that the head portion 51 is freely inserted into the through-hole 81 . The groove 82 is formed on the supporting member 80 crossing the through-hole 81 . The depth of the groove 82 is substantially the same as the thickness (a longitudinal dimension) of the head portion 51 , and its plane shape is the same as that of the through-hole 81 , so that the head portion 51 is retained in the groove 82 . The width of the through-hole 81 is made larger than the outermost diameter of the neck portion 52 , so that the neck portion is freely rotatable in the through-hole 81 when the neck portion 52 is inserted into the through-hole 81 in a manner described below.
[0037] Now, referring to FIGS. 6 A- 6 C, a method of assembling the one-way valve 5 will be described. First, the valve member 50 is slidably inserted into the inner bore 64 of the valve body 60 . Then, as shown in FIG. 6A, an upper portion of the cylindrical portion 53 of the valve member 50 is inserted into the coil spring 70 . The head portion 51 of the valve member 50 is inserted through the through-hole 81 of the supporting member 80 . Then, the supporting member 80 is pushed down against the spring force of the coil spring 70 . Thus, the supporting member 80 is positioned at the neck portion 52 of the valve member 50 .
[0038] Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, the valve member 50 is rotated relative to the supporting member 80 (the supporting member 80 may be rotated) to an angular position where the head portion 52 aligns with the groove 82 . Since the size of the neck portion 52 is smaller than that of the through-hole 81 , the neck portion can be freely rotated in the through-hole 81 . Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the force pushing down the supporting member 80 against the spring 70 is released, thereby making the head portion 52 engage with the groove 82 . Thus, the relative rotation between the supporting member 80 and the valve member 50 is restricted. Since the supporting member 80 is pushed up by the spring 70 , a downward movement of the supporting member 80 is restricted. In this manner, the supporting member 80 is coupled to the upper end of the valve member 50 , and the assembling process of the one-way valve 5 is completed.
[0039] Operation of the fuel injection pump 1 will be briefly described. According to rotation of the driving shaft 14 , the eccentric cam 17 is rotated. The cam ring 18 coupled to the cam 17 is driven eccentrically with respect to the axis of the driving shaft 14 . The plunger 20 in each cylinder 12 a , 13 a is reciprocally driven. As the plunger 20 is driven from a top dead center toward a bottom dead center, the inner space of the pressurizing chamber 30 is enlarged, and the pressure therein is decreased. The one-way valve 5 is opened against the basing force of the spring 70 by the negative pressure in the pressuring chamber 30 and a fuel pressure led from the fuel tank. Thus, the fuel is sucked into the pressuring chamber 30 according to the stroke of the plunger 20 toward the bottom dead center.
[0040] Then, the plunger 20 is driven from the bottom dead center toward the top dead center, and thereby the pressuring chamber 30 is pressurized and the one-way valve 5 is closed by the pressure in the pressurizing chamber 30 . When the fuel pressure in the pressurizing chamber 30 becomes higher than a pressure in the fuel chamber 33 connected to the pressurizing chamber 30 through the outlet passage 32 , the outlet one-way valve 44 is opened. The pressurized fuel is supplied from the pressurizing chamber 30 to the common rail (not shown). The fuel pressurized in both cylinders 12 a , 13 a is supplied to the common rail together.
[0041] The pressurized fuel supplied from the fuel injection pump 1 in a pulsating manner is accumulated in the common rail as fuel having a constant pressure. The fuel accumulated in the common rail is supplied to fuel injectors (not shown) which inject the fuel into the engine in a controlled manner.
[0042] Advantages of the present invention described above will be summarized. The supporting member 80 is simply coupled to the upper portion of the valve member 50 by engaging the head portion 51 with the groove 82 . The spring 70 is supported and held between the valve body 60 and the supporting member 80 . In other words, the supporting member 80 is coupled to the valve member 50 without performing a staking process or the like. Therefore, the washer and the E-shaped ring or other fixing parts used in the conventional one-way valve can be eliminated, and the process of assembling the one-way valve 5 is simplified.
[0043] The biasing force of the spring 70 is received by the bottom surface 84 of the supporting member 80 . Since the area of the bottom surface 84 is sufficiently large, abrasion wear of the supporting member 80 is prevented or suppressed. Therefore, the one-way valve 5 and the fuel injection pump 1 having such one-way valve can be used for a long time. Further, since the supporting member 80 is coupled to the valve member 50 by engaging the head portion 51 of the valve member with the groove 82 of the supporting member, the biasing force of the spring 70 applied to the supporting member 80 is received by the head portion 51 having a sufficiently large area. Therefore, abrasion wear occurring on the contacting surfaces of the head portion 51 of the valve member 5 and the groove 82 of the supporting member 80 can be reduced.
[0044] Further, since the head portion 51 is retained in the groove 82 so that the upper surface of the head portion 51 becomes substantially equal level to the upper surface 83 of the supporting member 80 , as shown in FIG. 6C, the head portion 51 is prevented from being damaged.
[0045] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but it may be variously modified. For example, the head portion 51 may be formed in other shapes such as a rectangular or half-circle shape. Though the groove 82 is formed to cross the through-hole 81 with a right angle in the foregoing embodiment, the groove 82 may be formed to cross the through-hole 81 with an appropriate angle.
[0046] While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | Low pressure fuel led from a fuel tank to a fuel injection pump is pressurized and sent out to a common rail that accumulates the pressurized fuel therein. A one-way valve that allows the low pressure fuel led from the fuel tank to flow into the fuel injection pump and prevents a fuel flow in a reverse direction is installed in the fuel injection pump. A supporting member for supporting a spring that biases a valve member in a direction to close the one-way valve is coupled to the valve member without using a rigid mechanical connection. The biasing force of the spring is received by a wide contacting surface of the supporting member, thereby reducing abrasion wear of the contacting surface. | 5 |
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] Priority is hereby claimed to the filing date of U.S. provisional patent application 62/141,595 filed on Apr. 1, 2015 and to the filing date of U.S. provisional patent application 62/293,069 filed on Feb. 9, 2016. The contents of these provisional patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to the aging of alcoholic beverages such as distilled spirits, beer, and wine, and more specifically to the rapid aging of alcoholic beverages using controlled mechanically induced cavitation to enhance maturity and drinkability of resulting beverages thereby simulating traditional aging.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The most desired of spirits are aged. Examples include whisky, scotch, bourbon, tequila, and many others. Likewise, beer and wine also are aged prior to drinking. These aged products are more expensive by virtue of the time and resources expended during the aging process and arguably have more enjoyable flavors and aromas than alcoholic beverages that are non-aged. The aging process softens the ‘burn’ of the ethanol while smoothing out flavors and adding even more pleasant ones. Further, undesirable and even poisonous alcohols and other products are largely converted to more desirable and less offensive tasting esters during aging.
[0004] Traditionally, newly distilled spirits are aged in a variety of ways, with perhaps the most common being barrel aging. Newly distilled or “white” whisky, for example, is commonly aged in Southern white oak barrels that have been burnt or charred on the inside. Aging exposes the alcohol and other compounds both to oxygen in the air and the storage materials themselves (charred oak for instance) for long periods of time, usually many years or even decades. This alters the chemical structure of many of the alcoholic compounds and changes the color, aroma, and flavor of the resulting liquor in various and mostly beneficial ways. Beer and wine also are aged in aging vessels for similar reasons.
[0005] Alcoholic beverages are created through fermentation of a biological product, be it grapes, grain mash, fruit, plants, or another product. In the case of distilled spirits, distillation yields primarily ethanol, but also produces aldehydes, esters, and fatty acids, all of which have very specific flavors and aromas. It is at least in part the unique combination of these chemicals that make spirits different from one another. Multiple distillations and filtering can remove many of these compounds to create a “clean” or aromaless and flavorless spirit such as Vodka. The choice of raw materials, the fermentation process, and the distillation technique and equipment will all contribute to the overall chemical composition and therefore the aroma and taste of the final product.
[0006] Distilling alcohol creates beneficial byproducts, as mentioned above, but also creates bad-tasting and poisonous byproducts, including butane, methanol, hydrazines, acetates, and acetaldehydes. Both good and bad byproducts often are grouped together under the label “congeners.” Fortunately, the good congeners happen to be quite stable, whereas the bad ones break down or are converted to more desirable compounds or at least to inert compounds over time. Aging a distilled product allows this time to pass, thereby decreasing the amount of bad tastes and poisons and increasing the amount of good flavor and aroma. Research has shown that basically all the effects of aging occur within fifteen years with virtually no perceptible change in aroma and flavor occurring thereafter. This is part of the reason why, for instance, most scotch is aged for between 12 and 15 years.
[0007] There have been attempts over the years to obtain the beneficial chemical changes in distilled spirits caused by aging without having to wait for years for them to occur. Some distillers, for example, prefer to age spirits in small barrels, which increases the relative area of contact between the spirits and the inside of the barrel. This has not been completely successful however and still can require several years to obtain desired benefits. More recently. so-called artificially accelerated aging has become known and has been tried. In one such process, a distilled spirit is pumped through an oxygenated chamber, where it is subjected to high-intensity ultrasonic energy or sound waves. The agitation caused by the sound waves induces esterification. It has been shown that this process can at least to some extent artificially replicate the aging process of liquor such as whisky by inducing more harsh “higher” alcohols like isopropanol to react with fatty acids to produce esters with more pleasant flavors. This is often referred to “oxidation” in the industry. While it is claimed that ultrasound aging can reduce the production of aged liquors from years to hours, the result has not been completely satisfactory at least in part because it has proven very challenging to scale up ultrasound processes to commercial production volumes.
[0008] A need exists for a method and apparatus that can obtain the same beneficial chemical reactions and infusion of flavors in alcoholic beverages such as distilled spirits, beer and wine caused by traditional aging, but obtains them in hours rather than years. The method should be able to age alcoholic beverages in a continuous process and in commercial volumes. It is to the provision of such a method and an apparatus for carrying out the method that the present invention is primarily directed.
SUMMARY
[0009] Briefly described, a method and apparatus is disclosed, for aging an alcoholic beverage such as distilled spirits, beer, or wine (which may collectively be referred to herein as “spirits”) in hours rather than years. The process can be used to age spirits in commercial volumes and in such a way that the final product is virtually indistinguishable from spirits aged for years in barrels or other aging vessels. The method includes passing liquid spirits through a treatment zone and inducing is the liquid highly energetic cavitation events. Preferably, the liquid is passed through a controlled cavitation reactor such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,465,642; 8,430,968; 7,507,014; 7,360,755; and 6,627,784, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The reactor has a closed cylindrical housing within which a cylindrical rotor is rotatably mounted. The treatment zone is defined between the outer surface of the rotor and the inner surface of the housing. Bores are formed through the outer surface of the rotor and when the rotor is rotated at a high rate with spirits in the treatment zone, very energetic cavitation events are generated within the bores.
[0010] The cavitation events within the bores in turn generate micro shock waves that propagate through the spirits in the treatment zone. The shock waves, which are very highly energetic, break down undesirable alcohols, tannins, and other chemicals in the spirits just as traditional aging does, thus mellowing the taste of the spirits. In one exemplary embodiment, charred wood chips are mixed with distilled spirits and the cavitation events draw out the flavors from the wood chips and infuse them in the distilled spirits. The result is liquor comparable in color, aroma, and taste to that obtained from years of aging in a barrel, but requiring minutes or hours rather than years to obtain. In another embodiment, hops are added to beer and the shock waves draw out the flavor of the hops and infuse the flavor in the beer more efficiently than traditional aging.
[0011] With the proliferation of craft breweries and their more heavily hopped beers, the demand for hops and their prices have increased. Typically only about one third of the flavor potential is extracted from hops during traditional beer aging. Hops can be added for bittering purposes prior to fermentation or for flavor purposes post fermentation, often called dry hopping. Using the pressure fluctuations of shock waves from cavitation, hop flavor can be extracted and infused into beer much more efficiently in a very short time, This is accomplished in a relatively low shear environment to minimize protein damage to the hops and to minimize fines production. The ultimate result is a reduction in hops usage to produce a desired hops flavor in beer as well as higher yields due to more efficient flavor extraction and less beer soaked hop waste. Other flavorings such as coffee or chocolate also can be added,
[0012] Red “young wines” often have a strong tannin taste. Reduction of tannins commonly requires aging of wine in barrels or stainless steel aging vessels for many years. This reduces the tannins and leads to improved taste and thus increased value, This tannin reduction is a chemical reaction and it has been found that this chemical reaction can be sped up greatly by passing young wine through a controlled cavitation reactor according to the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention can be applied to wine, with or without added flavorings, to reduce or eliminate the traditional aging process.
[0013] These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be better appreciated upon review of the detailed description set forth below taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, which are briefly described as follows,
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the invention used here in conjunction with traditional pre-aging.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing yet another embodiment of the invention used here in conjunction with traditional post-aging.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The invention will now be described in more detail and this description should be reviewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures for enhanced clarity. Mechanically induced and controlled cavitation such as that produced by the controlled cavitation devices disclosed in the incorporated references is used according to the present invention to obtain artificial aging of alcoholic beverages such as distilled spirits on a high volume commercial scale. In one embodiment, the system includes a reservoir tank for holding an alcoholic beverage during the aging process. A pump circulates the beverage from the reservoir tank, through the controlled cavitation device, and back to the reservoir tank. In this way, the alcoholic beverage being aged can be circulated through the controlled cavitation device for as many cycles as necessary to obtain the desired degree of aging and flavoring.
[0018] In another embodiment, charred wood chips are added to distilled spirits and become entrained in the flow through the controlled cavitation device. The intense cavitation to which the spirits and wood chips are subjected in the cavitation device penetrate the wood chips and extracts color and flavor from them, which is infused into the liquid. This process also drives the liquid spirits into and out of the pores of the chips, which helps filter some undesirable compounds from the mix in much the same way that the charred interior of an oak barrel does over years of traditional aging. In other embodiments, hops and/or other flavors may be added to the alcoholic beverage for the aging of beers for example. Other flavoring and/or aroma sources such as fruits, oils, chocolates, flowers, spices, and other substances may be added for the production of a variety of products from flavored liquors to beer to wine and even to perfumes.
[0019] When used to age distilled spirits, the system of this invention can run for varying periods of time to obtain numerous cycles of a mixture through the controlled cavitation device. Varying amounts of char and various species of wood chips and/or flavoring may be selected to obtain a desired flavor, color, and filtration effect. It has been found that the time required for aging can range from a few minutes to many hours depending upon the composition of the original distilled spirit, the amount of desired color and flavor desired, and the number of years of traditional aging being matched. A heat exchanger may also be incorporated in the loop for longer runs to dissipate heat build up caused by the cavitation device and any exothermic reactions occurring in the mix.
[0020] Internal clearances within the controlled cavitation device such as the space between the rotor and interior wails of the housing may be adjusted to accommodate different size charred wood chips. This is advantageous since wood chip surface area is an independent variable in the resultant aging process. Wood chips may also be substituted with a replaceable wooden ring insert that is internally concentric to the controlled cavitation device housing. Such a ring can be charred prior to an aging process to obtain the same desirable characteristics as the charred interior walls of a traditional oak barrel. In either event, the spirits are forced into and out of the pores of the charred wood chips or charred ring by the high intensity shock wave induced pressure variations, thereby releasing color and flavor into the mix. The intense pressure fluctuation also functions to remove sulfur species and other contaminants from distilled spirits through a filtration process akin to charcoal filtration. More specifically, the spirits are forced by the pressure variations into and out, of the pores and particles of the charred wood, which filters the spirits in much the same way as an activated charcoal filter bed. Advantageously, the flavoring, coloring, and filtering process are accelerated by orders of magnitude over traditional barrel aging processes.
[0021] As mentioned above, ultrasound has been used in the past to obtain somewhat accelerated aging of spirits. The system of the present invention has many advantages over ultrasound treatment. For instance, ultrasound aging systems can work acceptably well on a small or laboratory scale, but such systems are difficult to scale up and replicate laboratory results in commercial volumes. The use of controlled cavitation in the present invention provides similar or near identical results at nearly any commercial volume. Cavitation events in the controlled cavitation device typically produce intense shock waves in a liquid being treated that expose the molecules in the liquid to far higher energies than are possible with ultrasound, This can result in more rapid flavor intensification and more rapid conversion of undesirable alcohols in the mixture into esters and other less objectionable compounds.
[0022] Gasses such as oxygen also may be added to the mix to accelerate the oxidation and conversion of undesirable alcohols and other chemicals. Also ultrasound liquor aging devices rely on small clearances and mechanical shear to enhance the effects of the ultrasound aging process. These requirements are not conducive to particulates like wood chips being added to the liquor mix. A controlled cavitation device of the present invention can easily accommodate wood chips and other solids because of its inherent low shear and relatively large internal clearances.
[0023] The same principles used to extract flavor and color from charred wood chips in liquor aging can be used to extract sugars, starches, oils, and other substances from woods and other lignocellulosic material in applications such as ethanol and biogas production. Substances such as waste food or algae can experience component extraction in a similar way. In such processes, the intense pressure fluctuations caused by the cavitation induced shock waves force a solvent into a solid to remove entrapped components such as sugars and starches. These intense high energy shock waves are also capable of causing lysis of pressurized bodies like cells. Examples of this include treatment of algae or bacteria with the cavitation induced lysis allowing for oil and carbohydrate extraction or pasteurization. Cavitation can also reverse hornification where the pore structure of a lignocellulosic material dries and bonds to itself limiting future use of its natural capillary system. The pressure fluctuations can force solvent into this structure and reopen it to near its original condition prior to drying.
[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates in simplified schematic form a controlled cavitation reactor suitable for use in carrying out the methodology of the present invention. Such a reactor is described in detail in the incorporated references, and so will be describe only generally here. The reactor 11 comprises a reservoir tank 12 for holding a liquid alcoholic beverage during the aging process. Liquid is drawn from the reservoir tank 12 through conduit 13 by a pump 14 and delivered through a flow meter 16 and conduit 17 to a controlled cavitation reactor 18 . The controlled cavitation reactor 18 generally comprises a cylindrical housing having an internally mounted cylindrical rotor. A space is defined between the outer peripheral surface of the rotor and the inner peripheral surface of the housing and this space is referred to as the cavitation zone. Cavitation-inducing structures such as radial bores are formed in or one the outer peripheral surface of the rotor. The rotor is rotated within the housing by an electric motor 19 .
[0025] The liquid is pumped through the cavitation reactor within which it flows through the cavitation zone. As the rotor is rotated at a high rate, continuous cavitation events are induced in the liquid within the radial bores. This, in turn, produces highly energetic shock waves caused by continuously collapsing cavitation bubbles to propagate through the liquid in the cavitation zone. These shock waves induce the reactions described above within the alcoholic beverage, thereby duplicating traditional aging processes, but doing so in minutes rather than years. Charred wood chips may be mixed with the liquid, particularly when aging distilled spirits, to infuse the white spirits with color and flavor similar to that, resulting from years of aging in charred barrels. After treatment in the reactor 18 , the liquid flows through conduit 21 and may flow through a heat exchanger 22 to remove unwanted heat induced by the energy of cavitation. The cooled liquid then flows through conduit 23 and inlet 26 back to the reservoir tank 12 . The liquid and entrained chips and/or other flavorings if desired may be circulated through the cavitation reactor as many times as desired to obtain, a desired level of aging, flavor, and aroma. Then, it can be extracted as an aged and flavored alcoholic beverage, as indicated by arrow 28 .
[0026] FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate hybrid systems for aging distilled spirits that include artificial aging with high energy cavitation in conjunction with traditional aging. Of course, such a hybrid system can be used in the aging of beer and wine in the same way. In FIG. 2 , distilled spirits are partially aged in a traditional manner such as being left in a charred oak barrel 27 for a specified period of time. This time preferably is far less than the years required for full barrel aging and results in partial aging, partial filtration and partial infusion of the desired flavors of the charred oak into the distilled spirits, The partially aged spirits can then be subjected to the cavitation induced aging in the apparatus described above for one or more cycles. Charred wood chips and/or other flavorings can be introduced if desired to obtain additional flavoring, coloring, and filtration during the process. The result is a fully aged liquor having characteristics unique to the charred oak barrel in which it was partially aged, but also having the full robust aging that traditionally only results from years of residence in oak barrels. Again, the total time to obtain the fully aged liquor product is a fraction of the time required to obtain the same benefits with traditional aging.
[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates an, alternate hybrid process for obtaining similar results. Here, freshly distilled spirits are delivered from the distiller directly to a controlled cavitation device 11 according to the invention. As described above, the spirits are circulated through the controlled cavitation reactor or cavitator for a predetermined number of cycles, with or without the addition of charred wood chips and other flavoring and filtering media. After treatment for minutes or hours in the cavitation reactor, the distilled spirits are partially aged as if they had resided in traditional charred oak barrels for months or even years. The partially aged spirits may then be delivered to traditional charred oak barrels or other aging vessels for further aging in a more traditional manner. This may be desired, for instance, to infuse the resulting liquor with unique flavors from the barrel or for other reasons, After traditional aging in the barrel for a time far less than the several years usually required, the liquor is fully aged and virtually indistinguishable from its more venerable predecessors. Again, the total time to obtain the desirable flavor and character of liquor aged for years is reduced to a fraction of that time using a combination of the methodology of the present invention and traditional aging techniques.
[0028] The invention has been described herein in terms and within the context of exemplary embodiments and methodologies considered by the inventors to represent the best modes of carrying out the invention. However, the illustrated embodiments are not intended to and should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention. For example, while aging distilled spirits has been used in some instances as an example of the use of this invention, the invention itself is much broader than this. For instance, the methodology of the invention has been found useful in beer manufacturing, where pumping beer through a controlled cavitation reactor with hops and other flavorings can simulate the aging process in a fraction of the time. Wine can also be aged using the methodology of this invention. When aging wine, the wine may be pumped through a controlled cavitation reactor with wood chips and/or other flavorings. Exposure to shock waves in the cavitation zone accelerates many of the chemical reactions that naturally occur slowly with traditional beer and wine aging. Thus, the term “spirits” as used herein is meant to be construed to encompass beer and wine as well as distilled spirits. Any desired flavoring can be included in a stream of spirits, beer, or wine being aged including those mentioned and, for instance, coffee and chocolate (sometimes used to flavor beer) an any other flavoring desired. It will be appreciated by the skilled artisan, therefore, that a wide gamut of additions, deletions, and modifications, both subtle and gross, may be made to the example embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention exemplified by such embodiments. | An extreme acceleration of the process of aging spirits to obtain aged liquors includes circulating the spirits through a cavitation zone within a controlled cavitation reactor and exposing the spirits therein to high energy cavitation induced shockwaves. Sources of flavor and color such as charred wood chips may be added to the spirits to provide the color and flavor of liquors aged for years in traditional charred oak barrels. The method and apparatus of the present invention obtains the same conversion of undesirable alcohols, flavor extraction, and color as years of aging in an oak barrel but does so in a matter of minutes or hours. The apparatus and method also can be used in conjunction with traditional aging techniques and methods and the total aging time is still reduced dramatically. | 2 |
[0001] This application is a national phase application of PCT/IL2010/000343 filed Apr. 28, 2010, drawing priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/173,229, filed Apr. 28, 2009.
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a door-stop device, and more particularly, to a door-stop device adapted to serve as a safety device by interposition between a rotating door and a doorjamb.
[0003] Approaches to door-stop devices are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,998 to McKenzie, and in my PCT Patent Publication No. WO 2008081429, both of which are incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. These devices have an arm having a chock at one end, for obstructing the closing of the door, and a fastening mechanism, for securing the device to a shaft of a rotating door mechanism.
[0004] With the door in a closed position, the chock is disposed in a loaded position in which the chock exerts pressure against the doorjamb. When the door is opened, the chock is no longer restrained by the doorjamb, and the chock assumes a blocking position between the doorjamb and the door.
[0005] Such door-stop devices must satisfy additional design criteria. The prior art has recognized that the door-stop device may be designed such that when the door handle is rotated, the chock rotates therewith, changing position from a blocking position to an upright position, whereby the door may be closed unimpaired. When the door handle is subsequently released, the chock returns to the normal, loaded position in which the chock exerts pressure on the doorjamb.
[0006] The spring force of the device arm may be advantageously less than the spring force of the rotating shaft of the door mechanism in the direction of the shaft's relaxed, untensioned, or natural position, otherwise, the force exerted by the chock against the door frame will not allow the door handle to resume this untensioned position.
[0007] In reducing the invention to practice, I have found that there exists a plethora of engineering design requirements and constraints for such door-stop devices, some of which do not appear to have been contemplated, or do not appear to have been solved, based on the teachings of the prior art. Thus, the advances made by prior art devices notwithstanding, the present inventor has recognized a need for improved door-stop devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] According to the teachings of the present invention there is provided a door-stop device or mechanism for a door hingedly set in a doorframe and equipped with a door handle assembly rotatable between a first, untensioned position and a second, tensioned position, the device including: (a) an obstruction assembly; (b) an extension arm having a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the obstruction assembly, and (c) a securing mechanism, connected to the second end of the extension arm, the securing mechanism including a collar adapted, in a relaxed position, to partially encompass a rotatable portion of the door handle assembly, the collar associated with a first tab having a first opening and a second tab having a second opening, the openings adapted to receive a closure member therethrough, wherein, when the securing mechanism is secured to the door handle assembly, and the door is set within the doorframe, (i) the obstruction assembly is adapted to rotate in direct relation to a rotation of the door handle assembly between the first position and the second position; (ii) the extension arm and the obstruction assembly are adapted whereby, when the door is closed with respect to the doorframe, and the door handle assembly is disposed in the untensioned position, the obstruction assembly is urged against a doorjamb of the doorframe; (iii) the extension arm and the obstruction assembly are adapted whereby, when the door handle assembly is disposed in the tensioned position, the obstruction assembly is clear of the doorframe; and (iv) the extension arm and the obstruction assembly are adapted whereby, when the door is open with respect to the doorframe, and the door handle assembly is disposed in the untensioned position, a portion of the obstruction assembly is interposed between the door and the doorframe to spacedly inhibit the door from closing against the doorframe.
[0009] The door-stop device may include any feature described, either individually or in combination with any feature, in any configuration.
[0010] According to further features in the described preferred embodiments, the first tab is attached to a first end of the collar, and the second tab is attached to a second end of the collar, and the second end of the extension arm may be attached to the collar.
[0011] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the first tab is attached to a first end of the collar, and the second tab is attached to a second end of the collar, and wherein the second end of the extension arm, a base of the first tab, and the first end of the collar, form a juncture.
[0012] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the second end of the extension arm is attached to the securing mechanism in a position proximal to the collar, with respect to the first opening.
[0013] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the door-stop device further includes the closure member, and the closure member may include a bolt or a screw.
[0014] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the closure member is adapted to bridge between the tabs, and/or to draw together respective inner faces of the tabs.
[0015] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the tabs are adapted whereby, when the collar is in an open or relaxed condition, an angle between the inner faces is at least 7°, at least 10°, at least 15°, between 10° and 45°, between 15° and 40°, or between 20° and 35°.
[0016] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, when the securing mechanism is secured to the door handle assembly, and the door is set within the doorframe, the extension arm has a first surface adapted to face the doorjamb, and wherein the first surface and the collar are attached whereby an inner facing of the collar and the first surface of the extension arm are disposed in substantially a same direction.
[0017] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the grooves are disposed in the inner facing of the collar.
[0018] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, each of the grooves is adapted to receive an insert, the insert protruding past the inner facing of the collar, and adapted to engage, when the securing mechanism is secured to the door handle assembly, an external surface of a rotating shaft of the door handle assembly.
[0019] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the first surface is a generally concave surface.
[0020] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the extension arm has a second surface adapted to face away from the doorjamb, and the obstruction assembly is associated with, or substantially disposed between, the first surface and the second surface.
[0021] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the openings include at least one recessed opening.
[0022] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the openings are elongated openings dimensioned to provide mobility to the closure member as the closure member moves from one position to another position, and wherein the elongated openings may be substantially rectangular, oval, or rectangular with rounded ends.
[0023] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the arm includes, largely includes, substantially includes, or consists essentially of a resilient, flexible memory shape material such as a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic polymer.
[0024] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the collar and the tabs include, largely include, substantially include, or consist essentially of a resilient, flexible substantially perfectly elastic material such as a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic polymer.
[0025] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the obstruction assembly includes at least one obstruction cushion, laterally protruding from both sides of the extension arm, and, adapted to at least partially absorb an impact between the door and the doorjamb.
[0026] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the at least one obstruction cushion is at least a pair of obstruction cushions, each of the pair protruding from one side of the sides of the arm.
[0027] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the extension arm includes a support frame disposed underneath the at least one obstruction cushion or between the pair of obstruction cushions, whereby the impact may be at least partially distributed over all of the support frame.
[0028] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the pair of obstruction cushions mechanically intercommunicates via the support frame, whereby the impact is transferred and distributed between the cushions.
[0029] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the cushion or cushions are made of a resilient, flexible material such as a thermoplastic rubber.
[0030] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the door-stop device further includes the doorjamb.
[0031] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the door-stop device further includes the door handle assembly.
[0032] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the door-stop device further includes the door.
[0033] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, a tab of the tabs has a recess adapted to receive a threaded nut or element that is complementary with a surface of the closure member.
[0034] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the recess has a contour or a protruding element adapted to seat the threaded nut or element, whereby in an initial, untensioned, open position of the collar, with the closure member inserted through the openings, the threaded nut or element is disposed within 10°, within 8°, or within 5° of perpendicular, with respect to a longitudinal axis of the closure member.
[0035] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, when a distance between a rotating shaft of the door handle assembly and a leading edge of the door is within a range of about 25 mm to about 65 mm, the door-stop device is adapted to universally function within an entire breadth of the range.
[0036] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the distance between a center of the collar and a distal edge of the door-stop device (typically the obstruction element) is at least 11 cm, at least 11.5 cm, at least 12 cm, or at least 12.5 cm.
[0037] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the distance between the center of the collar and the distal edge of the door-stop device is less than 20 cm, less than 18 cm, less than 16 cm, or less than 15 cm.
[0038] According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the distance between a center of the collar and a distal edge of the door-stop device is at least 11 cm, at least 11.5 cm, at least 12 cm, or at least 12.5 cm, whereby, when a distance between a rotating shaft of the door handle assembly and a leading edge of the door is within a range of about 20 mm or 25 mm to about 65 mm, the door-stop device is adapted to universally function within an entire breadth of the range.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0039] The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. Throughout the drawings, like-referenced characters are generally used to designate like elements.
[0040] In the drawings:
[0041] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device according to one aspect of the present invention;
[0042] FIG. 1 a is another perspective view of the device of FIG. 1 ;
[0043] FIG. 2 a is a perspective view of one aspect of the device of the present invention, mounted on a door handle, the door opening mechanism being rotated to a first, open position;
[0044] FIG. 2 b is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 2 a , wherein the door opening mechanism is disposed in a second, closed position, and the door-stop device obstructs the closing of the door;
[0045] FIG. 2 c is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 2 a , wherein the door opening mechanism is disposed in a second, closed position, the door is closed, and the door-stop device exerts a pressure on the adjacent doorjamb;
[0046] FIG. 3 a is a first side perspective view of the device of the present invention. FIG. 3 b is a top perspective view of the device provided in FIG. 3 a . FIGS. 3 c - 3 g provide cross-sectional views of the device provided in FIG. 3 a;
[0047] FIGS. 4 a - 4 d are schematic side perspectives of the inventive device, in which the securing assembly is secured around rotating shafts of a rotatable mechanism for extending and retracting a bolt adapted to be received by the doorjamb;
[0048] FIG. 5 is a second side perspective view of the device provided in FIG. 3 a ; and
[0049] FIGS. 6 a and 6 b schematically show how, as the door handle is turned, the receding distance of the device from the leading edge of the door strongly depends on the initial angle of the device against the doorjamb, and upon the angle of rotation of the shaft of the door handle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0050] The principles and operation of the door-stop device according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description.
[0051] Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
[0052] In reducing the invention to practice, I have found that there exist numerous and varied engineering design requirements and constraints for such door-stop devices, some of which do not appear to have been contemplated, and/or solved, by the teachings of the prior art.
[0053] It would also be highly advantageous to have a door-stop device that is substantially universal for conventional doors, doorframes, and door handle assemblies, such that the device functions substantially irrespectively of the distance between the rotating shaft of the door handle assembly and the leading edge of the door, irrespectively of the angle of rotation of conventional door-handle shafts, and irrespectively of the spring forces exerted by conventional, household, rotating door-opening mechanisms. It would also be of particular advantage to have a door-stop device that is compact, robust, relatively unobtrusive to the user, and economical.
[0054] In accordance with the present invention, a door-stop device for a door with a rotatable door-opening mechanism and a doorjamb is provided. Referring now to FIG. 1 , the door-stop device of the present invention includes an obstruction element or assembly 20 which is capable of withstanding the closing force asserted on an object positioned between the closing door and the doorjamb. The obstruction element is constructed of a material rigid enough to maintain its shape upon impact, yet flexible enough to prevent damage to the door upon closing. The obstruction element of the invention is constructed of a width such that when it is placed between the door and the doorjamb, the gap between the door and the doorjamb is wider than the width of a human finger or hand.
[0055] Obstruction element or assembly 20 may consist of one or more cushions such as cushion 20 a and cushion 20 b. Obstruction element or assembly 20 may be connected at a first end to an extension arm 30 , which is, in turn, connected to a securing element or assembly 40 , which may include a collar or clasp 42 and a closure member or screw 44 . At the ends of collar 42 may be disposed tabs or tabs 52 , 54 , having respective openings 53 , 55 , adapted to receive the screw or bolt of the closure mechanism. Typically, openings 53 , 55 may be recessed openings.
[0056] It may be advantageous to construct the inventive device such that the bolt or screw is inserted through opening 53 , such that the head of the screw or bolt is obstructed from passing through by tab 52 . The distal end of the screw or bolt may be passed through opening 55 .
[0057] The obstruction element, arm, and clasp may be molded together in such a manner as to create a single integral, semi-rigid structure.
[0058] The extension arm may advantageously have a generally flat or slightly curved upper surface 32 (disposed, in working configuration, distally to the doorjamb), and a curved or concave lower surface 34 (disposed, in working configuration, laterally to the doorjamb). Obstruction element may be held between surface 32 and surface 34 .
[0059] The device may advantageously be constructed whereby an inner facing 49 of the collar and the concave lower surface of the extension arm are disposed in the same or substantially the same direction (i.e., the direction of the doorjamb, when the device is in working configuration).
[0060] Collar or clasp 42 may be placed around the rotating shaft section of the door opening mechanism, such as a door knob or handle (or another rotating element of the rotating door-opening mechanism), and is held in fixed relation to this rotating section by a closure member or screw. By securing the clasp to the rotating shaft of the door-opening mechanism, the obstruction element of the invention will move in a direct relation to the rotation of the door-opening mechanism.
[0061] FIG. 3 a is a first side perspective view of one embodiment of the device of the present invention. FIG. 3 b is a top perspective view of the device provided in FIG. 3 a . FIGS. 3 c - 3 g provide cross-sectional views of the device provided in FIG. 3 a.
[0062] FIGS. 4 a - 4 d are schematic side perspectives of the inventive device, in which the securing assembly is secured around rotating shafts of a rotatable mechanism for extending and retracting a bolt adapted to be received by the doorjamb. The rotating shafts may have cross-sections (substantially parallel to the face of the door)) widely varying in contour and/or in area. The contours shown are triangular ( FIG. 4 a ), circular ( FIGS. 4 b and 4 c ), and square ( FIG. 4 d ).
[0063] Grooves such as groove 45 may be disposed in an inside facing 46 of the collar. The grooves may be adapted to receive inserts such as insert 48 . The inserts may have a first surface that is complementary or at least partially complementary to the groove, such that the insert snaps into, fits snugly into, or is otherwise secured to the collar.
[0064] The inserts may protrude above the inner facing of the collar, so as to engage the external surface of the rotating shaft. Depending on the geometry and size of the rotating shaft, at least one such insert, and typically, at least two or three such inserts, may be required to engage the external surface thereof. The securing assembly is adapted such that when the closure member (such as a screw or bolt) is tightened or screwed, the collar is partially closed, whereby the inserts firmly and fixedly engage the external surface of the rotating shaft.
[0065] The cross-sectional area of the circular rotating shaft in FIG. 4 b is larger than the cross-sectional area of the circular rotating shaft in FIG. 4 c by about 50%. Shafts having differences of more than 100% in the cross-sectional area may be used in conjunction with the device of the present invention, using the same collar, whereby the securing mechanism fixedly engages the external surface of the rotating shaft. Consequently, the obstruction element will move in a direct relation to the rotation of the door-opening mechanism, substantially irrespective of the shaft circumference. Thus, the securing mechanism is substantially a universal mechanism that can receive virtually any profile of rotating shaft, along with a wide variety of shaft sizes.
[0066] It may be advantageous to provide a kit containing the door-stop device of the present invention, including the closure mechanism, along with inserts of two or more thicknesses, to accommodate a wide variety of rotating shaft sizes and profiles.
[0067] When the door-opening mechanism is rotated to a first, open position ( FIG. 2 a ), the obstruction element of the invention will be located in a position away from the edge of the door and the doorjamb. Typically, this position may be above the rotating shaft of the door-opening mechanism.
[0068] When the door is open and the door-opening mechanism is in a second, closed position, the obstruction element of the invention is located in a second, somewhat more horizontal position, with respect to the first position ( FIG. 2 b ). While in this closed position, the obstruction element extends past the edge of the door and may contact the doorjamb to prevent the door from completely shutting. Consequently, the obstruction element prevents the door from crushing or contacting an object located between the edge of the door and the doorjamb, such as a human finger or fingers.
[0069] To close the door completely, the rotating door mechanism may be held in an open position, at which time the obstruction element of the invention is located in the first, non-obstructing position. In this position, the door may be closed, since the obstruction element is located away from the edge of the door. Once the door is closed, the door-opening mechanism may be released to allow the door-opening mechanism to return to its resting position, enabling the door bolt to extend into the doorjamb. The arm and/or obstruction element are adapted such that, as the door-opening mechanism returns to its resting, closed position, the obstruction element attempts to return to its horizontal obstruction position. This may be accomplished by spring-loading the obstruction element and/or the extension arm.
[0070] However, the inside surface of the doorjamb typically prevents the obstruction element from returning to the second, more horizontal position. At this time, the arm may bend to allow the obstruction element to remain in a somewhat vertical position (typically leaning and exerting pressure against the door jam) while the fixed clasp returns with the rotating shaft to its closed position ( FIG. 2 c ). Thus, to completely close the door, a person must hold the door-opening mechanism in an open position while simultaneously closing the door.
[0071] The obstruction element of the present invention may be constructed of a material flexible enough to prevent damage to the door and doorjamb and rigid enough to obstruct the door, upon closing. The material may advantageously be selected to deform upon impact from the door, and to substantially return to its shape after impact. Thermoplastic rubber has been found to be suitable for this purpose.
[0072] FIG. 5 is a second side perspective view of the device provided in FIG. 3 a , and includes a detailed view of the tab of the collar that is proximal to the obstruction element.
[0073] As described hereinabove, at the ends of the collar may be disposed tabs 52 , 54 , having respective openings 53 , 55 , adapted to receive the screw or bolt of the closure mechanism. Typically, openings 53 , 55 may be recessed openings. The openings may advantageously be elongated (rectangular, oval, rectangular with rounded ends, etc.) to provide mobility to the screw or bolt as the securing mechanism moves from one position to another.
[0074] It may be advantageous to construct the inventive device such that the bolt or screw is inserted through opening 53 , such that the head of the screw or bolt is obstructed from passing through by tab 52 . The distal end of the screw or bolt may be passed through opening 55 .
[0075] I have found that when the collar is an open, relaxed position, the faces of the tab that face each other may advantageously have an angle of at least 10°, more typically, between 10° and 45°, and yet more typically, between 15° and 40°. In one embodiment of the present invention, it is presently preferred to have an angle between 20° and 35°. The angle between the faces helps the inside facing of the collar to assume a circular or close-to-circular profile, in the closed position, which may be critical in establishing a fixed relationship between the device and the rotating shaft. This is of particular importance in accommodating shafts of differing shapes and sizes.
[0076] After securing the device and the rotating shaft in this fixed relationship, the above-mentioned angle between the faces may be reduced by at least 5°, at least 10°, at least 15°, and typically, at least 20°, such that the openings in the faces assume a substantially linear arrangement. In absolute terms, the above-mentioned angle between the faces may be less than 10°, and typically, less than 5°. In fixed position, the screw or bolt may be tangential or substantially tangential (within 10°, more typically within 5°) to the inside facing of the collar or more specifically, to the inside facing of the center or top 41 (shown in FIG. 4 a ) of the collar.
[0077] One apparent disadvantage of the above-described angle between the faces of the tabs is that the openings are not linearly aligned in the initial, untensioned, open position of the collar. Consequently, inserting the screw or bolt through both tab openings and affixing a threaded element such as nut 59 to the threaded rod, as shown in FIG. 1 a, may become extremely challenging.
[0078] In a preferred embodiment, the face of the tab that faces the obstruction element may have a recess adapted to receive a threaded nut or element that is complementary with the threaded rod of the bolt or screw.
[0079] In another preferred embodiment, this recess may have a contour or have a protruding element 61 to seat the threaded nut such that in the initial, untensioned, open position of the collar, the nut and the inserted screw or bolt will be within 10°, more typically within 5° of perpendicular. Consequently, the collar can be secured with facility to the rotating shaft.
[0080] Preferably, the contour or protruding element have sufficient softness and/or flexibility such that, during the tightening of the closure mechanism, the nut maintains its largely perpendicular orientation to the threaded rod, while allowing the tabs of the collar to move towards each other, even as the angle between the tabs is reduced from a larger, initial angle (e.g., 30°) to a reduced angle (e.g., below 10°). The above-described elongated openings facilitate this transition.
[0081] FIGS. 6 a and 6 b schematically show how, as the door handle is turned, the receding distance of the device from the leading edge of the door strongly depends on the initial angle of the device against the doorjamb, and upon the angle of rotation of the shaft of the door handle.
[0082] I have calculated the receding distance (Y) as a function of the length (L) of the door-stopping device initial angle (ε) of the device against the doorjamb, with respect to the horizontal plane, and the angle of rotation (α) of the shaft of the door handle.
[0083] The receding distance Y may be represented by the following equation:
[0000] Y= 2 ·L· cos(90−α/2)·sin(ε+α/2)
[0000] For a particular device, L is constant, and the relative receding distance for various door-opening mechanisms is given by the following ratio:
[0000] Y (i) Y (2) =[cos(90−α (1) /2)·sin(ε (1) +α (1) /2)]/[cos(90−α (2) /2)·sin(ε (2) +α (2) /2)]
[0000] By way of example, in a first case (shown schematically in FIG. 6 a ), α is 20° and ε is 60°; in a second case (shown schematically in FIG. 6 b ), α is 20° and ε is 10°. The relative receding distance is 2.76, which means that the receding or retracting distance along the horizontal plane in the first case is almost 3 times that of the receding distance in the second case.
[0084] We have discovered, however, that by choosing L within a fairly narrow range of lengths (typically at least about 11.5 cm and less than about less than 18 cm), the inventive door-stop device is adapted to universally function within the entire conventional range of distances between the rotating shaft of the door handle assembly and the leading edge of the door (about 20 mm to about 65 mm). Within this fairly narrow range of lengths, the inventive door-stop device is also adapted to universally function within the entire range of rotation angles of conventional door-handle shafts (typically about 10° to about 60°). Within this fairly narrow range of lengths, the inventive door-stop device is yet further adapted to universally function to exert a spring force that is smaller than the spring forces exerted by virtually all conventional, household, rotating door-opening mechanisms. Finally, within this fairly narrow range of lengths, the inventive door-stop device is compact, robust, relatively unobtrusive to the user, and economical.
[0085] As used herein in the specification and in the claims section that follows, the term “clear of”, with respect to an obstruction assembly and a doorjamb or doorframe, refers to an obstruction assembly that, when disposed, in working configuration, on a door set within its doorframe, is situated completely within a projection of a leading edge of the door, such that the closing of the door is unobstructed.
[0086] As used herein in the specification and in the claims section that follows, the term “percent”, or “%”, refers to percent by weight, unless specifically indicated otherwise.
[0087] Similarly, the term “ratio”, as used herein in the specification and in the claims section that follows, refers to a weight ratio, unless specifically indicated otherwise.
[0088] As used herein in the specification and in the claims section that follows, the term “largely includes”, with respect to a component within a formulation, refers to a weight content of at least at least 30%, at least 40%, at least 50%, or at least 60%.
[0089] As used herein in the specification and in the claims section that follows, the term “predominantly includes”, with respect to a component within a formulation, refers to a weight content of at least at least 50%, at least 65%, at least 75%, or at least 85%.
[0090] Throughout this disclosure, various aspects of this invention can be presented in a range format. It should be understood that the description in range format is merely for convenience and brevity and should not be construed as an inflexible limitation on the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the description of a range should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges as well as individual numerical values within that range. For example, description of a range such as from 1 to 10 should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as from 1 to 2, from 1 to 5, from 1 to 8, from 3 to 4, from 3 to 8, from 3 to 10, etc., as well as individual numbers within that range, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. This applies regardless of the breadth of the range.
[0091] Similarly, the terms “at least”, “exceeds”, and the like, followed by a number (including a percent or fraction), should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges above that number, as well as individual numerical values above that number. For example, the term “at least 75” should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as 80 and above, 90 and above, etc, as well as individual numbers such as 85 and 95.
[0092] Similarly, the terms “less than”, “below”, and the like, followed by a number (including a percent, fraction, or ratio such as a weight ratio), should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges below that number, as well as individual numerical values below that number. For example, the term “below 75%” should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as 70% and below, 60% and below, etc, as well as individual numbers such as 65% and 50%.
[0093] Whenever a numerical range is indicated herein, the range is meant to include any cited numeral (fractional or integral) within the indicated range. The phrase “ranging/ranges between” a first number and a second number and “within a range of” a first number to a second number, and the like, are used herein interchangeably and are meant to include the first and second indicated numbers and all the fractional and integral numerals therebetween.
[0094] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.
[0095] Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification, are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention. | A door-stop device for a door hingedly set in a doorframe and equipped with a door handle assembly rotatable between a first, untensioned position and a second, tensioned position, including: (a) an obstruction assembly; (b) an extension arm having a first and second ends, the first end connected to the obstruction assembly, and (c) a securing mechanism, connected to the second end of the extension arm, and including a collar adapted, in a relaxed position, to partially encompass a rotatable portion of the door handle assembly, the collar associated with first and second tabs having first and second openings, the openings adapted to receive a closure member therethrough, wherein, when the securing mechanism is secured to the door handle assembly, and the door is set within the doorframe, the obstruction assembly is adapted to rotate in direct relation to a rotation of the door handle assembly between the first and second positions; the extension arm and the obstruction assembly are adapted whereby, when the door is closed, and the door handle assembly is disposed in the untensioned position, the obstruction assembly is urged against the doorjamb; the extension arm and the obstruction assembly are adapted whereby, when the door handle assembly is disposed in the tensioned position, the obstruction assembly is clear of the doorframe; and the extension arm and the obstruction assembly are adapted whereby, when the door is open with respect to the doorframe, and the door handle assembly is disposed in the untensioned position, a portion of the obstruction assembly is interposed between the door and the doorframe to inhibit the door from closing against the doorframe. | 4 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED UNITED STATES APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority from “Fast Tensor Field Segmentation Algorithm”, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/644,144 of McGraw and Wang, filed Jan. 14, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention is directed to the segmentation of objects in digital medical images.
DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART
Variational and PDE methods have been widely used in image processing in the past few years. Image segmentation is an issue in early vision and has been extensively studied through these techniques. The basic idea is to represent a 2D image as a R 2 function (or R 3 for a 3D image) that satisfies a time dependent PDE that characterizes the problem. The solution of the differential equation gives the processed image at the appropriate scale. The PDE can be derived by minimizing an energy functional, which can be formulated as:
Arg{min u F(u)},
where F is a given energy computed over the image u. Let F′(u) denote the Euler-Lagrange derivative. The necessary condition for u to be a minimizer of F is that F′(u)=0, where the (local) minima may be computed via the steady state solution of the equation
u t =−F ′( u ),
where t is an artificial time-marching parameter. The most conventional example is the Dirichlet integral:
min u F ( u ) = ∫ Ω ∇ u 2 ⅆ x ⅆ y + λ 2 ∫ ( u - u 0 ) 2 ⅆ x ⅆ y ,
which is associated with equation
u t =Δu −λ( u−u 0 ).
The use of variational and PDE methods in image analysis leads to modeling images in a continuous domain. This simplifies the formalism, which becomes grid independent and isotropic. Conversely, when the image is represented as a continuous signal, PDEs can be seen as the iteration of local filters with an infinitesimal neighborhood. This interpretation of PDE's allows one to unify and classify a number of the known iterated filters, as well as to derive new ones. Many of the PDEs used in image processing and computer vision are based on moving curves and surfaces with curvature-based velocities. In this area, level set methods have proven to be useful. The basic idea is to represent the curves or surfaces as the zero level set of a higher dimensional hypersurface. This technique not only provides accurate numerical implementations but can also handle topological change easily.
Many fields in science and engineering use tensors to describe physical quantities e.g., in solid mechanics, stress and strain are commonly characterized by tensors, in fluid mechanics, anisotropic diffusion is characterized by a tensor, in image processing, tensors have been used for describing local structure in images. More recently, in medical imaging, water diffusion in tissues has been depicted by a diffusion tensor characterizing the anisotropy within the tissue. In this context, processing the data may involve restoration from noisy data, segmentation, visualization and possibly even tensor valued image registration. One factor in tensor field analysis is a proper choice of a tensor distance that measures the similarity or dissimilarity between tensors and is particularly important in the aforementioned tasks.
In general, any kind of matrix norm can be used to induce a tensor distance. One such example is the tensor Euclidean distance obtained by using the Frobenius norm. Due to its simplicity, tensor Euclidean distance has been used extensively in tensor field restoration. As compared to other similarity measures for matching diffusion tensor images, the Euclidean difference measure yields the best results. Though not many sophisticated tensor distances have been proposed in tensor field analysis, there are quite a few in the context of machine learning. One interesting tensor distance measure uses information geometry in the space of positive definite matrices to derive a Kullback-Leibler divergence for two matrices and then uses it in to approximate an incomplete kernel.
Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging is a relatively new imaging modality that is able to quantify the anisotropic diffusion of water molecules in highly structured biological tissues. Diffusion refers to the movement of molecules as a result of random thermal agitation. In the context of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI), it refers specifically to the random translational motion of water molecules in the part of the anatomy being imaged with MR. In three dimensions, water diffusivity can be described by a 3×3 symmetric positive definite matrix D, known as a diffusion tensor, which is related to the geometry and organization of the microscopic environment. The probability density function of the molecular motion about r∈R 3 can be modeled by a Gaussian function whose covariance matrix is given by the diffusion tensor D. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) then produces a volumetric image containing, at each voxel, a 3×3 symmetric positive definite tensor. The estimation of these tensors requires the acquisition of diffusion weighted images in different sampling directions.
Diffusion tensor MRI is particularly relevant to a wide range of clinical pathologies investigations, such as acute brain ischemia detection, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, etc. It is also useful in order to identify the neural connectivity of the human brain. As of today, diffusion MRI is the only non-invasive method that allows one to distinguish the various anatomical structures of the cerebral white matter such as the corpus callosum, the arcuate fasciculus or the corona radiata. These are examples of commisural, associative and projective neural pathways, the three major types of fiber bundles, respectively connecting the two hemispheres, regions of a given hemisphere or the cerebral cortex with subcortical areas. In the past, many techniques have been proposed to classify gray matter, white matter and cephalo-spinal fluid from T1-weighted MR images, but few techniques address segmentation of the internal structures of white matter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Exemplary embodiments of the invention as described herein generally include methods and systems for segmenting a tensor field such as that obtained from diffusion tensor MRI. According to an embodiment of the invention, each voxel in the image is assigned to a class based on the statistics of each region. A segmentation model according to an embodiment of the invention uses a symmetrized Kullback-Liebler divergence to define a tensor distance along with a variance model for each region. A segmentation model according to an embodiment of the invention also includes an additional energy term for each region to penalize the distance from the mean fractional anisotropy in each region where the segmented fractional anisotropy fields are modeled by Gaussian distributions. According to an embodiment of the invention, a region based active contour model involves the definition of a new tensor discriminant based on information theory, a new technique for the computation of the mean tensor of a tensor field in closed form that facilitates the efficient segmentation of the tensor field, and an extension of the region-based active contour model to handle matrix-valued images. According to an embodiment of the invention, a technique for the segmentation of an arbitrary probability density function (pdf) fields examines the statistics of the distribution of the Kullback-Leibler distances between these pdfs to perform direct segmentation of internal structures of white matter. According to an embodiment of the invention, a fast levelset technique is adapted to solve the region based active contour model.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for segmenting a digitized medical image, including providing a digitized image of an anatomical region, said image comprising a diffusion tensor field corresponding to a domain of points on an 3-dimensional grid, partitioning said image into 2 regions, wherein each point is initially assigned to one of said regions, associating a level-set function with each region, wherein said level-set function has a negative value in one region and a positive value in the other region, calculating a mean value of said diffusion tensor field over each of said 2 regions, initializing an energy defined as a functional of said level-set functions and said diffusion tensor field, changing the region membership of each point in said image if the energy functional value decreases as a result of said region membership change and updating said mean value of said diffusion tensor field over each of said 2 regions, and obtaining a segmentation of said image when the magnitude of the change of said energy function value resulting from changing the region membership of a point is less then a predetermined threshold.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the energy functional includes the terms
(1−β)∫ Ω (log p d,1 (d 2 (T(x),T 1 ))H ε (φ)+log p d,2 (d 2 (T(x),T 2 ))(1−H ε (φ)))dx
wherein φ:Ω→R 3 denotes the level set function defined on the image domain Ω whose zero isosurface coincides with a curve enclosing one of said 2 regions, T 1 and T 2 are the mean values of the tensor field in each of the two regions, H ε (φ) is the regularized version of the Heaviside function of the level set function, p d,1 and p d,2 are probability distribution functions of the tensor distance in each of the two regions, β is a weighting parameter, and d 2 (.,.) is a tensor distance.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the tensor distance between tensors T 1 and T 2 is defined by
d ( T 1 , T 2 ) = 1 2 tr ( T 1 - 1 T 2 + T 2 - 1 T 1 ) - 2 n
wherein tr(•) is the matrix trace operator, and n is the size of the square matrices T 1 and T 2 .
According to a further aspect of the invention, the mean value M of a diffusion tensor field T(x) in a region R is defined by
M =√{square root over (B −1 )}[√{square root over (√{square root over (B)}A√{square root over (B)})}]√{square root over (B −1 )},
wherein A=∫ R T(x)dx, and B=∫ R T −1 (x)dx, and R is the region of integration.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the level-set function has a value of −1 in one region and a value of +1 in the other region.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the probability distribution of the distance from said diffusion tensor field to a mean value of said field is defined as
p d , i = 1 2 π σ i , d 2 exp ( - d 2 ( T ( x ) , T i ) 2 σ i , d 2 )
where T i is the mean value of said tensor field in one of said 2 regions, T(x) is said tensor field, σ i,d is the variance of said distribution in one of said 2 regions.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the method comprises calculating a fractional anisotropy defined by
A ( T ( x ) ) = ( λ 1 - λ 2 ) 2 + ( λ 2 - λ 3 ) 2 + ( λ 1 - λ 3 ) 2 2 λ 1 2 + λ 2 2 + λ 3 2 ,
wherein the λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 are eigenvalues of the diffusion tensor field, and calculating a mean and variance of said fractional anisotropy over each of said 2 regions.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the method comprises updating the mean value and variance of said fractional anisotropy of the diffusion tensor in each of said 2 regions if the energy functional value decreases as a result of said region membership change.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the energy function further includes terms
−β∫ Ω (log p α,1 (A(T(x)))H ε (φ)+log p α,2 (A(T(x)))(1−H ε (φ)))dx,
wherein φ:Ω→R 3 denotes the level set function defined on the image domain Ω whose zero isosurface coincides with a curve enclosing one of said 2 regions, H ε (φ) is the regularized version of the Heaviside function of the level set function, p α,1 and p α,2 are probability distribution functions of the fractional anisotropy in each of the two regions, and β is a weighting parameter.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the probability distribution function of said fractional anisotropy is defined as
p a , i = 1 2 π σ i , A 2 exp ( A ( T ) - A _ 2 2 σ i , A 2 ) ,
wherein Ā is the mean value of A(T) over the region i, and σ i,A is the variance of p α,i over the region i.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the method comprises calculating variances of the distance of said diffusion tensor to the mean value over each of said two regions, and updating said variances when the energy functional value decreases as a result of said region membership change.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a change in energy ΔE ij from changing the membership of a point from region i to region j includes
Δ E ij . d = ( 1 - β ) ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T j ) 2 σ j , d 2 n j n j + 1 - d 2 ( T ( x ) , T i ) 2 σ i , d 2 n i n i - 1 ) .
wherein the value of the point being changed is T(x), T i and T j are the mean values of the tensor field in each region, respectively, σ i,d and σ j,d are the variances of p d,i , p d,j over the regions i and j, respectively, and n i and n j are the respective number of points for each region.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a change in energy ΔE ij from changing the membership of a point from region i to region j includes
Δ E ij , A = β ( A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ j 2 2 σ j , A 2 n j n j + 1 - A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ i 2 2 σ i , A 2 n i n i - 1 )
wherein Ā i and Ā j are the mean values of A(T) over the regions i and j, respectively, σ i,A and σ j,A are the variances of p α,i , p α,j , over the regions i and j, respectively, and n i and n j are the respective number of points for each region.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform the method steps for segmenting a digitized medical image,
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1 and 2 depict an exemplary segmentation of the Corpus Callosum, with and without an FA slice, respectively, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 3 and 4 depict an exemplary segmentation of the Corona Radiata, with and without an FA slice, respectively, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 5 and 6 depict an exemplary segmentation of the ventricle, with and without an FA slice, respectively, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for tensor field segmentation, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing a tensor field segmentation algorithm according to an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Exemplary embodiments of the invention as described herein generally include systems and methods for segmenting a tensor field such as that obtained from diffusion tensor MRI. A tensor field segmentation method according to an embodiment of the invention incorporates a new discriminant for tensors into an active contour model without edges. The discriminant employed according to an embodiment of the invention is based on information theory, which follows from the physical phenomena of diffusion, is affine invariant and allows for the computation of the mean of the tensor field in closed form. A model according to an embodiment of the invention is implemented in a level set framework to take advantage of the easy ability of this framework to change topologies when desired. A technique for the segmentation of probability density fields according to an embodiment of the invention can extract anatomical structures in anisotropic biological tissues such as the brain white matter.
In the context of DT-MRI, diffusion of water molecules may be characterized by a 2-tensor T which is positive definite. This T is related to the displacement r of water molecules at each lattice point in the image at time t via
p ( r ❘ t , T ) = 1 ( 2 π ) n 2 tT exp ( - r T T - 1 r 4 t )
where n is the dimension of the tensor. Thus it is natural to use the distance measure between Gaussian distributions to induce a distance between these tensors. The most frequently used information theoretic distance measure is the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence defined as:
KL ( p q ) = ∫ p ( x ) log p ( x ) q ( x ) ⅆ x
for two given densities p(x) and q(x). The KL divergence is not symmetric and a popular way to symmetrize it is given by:
J ( p , q ) = 1 2 ( KL ( p q ) + KL ( q p ) ) ,
which is called the J-divergence. According to an embodiment of the invention, a definition of tensor distance for symmetric positive definite (SPD) tensors is the square root of the J-divergence:
d ( T 1 ,T 2 )=√{square root over ( J ( p ( r|t,T 1 ), p ( r|t,T 2 )))}{square root over ( J ( p ( r|t,T 1 ), p ( r|t,T 2 )))}.
It is known that twice the KL divergence and thus twice the J-divergence is the square distance of two infinitesimally nearby points on a Riemannian manifold of parameterized distributions. Thus, taking the square root of the above definition is justified. Furthermore, this definition has a very simple form given by:
d ( T 1 , T 2 ) = 1 2 tr ( T 1 - 1 T 2 + T 2 - 1 T 1 ) - 2 n
where tr(•) is the matrix trace operator, and n is the size of the square matrices T 1 and T 2 .
When a coordinate system undergoes an affine transformation, the tensor field will also be transformed. If the coordinate system undergoes an affine transform y=Ax+b, then the displacement of the water molecules will be transformed as {circumflex over (r)}=Ar. Since r has a Gaussian distribution with covariance matrix 2tT, the transformed displacement {circumflex over (r)} has a covariance matrix of 2tATA T . Thus, the transformed tensor field will be:
{circumflex over (T)} ( y )= AT ( x ) A T , y=Ax+b.
The above definition of tensor distance is invariant to such transformations:
d ( T 1 ,T 2 )= d ( AT 1 A T ,AT 2 A T ).
The mean value M(T,R) of a tensor field T over a region R is defined as:
M _ ( T , R ) = min M ∈ SPD ( n ) ∫ R d 2 [ M , T ( x ) ] ⅆ x ,
where SPD(n) denotes the set of symmetric positive definite matrices of size n. It can be shown that this mean value can be computed according to the formula
M =√{square root over (B −1 )}[√{square root over (√{square root over (B)}A√{square root over (B)})}]√{square root over (B −1 )},
where A=∫ R T(x)dx, and B=∫ R T −1 (x)dx. Since A and B are both SPD matrices, M is also an SPD matrix. The mean value of a tensor field over a region is used in the region-based contour model used in a segmentation according to an embodiment of the invention.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a model for piecewise constant tensor field segmentation in R 2 is obtained by minimizing the following energy integral:
E ( C,T 1 ,T 2 )=∫ Ω d 2 ( T ( x ), T 1 ) dx+∫ Ω c d 2 ( T ( x ), T 2 ) dx+α|C|. (1)
Here, the curve C is the boundary of the desired unknown segmentation, Ω is the region enclosed by C and Ω C is the region outside C, T 1 and T 2 are the mean values of the tensor fields in the regions Ω and Ω C respectively, |C| is the arclength of the curve C, α is a regularization parameter, and d(.,.) is the tensor distance as defined above.
An active contour model according to an embodiment of the invention above can segment tensor fields with two piecewise constant regions, where each region type can have disconnected parts, and incorporates the above-defined tensor distance. The Euler-Lagrange equation for the above variational principle is given by:
(α k+d 2 ( T,T 1 )− d 2 ( T,T 2 )) N= 0,
where T 1 =M(T,Ω), T 2 =M(T,Ω C ), k is the curvature of the curve C at location x, and N is the outward normal to the curve C. In a two phase implementation, the curve evolution of the Euler-Lagrange is governed by:
∂ C ∂ t = - ( α k + d 2 ( T , T 1 ( t ) ) - d 2 ( T , T 2 ( t ) ) ) N ,
which can be easily implemented in a level set framework. The corresponding level set formulation is given by:
∂
ϕ
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t
=
[
α
∇
·
∇
ϕ
∇
ϕ
+
d
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Assuming a partition of the data Ω, one seeks an optimal separating surface Γ between a segment Ω 1 and the rest of the volume Ω 2 . The most representative mean of tensor fields that minimizes the tensor distance can be denoted by T 1 and T 2 . Furthermore, it is possible to model the distribution of the tensor distances to T 1 and T 2 in their respective domains by suitable densities p d,1 , p d,2 . It can be assumed that p d,1 and p d,2 are Gaussians of zero mean and variances σ 1,d 2 ,σ 2,d 2 . The mean distance to T 1 and T 2 should be as small as possible, while retaining a degree of freedom by considering the variances of those distributions. The following energy can be defined in order to maximize the likelihood of these densities on their associated domain:
E ( Ω i , σ i , d 2 , T i ) = ∑ i = 1 2 ∫ Ω i - log p d , i ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T i ) ) ⅆ x ,
where p d , i = 1 2 π σ i , d 2 exp ( - d 2 ( T , T i ) 2 σ i , d 2 ) .
The level set distance function whose zero isosurface coincides with Γ is denoted by φ:Ω→R 3 . One can define an energy functional incorporating the variance and with a regularity constraint on Γ, using H ε (z), the regularized version of the Heaviside function, as follows:
∫ Ω −log p d,1 (d 2 (T(x),T 1 ))H ε (φ)−log p d,2 (d 2 (T(x),T 2 ))(1−H ε (φ))+α|∇H ε (φ)|dx, (2)
which is equivalent to
- ∫ Ω log p d , 1 ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 1 ) ) ⅆ x - ∫ Ω c log p d , 2 ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 2 ) ) ⅆ x + α C =
∫ Ω ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 1 ) 2 σ 1 , d 2 + log 2 π σ i , d 2 ) ⅆ x + ∫ Ω c ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 2 ) 2 σ 2 , d 2 + log 2 π σ 2 , d 2 ) ⅆ x + α C .
The derivation of the Euler-Lagrange equations for this class of energy yields the following evolution for φ:
∂ ϕ ∂ t = δ ɛ ( ϕ ( x ) ) [ α ∇ · ∇ ϕ ∇ ϕ + 1 2 log p d , 2 p d , 1 ] ∀ x ∈ Ω ,
where δ ε (φ(x)) is the regularized version of the Dirac function.
When considering the region terms, the initialization is important and in many cases, several seeding points have to be set manually to avoid having the surface evolving to and remaining in a local minima. This can be overcome by using a fractional anisotropy measure:
A ( T ( x ) ) = ( λ 1 - λ 2 ) 2 + ( λ 2 - λ 3 ) 2 + ( λ 1 - λ 3 ) 2 2 λ 1 2 + λ 2 2 + λ 3 2 ,
where the λ's are eigenvalues of the tensors. Note that this anisotropy measure is computed for each pixel within a region. An additional term is then defined to impose a given distribution of the anisotropy inside each region. Let p α,1 and p α,2 be the probability distribution functions of the anisotropy inside and outside the region bounded by the curve C, approximated by Gaussian densities defined as
p a , i = 1 2 π σ i , A 2 exp ( A ( T ) - A _ 2 2 σ i , A 2 ) ,
where Ā is the mean value of A(T) over the region i, and σ i,A is the variance of p i,A over the region i. Then, the partitioning is obtained by minimizing:
−∫ Ω log p α,1 (A(T(x)))H ε (φ)+log p α,2 (A(T(x)))(1−H ε (φ))dx,
where Ω∈R 3 is the image domain, and H ε is the Heaviside step function. This term is added to the objective function defined in equation (2), above. A new energy functional can be obtained for the level set function φ composed of three terms where the influence from the distribution of tensor distance and the fractional anisotropy can be controlled by adjusting a weight β between zero and one:
∫ Ω [ - ( 1 - β ) log p d , 1 ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 1 ) ) H ɛ ( ϕ ) - ( 1 - β ) log p d , 2 ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 2 ) ) ( 1 - H ɛ ( ϕ ) ) - β log p a , 1 ( A ( T ( x ) ) ) H ɛ ( ϕ ) - β log p a , 2 ( A ( T ( x ) ) ) ( 1 - H ɛ ( ϕ ) ) + α ∇ H ɛ ( ϕ ) ] ⅆ x ( 3 )
In practice, a small weight on the anisotropy term is sufficient for the surface avoid a local minima.
According to an embodiment of the invention, equation (3) can be efficiently solved by a fast level-set method. A level set formulation represents a front as the zero level set of a function defined in a higher dimensional space. Consider a closed moving interface Γ(t) in R 3 . Let Ω(t) be the region (possibly multi-connected) that Γ(t) encloses. One can associate with Ω(t) an auxiliary function φ(x,t), called the level set function, which satisfies:
{ ϕ ( x , t ) > 0 for x ∈ Ω ϕ ( x , t ) = 0 for x ∈ ∂ Ω ϕ ( x , t ) < 0 for x ∈ Ω c
where x∈R 3 ,t∈R + .
Conversely, knowing φ allows one to locate the interface by finding the zero level set of φ, which is Γ(t)={x:φ(x,t)=0}. So moving the interface is equivalent to updating φ, which can be done by solving a Hamilton-Jacobi equation, such as the time evolution equation for φ derived above.
But for some cases, one does not need the value of φ, only its sign. From the optimization point of view, this opens the possibility of other methods for solving a minimization problem directly and much more quickly. For instance, for a 2-phase image segmentation, one seeks a particular partition of a given image into two regions, one representing the objects to be detected and one representing the background. Assuming that the image u 0 is a 2-phase image with piecewise constant values u 0 i and u 0 o and that the object to be detected is represented by the value u 0 i , and that C 0 denotes the boundary of the object, then the fitting energy is defined as:
E 1 ( C )+ E 2 ( C )=∫ inside(C) |u 0 −c 1 | 2 +∫ outside(C) |u 0 −c 2 | 2 ,
where C is any other variable curve, and the constants c 1 , c 2 are the averages of u 0 inside and outside of C respectively. The fitting energy will be minimized if C=C 0 . In this model according to an embodiment of the invention, there can also be a regularizing term, such as the length of C, or the area inside C, to control the smoothness of the boundary. Therefore, the energy E(C, c 1 , c 2 ) is defined by:
E ( C,c 1 ,c 2 )=α·(length( C ))+λ 1 ∫ inside(C) |u 0 −c 1 | 2 +λ 2 ∫ outside(C) |u 0 −c 2 | 2 .
If a level set represents C, that is, C is the zero level set of a Lipschitz function φ:R 2 →R, then φ can replace the unknown variable C, and the energy functional E(C, c 1 , c 2 ) can be written as:
E ( H (φ), c 1 ,c 2 )=α(∫ Ω |∇H (φ)|)+λ 1 ∫ Ω |u 0 −c 1 | 2 H (φ) dx+λ 2 ∫ Ω |u 0 −c 2 | 2 (1 −H (φ)) dx,
where c 1 , c 2 are also functions of H(φ). In this equation, the two fitting terms are easy to compute directly, while ∫|∇H(φ)|dx can be approximated by:
∑ i , j ( H ( ϕ i + 1 , j ) - H ( ϕ i , j ) ) 2 + ( H ( ϕ i , j + 1 ) - H ( ϕ i , j ) ) 2 ,
where φ i,j is the value of φ at the i,j th pixel. The summand can only take the values 0, 1 or √{square root over (2)}, depending on whether the 3 distinct pair of points from the set {φ i,j , φ i+1,j , φ i,j+1 } belong to the same or different regions. Thus, the length term can be easily computed knowing only H(φ), and there is no need to know φ. This computed value can be interpreted as the discretized length of the zero level set.
Consider a two phase image, where one can represent an object by A (possibly multiconnected), the background by B, and the corresponding values for A and B by a and b. An initial partition is given by φ 1 >0 and φ 2 <0, where there are m points in φ 1 and n points in φ 2 , and c i is the average for φ i , i=1, 2. Then, if |c 1 −c 2 |>c for some constant c, and if the condition
n - 1 n m m + 1 ≤ ( a - c 2 ) 2 ( a - c 1 ) 2 ≤ m m - 1 n + 1 n
is not satisfied, then an algorithm (with α=0) according to an embodiment of the invention can be shown to converge in one sweep for a 2-phase image, using either Jacobi or Gauss-Seidel iterations. In practice, when applying the algorithm, one can directly apply the algorithm to the model with the length term included, or one can first consider α=0, then followed by α>0 to have the full effect of regularization. Another choice is to consider α=0, followed by a PDE-based algorithm.
An outline of a fast algorithm for solving the above model for scalar valued image is as follows:
Step 1. Initialize: given an initial partition of the image, set φ=1 for one part and φ=−1 for another part, and compute the value of the energy E according to φ.
Step 2. Advance: assume that the value of current pixel x is u, c 1 and c 2 are the pixel value averages for φ=1 and φ=−1, respectively, m and n are the number of pixels for φ=1 and φ=−1. If φ(x)=1, then compute the difference between the new and the old energy:
Δ E 12 = u - c 2 2 n n + 1 - u - c 1 2 m m - 1 .
If ΔE 12 <0, then change φ(x) from 1 to −1. Similarly, if φ(x)=−1 case, compute ΔE 21 :
Δ E 21 = u - c 1 2 m m + 1 - u - c 2 2 n n - 1 ,
and if ΔE 21 <0, change φ(x) from −1 to 1. If there is no change in ΔE, φ(x) remains unchanged. In 2D, if the length term is also considered, then the change of the length is easy to compute since only four neighbor points will be affected by a change of point value. The pixels can be looped through in any prescribed order, and can be updated using any iteration technique as is known in the art, such as Gauss-Seidel or Jacobi iteration.
Step 3. Repeat step 2 until the change in energy E is sufficiently small or zero.
Now, when applying the above fast level-set method to equation (3), some care is needed to handle the tensors and variance. Note that there are three terms in equation (3).
The first term in equation (3) represents the contribution of the tensor distance distribution where the tensor distance is computed between the tensor field and the segmentation mean values T 1 and T 2 . If φ(x)=1, then the difference between the new and the old energy caused by this term is computed as:
Δ E 12 , d = ( 1 - β ) ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 2 ) 2 σ 2 , d 2 n n + 1 - d 2 ( T ( x ) , T 1 ) 2 σ 1 , d 2 m m - 1 ) .
Similarly, if φ(x)=−1 case, ΔE 21,d can be computed as:
Δ
E
21
,
d
=
(
1
-
β
)
(
d
2
(
T
(
x
)
,
T
1
)
2
σ
1
,
d
2
m
m
+
1
-
d
2
(
T
(
x
)
,
T
2
)
2
σ
2
,
d
2
n
n
-
1
)
.
The second term in equation (3) represents the contribution of the fractional anisotropy distribution. If φ(x)=1, then the difference between the new and the old energy caused by this term is computed as:
Δ E 12 , A = β ( A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ 2 2 2 σ 2 , A 2 n n + 1 - A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ 1 2 2 σ 1 , A 2 m m - 1 ) .
Similarly, if φ(x)=−1 case, the change ΔE 21,A is computed as:
Δ E 21 , A = β ( A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ 1 2 2 σ 1 , A 2 m m + 1 - A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ 2 2 2 σ 2 , A 2 n n - 1 ) .
The third term represents the smoothness of the boundary. In 2D, suppose the location of the point being changed is x=(x 1 ,x 2 ), then the change in the energy caused by this term using a calculation using forward difference in φ is:
ΔE ij,r =α(√{square root over ((φ( x 1 +1 ,x 2 )−φ j ) 2 +(φ( x 1 ,x 2 +1)−φ j ) 2 )}{square root over ((φ( x 1 +1 ,x 2 )−φ j ) 2 +(φ( x 1 ,x 2 +1)−φ j ) 2 )}−√{square root over ((φ( x 1 +1 ,x 2 )−φ i ) 2 +(φ( x 1 ,x 2 +1)−φ i ) 2 )}{square root over ((φ( x 1 +1 ,x 2 )−φ i ) 2 +(φ( x 1 ,x 2 +1)−φ i ) 2 )})
where φ i is the level set value for region i, φ j is the level set value for region j, either φ i =1 and φ j =−1 or φ i =−1 and φ j =1. The case for 3D is similar: suppose the location point being changed is x=(x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ), then
Δ E ij , r = α ( ( ϕ ( x 1 + 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) - ϕ j ) 2 + ( ϕ ( x 1 , x 2 + 1 , x 3 ) - ϕ j ) 2 + ( ϕ ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 + 1 ) - ϕ j ) 2 - ( ϕ ( x 1 + 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) - ϕ i ) 2 + ( ϕ ( x 1 , x 2 + 1 , x 3 ) - ϕ i ) 2 + ( ϕ ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 + 1 ) - ϕ i ) 2 )
and the above calculation can also based on central difference in φ.
The total change of the energy function obtained by combining all the three terms decides how to change the sign of φ(x): that is, if ΔE Tot <0, the total energy decreases, then the region membership of the point in question is changed.
A flow chart of an exemplary method for tensor field segmentation, according to an embodiment of the invention, is presented in FIG. 7 . At step 70 , a diffusion tensor image acquires through DT-MRI is provided. In DT-MRI, what is measured is the diffusion weighted echo intensity image (DWI) S l for different directions l. These directions are related to the diffusion tensor T through the following equation:
S l =S 0 exp(− b l :T )= S 0 exp(−Σ i=1 3 Σ j=1 3 b l,ij T ij ),
where b l is the diffusion weighting of the l-th magnetic gradient, and “:” denotes the generalized inner product for matrices. Given several non-collinear diffusion weighted intensity measurements, T can be estimated via multivariate regression techniques and a diffusion tensor image is constructed. At step 71 , an initial partition of the image into separate regions is provided. According to one embodiment of the invention, the image is partitioned into two regions, with the auxiliary function φ being set to 1 inside an initial partition curve, and being set to −1 outside the curve. At step 72 , the mean value of the tensor fields and the mean value of the fractional anisotropy field are then calculated over the two regions, and an initial value of the energy is calculated, using the energy functional defined above. At step 73 , the iteration is advanced by looping through all pixels. For each pixel at location x near the region boundary, if φ(x)=1, then change it so φ(x)=−1, and vice versa if φ(x)=−1, and then compute the change in energy. In general, the change in the tensor distribution energy ΔE ij,d from changing the membership of a pixel from region i to region j is
Δ E ij , d = ( 1 - β ) ( d 2 ( T ( x ) , T j ) 2 σ j , d 2 n j n j + 1 - d 2 ( T ( x ) , T i ) 2 σ i , d 2 n i n i - 1 ) .
and the corresponding change in the factional anisotropy distribution energy ΔE ij,A is
Δ E ij , A = β ( A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ j 2 2 σ j , A 2 n j n j + 1 - A ( T ( x ) ) - A _ i 2 2 σ i , A 2 n i n i - 1 )
where n i and n j are the respective number of pixels for each region. In this exemplary method which achieves a piecewise constant segmentation, all the variances can be set to 1 and the energy change can be computed accordingly. If the total energy change, which includes the above two energy changes and the changes in boundary smoothness, is decreased by changing the region membership of a pixel, then the region membership of the pixel should be changed at step 74 . At step 75 , the mean value of the tensor fields and the mean value of the fractional anisotropy field are updated when the region changes. At step 76 , if the magnitude of the change in energy is greater than a predetermined value, the process returns to step 73 to perform another iteration. An appropriate threshold can be determined experiment by one of ordinary skill in the art. Once the iterations fail to produce a change in energy, the resulting segmentation is obtained at step 77 , and the process is finished.
An implementation of an embodiment of the invention not incorporating variance has been tested on a DELL precision 670 workstation with a Xeon™ 2.8 Ghz CPU with 2.0 GB of RAM, and running under the Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version 2002, Service Pack 2 operating system. Segmentation results of three brain structures are presented in FIGS. 1-6 , according to an embodiment of the invention. Each segmentation is presented in two figures, one being paired with an FA slice as a context, the other being simply the segmentation itself. FIGS. 1 and 2 depict segmentation of the Corpus Callosum 10 , FIGS. 3 and 4 depict segmentation of the Corona Radiata 30 , and FIGS. 5 and 6 depict segmentation of the ventricle 50 . All the above three segmentation were achieved within 5 seconds.
It is to be understood that the present invention can be implemented in various forms of hardware, software, firmware, special purpose processes, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the present invention can be implemented in software as an application program tangible embodied on a computer readable program storage device. The application program can be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising any suitable architecture.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing a level-set based tensor field segmentation according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring now to FIG. 8 , a computer system 81 for implementing the present invention can comprise, inter alia, a central processing unit (CPU) 82 , a memory 83 and an input/output (I/O) interface 84 . The computer system 81 is generally coupled through the I/O interface 84 to a display 85 and various input devices 86 such as a mouse and a keyboard. The support circuits can include circuits such as cache, power supplies, clock circuits, and a communication bus. The memory 83 can include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), disk drive, tape drive, etc., or a combinations thereof. The present invention can be implemented as a routine 87 that is stored in memory 83 and executed by the CPU 82 to process the signal from the signal source 88 . As such, the computer system 81 is a general purpose computer system that becomes a specific purpose computer system when executing the routine 87 of the present invention.
The computer system 81 also includes an operating system and micro instruction code. The various processes and functions described herein can either be part of the micro instruction code or part of the application program (or combination thereof) which is executed via the operating system. In addition, various other peripheral devices can be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage device and a printing device.
It is to be further understood that, because some of the constituent system components and method steps depicted in the accompanying figures can be implemented in software, the actual connections between the systems components (or the process steps) may differ depending upon the manner in which the present invention is programmed. Given the teachings of the present invention provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate these and similar implementations or configurations of the present invention.
While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and substitutions can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. | Segmenting a digitized image includes providing a diffusion tensor field image, partitioning the image into 2 regions, each point being assigned to one of the regions, associating a level-set function with each region, the level-set function having a negative value in one region and a positive value in the other region, calculating a mean value of the diffusion tensor field over each of 2 regions, initializing an energy defined as a functional of level-set functions and diffusion tensor field, changing the region membership of each point in the image if the energy functional value decreases as a result of region membership change and updating said mean value of said diffusion tensor field over each of 2 regions, and obtaining a segmentation of the image when the magnitude of the change of the energy function value resulting from changing the region membership of a point is less then a predetermined threshold. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION
This is a U.S. national stage of International Patent Application No. PCT/FI2006/000405, filed on Dec. 5, 2006 claiming prior to application no. FI 20051258, filed in Finland on Dec. 5, 2005, the content of which is incorporated here by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is an apparatus and a method for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a pulp dryer, a web formed of pulp, i.e. a pulp web, is conveyed along a multi-layered path by floating it on an air cushion formed by blow nozzles. The blow nozzles are arranged in several superimposed, generally horizontal nozzle levels almost having the length of the pulp dryer. The pulp web is typically introduced in the pulp dryer through its first end. Then the pulp web is conveyed along the uppermost nozzle level of the pulp dryer to the second end of the device. At its ends, the device typically comprises turn rolls, over which the pulp web is turned each time to the next lower nozzle level. When the pulp web has been conveyed to the lowest nozzle level of the pulp dryer, the pulp web is removed from the pulp dryer, typically through the second end of the pulp dryer. A pulp dryer typically comprises 15-30 nozzle levels. The gas blown from the blow nozzles is typically hot air, the blow air generally having a temperature in the range of 120-170° C. When reaching the pulp dryer, the pulp web typically has a dry solids content of 48-54%. The dry solids content of the pulp web leaving the pulp dryer is typically 85-95%, most typically approximately 90%. The pulp web typically has a width of 3-9 m. The pulp web is typically conveyed at a speed of 140-220 m/min in the pulp dryer.
The pulp web may break within the dryer for various reasons. In such a situation, the feed of a new pulp web into the pulp dryer is interrupted. However, in the case of a web break, there will typically still remain a large amount of pulp web in the pulp dryer, which web needs to be removed from the device before the production is restarted.
In the case of a web break, the pulp web is currently removed from the dryer by means of extraction devices fixed to maintenance platforms moving vertically at the first end and the second end of the pulp dryer. An extraction device is fixed to that edge of the maintenance platform which is directed away from the dryer, typically at least partly outside the railings of the maintenance platform. The extraction device comprises two horizontal rolls transverse to the direction of movement of the pulp web. The rolls are arranged against each other so that a nip of the extraction device is formed between them. The rolls are arranged to be rotated by machine force. The pulp web needs to be pulled by muscular force from the inside of the dryer to the nip of the extraction device, whereafter the pulp web can be extracted by machine force with the aid of the rolls and further guided to a pulper. The distance over which the pulp web needs to be transferred by manpower is typically 2-3 metres. After a web break, the wet pulp web remains on the nozzle levels and the pulp web will typically have time to dry at least partly before cleaning operations are started. Consequently, friction between the nozzle levels and the web will impede cleaning operations, even though with the aid of nozzle blowing the situation can be made somewhat easier. Extraction of the pulp web from the pulp dryer requires strong force. The operation usually requires 2 or 3 operators.
International patent publication WO 02/101143 discloses a solution, in which a wheel is used for pressing a broken pulp web against a rotating turn roll. In this manner, a pulling nip is formed between the wheel and the turn roll, due to which the pulp web will start moving. In the solution presented either manpower is needed or the device requires installations in the inner parts of the pulp dryer. If an extraction device fixed to the maintenance platform is used in connection with the solution presented in the publication, the device is fixed to that edge of the maintenance platform which is directed away from the pulp dryer. In this case, the broken pulp web needs to be pulled over the maintenance platform such that working on the maintenance platform is difficult or even impossible. The pulp web can also foul the maintenance platform.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to reduce or even eliminate the above-mentioned problems appearing in the prior art.
The present invention has especially the object of providing a solution for facilitating cleaning operations after a web break in a pulp dryer.
The present invention has especially the object of providing a device allowing rapid and reliable removal of a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer.
The present invention has especially the object of providing a device for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer whereby while using said device, the maintenance platform at an end of the pulp dryer can be used simultaneously in a simple manner.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer which device does not require permanent installations in the inner parts of the pulp dryer.
The embodiments and advantages mentioned in this text are in suitable parts applicable to both the apparatuses and methods according to the invention, even if this is not always specifically mentioned.
A typical apparatus of the invention for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer comprises
a maintenance platform arranged at the first end or the second end of the pulp dryer; means for shifting the maintenance platform in a substantially vertical direction to a desired height with respect to the pulp dryer, and an extraction device fixed to the maintenance platform for pulling a broken pulp web out from the pulp dryer.
In a typical apparatus according to the invention, the extraction device is fixed to the edge of the maintenance platform facing the dryer.
A typical pulp dryer according to the invention comprises
several superimposed nozzle levels on which the pulp web to be dried is arranged to be conveyed; several turn rolls for directing the pulp web from one nozzle level to another; a wall and a roof which substantially surround the nozzle levels and the turn rolls, and an apparatus of the invention for removing a broken pulp web from the pulp dryer.
In a typical method of the invention for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer having several nozzle levels and turn rolls for conveying the pulp web, in which method in case of a web break
feeding of the pulp web into the pulp dryer is interrupted; the maintenance platform at the end of the pulp dryer is shifted to an appropriate height, if necessary; access doors of a given nozzle level are opened; the pulp web is conveyed out of the pulp dryer by means of an extraction device through the opened access door; the pulp web is conveyed via an extraction device arranged to the edge of the maintenance platform facing the dryer, and further the pulp web is conveyed underneath the maintenance platform from between the pulp dryer and the floor level of the maintenance platform.
The maintenance platform typically comprises at least a floor level and railings surrounding it and fixed thereto.
Typical means for shifting the maintenance platform in a substantially vertical direction to a desired height with respect to the pulp dryer comprise substantially vertical rail means to which the maintenance platform is fixed in a mobile manner. The means for shifting the maintenance platform further comprise usually at least one motor and power transmission means serving as a source of power for moving of the maintenance platform, and guides needed for shifting the maintenance platform.
The extraction device typically comprises
gripping means for engaging to the pulp web and for moving it with respect to the dryer, and an actuator, such as a manually driven crank, an electric motor or a pneumatic motor;
An extraction device suitable for this invention comprises two adjacent and substantially aligned, generally horizontal rolls. The nip between the rolls can be opened and closed by shifting the first roll with respect to the second roll. Typically at least one of the rolls is driven, so that the pulp web, when extracted from the pulp dryer, can be moved in the process out of the pulp dryer under the driving force of the rolls. At least one of the rolls of the extraction device can be replaced by wheels, reels or other corresponding devices. The extraction device can comprise also other devices with which to grip the broken pulp web or with which to pull the pulp web out of the dryer.
The gripping means of the extraction device are preferably in contact with the pulp web to be extracted over its entire width. If the means comprise two rolls, preferably the length of at least one roll, preferably the length of both rolls is equal or at least almost equal to the width of the pulp web to be extracted. If the gripping means comprise for instance several shorter rolls, which are arranged adjacent to each other such that their longitudinal axis are in succession, the combined length of these rolls is preferably close to the width of the pulp web, for instance 95% of the width of the pulp web.
With an apparatus of the invention a broken pulp web can be easily and safely removed from any nozzle level of the pulp dryer, even from the uppermost and the lowest nozzle levels.
It has now been surprisingly found that a pulp web extraction device fixed to a maintenance platform can be fixed to the maintenance platform edge facing the pulp dryer. This allows the entire floor of the moving maintenance platform to remain as a free operating space for the operators during the extraction of the pulp web. This way, the operators are able to observe the inner part of the dryer during the extraction of the pulp web and to better control the extraction process of the pulp web even in exceptional circumstances. The pulp web is extracted according to the invention into the space remaining between the maintenance platform and the pulp dryer, whereby the fouling of the maintenance platform caused by the extracted pulp web can be minimized and the time used for cleaning of the maintenance platform can be considerably reduced.
With the aid of the invention also working safety during the extraction of the pulp web is increased. One of the advantages of the invention is reducing the amount of manpower needed for removing the pulp web from the pulp dryer. Working conditions at the mill will improve and, at the same time, cleaning operations of the pulp dryer will become easier, faster and safer.
In an embodiment of the invention the means for shifting the maintenance platform in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the pulp dryer comprise substantially vertical rail means, which extend at their upper end above the roof of the pulp dryer. This allows lifting of the maintenance platform even to the level of the pulp dryer roof or even higher. Also a pulp web that has broken on the uppermost nozzle levels can be easily removed by using a maintenance platform of this kind. The rail means typically extend about 0.1-3, preferably 0.3-3, more preferably 0.4-1 m above the roof of the pulp dryer.
In an embodiment of the invention the extraction device comprises means for moving the extraction device in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the maintenance platform itself. The means can be for instance rails or corresponding guiding means arranged on the maintenance platform edge facing the pulp dryer. Such a movable extraction device can be conveniently placed precisely at a suitable working height with respect to both the pulp dryer and the maintenance platform floor.
In another embodiment of the invention the extraction device can be movable with respect to the working level also for instance in a horizontal direction or towards the dryer and away from the dryer. This increases the usability of the apparatus. It is possible, for instance, that the extraction device is fastened to an arm, which is articulated to the maintenance platform, for instance to the railing forming its edge, such that it can be tilted by a desired amount towards the pulp dryer and its turn rolls. This allows further shortening of the distance over which the pulp web needs to be conveyed in order to get it to the extraction device. The shorter the distance between the extraction device and the end of the pulp web to be extracted can be made, the easier and lighter the extraction of the pulp web can be made.
In an embodiment of the invention an apparatus for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer further comprises a gripping system, which comprises:
an actuator, such as a manually driven crank, an electric motor or a pneumatic motor. This actuator of the gripping system is typically the same as the above-mentioned actuator of the extraction device, but it can be separate from it. Even if the gripping system and the extraction device were operated by using the same actuator, the gripping system and the extraction device can usually be controlled and driven independently and autonomously of each other; a pulling means functionally coupled to the actuator and arranged to be driven by the actuator. A pulling means stands for a wire rope, a chain, a rope or the like, and also means for pulling the wire rope or the like by means of the actuator. The pulling means may for instance comprise a reel around which the chain or the wire rope is collected by wounding the reel by means of the actuator; a gripping means coupled to the pulling means and comprising means for engaging to the pulp web. Engagement implies that after the gripping means has engaged to the pulp web, i.e. the cellulose web, the pulp web and the gripping means hardly shift with respect to each other at the location of the engagement.
By means of the actuator and the pulling means the gripping means is arranged to be movable with respect to the pulp dryer. By means of this gripping system the engagement to the pulp web to be extracted can be intensified and the pulp web can be pulled out of the inner parts of the pulp dryer without using strong manual force, by fixing a gripping means to the pulp web and by pulling the gripping means out of the pulp dryer by the force of an actuator. When the pulp web has been extracted to some extent from the pulp dryer, it can be e.g. guided into a nip between rotatable rolls of the extraction device, which nip serves for moving the pulp web further out of the pulp dryer. Thereby the broken pulp web is first gripped with the gripping means of the gripping system inside the walls of the pulp dryer, after which the gripping means and along with them the pulp web is pulled towards the extraction device until the extraction device is used for gripping the pulp web.
In an embodiment of the invention the gripping system comprises coupling means for coupling the gripping means detachably to the pulling means. The coupling means may comprise, e.g. a hole or a coupler in the gripping means, into which hole or coupler the pulling means, such as a wire rope or a chain can be detachably coupled. With the aid of the coupling means the gripping means can be easily detached from the pulling means, e.g. in case of a malfunction during the removal of a pulp web.
An embodiment of the invention comprises a gripping system comprising at least two gripping means. Owing to this, even a broad pulp web can be pulled out of the pulp dryer at a relatively low risk of pulp web rupture.
In an embodiment of the invention, the pulling means of the gripping system comprises a differential gear, which is arranged to control the traction force between the gripping means. This further reduces the risk of pulp web rupture.
In an embodiment of the invention, the pulling means of the gripping system comprises a dummy coupling. The dummy coupling allows a pulling means, such as a chain or the like to be moved e.g. from a reel of the pulling means to the edge of the pulp web to be removed. Such a pulling means or its dummy coupling also comprises a locking means, by means of which a chain or the like is relocked in a non-sliding position before the extraction of the pulp web from the pulp dryer is started.
In an embodiment of the invention, the means of the gripping means of the gripping system for engaging to the pulp web comprise a first and a second planar friction means. These planar friction means are arranged to be mutually shifted between at least two positions, i.e.
a closed position, in which the planes of the first and the second friction means are arranged in their substantial part substantially in mutual contact, and an open position, in which the planes of the first and the second friction means are arranged in their substantial part substantially separate from each other.
In the closed position the pulp web is retained between the planes of the friction means and in the open position the pulp web is detached or can be detached from the planes of the friction means. The friction means can be hinged such that in the closed position the planes of the first and the second friction means are set aligned and against each other, while in the open position the planes of the first and the second friction means are at a substantial angle with respect to each other. This angle can be e.g. 30-60 degrees. It is also possible that in the open position the planes of the first and the second friction means are substantially aligned but at a distance from each other. A typical planar friction means has e.g. an area of 25-300 cm 2 , 25-200 cm 2 , 50-300 cm 2 , 50-200 cm 2 , 75-300 cm 2 , 75-200 cm 2 or 75-150 cm 2 . It has been discovered that planar friction means of roughly this size, when placed against each other, pull the pulp web out of the pulp dryer at a relatively low risk of pulp web rupture. The planar friction means can naturally also have some other size. The planar plane of the friction means can be mainly straight or curved. The plane may have been formed with various friction-enhancing shapes, such as grooves, recesses, bosses or peaks. It is also clear that the gripping means of the gripping system for engaging to the pulp web can consist of other means than the planar friction means described in this text.
In a method according to the invention the pulp web can be conveyed underneath the maintenance platform totally from outside of the maintenance platform. It is also possible to arrange some kind of an opening in the maintenance platform for the pulp web such that the pulp web travels through the maintenance platform. However, according to the invention typically at least part of the maintenance platform or at least part of the maintenance platform floor is available for the operators of the apparatus during the removal of the pulp web from the pulp dryer according to the invention.
A method of the invention further comprises
opening the nip between the rolls of the extraction device, if necessary; placing the end of the extracted pulp web between the rolls; closing the nip of the extraction device so that the extracted pulp web end is retained between the nip; rotating the rolls of the extraction device so that the pulp web is extracted from the pulp dryer under traction of the rolls; transferring the pulp web extracted from the pulp dryer to a pulper.
A method of the invention further comprises
cutting the pulp web on that side of the turn roll of the pulp dryer which is opposite to the maintenance platform, but near the turn roll, and the cut end of the pulp web is turned away from around the turn roll and out of the opened access doors and placed in the extraction device.
As, according to the invention, the extraction device is arranged near the end wall of the pulp dryer, according to what is presented, the pulp web cut from behind the turn roll can be easily made to extend to the extraction device arranged to the maintenance platform edge facing the pulp dryer without any tearing or pulling. This works out particularly well if the diameter of the turn rolls is large enough. Near the turn roll means that the pulp web is cut behind the turn roll at a distance, which is less than the diameter of the turn roll. For instance, the pulp web can be cut at a distance, which is less than a meter from the lowest or highest point of the turn roll. Especially advantageously the end of a cut pulp web can be made to extend to the extraction device in this manner, if the extraction device is simultaneously arranged to be tilted towards the pulp dryer. Then the distance between the end of the pulp web and the extraction device can be further minimized.
In a method according to the invention, the turn rolls are not used when the pulp web is conveyed out of the pulp dryer by means of an extraction device. The turn rolls are usually always provided with a drive, which is needed for instance during tail threading. They are however usually provided with a dummy coupling with which the drive can be switched off. In this embodiment the pulp web can be pulled out of the pulp dryer only by means of the power generated by the extraction device. In this manner, damaging of the turn rolls can be avoided during removal of the pulp web.
Typically, in order to facilitate the movement of a broken pulp web, the air blows of the pulp dryer's nozzle level/levels are kept on during the execution of the method according to the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The invention is described in more detail below with reference to the enclosed schematic drawing, in which
FIG. 1 shows a solution according to prior art,
FIG. 2 shows an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 3 shows an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 4 shows an apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 5 shows a gripping means according to a fourth embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 6 shows a gripping means according to a fifth embodiment of the invention, and
FIG. 7 shows an apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
In the following, the same reference numerals are usually used for parts corresponding to each other.
In FIG. 1 a pulp web extraction device 1 is shown fitted to the rear edge 3 of the maintenance platform 2 , i.e. to the edge which is the furthest away from the dryer 4 according to prior art. The end wall 5 of the dryer is provided with doors 6 ′, 6 ″, of which one is open. In the Figure two turn rolls 7 ′, 7 ″ of the dryer are shown. The end of a broken pulp web 8 is pulled from above the lower turn roll 7 ″ seen in the Figure and through an opening 9 of the open access door 6 ″ of the dryer to the extraction device 1 located at the rear edge 3 of the maintenance platform. The extraction device comprises two substantially horizontal rolls 10 , 11 transverse to the direction of movement of the pulp web, the pulp web being pulled through a nip formed between the rolls. The extraction device fixed to the rear edge 3 of the maintenance platform is located at a distance of 2-3 meters from the turn roll 7 ″ at which the pulp web 8 is cut after a web break, due to which the end of the pulp web needs to be pulled into the nip of the extraction device 1 for instance manually before its extraction from the dryer 4 by means of the extraction device 1 can be initiated. The pulp web 8 travels over the floor 92 of the maintenance platform 2 inconveniently such that it is difficult to work on the maintenance platform during the removal of the broken pulp web from the pulp dryer 4 .
In FIG. 2 a pulp web extraction device 1 is shown fitted to the front edge 12 of the maintenance platform 2 , i.e. at the edge facing the dryer 4 according to an embodiment of the invention. The end of the broken pulp web 8 is pulled through the opening 9 of the open access door 6 ″ via the nip of the rolls 10 , 11 of the extraction device 1 located at the front edge 12 of the maintenance platform. An extraction device 1 arranged at the front edge of the maintenance platform 2 can be arranged, according to the Figure, very close to that turn roll 7 ″, at which the broken pulp web 8 has been cut. Therefore, the end of the pulp web can be easily taken out of the dryer 4 and placed in the nip between the rolls 10 , 11 , and there is no need to move the entire pulp web by pulling it. If the pulp web is cut at a location 13 below the lower turn roll 7 ″ in a situation according to the Figure, the end of the pulp web very easily extends to the nip of the extraction device without any need to move the entire web for instance by pulling it. The pulp web can be cut below the turn roll 7 ″ for instance with the aid of a cutting means 15 . After the nip of the extraction device the pulp web 8 is guided to travel by the lower edge of the maintenance platform front part 12 down to a broke conveyor 14 . There is plenty of working space on the maintenance platform 2 , as the pulp web 8 does not travel over the floor 92 of the maintenance platform, as is the case in the solution according to prior art.
In FIG. 3 an extraction device 1 ′, 1 ″ is shown arranged in connection with the front edge of the maintenance platform 2 according to an embodiment of the invention. The extraction device comprises a swinging arm 16 ′, 16 ″ and a backing roll 17 arranged in connection with it. In the example of the figure, the extraction device 1 ′, 1 ″ is arranged in connection with the edge 12 of the maintenance platform 2 facing the dryer 4 . The backing roll 17 of the extraction device is arranged substantially at the end of the swinging arm 16 ′, 16 ″. By means of a cylinder 18 , the swinging arm is turnable with respect to a supporting point 200 into a use position and into a standing position, both positions being simultaneously presented in the Figure. In the use position the swinging arm 16 ″ of the extraction device 1 ″ is turned such that the backing roll 17 is set against one turn roll 7 ″ of the dryer. In the example of the Figure the extraction device comprises an actuator 19 , by means of which the backing roll 17 can be used, i.e. rotated. During the removal of a broken pulp web 8 from the dryer 4 , the maintenance platform 2 is driven to a suitable height and an access door 6 ″ is opened in the end wall 5 of the dryer. The turn rolls 7 ′, 7 ″ are disengaged so that they can be freely rotated. The pulp web 8 is set to travel from between the backing roll 17 and the turn roll 7 ″. The backing roll 17 is pressed firmly against the turn roll 7 ″ by means of the swinging arm and the cylinder, and it is rotated by means of the actuator 19 , whereby also the turn roll 7 ″ rotates and the pulp web 8 can be extracted from the dryer 4 . The pulp web is guided from the space between the maintenance platform 2 and the end wall 5 of the dryer to the broke conveyor 14 or directly on the mill floor. If necessary, also the turn rolls 7 ′, 7 ″ can be rotated by means of an operating switch of the turn rolls, the operating switch being arranged in connection with the maintenance bridge.
In FIG. 3 the extraction device 1 ′ is shown also in a standing position, in which case the device 1 ′ is turned out from the inside of the dryer. In the example of the Figure the swinging arm 16 ′ of the extraction device 1 ′ is in its standing position locked in an essentially vertical position, whereby the maintenance platform 2 can be shifted up or down along the end wall 5 of the pulp dryer. When using an extraction device 1 ′, 1 ″ according to the example of the Figure the operator 20 has enough space to move on the maintenance platform 2 , as the pulp web 8 does not travel through or over the maintenance platform. One of the advantages of an extraction device 1 ′, 1 ″ according to the example is that the pulp web 8 needs not to be manually extracted from the dryer 4 , as the backing roll 17 of the device 1 ′, 1 ″ is set inside the dryer 4 against the turn roll 7 ″. FIG. 3 shows the roof 90 of the pulp dryer and schematically one nozzle level 91 . The maintenance platform 2 is arranged on such a long rail means that it can be guided even higher than the level presented in the Figure, beyond the roof 90 .
In FIG. 4 a pulp web extraction device 1 according to an embodiment of the invention arranged in connection with the maintenance platform 2 is shown. In this example the extraction device 1 is fixed to the front edge 12 of the maintenance platform 2 , i.e. to the edge facing the dryer 4 . The maintenance platform 2 is movable and can therefore be driven to a desired height, whereby a broken pulp web 8 can be removed at different locations of the dryer 4 . A door is opened at the end wall 5 of the dryer so that the extraction device 1 can be arranged partly inside the dryer 4 . The extraction device 1 comprises a swinging arm 16 and a belt device 21 arranged at the end thereof, which belt device is set against the turn roll 7 ″ according to the Figure. The swinging arm 16 of the extraction device can be turned manually or by using mechanical auxiliary devices. According to an embodiment the extraction device 1 comprises an actuator, such as a motor by means of which the belt device 21 is rotated. According to an embodiment the pulp web 8 can be removed from the dryer 4 by rotating the turn rolls 7 ′, 7 ″ of the dryer. The belt device 21 usually comprises at least two wheel parts 22 , 23 and an endless belt 24 arranged around them. In an embodiment there are three, four or five wheel parts and they are arranged in succession in the form of an arc such that the belt device can be fitted very tightly against the turn roll 7 ″. In the example of the Figure the wheel parts 22 , 23 are so far away from each other that only the belt 24 of the belt device 21 is in touch with the turn roll 7 ″. The wheel part 22 , 23 can be divided in several pieces in the lateral direction of the pulp web. According to an embodiment the wheel parts are formed of at least two cogged wheels and according to an embodiment the wheel part is an elongated cogged roll. The belt device 21 can comprise one belt 24 having substantially the width of the pulp web or several belts which are substantially narrower than the pulp web. The belt 24 can be made of rubber, for example. The belt can be smooth, but advantageously the belt, especially a rubber belt, is patterned whereby sliding of the belt with respect to the pulp web can be avoided.
FIG. 5 shows, according to an embodiment of the invention, a gripping means 101 of the gripping system in a closed position. The gripping means 101 has a frame 102 and a handle member 103 and a lower jaw 104 made of the same piece as the frame. The upper jaw 105 is articulated to the frame with a hinge 106 . In the illustrated closed position, the planar upper jaw 105 and the lower jaw 104 of the gripping means are locked against each other. When placed between the closed jaws, the pulp web is not able to move substantially with respect to the planes of the gripping means. A locking part 107 and a trigger 108 articulated to the frame and an opening button 109 , both functionally connected to the locking part, are also fixed to the frame 102 . The locking part 107 communicates with the upper jaw 105 such that when the trigger 108 is pressed, the jaws 104 and 105 are pressed against each other. The jaws 104 and 105 are opened, i.e. the gripping means is brought into an open position, by pressing the opening button 109 . The details of the locking and opening mechanisms of the type described above do not constitute the object of this invention, and hence they are not explained in further detail here. The locking and opening mechanisms can be devised separately as necessary. The handle part 103 at the second end of the frame comprises an opening 139 to which a pulling means, such as a wire rope, a chain or other corresponding means can be fixed for pulling the gripping means 101 .
FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment 111 of the gripping means of the gripping system according to an embodiment of the invention, which embodiment 111 mainly corresponds by its structure to the gripping means of FIG. 5 , yet the planar lower jaw 114 and the upper jaw 115 being differently shaped than in FIG. 5 . The gripping means 111 of FIG. 6 is in an open position, i.e. the upper jaw and the lower jaw are at an angle with respect to each other. When the gripping means is in this position, the broken pulp web can be placed between the jaws. FIG. 6 shows how the surface 112 of the lower jaw and the surface 113 of the upper jaw fitted against it are equipped with matching teeth or grooves 116 in order to achieve an enhanced grip between the surfaces of the jaws of the gripping means 111 and the pulp web. The friction surfaces 112 and 113 of the gripping means typically have an approximate area of 100 cm 2 .
FIG. 7 shows the use of the gripping means 101 of FIG. 5 in an apparatus resembling the apparatus of FIG. 2 . The end of the broken pulp web 8 has been gripped by the gripping means 101 . A chain 141 is fixed to the opening of the gripping means 101 , the chain being presently wound to the reel 140 of the pulling means. The chain travels through the open nip of the rolls 10 and 11 . When the gripping means 101 has been passed from between the rolls 10 and 11 , the nip between them is closed, and the pulp web 8 remains tightly between the rolls 10 and 11 . Then, rotating of the rolls 10 and 11 is initiated with the actuator of the extraction device such that the pulp web 8 is extracted from the pulp dryer 4 . FIG. 7 schematically illustrates nozzle levels 91 through which air is blown in order to float the pulp web 8 in the dryer 4 . FIG. 7 also shows how the maintenance platform floor 92 remains free for the working of the operators of the device.
Only one advantageous embodiment of the invention is shown in the Figures. The Figures do not separately show matters that are irrelevant in view of the main idea of the invention, known as such or obvious as such for a person skilled in the art. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited exclusively to the examples described above, but that the invention can vary within the scope of the claims presented below. For instance, even though this text generally refers to a pulp dryer, it is clear that the invention is also excellently suited to attending to web breaks in devices where other web-like products are handled. The dependent claims present some possible embodiments of the invention, and they are not to be considered to restrict the scope of protection of the invention as such. | The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for removing a broken pulp web from a pulp dryer. The apparatus includes a maintenance platform arranged at the first or the second end of the pulp dryer, outside the walls of the pulp dryer; a device for shifting the maintenance platform in a substantially vertical direction to a desired height with respect to the pulp dryer, and an extraction device fixed to the edge of the maintenance platform facing the dryer for pulling a broken pulp web out of the pulp dryer. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement of intake passage means of an internal combustion engine, by providing a guide plate on the inner peripheral wall of an intake port bored through a cylinder head for communication with a combustion chamber, so that a strong swirl is generated in the intake air-fuel mixture especially at the time of slow running of the engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To improve the combustion during light load operation of an internal combustion engine, it has been known to provide a deflector or a guide vane in an intake port of conventional construction as means for generating swirl in intake air-fuel mixture flow. The known means has a shortcoming in that, during heavy load operation of the engine with good combustion, resistance against gas flow therethrough unduly increases, because it controls and rectifiers the entire intake air-fuel mixture in the intake passage, and the increased resistance results in a reduction of the amount of intake air and a considerable reduction of the engine output.
The inventor has proposed to positively revolve a part of intake air-fuel mixture flow during slow running of the engine to cause a strong swirl without increasing resistance against gas flow.
The modified intake passage means, however, has difficulties in that the accurate positioning of the guide plate is not easy and its position tends to be inaccurate, because the guide plate is formed separately from the gasket of an intake manifold. Besides, the airtightness is not perfect.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to obviate the aforesaid shortcoming and difficulties of the prior art, by providing an improved intake passage means for an internal combustion engine, wherein a guide plate for swirling a part of intake air-fuel mixture flow and an insert for securing the guide plate at a preselected position of an intake port are integrally formed with a gasket to be disposed between an intake manifold and a cylinder head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view, showing the entire arrangement of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view, as seen from the right in FIG. 1, of an intake port with an insert and a guide plate secured thereto;
FIG. 3 is a front view of a gasket, as seen from the direction of the arrows III--III of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the guide plate.
Like parts are designated by like numerals and symbols throughout different views of the drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The accompanying FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, a cylinder head 1 faces a combustion chamber 2, and an exhaust port 3 and an intake port 4 are disposed with the centers thereof offset from the center 0 of an engine cylinder and communicate with the engine cylinder from above. The intake port 4 has a hollow notched cylindrical insert 6 detachably fitted therein, which insert is integrally formed with a gasket 5 so as to extend from the gasket into the intake port 4.
An elongated triangular thin guide plate 7 as shown in FIG. 4 is integrally secured to the top inner peripheral wall surface of the insert 6 so as to extend toward the cylinder center side of the insert, by die casting or pressing. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the disposition of the guide plate 7 is such that its width h decreases as the guide plate extends toward the downstream of the flow of intake air-fuel mixture. The guide plate 7 has a fixing portion 7a to be fixed to the insert 6, so that the guide plate can extend spirally over about one quarter of the circumference of the inner periphery of the intake port 4. The mounting angle α of the guide plate 7 relative to the longitudinal axial direction of the intake port 4, as shown in FIG. 1, is set at about 40°. The gasket 5 with the insert 6 and the guide plate 7 integrally formed therewith by die casting or pressing has a flange-like plate 8, which plate 8 has graphite asbestos coatings 9 secured to front and rear surfaces thereof. The gasket 5 also has an opening 10 for passage to the intake port, and a plurality of bolt holes 11 are bored around the opening 10, and a coolant passage 12 is bored therethrough below the opening 10, as seen in FIG. 3.
The shape and the relative mounting position of the guide plate 7 have been determined based on the result of various experiments. More particularly, if the guide plate 7 is of an elongated triangular shape and is secured to the upper inner wall surface of the insert 6 so as to extend spirally about one quarter of the circumferential periphery of the port toward the cylinder center side of the port, with the width h of the guide plate 7 becoming narrower as the plate 7 extends toward the combustion chamber, then the flow of the intake air-fuel mixture can be controlled with positive flow rectification at portions where the amount of the air-fuel mixture flow is the largest during the light load running of the engine, so that a strong swirl can be caused in the engine cylinder under such conditions. Therefore, the mounting position of the guide plate 7 must be accurate. If the mounting is inaccurate, sufficient swirl may not be produced.
In the present invention, the insert 6 supporting the guide plate 7 is integrally formed with the gasket 5 to be disposed between the cylinder head 1 and the intake manifold (not shown) as explained above, so that as the gasket 5 is fastened by using the bolt holes 11, the guide plate 7 is automatically disposed at the correct position of the intake port 4. Consequently, the positioning of the guide plate 7 is greatly simplified for improving the operative efficiency and the desired effect of obtaining the best swirl can be achieved. Besides, as compared with the construction of the prior art with separately mounted gasket 5 and insert 6, the airtightness and oiltightness can be also improved.
The operation of the intake passage means according to the invention will be described.
The intake port 4 is curved as shown in FIG. 2, and when the intake air-fuel mixture flows through the intake port 4 during the light load running of the engine, the flow rate at the outer side (upper side in FIG. 2) is high and a large amount of the mixture passes there. Accordingly, the cylinder center side flow a 1 of the total flow in the intake port 4 collides with the guide plate 7 and turns toward the inner wall surface of the cylinder for joining with the cylinder periphery side flow a 2 there. Thus, an air-fuel mixture flow along the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is produced, and a strong swirl in a clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1 can be effectively generated.
On the other hand, such strong swirl of the intake mixture is necessary only during light load running of the engine at a low speed accompanied with a small amount of the intake air-fuel mixture and comparatively poor combustion. When the engine is run at a high speed with a heavy load, the intake air-fuel mixture is almost perfectly burnt and the generation of the swirl is not so important. On the contrary, during fast running with a heavy load, the means for generating the strong swirl tends to cause a considerable reduction in flow coefficient. With the present invention, only a part of the intake air-fuel mixture is revolved by the guide plate 7 having the narrowed tip as described above, so that when the amount of the air intake is large, the overall effect of the resistance becomes small, and the guide plate 7 having the narrowed tip provides flow rectifying action for suppressing the turbulent flow. Thus, the present invention prevents any reduction of the intake efficiency during heavy load operation.
More particularly, the guide plate 7 mounted in the intake port 4 acts to positively revolve a part of the intake air-fuel mixture flow during slow running of the engine, so that a strong swirl is caused in the combustion chamber 2 for improving the mixing of the fuel with air. Accordingly, the rate of flame propagation becomes high for achieving the effect of improved combustion, and the output is also improved. The guide plate 7 does not change the flowing direction of the entire intake air-fuel mixture, so that it does not disturb the flow of large amount of the intake air-fuel mixture during the fast running of the engine, and a good filling efficiency can be ensured while improving the output.
As described in the foregoing, in the construction according to the present invention, a guide plate and an insert are integrally formed with a gasket, so that the registration of the guide plate in position is greatly simplified. Accordingly, the operative efficiency in assembling and maintenance can be improved. Furthermore, since the guide plate is always kept at a correct position relative to the intake port with a correct inclination, the aforesaid excellent operating performance owing to the guide plate can be always fully achieved.
Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. | The disclosed intake passage means of an internal combustion engine has an intake port bored through a cylinder head so as to communicate with a combustion chamber, said cylinder head being connected to an intake manifold with a gasket disposed therebetween, a guide plate causing a part of air-fuel mixture flow to swirl in a cylinder of the engine, and an insert holding said guide plate on inner wall surface of said intake port, said guide plate and said insert being integrally formed with said gasket. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine and a method of changing system data therein that can achieve increase of convenience in use, improvement of washing performance, and improvement of operational efficiency by grasping causes such as trouble of the product itself, problems on installation, problems on the regional characteristics, living pattern change of a user, etc., and coping with such causes.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine is a machine that removes pollutants from polluted laundry through processes of washing, rinsing, dehydration, etc. The washing machine is briefly classified into a full-automatic washing machine using rotation of a rotating wing, outer tank (i.e., washing tank), and inner tank (i.e., dehydrating tank) in a horizontal direction, and a drum washing machine using rotation of a drum in a vertical direction. To cope with diverse desires of users, diverse washing courses, functions, etc. have been developed and applied to actual products.
A conventional washing machine, as shown in FIG. 1 , includes a motor 10 for directly or indirectly rotating a washing wing, inner tank, or outer tank, a load 11 such as a feed water pump, drain pump, etc., a key input section 12 for a user's input of various kinds of wash-related operation command, a display section 13 for displaying the operation state of the washing machine, functions, etc., and a system microcomputer 14 for controlling the driving of the motor 10 and the load 11 so that the washing operation corresponding to the user's operation command inputted through the key input section 12 is performed, and controlling the display section 13 so that the corresponding operation state or function is displayed.
At this time, the display section 13 is provided with light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the system microcomputer 14 is provided with a ROM for storing unchangeable wash-related programs.
The operation of the conventional washing machine as described above will now be explained.
First, the user turns on the power of the washing machine, throws laundry into the washing tank, and inputs a washing command through the key input section 12 .
The system microcomputer 14 recognizes the washing command, reads out the corresponding washing program from the internal ROM, and performs the washing by driving the motor 10 and the load 11 based on the washing program.
At the same time, the system microcomputer 14 controls the display section 13 to display the present wash proceed state.
The conventional washing machine, however, may not fully perform its own function due to disharmony between the built-in programs and diverse use environments even though the product itself is not in trouble. This may cause the user to misunderstand its function as a trouble state, and also cause a service man not to able to grasp the cause of trouble of the product.
Now, the disharmony between the built-in program and the use environment is as follows.
The case that the product itself is not in trouble, but the user cannot be satisfied with the washing performance is mainly caused by the degree of hardness of water. That is, the washing performance is greatly affected by the degree of hardness of water (i.e., hard water/soft water), and in order to improve the washing performance, it is required to match the program to the use environment by changing programs of controlling a rotating angle of the washing wing, washing time, etc. However, the predetermined program of the conventional washing machine cannot be changed.
Also, the property of laundry is changed according to the change of family members. For example, the laundry of a newly married couple can be washed through a standard washing. If they have a baby, diapers are included in the laundry, and should be washed using a washing program having a strong rinsing function for sanitary reasons. According to the conventional washing machine, however, it is impossible to change the washing program.
Since the program change is impossible in the conventional washing machine, problems due to the above-described change of living patterns cannot be solved.
Next, even if a problem caused by the use environment, which is not a defect of the product itself, is misunderstood as a trouble, a service man may not find the cause of the problem, and thus make improper repairs.
During a dehydrating process, the washing tank may not rotate or rotate at a low speed, and thus the dehydration may not be performed. This may be caused by the trouble of the motor itself, or restricted rotation of the washing tank due to the tension of bubbles excessively produced due to an excessive input of a detergent. In this case, the motor may be damaged due to overload. However, the service man cannot find the cause of trouble, and thus it is difficult for the service man to consider a countermeasure.
Also, if the water-supply time is lengthened due to the problems on the water pressure of the house where the washing machine is installed, installation position (i.e., a high/low elevated area), water-supply method, etc., the user recognizes the trouble of water supply, and informs the trouble to a service center. In this case, the service man checks a water-supply valve, but if the water-supply valve is not in trouble, he cannot grasp the cause of the trouble.
In case that the service man can take in detail the use history, trouble history, etc. of the washing machine, he can analogize and analyze the trouble of the product and its components, or the use environment that is recognized as the trouble. However, according to the conventional washing machine, the operation state of the product, use history, trouble history, etc. cannot be grasped, and thus the service man cannot properly cope with the above-described causes.
In consequence, the conventional washing machine has the following problems.
First, since the operation state of the product, use history, and trouble history are stored, the above-described causes cannot be grasped during the repair of the product, and thus any hardwired countermeasure such as replacement of a component cannot solve the problems.
Second, since the unchangeable washing program is stored in a low-capacity memory, the problems due to the installation state of the product, regional characteristics, change of the living patterns, etc. cannot be solved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a washing machine and a method of changing system data therein that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine and a method of changing system data therein that can replace/change a pre-stored washing program by/to a proper washing program in accordance with the use environment of the washing machine, change of the family members, change of the living patterns, change of the season, etc.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine and a method of changing system data therein that can grasp the basic cause of the trouble by grasping the user history of respective components of the washing machine, and enable a perfect solution of the trouble.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine and a method of changing system data therein that can obtain washing information on the development of an improved washing machine by grasping the user-preferred washing pattern, contents of wash, and cause of the trouble.
Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a washing machine includes an outer tank for storing washing water; an inner tank installed rotatably in the outer tank; a load section composed of a motor for driving the inner tank, a water supply means for supplying the washing water, and a draining means for draining the washing water; a microcomputer for controlling drive of the load section and reading an operation state of the load section; a key input section for a user's input of various kinds of operation commands and setting of functions of the washing machine; a display section for displaying the functions and operation state of the washing machine; an interface section for sending/receiving wash-related data such as wash or dehydration to/from an external device; and a memory for enabling data read/write and storing the program or data received from the external device.
In another aspect of the present invention, a washing machine includes an outer tank for storing washing water; an inner tank installed rotatably in the outer tank; a load section composed of a motor for driving the inner tank, a water supply means for supplying the washing water, and a draining means for draining the washing water; a microcomputer for controlling drive of the load section and reading an operation state of the load section; a key input section for a user's input of various kinds of operation commands and setting of functions of the washing machine; a display section for displaying the functions and operation state of the washing machine; and a memory for enabling data read/write and storing a use history of the load section.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of changing system data in a washing machine that includes a memory, divided into a predetermined number of sectors, for enabling data read/write, an interface section for exchanging data with an external device, and a microcomputer for controlling components of the washing machine so that a washing operation corresponding to an operation command of a user is performed, and storing data transmitted from the external device in the memory or changing the data stored in the memory, wherein programs for data communication with the external device or between the components of the washing machine are stored in at least one of the memory and the microcomputer, the method comprising the steps of: if a data-change command is externally or internally produced, executing the program for the data communication stored in the microcomputer or in a first sector of the memory; if the data to be changed is partial data of a second sector, the microcomputer copying all the data in the second sector into a third sector where no data is stored using the program for the data communication and deleting the data of the second sector; the microcomputer receiving a download of the data for change through the interface section using the program for the data communication and writing the data in the second sector; and the microcomputer copying the data that excludes the changed data among the data of the third sector into the second sector.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of changing system data in a washing machine that includes a memory, divided into a predetermined number of sectors, for enabling data read/write, an interface section for exchanging data with an external device, and a microcomputer for controlling components of the washing machine so that a washing operation corresponding to an operation command of a user is performed, and storing data transmitted from the external device in the memory or changing the data stored in the memory, wherein programs for data communication with the external device or between the components of the washing machine are stored in at least one of the memory and the microcomputer, the method comprising the steps of: if a data-change command is externally or internally produced, executing the program for the data communication stored in the microcomputer or in a first sector of the memory; if the data to be changed is partial data of a second sector, the microcomputer copying all the data in the second sector into a third sector where no data is stored using the program for the data communication and deleting the data of the second sector; the microcomputer receiving a download of the data for change through the interface section using the program for the data communication; judging whether the download has been normally performed and if it is judged that the download has been normally performed, writing the downloaded data in the second sector and copying the data that excludes the changed data among the data of the third sector into the second sector; and if it is judged that the download has not been normally performed, restoring the stored data of the third sector to the second sector.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of changing system data in a washing machine that includes a memory, divided into a predetermined number of sectors, for enabling data read/write, an interface section for exchanging data with an external device, and a microcomputer for controlling components of the washing machine so that a washing operation corresponding to an operation command of a user is performed, and storing data transmitted from the external device in the memory or changing the data stored in the memory, wherein programs for data communication with the external device or between the components of the washing machine are stored in at least one of the memory and the microcomputer, the method comprising the steps of: if a data-change command is externally or internally produced, executing the program for the data communication stored in the microcomputer or in a first sector of the memory; if the data to be changed is partial data of a second sector, the microcomputer copying all the data in the second sector into a third sector where no data is stored using the program for the data communication and deleting the data of the second sector; the microcomputer receiving a download of the data for change through the interface section using the program for the data communication; judging whether the download has been normally performed and if it is judged that the download has been normally performed, writing the downloaded data in the second sector and copying the data that excludes the changed data among the data of the third sector into the second sector; if it is judged that the download has not been normally performed, judging whether a user selects a re-execution of the download or restoration to the previous data; if it is judged that the user selects the re-execution of the download, re-executing the data download; and if it is judged that the user selects the restore to the previous data, restoring the stored data of the third sector to the second sector.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of changing system data in a washing machine that includes a memory, divided into a predetermined number of sectors, for enabling data read/write, an interface section for exchanging data with an external device, and a microcomputer for controlling components of the washing machine so that a washing operation corresponding to an operation command of a user is performed, and storing data transmitted from the external device in the memory or changing the data stored in the memory, wherein programs for data communication with the external device or between the components of the washing machine are stored in at least one of the memory and the microcomputer, the method comprising the steps of: if a data-change command is externally or internally produced, executing the program for the data communication stored in the microcomputer or in a first sector of the memory; if the data to be changed is partial data of a second sector, the microcomputer copying all the data in the second sector into a third sector where no data is stored using the program for the data communication and deleting the data of the second sector; the microcomputer receiving a download of the data for change through the interface section using the program for the data communication; judging whether the download has been normally performed and if it is judged that the download has been normally performed, writing the downloaded data in the second sector and copying the data that excludes the changed data among the data of the third sector into the second sector; if it is judged that the download has not been normally performed, judging whether a user selects a re-execution of the download or restoration to the previous data; if it is judged that the user selects the re-execution of the download, re-executing the data download; if it is judged that the user selects the restore to the previous data, restoring the stored data of the third sector to the second sector; and displaying a version of the program changed through the download.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of a conventional washing machine;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of a washing machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a system data changing method in a washing machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a system data changing method when a download fails according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a system data changing method when a download fails according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a system data changing method when a download fails according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference will now be made in detail to the washing machine and method of changing system data therein according to preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The washing machine according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2 , includes a motor 20 for driving an inner tank, outer tank or washing wing, a load 21 composed of a water-supply valve, a drain valve, etc., a drive microcomputer 22 for controlling drive of the motor 20 and the load 21 and reading an operation state thereof, a key input section 23 for a user's input of various kinds of operation commands and setting for functions of the washing machine, a display section 24 for displaying the functions and operation state of the washing machine, a flash memory, i.e., flash ROM 25 , for storing an operation algorithm of the washing machine and related information of the washing machine including a use history of the washing machine, an interface section 26 for performing a data modulation so as to enable data exchange with an external device connected according to the RS-232C communication standard such as a personal computer (PC) 31 , and a system microcomputer 27 for controlling the drive microcomputer 22 so that the washing operation corresponding to the user's operation command inputted through the key input section 23 is performed, controlling the display section 24 so that the corresponding operation state or function is displayed, and storing in the flash ROM 25 the related information of the washing machine transmitted through the drive microcomputer 22 or data transmitted from the PC 31 through the interface section 26 or uploading information stored in the flash ROM 25 to the PC 31 . The washing machine may further include a modem, directly connected to the Internet, for enabling data exchange.
At this time, the flash ROM 25 is divided into 10 sectors having storage capacity of 8K to 64K bits. In the first sector are stored programs for data communication, i.e., a communication program for downloading/uploading through the PC 31 that is the external device and program for internal data communication such as data read/write/copy/deletion. Also, at least one sector is empty, and other sectors stores programs related to washing course, use history, and control. The system microcomputer 27 may also store the program for data communication.
The operation of the washing machine as constructed above will now be explained.
First, the user turns on the power of the washing machine, throws laundry into the washing tank, and inputs a washing command through the key input section 23 .
The system microcomputer 27 recognizes the washing command, reads out the corresponding washing program from the flash ROM 25 , and transmits a driving signal for driving the motor 20 and the load 21 to the drive microcomputer 22 based on the read washing program.
Accordingly, the drive microcomputer 22 drives the motor 20 and the load 21 according to the driving signal transmitted from the system microcomputer 27 to perform the washing.
The system microcomputer 27 controls the display section 24 to display the present washing proceed state.
Also, the drive microcomputer 22 transmits the use history of the motor 20 and load 21 to the system microcomputer 27 .
That is, data such as a rise in temperature and speed of the motor 20 , water feed time, drain time, etc. is stored in the flash ROM 25 through the system microcomputer 27 .
Then, the system microcomputer 27 stores in the flash ROM 25 the wash-related data selected by the user or the data of the process re-executed by the user who is not satisfied by the result of the present washing process by executing the program for data communication stored in the system microcomputer 27 itself or the flash ROM 25 .
Also, the system microcomputer 27 reads the data stored in the flash ROM 25 at predetermined intervals or when the trouble is produced, and directly uploads the data to the PC 31 connected through the interface section 26 .
Accordingly, the service man can repair the product by monitoring the uploaded data through the PC 31 and grasping the cause of the trouble of the product using the related program pre-stored in the PC 31 , or direct the corresponding user to a proper washing course and so on. The data uploaded from the washing machine can be used as information required for a future production.
Also, according to the present invention, the high-capacity flash ROM 25 enables the change of the program. That is, a wash-related program suitable for the user can be downloaded based on the data uploaded from the corresponding user, or the predetermined program can be changed.
For example, if a newly married couple has a baby and the laundry includes diapers and so on, the existing washing process cannot perform a sanitary washing of a level that the user requires. Thus, it is preferable to change the program or system data so that the rinsing process of the existing washing program is strengthened through a software provided from the manufacturer or a service man, or to newly add a sanitation-oriented washing program for washing the diapers.
At this time, the downloading and change of the program or system data is performed in a manner that the service man or the user directly connects his PC to the washing machine through the interface section 26 , and downloads a specified program from the data of the PC itself or through the Internet, or changes the pre-stored program. Now, the program or system data changing operation will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. 3 .
At this time, it is assumed that the sector to be changed is the second sector and the empty sector is the third sector among the sectors of the flash ROM 25 .
As shown in FIG. 3 , if the PC informs the data downloading to the system microcomputer 27 , the system microcomputer 27 reads the data communication program for communicating with the external device that is stored in the first sector of the flash ROM 25 and the data input/output program for communicating with the internal components (step S 31 ) to execute the program.
At this time, the data communication program and data input/output program may be pre-stored in the system microcomputer 27 instead of reading them from the first sector.
First, in case of changing only a portion of the second sector, the system microcomputer 27 copies the whole data of the second sector to the third sector, and then deletes all the data of the second sector (step S 32 ).
The system microcomputer 27 then downloads the data for change through the PC or Internet using the data communication program, and writes the data in the second sector (S 33 ).
Then, the system microcomputer 27 copies the data that excludes the changed data among the data of the third sector to the second sector (step S 34 ) to complete the data change of the second sector.
Thereafter, the system microcomputer 27 displays a picture for an initial state of the washing machine according to the program of the memory in which the data change has been completed (step S 35 ), and performs the washing operation corresponding to the operation command inputted thereafter by the user. At this time, the version of the changed program may also be displayed with the initial state of the washing machine. The purpose of displaying the version is as follows.
If any component of the washing machine such as the water-feed valve, motor, etc. is in trouble when the user changes and uses the data or program that matches the washing environment desired by the user, the user may call the service man in charge. The service man in charge operates the washing machine, and diagnoses the cause of trouble. At this time, since the service man does not know the changed portion of the data or program, it becomes difficult to diagnose and repair the product in trouble. Accordingly, through the display of the version of the changed program along with the initial state of the washing machine after the completion of the change of the data or program, the user or service man in charge can grasp the contents of the change, and easily diagnose and repair the product in trouble. The program version may also be displayed along with other washing proceed states in addition to the initial state of the washing machine, according to a predetermined condition, or according to a specified key signal inputted by the user or service man. Specifically, a key for confirming the version may be provided in a key panel of the washing machine, and if the key is pressed, the program version is displayed on the display screen. The program version may also be displayed by pressing at least two existing keys such as the rinsing key, washing key, etc. together.
Meanwhile, the data of the third sector is deleted before the data downloading.
Next, in case of changing the whole data of the second sector, the procedure is the same as the case that a portion of the data is changed except that the process of copying the data excluding the changed data is omitted.
Specifically, the whole data of the second sector is copied into the third sector, and the whole data of the second sector is deleted. At this time, the data of the second sector may be deleted in a state that the data of the second sector is not copied into the third sector.
Thereafter, the system microcomputer 27 downloads the data for change through the PC or Internet using the program for data communication, and writes the downloaded data in the second sector to complete the data change.
If the data change is completed as described above, the initial state of the washing machine, which includes or does not include the corresponding program version, is displayed, and then the washing operation is performed according to the operation command inputted by the user.
Meanwhile, the data downloading may be not performed accurately due to various causes such as an abnormal power supply, connection trouble, etc. during the data downloading. In order to solve this problem, the method of changing and processing data according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 .
First Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 4 , the system microcomputer 27 judges whether the data download has been normally performed (step S 41 ). That is, the system microcomputer 27 judges whether the download is in trouble by checking the respective programs and downloaded data.
If the data download is in trouble as a result judgement (step S 41 ), a message for informing a download failure such as “Data download has failed.” is displayed through the display section 24 of the washing machine (step S 42 ).
Then, the user's key signal input is ignored for the following data restoring work (step S 43 ).
Thereafter, the original data copied into the third sector is copied again into the second section (step S 44 ). Then, it is judged whether the data copy is completed (step S 45 ), and if completed, the initial washing state is displayed according to the washing machine program restored into the second sector, i.e., according to the original washing machine program (step S 46 ). At this time, the version of the corresponding program may also be displayed.
Thereafter, the following user's operation command is received, and the washing operation is performed accordingly.
Second Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 5 , the system microcomputer 27 judges whether the data download has been normally performed (step S 51 ). That is, the system microcomputer 27 judges whether the download is in trouble by checking the respective programs and downloaded data in the memory.
If the data download is in trouble as a result judgement (step S 51 ), a message for informing a download failure such as “Data download has failed.” is displayed through the display section 24 of the washing machine (step S 52 ).
Then, a message such as “Select a download re-execution or a previous data restoration.” so that the user can select one of the download re-execution and the previous data restoration (step S 53 ).
Thereafter, it is judged whether the user selects the download re-execution (step S 54 ). If it is judged that the user selects the download re-execution, the following user's key signal input is ignored (step S 55 ), the download is re-executed by the method as shown in FIG. 3 , and then a message for informing the download re-execution such as “Download is now being re-executed.” is displayed (step S 56 ).
Thereafter, it is judged whether the download has been completed (step S 57 ), and if it is judged that the download has been completed, the procedure returns to the initial step (step S 51 ), and it is judged again whether the data download has been normally performed. If it is judged that the download has been normally performed, the initial washing state is displayed (step S 58 ), and a message such as “The washing process will proceed according to a new downloaded program.” is displayed (step S 59 ). Then, the washing process is performed according to the user's key input. At this time, the corresponding program version may also be displayed according to the above-described condition.
Meanwhile, if it is judged that the user does not select the download re-execution, i.e., if the user selects the data restoration, as a result of judgement (step S 54 ), the following user's key input is ignored (step S 60 ), and the original data copied into the third sector is copied again into the second sector (step S 61 ).
Thereafter, it is judged whether the data copy has been completed (step S 62 ), and if completed, the initial washing state is displayed (step S 63 ). At this time, the corresponding program version may also be displayed according to the above-described condition.
Thereafter, a message for informing the user that the washing process will proceed according to the original program and data before the download such as “The washing process will proceed according to the original program.” is displayed (step S 64 ) Then, the washing operation is performed according to the user's key input.
Third Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 6 , the system microcomputer 27 judges whether the data download has been normally performed (step S 71 ). That is, the system microcomputer 27 judges whether the download is in trouble by checking the respective programs and downloaded data in the memory.
If the data download is in trouble as a result judgement (step S 71 ), a message for informing a download failure such as “Data download has failed.” is displayed through the display section 24 of the washing machine (step S 72 ).
Then, a message such as “Select a download re-execution or a previous data restoration.” so that the user can select one of the download re-execution and the previous data restoration (step S 73 ).
Thereafter, it is judged whether the user selects the download re-execution (step S 74 ). If it is judged that the user selects the download re-execution, the following user's key signal input is ignored (step S 75 ), the download is re-executed by the method as shown in FIG. 3 , and then a message for informing the download re-execution such as “Download is now being re-executed.” is displayed (step S 76 ).
Thereafter, it is judged whether the download has been completed (step S 77 ), and if it is judged that the download has been completed, the procedure returns to the initial step (step S 71 ), and it is judged again whether the data download has been normally performed. If it is judged that the download has been normally performed, the data change is performed by inserting the downloaded data in the corresponding memory, and then the initial washing state that includes the changed program version is displayed (step S 78 ). Then, a message such as “The washing process will proceed according to a new downloaded program.” is displayed (step S 79 ), and the washing process is performed according to the user's key input.
Meanwhile, if it is judged that the user does not select the download re-execution, i.e., if the user selects the data restoration, as a result of judgement (step S 74 ), the following user's key input is ignored (step S 80 ), and the original data copied into the third sector is copied again into the second sector (step S 81 ).
Thereafter, it is judged whether the data copy has been completed (step S 82 ), and if completed, the initial washing state that includes the present program version is displayed (step S 83 ).
Thereafter, a message for informing the user that the washing process will proceed according to the original program and data before the download such as “The washing process will proceed according to the original program.” is displayed (step S 84 ). Then, the washing operation is performed according to the user's key input.
As described above, the system data changing method in a washing machine according to the present invention can optimize the washing program to the user by storing and uploading to the PC connected to the washing machine the data such as the use history, trouble history, etc., of the product and changing or replacing the predetermined program. Thus, it can cope with troubles due to the external environment as well as troubles of the product itself, and thus maximize the convenience in use, washing performance, and operational efficiency. Also, it facilitates the trouble diagnosis and repair performed by the user or service man by displaying the changed program version.
The forgoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. | A washing machine and a method are provided for changing system data which allow a user to identify problems with the product itself, installation, problems due to regional characteristics, changes in use, and the like, and to change system operation data accordingly. A user may change/replace a pre-stored wash program to address specific problems encountered based on user preferences and wash history. An interface section for sending/receiving wash-related data to/from an external device, and a memory for enabling data read/write and for storing data received from the external device are provided to allow for transmission of wash history and receipt and downloading of additional wash programs. Thus convenience, washing performance, and operational efficiency can be maximized, while problem diagnosis and repair performed by the user or service man can be facilitated. | 3 |
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to coupling rings for receiving and joining circular air ducts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the years, many suggestions have been made for joining circular air ducts. The following U.S. Patents suggest various couplings for circular or rectangular pipe:
______________________________________ 180,416 3,689,114 1,921,642 4,447,078 1,762,766 4,558,892 1,811,277 4,669,762 3,415,543 4,941,693______________________________________
Despite these coupling designs, the principal way in which circular ducts have been connected over the years is the use of the so-called double S-lock. Such is simply a strip of sheet metal that has been folded upon itself to provide oppositely opening grooves and then bent into circular configuration with the ends aligned and joined in any suitable fashion. Such double S-lock locks have been used for both circular and rectangular ducts. After they are installed, drive screws are inserted every 3" or so around the duct and then the joint is wrapped and painted to effect an airtight seal. While the double S locking joint is in itself inexpensive, the time required by the duct installer raises the cost per joint considerably. Effecting airtight joints in circular duct work has been quite labor intensive.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,693, a connector is disclosed which is formed of two cylindrical shapes that must be deformed and thereafter nested and riveted together. The cost of manufacture of this coupling makes it expensive to use. In addition, because of the relatively long axial depth of the oppositely opening grooves in relation to their radial width, when sealant is placed in the grooves and it is then attempted to insert the ends of the ducts, a hydraulic lock tends to develop making it difficult to obtain satisfactory insertion of the duct ends in the grooves. Additionally, as the ducts are slid over the projecting flanges of the coupling, the sealant tends to be wiped off the flanges thereby destroying the seal between the duct and the coupling at such flanges. Clow U.S. Pat. No. 180,416 is similar to the structure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,693 and presents many of the same problems in its use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,762 if somehow usable for circular duct work would create a hydraulic lock between the sealant, the duct and the coupling as the duct is inserted in the coupling.
My own prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,543 was never adapted for use with circular ducts and the relatively large channel section could not be bent into circular configuration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
I have disclosed a coupling ring for circular oval or flat oval ducts which may be manufactured at a low cost and installed quickly and easily by the duct installer. The coupling is formed of a single strip of sheet metal such as 22 gauge which is formed in the flat to exhibit an elongated rib disposed medially of the strip and providing oppositely opening duct receiving grooves. This strip is then hooped, i.e., bent into circular configuration, while simultaneously crimping the flanges to prevent distortion of the duct receiving grooves, and the ends are then brought into alignment and secured together as by welding to a butt block. Sealant is placed in the grooves prior to insertion of the ducts. Preferably the radial width of the grooves is between four and six times the wall thickness of the ducts and the axial length of each groove may be substantially equal to the width of the groove or not more than about 10% to 15% greater than the width. This avoids any hydraulic lock when the ducts and sealing rings are assembled. Fasteners may be driven through the ducts and flanges of the ring to lock them together.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a portion of a duct system showing the utilization of my improved sealing ring;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a coupling ring embodying my invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view through one of the duct receiving grooves;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a modification of the invention;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a stripable cover for protecting the sealant;
FIG. 8 is a side elevation of a sheet metal strip which has been formed in the flat and prior to hooping; and
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a set of hooping rollers for bending the flat strip of FIG. 8 into circular configuration and crimping the flanges.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, my improved sealing ring 10 is formed of a single strip of sheet metal shaped to provide oppositely extending cylindrical flanges 34 and 36 and a channel-shaped annular rib 11 encircling the flanges at their proximal ends and connecting them together. Axially outwardly opening grooves 20 and 22 at opposite sides of the rib 11 at the connection between the rib and the flanges are intended to receive the ends of the ducts 30 and 31 into which the flanges 34 and 36 are telescoped. Each flange is circumferentially crimped at 36 and 38 between the grooves 20 and 22 and the distal ends 46 and 47 of the flanges.
More specifically, the single strip of sheet metal is shaped to provide the annular rib 11 with an outer wall 12, opposed lateral edge walls 14 and 16 and an inner wall 18. The inner wall is bent upon itself to exhibit a pair of oppositely opening, annular, relatively shallow duct receiving grooves 20 and 22 heretofore mentioned. The grooves have radial outer wall portions 24 and 26 which overly the outside 28 and 29 of the duct elements 30 and 31 at the end edge 32 and 33. Inner cylindrical flanges 34 and 36 are intended to be received within the duct elements 30 and 31 and extend axially substantially beyond the rib 11. The flanges 34 and 36 are characterized by circumferential crimping 36 and 38 heretofore mentioned which extends completely around the ring having a succession of ridges 40 and grooves 42 which extend axially of the flanges from the outer end 44 spaced inwardly from the distal end 46 of the flange (or end 47 of the other flange) to an inner end 48 spaced slightly outwardly of the groove 20 and groove 22. From the outer end or edge of the crimping to the end of the flange, it is bent angularly inwardly as at 50 and 52 to form guiding ramp portions facilitating introduction of the flange into the ducts.
Thus, it will be noted that the inner wall 18 of the channel-shaped annular rib 11 comprises the pair of wall portions 24 and 26 which extend axially and radially inwardly from the lateral edge walls 14 and 16 toward each other and into abutment at 54 where they are reversely bent upon themselves to form the bottom 56 and 58 of the grooves 20 and 22. This reverse bend at the bottom walls 56 and 58 is somewhat teardrop-shaped at 60 and 62 forming a pocket at 64 and 66 to help retain in the grooves a sealant 68 and 70 which is placed in each groove prior to assembly of the coupling ring with the ducts, and preferably at the time of manufacture of the coupling ring as hereinafter mentioned. It is to be noted that between the inner ends of the crimps and the bottoms 56 and 58 of the grooves, the flange is smooth as at 59 within the pocket, thus facilitating the sealing between the opposed surfaces of the coupling ring and ducts.
In use, the duct elements 30 and 31 are telescoped over the flanges 34 and 36 and the edges 32 and 33 are forced into the sealant which is extruded back along the duct to form a visible bead along the outside 28 of the duct as shown in FIG. 2. The installer will be able to tell whether the duct has properly seated on the flange and whether a seal will be effected by observing whether the sealant has been extruded partially between the annular rib 11 and the outer surface of the duct completely around the duct. The duct may extend to the bottom walls 56 and 58 or may be spaced therefrom as shown in FIG. 2. In either event, when the duct has properly entered the grooves, there will be evidence of extrusion of the sealant between the rib and the duct and such extrusion should be substantially uniform all around the duct indicating a proper penetration of the duct within the sealant.
The ducts are retained in place on the ring by fasteners, one of which is shown at 74. The fasteners may be sheet metal drive screws of conventional construction. Three such fasteners driven equally spaced around each duct and into each flange should be sufficient for most installations. My coupling ring may be used for joining the ends of duct elements such as a "Y" 30 and straight ducts 31, 56 and 78 or simply a pair of straight duct sections as at 76 and 78 in FIG. 1. The width, or radial dimension 5D of the grooves 20 and 22 is about between four to six times, and preferably, five times the nominal wall thickness D of the typical duct section 30 to be joined by my sealing ring. In addition, the axial length L of the groove as shown in FIG. 5 is the same as or only slightly greater than the width W. In one embodiment, the length was only 10% greater than the width, and this proved quite satisfactory, though I believe the length could probably be up to as much as 15% greater than the width W. By providing these dimensional relationships, the duct elements may be easily assembled to the coupling ring without a hydraulic lock developing in the sealant between the coupling ring and the duct as occurs in the prior art and without wiping the sealant off the flange as would occur in a joint such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,693.
Also, the pockets 64 and 66 in each groove will retain a quantity of the sealant to provide a continuous bead around the duct. These pockets 64 and 66 are formed at the time the strip is bent into its hoop shape and are displaced inwardly of the ring by the dimension A shown in FIG. 5 below the cylindrical surface 80 of the flange. Thus, sealant in such pockets will not be wiped therefrom by a duct end wiping over the surface 80 as it slides toward the bottom of the groove.
To manufacture the coupling ring, a strip of sheet metal of 22 gauge (0.036 inches) LFQ, G-90 steel having straight parallel lateral edges 46 and 47 is fed lengthwise into a rolling mill (not shown) having sets of rolls which will form the channel-shaped rib 11', grooves 20 and 22, and the flanges, all in a flat strip as shown in FIG. 8 and in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the groove as rolled in the flat strip is shown in phantom outline curve 63. This strip is then bent into a hoop or annular shape with the rib 11' on the outside by feeding the strip through a second set of rolls 100, 102 and 104, and such additional rolls as necessary, as schematically shown in FIG. 9. At the time the strip is bent into its circular shape, the crimps 36 and 38 are formed in the flanges 46 and 47. This may be accomplished by having cooperating lands and grooves in the rolls 100, 102 and 104 and as the strip is passed between them and bent, the crimps are simultaneously formed. The number and depth of the crimps must be selected to prevent unwanted distortion of the grooves 20 and 22 during the hooping operation. This, in turn, will depend on the diameter of the ring to be formed, the gauge of metal being used, etc. At the time of hooping, the pockets 64 and 66 are formed in the grooves as a natural result of the bending of the strip.
Following hooping, the free ends of the strip are aligned as at 106 and a butt block 108 (FIGS. 3 and 4) may be spot welded over the meeting ends on the inside of the ring. I have also shown in FIG. 4 some of the angles that have proven satisfactory for the ramp portion 52 and the outer wall 24 of the rib.
In FIG. 6, I have shown a modification wherein a reinforcing annular flange 110 is disposed medially on outer wall 12 of the rib 11 and welded thereto. The flange may also be used advantageously to hang the coupling ring for supporting the duct, and for this purpose, a hanger 112 may be pinned or otherwise secured thereto with a tail 114 for attachment to the ceiling structure of the building in which the duct is to be installed.
In a preferred embodiment, after manufacture of the coupling ring has been completed, the oppositely opening grooves 20 and 22 may have the sealant 68 and 70 deposited therein as shown in FIG. 7. To prevent this sealant from being contaminated or inadvertently displaced, a stripable cover 116 may be wrapped around the coupling ring over the rib and the grooves and about the flanges. This cover may be simply a thin, clinging-type plastic film or an adhesive coated fabric or plastic strip. The stripable cover will then be removed by the duct installer at the time the coupling is used.
Because of the construction of the annular rib 11, this coupling ring will allow the ducts to move slightly through a bending of the top wall 11 and the lateral edge walls 14 and 16 without destroying the seal between the duct elements and the grooves 20 and 22. Thus, if the duct is installed in a building subjected to seismic disturbances, the sealing ring should provide a continuing seal.
I have found that it is not necessary to trap a relatively long length of the duct in a coupling to effect a good seal and reliable joint. I avoid this by providing sealant between the coupling ring and both the inside and outside of the duct, and trapping the ends 32 and 33 against expansion by the overlying annular rib 11. Thus internal air pressure cannot cause the end of the duct to expand radially and break the seal.
My construction also allows a greater tolerance variation in duct diameter than does the prior art. In my design up to 1/8" variation in duct diameter can be accommodated which in a design such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,693 will required quite precise matching of the duct and the coupling.
My construction, because of the "I-beam" shape of the annular rib 11, is quite strong and resistant to collapse or buckle.
While the best mode for carrying out the invention has been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims. | A coupling ring for circular ducts is formed of a single piece of sheet metal and has oppositely extending flanges connected together by an annular channel-shaped rib which cooperatively with the flanges defines oppositely opening grooves containing sealant. The relative dimensions of the grooves is such that a hydraulic lock is avoided at the time the coupling ring is telescoped onto the ducts. Proper sealing can be visually determined by inspection. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] None.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Field of the Art
[0003] The disclosure relates to the field of storage containers, and more particularly to the field of portable storage bags.
[0004] Discussion of the State of the Art
[0005] A variety of storage bag designs are common in the art, and are generally configured to suit a particular purpose such as via the forming of particular physical shapes or the inclusion or omission of particular integral elements such as straps, handles or particular types of fasteners. Such designs may be well suited to their intended use, but are generally poorly adapted to alternate uses, leading to a wide variety of designs and a generally wasteful approach wherein many different specialized types of storage bags must be produced and purchased in order to adequately address various needs.
[0006] What is needed, is a multipurpose portable storage bag that may be readily configured for a variety of uses through the manipulation of bag materials and portions, and through the use of multipurpose elements such as fasteners that may be used to configure the bag for a particular use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a multipurpose portable storage bag with fasteners for use in closure and configuring the physical shape of the bag according to a particular use.
[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a multipurpose portable storage bag, comprising a storage bag body comprising a bag material and a plurality of integrally-formed foldable portions, wherein the foldable portions are configured to be manipulated by a user to configure at least a portion of the storage bag into a plurality of physical shapes; and a plurality of fasteners configured to allow a human user to manipulate at least a portion of the plurality of fasteners to fasten at least a portion of the bag body to at least another portion of the bag body, is disclosed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0009] The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention according to the embodiments. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not to be considered as limiting of the scope of the invention or the claims herein in any way.
[0010] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary physical arrangement of a multipurpose portable storage bag, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a variety of alternate physical configurations of a multipurpose portable storage bag with magnetic fasteners, illustrating the use of magnetic portions to configure the physical shape of the bag for a particular use.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a multipurpose portable storage bag with fasteners for use in closure and configuring the shape of the bag according to a particular use.
[0013] One or more different inventions may be described in the present application. Further, for one or more of the inventions described herein, numerous alternative embodiments may be described; it should be appreciated that these are presented for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting of the inventions contained herein or the claims presented herein in any way. One or more of the inventions may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as may be readily apparent from the disclosure. In general, embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the inventions, and it should be appreciated that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the particular inventions. Accordingly, one skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of the inventions may be practiced with various modifications and alterations. Particular features of one or more of the inventions described herein may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the inventions. It should be appreciated, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described. The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the inventions nor a listing of features of one or more of the inventions that must be present in all embodiments.
[0014] Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.
Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments
[0015] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary physical arrangement of a multipurpose portable storage bag 100 , according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, a storage bag 100 may be constructed of a flexible or pliable material such as any of a number of fabric, paper, plastic, or mesh-based materials. According to a particular arrangement, bag 100 may be configured with integrally-formed creases 102 a - n, 103 a - n or other fold lines or regions, so that a human user may easily configure the shape or structure of bag 100 by folding, creasing, or otherwise manipulating the bag material along the integrally-formed lines or within the integrally-formed regions. A plurality of fasteners 110 a - n may be affixed (such as via stitching or adhesive to affix to an interior or exterior surface of bag material) or integrally-formed (such as being woven into portions of bag material itself, or formed into integral pockets or other enclosures configured to temporarily or permanently accommodate a plurality of fasteners integrally within the bag material) into the bag material, such as including (but not limited to) a variety of hook-and-loop fasteners, plastic or metal snaps, or magnetic closures. According to the embodiment, magnetic closures may be used to provide rapid manipulation and ease of alignment, as the nature of paired magnets facilitates natural alignment according to the magnetic field without need for a user to manually align two portions to achieve proper fastening. Additionally, the nature of magnetic fields may be utilized to enable multiple fasteners to be aligned and fastened during use, due to the nature of a magnetic field to penetrate bag material or other fasteners. Exemplary arrangements illustrating such use are described below, with reference to FIG. 2 .
[0016] According to the embodiment, a variety of straps 104 , handles, or other means may be affixed or integrally formed from bag material to configure bag 100 for ease of transport. For example, a number of straps 104 may be used for a human user to carry bag 100 in the hand, slung or tied around a portion of the body such as in a “messenger bag” or purse-style configuration, or for use in tying bag 100 to a portion of the body (such as tying around the torso to configure for use as a backpack), clothing (for example, tying around a belt or other garment for configuration as a pouch or pocket) or other object such as for hanging within or upon a vehicle (for example).
[0017] According to the embodiment, a plurality of folds 103 a - n (or creases, perforations, or other integrally-formed means of configuring bag material for ease of manipulation, deformation or configuration) may be utilized to provide a user with a convenient and repeatable means to configure the shape of bag 100 for a particular purpose, for example to fold a lower portion of bag 100 along a crease 103 n to mate fasteners 110 n and 110 b to alter the size or shape of bag 100 , for example for carrying small portable electronic devices or thin paper items such as notebooks or drawing pads. It should be appreciated that by varying the arrangement or number of folds 103 a - n, various configurations may be utilized according to a user's desired use for bag 100 , and also bag 100 may optionally be folded and fastened in a compact configuration for storage or transport, for example to store bag 100 while empty with a minimal amount of space required, or to enclose items within for storage with minimal wasted volume (by folding and fastening to configure the volume of bag 100 to precisely accommodate contents).
[0018] It should be appreciated that particular components, portions, or regions of a bag 100 may vary with regard to quantity, location or arrangement, or physical construction or configuration such as size or shape. Particular arrangements or configurations are illustrated and described as an exemplary configuration, for example the illustrated configuration of magnetic portions 110 a - n, and it should be understood that additional or alternate elements may be utilized in various arrangements and configurations, according to a particular arrangement or intended use case. For example, additional magnetic closures 110 a - n may be utilized to enable additional or alternate configuration of a bag 100 through variant folding, creasing, rolling, or other configuration means, or the shape or material composition of a particular magnetic closure 110 a - n may be varied according to a particular arrangement or use, for example to achieve a greater closure strength through the use of rare-earth alloys such as neodymium-iron-boron, or other strong naturally-magnetic materials.
[0019] It should be further appreciated that while illustration is made, and description given, for various configuration of bag 100 with an open top for placing items within, any plurality of portions of bag 100 may be open or openable, such as via resealable closure using fasteners 110 a - n or other means, facilitating a variety of additional alternate configurations according to a particular use. For example, a bag 100 may be formed with two openings at distal ends of a main bag body, as may be useful for inserting cylindrical items or fragile items with delicate features that should not come into contact with a portion of the bag body, for example for use in transporting confectionery goods such as cakes. In such an arrangement, an item may be carefully placed within via insertion through an openable distal portion of bag 100 , and then openable distal portions may be closed and the enclosed item transported to its destination, where an openable distal portion may be reopened and the contents carefully removed.
[0020] It should be further appreciated that through the use of a plurality of folds 102 a - n, 103 a - n or fasteners 110 a - n, a wide variety of bag materials may be utilized without limiting the configurability or function of bag 100 . For example, a rigid or semi-rigid material such as a plastic or metal material may be used, with a plurality of folds 102 a - n, 103 a - n being integrally-formed such that bag 100 may still be easily configured as described above, while maintaining rigid properties for such use as to protect or insulate contents. For example, bag 100 may be formed of a thin semi-rigid plastic for use in protecting delicate contents such as plants or food items, or a thicker semi-rigid plastic or padded material may be used for providing thermal insulation to contents, such as for transporting produce or for medical purposes (for example, to transport medicines or biological tissues, that may be sensitive to heat or dramatic changes in temperature or other environmental conditions).
[0021] FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a variety of alternate physical configurations of a multipurpose portable storage bag 100 with magnetic fasteners 110 , illustrating the use of magnetic fasteners 110 to configure the physical shape of bag 100 for a particular use. As illustrated, bag 100 may be folded along a plurality of creases 103 to alter its shape or volume, for example to flatten and remove excess volume for transport of thin items such as books or electronics. A plurality of magnetic fasteners 110 may be used to affix folded portions of bag 100 in place, to prevent fold from coming undone during carry or use, or to maintain a flattened profile for storage or transport. For example, multiple bags 100 may be flattened in this manner and arranged for ease of transport. As illustrated, a plurality of straps 104 may be affixed or integrally-formed as a portion of bag 100 for ease of carry by a user, for example for use in a folded configuration as shown for carrying over the shoulder and transporting papers, books, electronic devices such as smartphones or tablet computing devices, or other flat items.
[0022] As illustrated, the use of magnetic fasteners 110 may enable multiple arrangements or configurations of a bag 100 through the utilization magnetic field properties, for example as shown a bag 100 may be folded in multiple portions, with fasteners 110 being held in close proximity to one another so as to be affixed in place through interaction of their magnetic fields. In this manner, fasteners may be used in a variety of ways without requiring physical alteration, by rearranging a portion of a plurality of fasteners 110 with relation to one another, facilitating a greater variety of bag shapes or configurations that may be possible according to a particular physical arrangement.
[0023] In an alternate configuration as shown, bag 100 may be unfolded for enclosing larger items, such as groceries, clothing, or other items that may require more volume. A portion of bag 100 may be folded, curled, rolled, or otherwise manipulated to facilitate closure of bag 100 with items enclosed within, and a plurality of magnetic fasteners 110 may be used to affix bag 100 in this configuration and prevent unwanted re-opening or loss of contents. For example, in an arrangement utilizing an insulated material such as a padded thermal insulation material to form bag 100 , produce may be placed within for storage or transport and an open portion of bag 100 may then be rolled or curled and fastened in place via fastener 110 , creating a sufficiently air-tight closure to further insulate the contents.
[0024] The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications of the various embodiments described above. Accordingly, the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. | A storage bag body comprising a bag material and a plurality of integrally-formed foldable portions, wherein the foldable portions are configured to be manipulated by a user to configure at least a portion of the storage bag into a plurality of physical shapes; and a plurality of fasteners configured to allow a human user to manipulate at least a portion of the plurality of fasteners to fasten at least a portion of the bag body to at least another portion of the bag body. | 1 |
BACKGROUND
Retail stores that sell digital cameras typically display the cameras on a shelf with a short list of features printed next to each camera. However, due to shelf space constraints, the amount of information presented regarding each camera is very limited. Also, there are generally no measures taken to encourage a user to demo the cameras. If an instruction tag is provided indicating to the user how to demonstrate the cameras, it may be lost or deliberately removed (sabotaged).
Many digital cameras can connect to a dock, or docking station, that provides connections to a PC, printer, and/or TV. The dock may also be used to charge the camera's batteries.
It would be desirable to have a camera and dock, or docking station, that permits a customer to interactively demonstrate features of a digital camera without allowing camera settings to be corrupted or sabotaged.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The various features and advantages of disclosed embodiments may be more readily understood with reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary demo dock prior to docking of a digital camera;
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary demo dock after camera docking;
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates operation of exemplary firmware for use with the demo dock and digital camera; and
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary method of using the demo dock and digital camera.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the drawing figures, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary demo dock 10 , or docking station 10 , prior to docking of a digital camera 20 therein, and FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the demo dock 10 after docking of the digital camera 20 . In one embodiment, the demo dock 10 may incorporate dock firmware 11 as a detectable feature 11 that is detectable by the digital camera 20 that is inserted therein or coupled thereto (i.e., docked), identifying that the dock is a demo dock 10 . For example, a particular communication protocol used to communicate between the camera 20 and the demo dock 10 may comprise the detectable feature 11 .
Alternatively, in other embodiments, any mechanical or electrical feature 11 or characteristic that is detectable by the digital camera 20 may be used to distinguish the demo dock 10 from a normal dock. For example, a special key or protrusion on the demo dock 10 or its electrical connector 12 , for example, may be sensed by the camera 20 to identify that it is coupled to a demo dock 10 .
When the camera 20 is removed from the demo dock 10 , it begins an interactive in-hand customer sales presentation implemented via demo firmware 21 residing in the camera 10 that utilizes its liquid crystal display (LCD) 22 and speaker 23 (generally designated) to inform the user of the various features and benefits of the camera 20 . The customer may be encouraged to interact with the demo by pressing selected navigation buttons 24 . One or more navigation buttons 24 may also be designated as an exit button 24 . Pressing an exit button 24 terminates the demo and causes the camera 20 to revert to factory settings defining normal operation.
When the camera 20 is placed back into the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 residing therein prepares it for the next demo by resetting camera settings to demo defaults to ensure that the camera 20 does not remain in a nonstandard state that could be confusing to other customers. This resetting action also defeats deliberate attempts at camera sabotage. The camera 20 may also erase some of the oldest pictures stored in its memory, if necessary, to guarantee that there is always sufficient space for the next user to take several pictures. After resetting itself, the camera 20 would then start a dock demo by displaying images and/or playing audio designed to arouse the curiosity of customers walking by and encourage them to pick up and investigate the camera 20 .
The camera 20 may be reset any time after it is placed in the demo dock 10 until the time the user exits demo mode. For example, the camera 20 may be reset when it is first placed in the dock 10 , or when it is removed from the dock 10 , or when the user exits demo mode.
If the demo dock 10 is connected to a TV, for example, the dock demo implemented by the demo firmware 21 may be automatically routed to the TV screen, rather than requiring the user to press a TV button 24 as is the case for a normal dock. This allows retailers to painlessly set up a point-of-purchase demo on a large display screen that would draw much more attention and be easier to read than a demo running on the liquid crystal display 22 of the camera 20 .
It is desirable that it not be too hard for a retailer or customer to put a camera 20 into demo mode or it is not likely to happen. The above-described demo dock 10 provides a simple way to put the camera 20 into demo mode without affecting normal operation of the camera 20 .
It is not desirable to have every camera 20 default to demo mode or customers may have problems getting it out of demo mode after purchase. This is not an issue with the demo dock 10 , because customers will not be able to buy the demo dock 10 , so they will never see the demo mode at home.
It is not desirable to have the camera 20 left in a nonstandard or confusing state after a customer has played with it. Every time the camera 20 is placed into the demo dock 10 , it resets itself to demo defaults. This also overcomes deliberate attempts at sabotage.
Cameras 20 on display at retail stores typically sit idly sleeping on a shelf until a user picks them up and turns them on. When a camera 20 detects that it is sitting on a demo dock 10 it may be configured to automatically launch a dock demo on its liquid crystal display 22 , or on a connected TV, to attract attention.
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates operation of exemplary firmware 21 for use with the demo 10 dock and the digital camera 20 . Actions implemented by the exemplary firmware 21 are as follows.
The firmware 21 detects 31 that the camera 20 has been placed in a demo dock 10 . When the camera 20 is removed from the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 presents 32 an interactive demonstration using audio-visual capabilities of the camera 20 . The firmware 21 activates 33 certain navigation buttons 24 of the camera 20 to allow interaction with the demonstration. The firmware 21 terminates 34 the demonstration when an exit button 24 is depressed or when the camera 20 is returned to the demo dock 10 . When the camera 20 is in or returned to the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 resets 35 camera settings to demo defaults. When the camera 20 is returned to the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 may optionally present 36 a dock demo that displays images and/or plays audio to arouse the curiosity of customers and encourage them to pick up and investigate the camera 20 . Also, when the camera 20 is returned to the demo dock 10 , and if the demo dock 10 is connected to a TV, the dock demo may be automatically routed 37 to the TV for presentation.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary method 40 of using the demo dock 10 and the digital camera 20 . The demo dock 10 is configured 41 to have a dock connector 12 for connection to the digital camera 20 , and a detectable feature 11 that identifies the demo dock 10 . The digital camera 20 is configured 42 to be connectable to the demo dock 10 and include demo firmware 21 that is operative to present a demonstration of the camera 20 when it is removed from the dock 10 and reset the camera 20 for normal operation when the demonstration is ended.
The camera 20 is removed 43 from the demo dock 10 . Upon removal, the firmware 21 presents 44 an interactive demonstration using audio-visual capabilities of the camera 20 , and activates certain navigation buttons 24 to allow interaction with the demonstration. The customer interacts 45 with the camera 20 to learn about the features and operation of the camera 20 . The customer terminates 46 the demonstration by selecting an exit button 24 , which resets the camera 20 to demo defaults.
When the camera 20 is in the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 may be made operative to present 47 a dock demo that displays images and/or plays audio to arouse the curiosity of customers and encourage them to pick up and investigate the camera 20 . Also, when the camera 20 is in the demo dock 10 , and the demo dock 10 is connected to a TV, the dock demo may be automatically routed 48 to the TV for presentation.
Thus, a demo dock and related methods and algorithms that provide for a point-of-purchase dock demo to attract attention have been disclosed. It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of some of the many specific embodiments that represent applications of the principles described herein. Clearly, numerous and other arrangements can be readily devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. | When a digital camera detects that it has been placed in a demo dock, it resets internal settings to demo defaults and may launch a point-of-purchase dock demo to attract attention. When a customer removes the camera from the demo dock, an interactive demo may begin. The demo may instruct the customer how to interact with the demo or end it. Once ended, the camera reverts to normal operation until replaced in the demo dock. Methods of using the dock and digital camera are also disclosed. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 09/724,438, filed Nov. 28, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 09/555,777, filed on Apr. 17, 2000 and Ser. No. 09/555,779, filed on Apr. 17, 2000 now U.S. Pat. Nos. ______and ______ respectively; which are continuations-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/218,827, filed Dec. 22, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,388, having an issue date of Apr. 18, 2000; all of the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to articles of manufacture comprising a biological assay material for detecting the presence of a particular toxic substance; particularly to articles of manufacture comprising active areas which are constructed and arranged for the diagnostic detection and identification of pathological agents; and most particularly to articles of manufacture particularly designed for detecting and identifying one or a plurality of materials which are biologically hazardous.
[0003] 1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Although considerable effort and expense have been put forth in an effort to control food and/or airborne pathogenic microorganisms, there nevertheless exist significant safety problems in the supply of packaged food, in the certification of sterility for medically useful components, e.g. surgical tools, internal examination devices, e.g. endoscopes, and the like, and in dealing with the use of a variety of biological materials as weapons of mass destruction.
[0005] For example, numerous outbreaks of food poisoning brought about by foodstuffs contaminated with strains of the E. coli , Campylobacter, Listeria, Cyclospora and Salmonella microorganisms have caused illness and even death, not to mention a tremendous loss of revenue for food producers. These and other microorganisms can inadvertently taint food, even when reasonably careful food handling procedures are followed. The possibility of accidental contamination, for example by temperature abuse, in and of itself, is enough to warrant incorporation of safe and effective biological material diagnosis and detection procedures. Further complicating the situation is the very real possibility that a terrorist organization might target either the food or water supply of a municipality or even a nation itself, by attempting to include a pathogenic microorganism or toxic contaminant capable of causing widespread illness or even death. If, by accident or design, the food supply of a particular population were to be contaminated, it is not only imperative that the population be alerted to the contamination, but it is further necessary that the particular contaminant be quickly and precisely pinpointed so that appropriate countermeasures may be taken.
[0006] With respect to medical or dental procedures, there exists a very real possibility for transmission of disease due to ineffective sterilization techniques or careless handling of medical implements, which can often lead to contamination of the sterile field. Although these devices are generally wrapped after sterilization, it is impossible to verify the efficacy of the sterilizing process or determine if subsequent contamination has occurred prior to use.
[0007] Additional attention is directed toward the use of potential agents of bioterrorism, e.g. various bacteria, viruses, or toxins, which can be of microbial, plant, or animal origin, also represent a credible threat to the general population, since they can be incorporated within biological weapon systems of mass destruction. The most common agents of concern include Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plague), Variola major virus (smallpox), and botulinum toxin. Additional potential agents include: brucella sp.; Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus and other viral encephalidities; Vibrio cholerae (cholera); and, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB).
[0008] The technology required to creates weapons of mass destruction from biological agents is readily available to the civilian population in the form of texts and information available via the Internet. Modestly financed organizations of relatively small size and rather basic training in biology and engineering could easily develop an effective biological weapons capability.
[0009] Individual agents and toxins useful as biological weapons generally share the following features: (1) capability of being dispersed as aerosols and remain suspended for hours; (2) aerosols are deliverable by simple technology readily available in industry, e.g., agricultural crop dusters, backpack sprayers, purse-size perfume atomizers, and the like; and, (3) aerosols are capable of producing significant, if not fatal, illness in humans when inhaled.
[0010] In contrast to screening methods used to detect traditional explosive devices (e.g., x-ray and trained canines), there are essentially no routine methods or technology in place to detect a biological weapon. Additionally, variously known laboratory techniques for detecting biological agents require extensive time for development and testing of sample cultures in order to confirm a diagnosis.
[0011] Lastly, it is generally accepted that it is impossible to know either the timing for release of a biological agent or the methodology of its dispersal, e.g. aerosol, powder, via the mails, through HVAC systems, or the like.
[0012] Thus, it is imperative that articles of manufacture be developed which provide an unambiguous warning to the untrained general population, that they have come in contact with a biological weapon.
[0013] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,388 discloses bioassay materials which may take the form of packaging materials for food or other products and which are useful for detecting toxic substances The biological assay therein disclosed broadly encompasses a base layer which is a flexible polyolefin film having a surface which has undergone a treatment step effective to enhance the film's ability to immobilize a ligand which has been applied thereto and a biologically active ligand which is immobilized to the film subsequent to which a protectant layer in the form of a gel coat or liquid film is applied. This patent requires separate deposition of the active ligand followed by application of the protectant layer.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,856 discloses an analytical element having a layer for antibody/antigen binding but fails to teach or suggest a flexible polyolefin matrix.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,005 teaches a multi-layer analysis element including a membrane filter to which an antigen or antibody is immobilized. The concept of forming a flexible analysis element having immobilized biological agents bound thereto is neither suggested nor disclosed.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,047 discloses a polymer film coated with a metal alloy and containing a self-assembling monolayer printed on the polymer film.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,373 discloses a method for monitoring a site for the presence of future toxic agents. The patent places sticky polymeric particles upon a site to be remotely monitored for toxins over a future time period. Upon contact with a toxic agent, the particles react to produce or reflect a particular spectral signature which may be verified via an airborne vehicle using a laser transmitter or the like investigative tool.
[0019] U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,375 teaches a method and a test kit for rapidly detecting biotoxic contaminants. Activated spores, devoid of enzymatic activity, are germinated and enzymatic activity is determined in the presence of a material which is catalytically convertible to a product by the enzymatic activity. Conversion of the material is determined as a means of verifying the presence of the toxic material.
[0020] The Berkeley Lab Research News of Dec. 10, 1996, in an article entitle “New Sensor Provides First Instant Test for Toxic E. coli Organism” reports on the work of Stevens and Cheng to develop sensors capable of detecting E. coli strain 0157:H7. A color change from blue to red instantaneously signals the presence of the virulent E. coli 0157:H7 microorganism. Prior art required test sampling and a 24 hour culture period in order to determine the presence of the E. coli microorganism, requiring the use of a variety of diagnostic tools including dyes and microscopes. An alternative technique, involving the use of polymerase chain reaction technology, multiplies the amount of DNA present in a sample until it reaches a detectable level. This test requires several hours before results can be obtained. The Berkeley sensor is inexpensive and may be placed on a variety of materials such as plastic, paper, or glass, e.g. within a bottle cap or container lid. Multiple copies of a single molecule are fabricated into a thin film which has a two part composite structure. The surface binds the biological material while the backbone underlying the surface is the color-changing signaling system.
[0021] The Berkeley researchers do not teach the concept of incorporating any means for self-detection within food packaging, nor do they contemplate the inclusion of multiple means capable of both detecting and identifying the source of pathogenic contamination to a technically untrained end user, e.g. the food purchaser or consumer.
[0022] Wang et al, in an article entitled “An immune-capturing and concentrating procedure for Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and its detection by epifluorescence microscopy” published in Food Microbiology, 1998, Vol. 15 discloses the capture of E. coli on a polyvinylchloride sheet coated with polyclonal anti- E. coli 0157:H7 antibody and stained with fluorescein-labeled anti- E. coli 0157:H7. After being scraped from the PVC surface, the cells were subjected to epifluorescence microscopy for determining presence and concentration. The reference fails to teach or suggest the concept of incorporating any means for self-detection within food packaging, nor does it contemplate the inclusion of multiple means capable of both detecting and identifying the source of pathogenic contamination to a technically untrained end user, e.g. the food purchaser or consumer, and especially fails to disclose such detection without the use of specialized detection techniques and equipment.
[0023] U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,672 discloses a single stranded nucleic acid probe having a base sequence complementary to the gene to be detected which is immobilized onto the surface of an optical fiber and then reacted with the gene sample denatured to a single stranded form. The nucleic acid probe, hybridized with the gene is detected by electrochemical or optical detection methodology. In contrast to the instantly disclosed invention, this reference does not suggest the immobilization of the probe onto a flexible polyvinylchloride or polyolefin film, nor does it suggest the utilization of gelcoats having varying porosities to act as a control or limiting agent with respect to the migration of antibodies or microbial material through the bioassay test material, or to serve as a medium for enhancement of the growth of the microbial material.
[0024] U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,291 discloses a method of identifying oligomer sequences. The method generates aptamers which are capable of binding to serum factors and all surface molecules. Complexation of the target molecules with a mixture of nucleotides occurs under conditions wherein a complex is formed with the specific binding sequences but not with the other members of the oligonucleotide mixture. The reference fails to suggest the immobilization of the aptamers upon a flexible polyvinylchloride or polyolefin base material, nor does it suggest the use of a protective gelcoat layer which acts as a means to selectively control the migration of antibodies and antigens, or to serve as a medium for enhancement of the growth of microbial material.
[0025] The prior art fails to teach an article of manufacture which is readily providable to the populous, and which can provide an unskilled person with a visual signal capable of alerting said individual to the presence of a toxic agent while simultaneously identifying the toxic agent with which the individual has come into contact.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0026] The present invention relates to articles of manufacture inclusive of or in combination with a biological assay material, wherein “in combination” may be defined as integral therewith, or appended thereto or thereon. The articles of the instant invention are formed a material capable of detecting and identifying a multiplicity of biological materials.
[0027] In one embodiment, the article of manufacture, which is contemplated as including various articles of clothing (non-limiting examples of which are gloves, lab-coats, booties, hats, face masks, and the like) labels, envelopes, bags or pouches, self-adherent patches, and the like; are formed so as to provide an integral biological material identification system. By “integral” it is meant that the biological material detection system may constitute the material of construction of the biological assay material, may be applied directly to the article of manufacture, or alternatively, said article may be constructed and arranged to accept a portion of said biological material detection system thereon, in an amount effective to provide the desired indication of contamination. In such an embodiment, the biological material detection system is designed to be easily replaced so that the base article is instantly reusable upon application of a new or different biological assay material. Thus, using gloves as an illustrative embodiment, such gloves could be formed for extended use, while the biological assay material could be easily rejuvenated or changed, so as to facilitate maintenance of the diagnostic efficacy of the gloves or alternatively to enable instantaneous customization of the gloves for a particular detection utility. Given the varying means by which the biological material detecting system of the instant invention can be included in combination with various articles of manufacture, the widespread inclusion of the biological material detecting system in a variety of manufactured articles will be both efficient and economical.
[0028] In one embodiment of the invention the biological material detecting system prints a pattern containing several of the biologically active agents, e.g. antibodies or aptamers onto a flexible material which is usually a type of polymeric film, preferably a polyvinyl chloride or polyolefin film.
[0029] Each biological agent, for example an antibody, can be tailored so as to be specific to a particular biological material and may be printed upon the substrate in a distinctive icon shape. The detection system may contain any number of biological agents, or a variety of epitopes thereof, capable of detecting a variety of common toxic microbes, less common microbes useful as biological weapons, or combinations thereof. Although any number of microbes may be identified via the inventive concept taught herein, for the purpose of this description, the microbes of interest will be directed toward Anthrax, Smallpox, Plague and Botulism.
[0030] The biological material detecting system will not merely detect the presence of biological materials, it will also identify the particular biological materials located in a packaged product. This unique feature allows for the immediate identification of each particular biological material present since the antibodies are specific to a detector having a definitive icon shape or other identifying characteristic. As an illustrative, but non-limiting embodiment of the invention, a plurality of icons, each relevant to a particular biohazard, e.g. Anthrax, Smallpox, Plague, Botulism and the like, can be applied to the substrate via various printing techniques, as are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,388 and related applications, all of whose contents have been herein incorporated by reference. Upon contact with one or more of the biohazards, the icons will change from their original visual image to an image which is indicative of said contact, thereby alerting the viewer of a dangerous situation, while simultaneously identifying the biohazard.
[0031] The ability to detect and identify the particular biological material immediately is of immeasurable value to health officials and governmental agencies. The ability to immediately identify a toxic material will lead to greatly reduced response times to health threats that might be caused by the biological material and will also enhance the ability for authorities to locate the source of the problem.
[0032] In an alternative embodiment, the biological material detection system may be formed upon any suitable substrate e.g. any flexible transparent polymer film, and subsequently be combined with a secondary material, illustrated, but not limited to, a paper or cloth backing, which may further contain means for adherence to yet an additional article. In such manner, an article of manufacture useful for producing an unlimited variety of end-products is contemplated by the invention.
[0033] As a means of providing enhanced sensitization, a scavenger antibody, which is a biologically active ligand characterized as having a higher affinity for the particular toxic substance than the capture antibody, may be included. The scavenger antibody is provided, e.g. by mixing said scavenger body with the combined capture antibody/water gloss overprint varnish, in a sufficient amount to bind with the particular toxic substance up to and including a specific threshold concentration. In this manner, the capture antibody will be prevented from binding with a detector antibody until the concentration of the particular biological material surpasses the specific threshold concentration. In this manner, the biological material detecting system visually reports only those instances where concentration levels are deemed harmful by health regulatory bodies.
[0034] The biological material detecting system of the present invention exhibits an active shelf life in excess of 1 year under normal operating conditions. This enhances the use of a biological material detection system on products which are intended to be stored for long periods of time, e.g. military rations or medical supplies, which might come into contact with biological hazards. These products are stored so as to be ready for immediate use in some time of emergency, therefore it is extremely beneficial to be able to readily determine their safety at the time of use.
[0035] The articles of manufacture which incorporate the biological material detecting system, as set forth in the instant invention, represent an entirely new device for alerting the general population to the presence of toxic materials in the environment. They provide the layman with a simple device, which is easily substituted for non-biologically sensitive devices, which will readily alert users to the presence of certain biologically hazardous materials present in food stuffs, mail, newspapers, or the like.
[0036] The system is designed so that the presence of a biological material is indicated to the user in a distinct, unmistakable manner which is easily visible to the naked eye.
[0037] An important feature of the biological material detection system is the plurality of testing sites which it provides. In the past, the use of single location or in situ detectors have left a majority of the area around and upon a particular location exposed to undetected microbes. This greatly increased the chance that a hazardous, spoiled or tainted product might be inadvertently passed along or consumed before the toxic agent had spread to the location of the in situ detector. The biological material detection system of the present invention avoids this problem by providing a plurality of individual detectors per unit area which are effective to maximize detection of any hazardous microorganisms within, upon or around the area of concern.
[0038] It is an objective of the present invention to provide an article of manufacture which comprises a biological material detecting system for protecting against, or warning of the presence of, a biologically hazardous material. Awareness of the hazardous material is accomplished by detecting and unmistakably presenting to the untrained eye visual icons on said article which signify the presence of one, or a plurality, of hazardous microorganisms.
[0039] It is another objective of the instant invention to provide an article of manufacture which integrates a bioassay material detection system, wherein an antigen detecting antibody system is immobilized within a biological activity maintaining matrix (e.g. a gelcoat layer and/or a varnish matrix) upon the surface of a flexible polymer.
[0040] It is still another objective of the instant invention to provide an article of manufacture comprising a bioassay material wherein an antigen detecting antibody system is immobilized upon the surface of a suitable substrate, e.g. a flexible member formed from a polymer film, or a composite laminated structure including said film.
[0041] It is a further objective of the invention to provide an article of manufacture inclusive of a biological material detecting system which is so similar in appearance and utilization that its use, in lieu of traditional articles of manufacture, is not apparent to the end user.
[0042] A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an article of manufacture inclusive of a biological material detecting system which is cost effective when compared to traditional packaging materials.
[0043] Yet an additional objective of the instant invention is to provide an article of manufacture inclusive of a biological material detecting system applied to a substrate.
[0044] Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0045] The particular toxic substance may be one or more members selected from the group consisting of a particular microorganism, biological materials containing the genetic characteristics of said particular microorganism, and mutations thereof. In a particular embodiment, the toxic substance is selected from the group consisting of microorganisms, nucleic acids, proteins, integral components of microorganisms and combinations thereof.
[0046] It should also be understood that the invention will function by direct measurement of microbes with certain types of antibodies, selected from the group consisting of an antibody, a single stranded nucleic acid probe, an aptamer, a lipid, a natural receptor, a lectin, a carbohydrate and a protein. The biological materials may also be measured by non-immunological methods in particular using labeled molecules, such as aptamers, which have a high affinity for the biological materials.
[0047] The invention utilizes various types of detector antibodies, e.g. those conjugated with dyes to produce a visual cue, or alternatively, photoactive compounds capable of producing a visual cue in response to a particular type of light exposure, for example a scanning system which detects luminescent properties which are visualized upon binding of the antigen and antibody. In this method of construction biological materials are measured directly with a biologically active ligand, e.g. an antibody, aptamer, nucleic acid probe or the like, which induces a conformational change to produce a visual cue.
[0048] It is also understood that specific polymers may be incorporated into the invention and that when a biological material is bound to the surface it induces a molecular change in the polymer resulting in a distinctly colored icon.
[0049] The inventor has now discovered that it is possible to form composites by attaching biologically active ligands to the surface of various substrates, e.g. flexible cellulosic materials, e.g. paperstock, flexible polymers, flexible spun or woven materials, and the like, for example polyvinyl chloride, TYVEK, various polyolefins either singly or in varying combinations, e.g. a polyolefin sheet having appropriate properties of transparency and flexibility and that the composite functions as a biological sensor or assay material. These films may be untreated polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride films which are amenable to antibody immobilization by various mechanisms, e.g. by adsorption. In a particular embodiment, the films may be first cleaned, e.g. by ultrasonication in an appropriate solvent, and subsequently dried. For example the polymer sheet may be exposed to a fifteen minute ultrasonic treatment in a solvent such as methylene chloride, acetone, distilled water, or the like. In some cases, a series of solvent treatments are performed. Subsequently the film is placed in a desiccating device and dried. Alternatively, these films may be created by first exposing the film to an electron discharge treatment at the surface thereof, then printing with a fluorescing antibody receptor. Subsequently, a drying or heating step may be utilized to treat the film to immobilize the receptor.
[0050] Additional modifications to polyolefin films may be conducted to create the presence of functional groups, for example a polyethylene sheet may be halogenated by a free radical substitution mechanism, e.g. bromination, chlorosulfonation, chlorophosphorylation or the like. Furthermore, a halodialkylammonium salt in a sulfuric acid solution may be useful as a halogenating agent when enhanced surface selectivity is desirable.
[0051] Grafting techniques are also contemplated wherein hydrogen abstraction by transient free radicals or free radical equivalents generated in the vapor or gas phase is conducted. Grafting by various alternative means such as irradiation, various means of surface modification, polyolefin oxidation, acid etching, inclusion of chemical additive compounds to the polymer formulation which have the ability to modify the surface characteristics thereof, or equivalent techniques are all contemplated by this invention.
[0052] Additionally, the formation of oxygenated surface groups such as hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxyl groups via a flame treatment surface modification technique is contemplated.
[0053] Further, functionalization without chain scission by carbene insertion chemistry is also contemplated as a means of polymer modification.
[0054] Illustrative of the types of commercially available films which might be utilized are polyvinyl chloride films and a straight polyethylene film with electron discharge treatment marketed under the trademark SCLAIR®. The electron discharge treatment, when utilized, renders the film much more susceptible to immobilization of the antibodies on its surface. Additional films which might be utilized are Nylon 66 films, for example DARTEK®, a coextrudable adhesive film such as BYNEL® and a blend of BYNEL® with polyethylene film.
[0055] Articles of manufacture include, but are not limited to protective gloves, booties, hats, face masks, and the like garments or articles in which the artisan is desirous of including a biological material detection and identification ability.
[0056] Additional articles of manufacture contemplated by the invention include, but are not limited to containers, e.g. document handling containers, such as mailbags, bags, boxes, envelopes, and the like; various signs and/or labels which may be self-adherent to a particular surface, and badges or tags which may be applied or attached to other articles or structures. The assay material may be attached directly to a substrate of choice, or alternatively a flexible substrate which includes the biological assay utility may be included in combination with a base article, to form a composite structure.
[0057] The invention will be further illustrated by way of the following examples, any of which may be fashioned into any of the contemplated articles:
EXAMPLE 1
[0058] Detection of Antibody on the Surface of a Thin Layer Polyvinylchloride Sheet:
[0059] Rabbit polyclonal IgG was diluted to a final concentration of 2.0 μg/ml in 0.1M carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 )-bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) buffer, pH 9.6.
[0060] Using a 2″×3″ grid, 75 μL (150 ng) was applied to a sheet of polyvinylchloride at 1″intervals.
[0061] The antibody treated polyvinylchloride sheet was dried for 1.5 hrs. at a temperature of 37° C.
[0062] The dried sheet was then washed 3 times with a phosphate buffered saline solution at a ph of 7.4.
[0063] HRP conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG (GαRHR HRP ) was diluted to a concentration of 1:7000 in 1% casein, 0.1M potassium ferricyanide K 3 Fe(CN) 6 , 0.1% phosphate glass (Na 15 P 13 O 40 —Na 20 P 18 O 55 ), at a pH of 7.4.
[0064] A precision pipette was used to apply 125 μL of diluted GHRP to the grid backed polyvinylchloride sheet at 1″ intervals coinciding with the area covered by the previously coupled RαG.
[0065] The sheet was incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes.
[0066] The sheet was then washed 3× with phosphate buffered saline at a pH of 7.4.
[0067] 125 μL of precipitating TMB enzyme substrate was added to the test areas.
[0068] The sheet was incubated at room temperature until color development was complete.
[0069] Lastly the sheet was washed 3 times with deionized water and allowed to air dry.
EXAMPLE 2
[0070] Full Sandwich Immunoassay on the Surface of a Thin Layer Polyvinylchloride Sheet
[0071] Rabbit polyclonal IgG was diluted to a final concentration of 2.0 μg/ml in 0.1M carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 )-bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) buffer, pH 9.6.
[0072] A 13×9 cm piece of thin layered polyvinylchloride sheet was inserted into a BIO-RAD DOT-SPOT apparatus possessing 96 sample wells spaced at 1.0 cm intervals in a 12×8 well grid.
[0073] A 100 μL sample (1.0 μg) of rabbit polyclonal IgG was applied to each well 8 of column 1.
[0074] Antibody samples applied to columns 2-12 represented serial dilutions of the antibody ranging from 500 ng-0.5 ng.
[0075] The antibody treated polyvinylchloride sheet was dried overnight at 37° C.
[0076] The dried sheet was washed 3 times with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4.
[0077] Antigen was diluted to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/ml in tris buffered saline (TBS) with 1% casein, pH 7.4.
[0078] 100 μL, representing 100 ng, of antigen, was applied to each well of the apparatus and incubated at room temperature for 1 hour.
[0079] The polyvinylchloride sheet was washed 3 times with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4.
[0080] Detector mouse monoclonal antibody was diluted 1:625 with TBS containing 1% casein, 0.1M potassium ferricyanide K 3 Fe (Cn) 6 , and 0.1% phosphate glass (Na 15 P 13 O 40 —Na 20 P 18 O 55 ), pH 7.4.
[0081] 100 μL of the 1:625 dilution of detector antibody solution was applied to each well of row #1.
[0082] Detector samples of 100 μL applied to rows 2-7 represented serial dilutions of the antibody ranging from 1:1,250 to 1:80,000. Dilutions of detector antibody were incubated on the polyvinylchloride sheet for 1 Hr. at room temperature.
[0083] The polyvinylchloride sheet was washed 3 times with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4.
[0084] 100 μL of goat anti-mouse IgGHRP were added to each well of the DOT-SPOT apparatus and allowed to incubate for one hour at room temperature.
[0085] The polyvinylchloride sheet was washed 3 times with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4.
[0086] 100 μL of precipitating TMB enzyme substrate was added to the test areas.
[0087] The sheet was incubated at room temperature until color development was complete.
[0088] Lastly the sheet was washed 3 times with deionized water and allowed to air dry.
EXAMPLE 3
[0089] 1. Water Gloss FDA Overprint Varnish WVGOO1006 was diluted with UHF pure water to final concentrations of 1:2. 1:5, 1:10, 1:20, 1:40, and 1:80.
[0090] The varnish has the properties of being grease resistant, heat resistant to 175° F., 30 PSI, 2 sec. dwell, Krome Kote, face to paper; COF 25°-30° F., clear, glossy finish, non-scuff resistant, not imprintable, viscosity/CPS 20-25 sec, #3 Zahn at 77° F, pH 9.2-9.6.
[0091] 2. A monoclonal anti-Listeria monocytogenes capture immunoglobulin (MAb 833) was added to each dilution of the varnish, including one aliquot of neat (undiluted) varnish, for a final concentration of 20 μg/mL in each sample.
[0092] 3. A sheet of corona discharge treated PE was placed between two pieces of acrylic, of which the uppermost component served as a template. The template possessed 7 columns of 5 bottomless X shaped wells in which samples could be applied directly to the surface of the PE. The two acrylic components were secured by a series of clamps and bolts to prevent leakage.
[0093] 4. 10 μL of the undiluted varnish, containing 200 ng of immunoglobulin, was applied to each well of column 1. The procedure was repeated sequentially for the 6 varnish dilutions, beginning with the 1:2 dilution added to each of the 5 wells of column 2.
[0094] 5. Samples were allowed to air dry at room temperature for 1 hour.
[0095] 6. A second horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated monoclonal anti-Listeria monocytogenes antibody (MAb 832) was diluted to a 1:4000 concentration in phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4.
[0096] 7. Heat killed Listeria monocytogenes cells (antigen) were added to the HRP conjugate solution at a concentration of 105 cells per mL.
[0097] 8. 100 μL of the antigen/conjugate solution, representing 10,000 Listeria monocytogenes cells, was added to each well of the template and allowed to incubate for 1 hour at room temperature.
[0098] 9. The template was disassembled and the sheet of PE washed briefly with UHF water to remove any excess conjugate.
[0099] 10. The polyethylene sheet was placed in a 50 mL bath of TMB substrate for peroxidase (available from Vector Laboratories).
[0100] 11. Color development was allowed to continue for 15 minutes prior to removing the PE sheet from the substrate bath. The reaction was stopped by rinsing the PE sheet with UHF water.
[0101] Results:
[0102] 1. No color development was observed in columns 1-4.
[0103] 2. Distinct color development was observed in each well of columns 5-7.
[0104] 3. Color could not be removed by the application and subsequent lifting of adhesive tape.
[0105] Color development indicates that the biological activity of the capture antibody applied to the PE surface is not adversely affected by Water Gloss FDA Overprint Varnish WVG001006. Alternatively, the absence of color development in columns 1- 4 (neat-1:10 dilutions) indicates that a threshold exists in the concentration of varnish applied to the polyethylene surface. Binding is thus inhibited at concentrations lower than 1:20. Furthermore, the inability to remove color from the PE surface using adhesive tape indicates that binding of the immunoglobulin to the PE surface is stable and that leaching from the PE surface over time will not occur.
[0106] All patents and publications mentioned in this specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. All patents and publications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
[0107] It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and drawings/figures.
[0108] One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended to be exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims. | The present invention relates to articles of manufacture inclusive of or in combination with a biological assay material, formed from a material capable of detecting and identifying the presence of one or more particular toxic substances, wherein said toxic substances may comprise a multiplicity of biological materials. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a thermal stabilizer for organopolysiloxane oils. Prior thermal stabilizers for organopolysiloxane oils, which are employed in order to prevent gelation or viscosity increases in the organopolysiloxane oil, have been obtained by a dehydrochlorination reaction in which p-hydroxydiphenylamine is brought into contact with dimethyldichlorosilane or the chlorineterminated dimethylpolysiloxane obtained from dimethyldichlorosilane (refer to Japanese Pat. No. 55-18457[18457/80]).
However, when such a thermal stabilizer is added to an organopolysiloxane oil, the problem rises that the viscosity of said organopolysiloxane oil is reduced when it is subjected to long-term heating at high temperatures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned problem and has the goal of providing a thermal stabilizer for organopolysiloxane oils which will largely prevent any decline in the viscosity of the organopolysiloxane oil in long-term heating at high temperatures.
This goal is achieved by a thermal stabilizer composition for organopolysiloxane oils, comprising the reaction product of: (A) an organopolysiloxane having the average unit formula
R.sub.a SiO.sub.( 4-a)/2
wherein R is a monovalent hydrocarbon group and a is 1.4 to 2.3 with (B) from 0.01 to 10 parts by weight of an aromatic aminophenol per 100 parts of said organopolysiloxane (A), in the presence of (C) from 0.001 to 1.0 part by weight of a quaternary phosphonium hydroxide per 100 parts of said organopolysiloxane (A).
Alternatively, this achieved by a thermal stabilizer composition for organopolysiloxane oils, comprising the reaction product of: (A) an organopolysiloxane having the average unit formula
R.sub.a SiO.sub.( 4-a)/2
wherein R is a monovalent hydrocarbon group and a is 1.4 to 2.3 with (B) from 0.01 to 10 parts by weight of an aromatic aminophenol per 100 parts of said organopolysiloxane (A), in the presence of (C) from 0.001 to 1.0 parts by weight of a quaternary phosphonium hydroxide per 100 parts of said organopolysiloxane (A) and in the presence of (D) from 0 to 20 parts by weight of an organopolysiloxane cyclic having the general formula ##STR1## per 100 parts of said organopolysiloxane (A), wherein R is a monovalent hydrocarbon group and n in an integer having a value of 3 to 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a reaction product of (A) an organopolysiloxane with (B) an aromatic aminophenol in the presence of (C) a quaternary phosphomium hydroxide and, optionally, also in the presence of (D) an organopolysiloxane cyclic.
By way of explanation, the organopolysiloxane comprising component (A) is one starting material for this invention's thermal stabilizer for organopolysiloxane oils. Component (A) may be represented by the average formula
R.sub.a SiO.sub.( 4-a)/2
wherein a is 1.4 to 2.3. In this formula, R is a monovalent hydrocarbon group and it is exemplified by alkyl groups such as methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl; substituted alkyl groups such as 2-phenylethyl, 2-phenylpropyl and 3,3,3-trifluoropropyl; alkenyl groups such as vinyl and propenyl; and aryl and substituted aryl groups such as phenyl, tolyl and xylyl. Alkyl and aryl groups are preferred and methyl and phenyl are particularly preferred. Also, this component may contain a small quantity of silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms, silicon-bonded hydroxyl groups or silicon-bonded alkoxy groups.
The structure of this component may be straight chain, branched chain, cyclic or network. Straight chain or branched chain is preferred. The terminal group is preferably terminated by an organosiloxy group such as trialkylsiloxy or alkenyldialkylsiloxy, or by an alkoxy group or hydroxyl group.
This component is to contain at least 10 siloxane units, but preferably contains 100 to 5,000, and more preferably 200 to 1,000, from the standpoint of the effect in preventing a decline in viscosity.
Concrete examples of this component are trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxanes, dimethylvinylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxanes, trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylsiloxane-methylvinylsiloxane copolymers, trimethylsiloxy group-terminated bicopolymers, trimethylsiloxy group-terminated methylphenylpolysiloxanes, hydroxyl group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxanes, hydroxyl group-terminated dimethlsiloxane-methylphenylsiloxane copolymers and copolymers composed of trimethylsiloxane units and SiO 2 units. Also usable is 1 species or 2 or more species of this component with different numbers of siloxane units and/or different structures.
The aromatic aminophenol comprising the componet (B) used in the present invention is used as a starting material in combination with component (A). Concrete examples of this component are ##STR2##
The quaternary phosphonium hydroxide comprising component (C) is a reaction catalyst for components (A) and (B). Component (C) may be represented by the formula
R.sup.1.sub.4 POH.
In this formula, R 1 is independently selected from alkyl or aryl groups and it is exemplified by methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, octyl and phenyl. Quaternary phosphonium hydroxides having mixed R 1 groups, such as methyltriphenyl phosphonium hydroxide, are also suitable herein.
The organopolysiloxane cyclic comprising component (D) functions to promote the reaction of component (A) with component (B) and so shorten the reaction time. Component (D) may be represented by the formula ##STR3## wherein n is an integer having a value of 3 to 6. In this formula, R is a monovalent hydrocarbon group and it is exemplified as for component (A), alkyl groups being preferred.
The present invention's thermal stabilizer for organopolysiloxane oils is produced by the reaction of the organopolysiloxane comprising component (A) with the aromatic aminophenol comprising component (B) in the presence of the quaternary phosphonium hydroxide comprising component (C), or in the presence of both the quaternary phosphonium hydroxide comprising component (C) and the organopolysiloxane cyclic comprising component (D).
The use ratio of starting components (A) and (B) is preferably in the range of 0.01 to 10 parts by weight component (B) per 100 parts by weight component (A), and more preferably in the range of 0.1 to 5 parts by weight component (B) per 100 parts by weight component (A) in order to reduce unreacted components (A) and/or (B).
The use ratio of component (C) is preferably in the range of 0.001 to 1.0 part by weight component (C) per 100 parts by weight component (A), and more preferably in the range of 0.01 to 0.1 part by weight component (C) per 100 parts by weight component (A).
Component (D) is preferably used at 0 to 20 parts by weight, and more preferably 0 to 15 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight component (A).
The reaction temperature is preferably 130 to 280° C.
The reaction atmosphere is an inert gas atmosphere or the ambient.
A characteristic of this reaction is that the viscosity of the reaction mixture gradually declines during the reaction and then reaches a nearly constant value. The reaction is taken to be complete at this point.
Furthermore, in the event of the use of the organopolysiloxane cyclic comprising component (D), the cyclic component should be stripped off at elevated temperatures under reduced pressures after the reaction. When unreacted components (A) and/or (B) remain in the reaction product, they are removed after the reaction by means such as filtration to obtain a homogeneous thermal stabilizer.
The thermal stabilizer of the present invention finds application in various organopolysiloxane oils, which are exemplified by the organopolysiloxanes given as examples for component (A).
The use quantity of the present invention's thermal stabilizer for organopolysiloxane oils is not particularly restricted.
EXAMPLES
The present invention will be explained in detail in the following using examples of execution. In the examples, "part" denotes "part by weight" and the viscosity is the value measured at 25° C.
EXAMPLES 1
To 100 parts of trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 500 cS are added 0.5 part N-phenylaminophenol and 0.03 part tetrabutylphosphonium hydroxide, followed by mixing at room temperature to obtain a homogeneous dispersion. This mixture is reacted at a temperature of 200° C. under a nitrogen gas atmosphere. The viscosity assumes a nearly constant value 2 hours after the start of the reaction, followed by cooling to room temperature, the addition of diatomaceous earth and then purification by filtration. The obtained reaction product is a light-yellow, transparent liquid with a viscosity of 220 cS.
Five parts of this reaction product is added to 100 parts trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 1,000 cS and this is mixed at room temperature to homogeneity to obtain an organopolysiloxane oil with a viscosity of 920 cS.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
COMPARISON EXAMPLE 1
As a blank, 30 g of the trimethylsiloxy groupterminated dimathylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 1,000 cS is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in the hot air-circulation oven at 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
COMPARISON EXAMPLE 2
To 100 parts of the trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 1,000 cS is added 0.5 parts organopolysiloxane with the formula ##STR4## and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
EXAMPLE 2
Twenty parts of the reaction product of Example 1 is added to 100 parts of trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 350 cS and this is mixed at room temperature to homogeneity to obtain an organopolysiloxane oil with a viscosity of 325 cS. Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
EXAMPLE 3
Ten parts dimethylsiloxane cyclic tetramer is added to and mixed to homogeneity at room temperature with 100 parts of a trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 10,000 cS. After heating this to 200° C., 0.8 part N- phenylaminophenol and 0.05 part tetrabutylphosphonium hydroxide are added, followed by a reaction at the same temperature under a nitrogen gas atmosphere. The viscosity becomes nearly constant 20 minutes after the start of the reaction and the dimethylsiloxane cyclic tetramer is then stripped off in vacuo at 200° C./10 mmHg. The reaction product is cooled to room temperature, diatomaceous earth is added and purification is conducted by filtration. The obtained reaction product is a light-yellow, transparent liquid with a viscosity of 2,000 cS.
Five parts of this reaction product is added to 100 parts of a trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 2,000 cS and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity to obtain an organopolysiloxane oil with a viscosity of 2,000 cS.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
COMPARISON EXAMPLE 3
To 100 parts of the trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 2,000 cS is added 0.6 part organopolysiloxane with the formula ##STR5## and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker an then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
EXAMPLE 4
To 100 parts of a trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylsiloxane-diphenylsiloxane copolymer with a viscosity of 10,000 cS (diphenylsiloxane units =10 mol%) are added 0.1 part N-naphthylaminophenol and 0.01 part methyltriphenylphosphonium hydroxide and this is then mixed at room temperature to obtain a homogeneous dispersion. This mixture is reacted in the ambient at 150° C. The viscosity is nearly constant 2 hours after the start of the reaction and the reaction mass is cooled to room temperature, combined with diatomaceous earth and then purified by filtration. The obtained reaction product is a light-yellow, transparent liquid with a viscosity of 8,300 cS.
Twenty parts of this reaction product is added to 100 parts of a trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylsiloxane-diphenylsiloxane copolymer with a viscosity of 5,000 cS. (diphenylsiloxane units =10 mol%), followed by mixing at room temperature to homogeneity to obtain an organopolysiloxane oil with a viscosity of 5,500 cS.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
COMPARISON EXAMPLE 4
To 100 parts of the trimethylsiloxy group-terminated dimethylsiloxane-diphenylsiloxane copolymer with a viscosity of 5,000 cS (diphenylsiloxane units =10 mol%) is added 0.5 part of the organopolysiloxane with the formula ##STR6## and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
EXAMPLE 5
Five parts dimethylsiloxane cyclic tetramer is added to 100 parts of hydroxyl group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 30,000 cS and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity. After heating to 250° C., 1.0 part N-(N-phenylaminophenyl)aminophenol and 0.02 part tetramethylphosphonium hydroxide are added, followed by reaction at the same temperature under a nitrogen gas atmosphere. The viscosity becomes nearly constant 10 minutes after the start of the reaction and the dimethylsiloxane cyclic tetramer is then stripped in vacuo at 250° C./10 mmHg. The reaction product is cooled to room temperature, combined with diatomaceous earth and then purified by filtration. The obtained reaction product is a light-yellow, transparent liquid with a viscosity of 15,300 cS.
Ten parts of this reaction product is added to 100 parts of a hydroxyl group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 10,000 cS and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity to afford an organopolysiloxane oil with a viscosity of 10,400 cS.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
COMPARISON EXAMPLE 5
As a blank test, thirty grams of the hydroxyl group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 10,000 cs is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
EXAMPLE 6
Ten parts of the reaction product of Example 5 is added to 100 parts of hydroxyl group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 30,000 cS and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity to obtain an organopolysiloxane oil with a viscosity of 28,300 cS.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
COMPARISON EXAMPLE 6
To 100 parts of the hydroxyl group-terminated dimethylpolysiloxane with a viscosity of 30,000 cS is added 0.6 part organopolysiloxane with the formula ##STR7## and this is then mixed at room temperature to homogeneity.
Thirty grams of this organopolysiloxane oil is weighed into a 100 cc beaker and then maintained in a hot air-circulation oven at a temperature of 250° C. in order to measure the viscosity change.
The results are reported in Table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________ Initial After After After Vis- 50 Hours 100 Hours 200 Hours Gelation cosity (cS) (cS) (cS) TimeNo. (cS) At 250° C. At 250° C. At 250° C. (Hours)______________________________________Exam-ple1 920 902 884 883 6502 350 339 335 332 7003 2000 1940 1900 1880 6004 5500 5320 5300 5290 7505 10400 9540 9230 9380 4506 28300 26400 25200 26300 500Com-parisonEx-ample1 1000 1240 gelation -- 702 1000 890 813 805 5503 2000 1810 1690 1580 6004 5000 3910 3090 2630 7505 10000 9930 gelation -- 906 30000 25200 23900 25900 450______________________________________ | A thermal stabilizer for organopolysiloxane oils is disclosed. The stabilizer is formed by the reaction of (A) an organopolysiloxane with (B) an aromatic aminophenol in the presence of (C) a quaternary phosphonium hydroxide, or in the presence of both the quaternary phosphonium hydroxide comprising component (C) and (D) an organopolysiloxane cyclic. Organopolysiloxane oils containing said thermal stabilizer are not subject to viscosity increases or gelation in long-term heating at high temperatures. Furthermore, such combinations show very little viscosity decline in long-term heating at high temperatures. | 2 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to arrangements for switching calls from central offices switches to the public switched telephone network, or to a fast packet network such as the Internet, in such a way as to incur lowest costs for a call.
PROBLEM
[0002] The Internet has made it possible to use a radically different network for carrying voice calls. This network is becoming cost competitive with the public switched telephone network.
SOLUTION
[0003] Applicants have recognized that a problem with the prior art is that it is difficult to assign individual calls served by a central office switching system to a choice of the Internet and the public switched telephone network. The problem is especially aggravated by the difficulty of making extensive changes in the call routing arrangements because of the widespread use of different standard protocols for use with the public switched telephone network, and for use with the Internet.
[0004] The above problem is solved and an advance is made over the prior art in accordance with this invention wherein a decision is initially made in an originating switching system to select a public switched telephone network trunk, or an Internet connection; if an Internet connection is selected, an interoffice signaling message such as the CCS7 initial address message, (IAM), contains both a call identification, and an Internet Protocol (IP), address of the originating switch. The terminating switch in its acknowledgment, returns an Internet Protocol address of the terminating switch for a communication session. The originating office then sends an identification of the call, in this embodiment the prior art PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) circuit identifier code, and of the far end IP address in a real time protocol/IP (RTP/IP) packet over the Internet to the terminating switch. The terminating switch then is able to associate the Internet connection with the type of information that has been received in the IAM over the CCS7 network; the terminating switch is able to complete the connection from the terminating switch to the called customer using the information in the IAM in the standard way. The voice packets sent and received over the Internet are then interfaced in the originating switch and the terminating switch with a Vocoder which converts these Internet packets into a PCM (pulse code modulation) bit stream for transmission to the calling and called customers' switches, thence, as an analog signal or PCM digital telephone signal to the customers. Advantageously, even though the call is being served by Internet facilities, the call set-up operations can be performed in basically the same way that they are performed using only the public switched telephone network, (PSTN), so that the effect on the call processing program is minimized. In addition, the path across the Internet is verified by an exchange of call identifications and Internet addresses in both directions.
[0005] The changes in the call processing program and procedures include:
[0006] 1. Internet Protocol (IP) address administration is required.
[0007] 2. Vocoders must be connected to calls routed over the Internet.
[0008] 3. Matching Vocoders must be selected in the two switches terminating an Internet connection.
[0009] 4. The IP address is validated to secure the Internet against intrusion by unauthorized users (hackers).
[0010] 5. Call identification numbers and IP addresses of the two ends are bonded.
[0011] 6. An IP address field must be added to the IAM (Initial Address Message) and ACK (Acknowledgment) messages.
[0012] 7. A new class of service is added for Internet connections.
[0013] 8. New billing options can be provided for Internet connections.
[0014] However, advantageously, by using procedures that are linked to the type of call setup used with the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), the existing array of Operations Support Systems can continue to be used for operations, administration, maintenance, installation, traffic measurements, and provisioning. For example, the “no circuit available” counts maintained for most trunk groups can be used as they are today, to request the addition of trunks, or, in this case, addition of Internet network capacity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0015] [0015]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the basic operation of Applicants' invention;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating operations at an originating switch; and
[0017] [0017]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operations at a terminating switch.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] [0018]FIG. 1 illustrates the operation of Applicants' invention. An originating station 25 is connected via a local public switched telephone network 21 to an originating toll access switch 1 . The toll access switch 1 contains a Protocol handler/vocoder 3 for interfacing between Internet voice packets, and the pulse code modulation, (PCM), bit stream received from the local PSTN 21 . Note that in some cases the originating station may be directly connected to the toll access switch 1 . The toll access switch of this example is a specific example of a network access switch, i.e., a switch for accessing a network such as the Internet or a toll network.
[0019] Each of the toll access switches has a program controlled processor, such as processor 5 of switch 1 , for controlling establishment of Internet and telephone network connections, receiving and controlling transmission of interoffice signaling messages. Each switch also has a switching network such as network 6 of switch 1 for establishing connections between the incoming local PSTN and the Internet or the toll network.
[0020] The terminating station 26 is connected via local PSTN 22 to the terminating toll access switch 2 , which contains a protocol handler/vocoder 4 for interfacing between the voice packets transmitted over the Internet 10 , and a PCM stream to the local PSTN 22 . Note that at the terminating end also the terminating station 26 may be directly connected to the terminating toll access switch 2 .
[0021] When the originating switch 1 receives a request to establish a connection from originating station 25 , the originating toll access switch 1 first tests whether the call should be sent over the telephone toll network 11 which interconnects originating toll access switch 1 , and terminating toll access switch 2 , or via the Internet 10 , which also interconnects the two toll access switches. The decision on whether to select the telephone toll network 11 , or the Internet 10 , can be based on a number of factors. One of the most important factors is the charge for the use of the Internet, or the telephone toll network; if the owner of the toll access switch is not also the owner of the telephone toll network, then the charges for the telephone connection should probably be competitive, otherwise, only one of the two networks will be used. Another factor which is taken into account in making the decision on how to route the call, is the present state of the two networks, whether either one is presently overloaded. In addition to these decisions which are based on the sate of the Internet and telephone network, the decision can be based on customer input. A customer may have a class of service which requires that all toll calls are routed over the Internet, or that all toll calls are routed over the telephone network. Additionally, dialed information, such as one or more preliminary digits or symbols, can be used to specify that a particular call or series of calls are to be routed over the Internet, or are to be routed over the telephone network.
[0022] In accordance with this embodiment, the well known standard H.323 protocol is used for actually transmitting data representing voice on established stable calls. However, protocols using CCS7 signaling are used to establish the connection. In this embodiment, CCS7 is the interoffice signaling system of choice. Advantageously, the protocols using CCS7 are in existence and have already been integrated into the software of the toll access switches. This allows, for example, interfaces with existing operations support systems, to be essentially maintained. In contrast, a great deal of new software would be required to try to implement call set-up using the prior art H.323 protocol.
[0023] If the originating toll access switch decides to route the call over telephone network 11 , this function is carried out in the manner of the prior art. If, however, the decision is made to route the call over the Internet 10 , then a series of packets are exchanged between the originating toll access switch 1 , and the terminating toll access switch 2 . Initial address message, (LAM 40 ) is sent from the originating toll access switch 1 to the terminating toll access switch 2 over the CCS7 network 5 . The IAM 40 contains a call identifier 41 , and in accordance with the principles of Applicants' invention also contains the Internet Protocol address of switch 1 , (IP 1 ), in field 42 of the IAM 40 . In response to receipt of IAM 40 , terminating toll access switch 2 returns an IAM acknowledgement message 45 , which also contains the call identifier 46 , and in accordance with Applicants' invention, the Internet Protocol address, IP 2 , of the terminating toll access switch 2 in field 47 . As a result of this exchange of initial address message and acknowledgment, both the originating and the terminating access switch have been informed of each other's Internet Protocol address, and the terminating toll access switch has been informed of the identification of the terminating station, (in the initial address message), so that the terminating toll access switch can subsequently establish a connection via local PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) 22 to the terminating station 26 . Next, in order to establish an Internet connection between switches 1 and 2 , switch 1 sends a packet, including the call identification, and including the identification of switch 2 , (IP 2 ), over the Internet 10 to terminating toll access switch 2 . Terminating toll access switch 2 responds by returning a packet including the call identification, and headed by the identification of switch, (IP 1 ), and the two switches are enabled to communicate over the Internet since each knows the other's identification, and since the packets for the conversation can be tagged by the call identification. The call set up is completed when switch 2 sends the standard CCS7 Setup Complete Message when Station 26 goes off-hook.
[0024] [0024]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating operations performed in the originating toll access switch. The origination is detected, (Action Block 201 ), and the toll access switch analyzes the digits of the call, (Action Block 203 ). The originating toll access switch then makes the decision of how to route the call, (Action Block 205 ). Test 207 is used to determine whether the decision has been made to route the call over the Internet. If a decision has been made to not route the call over the Internet, then normal call set-up is performed, (Action Block 209 ). If a decision has been made to use the Internet for routing the call, then an initial address message (IAM) is generated which includes the Internet Protocol address of the originating switch, (Action Block 211 ). This message is sent over the CCS7 network. Test 213 determines whether the originating toll access switch received an acknowledgment, a return from the far end, i.e., the terminating toll access switch. If not, an attempt is repeated to send the IAM message. If an acknowledgment has been received, then the acknowledgment had returned the Internet Protocol address of the terminating toll access switch, (see below with respect to Action Block 307 ). The originating toll access switch then inserts the call identification of the call, and the far end Internet Protocol address into a Real Time Protocol/Internet Protocol, (RTP/IP), packet and sends this packet over the Internet with the address of the far end terminating toll access switch, (Action Block 215 ). Test 217 determines whether an acknowledgment to that RTP/IP packet had been received over the Internet; if not, then the originating switch waits a certain amount of time before making a second attempt to send the packet. CCS7 procedures, including Acknowledgment timers are used when necessary to force call abandonment. Once the acknowledgment has been received over the Internet, (note that the sending toll access switch knows where to send the acknowledgment because it has previously received IP- 1 and the identity of the originating toll access switch in the IAM transmitted over the CCS7 network). A voice path bond exists between the two switches and this bond is acknowledged via a CCS7 message, (Action Block 219 ). The bond messages are packets 50 and 55 (FIG. 1); the bond comes from validating that the values correspond in both switches. The two switches are now ready to send and receive voice packets which in their respective Vocoders will be converted into PCM streams for transmission to the originating and terminating stations, (Action Block 221 ).
[0025] [0025]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operations performed by the terminating toll access switch. The terminating toll access switch is first informed of the call by receiving an IAM message, (transmitted in Action Block 211 , FIG. 2), over the CCS7 network, (Action Block 301 ). Test 303 is used to determine whether an Internet connection has been selected. This decision can be made based on whether or not there is an IP address in the IAM message. If not, then normal call set-up procedures are used, (Action Block 305 ). If it is recognized that the connection is to be established using the Internet, and this is recognized because an Internet Protocol address has been included in the received IAM message, then the terminating toll access switch sends an acknowledgment message which includes the call identifier to associate the message with the proper call, and the IP address of the terminating toll access switch (Action Block 307 ). Subsequently, the terminating toll access switch sends an RTP/IP packet, including the call identifier, the IP address of the originating toll access switch, and an RTP/IP packet transmitted via the Internet to the originating toll access switch.
[0026] Note that a toll access switch may have several IP addressees representing different segments of the trunk plant connected to the Internet. Only the IP address of the selected group of trunks is sent and is used for this connection.
[0027] Test 311 is then used to determine whether a voice path acknowledgment has been received over the CCS7 link, (this corresponds to the message sent in Action Block 219 , FIG. 2). If so, then the two switches are ready to send and receive voice packets.
[0028] The above arrangements can also be used for private networks, wherein private network access switches replace the toll access switches. Such private network can use private facilities; private facilities may be dedicated, leased, or leased for periods of time.
[0029] This preferred embodiment uses the protocols described above. Other protocols such as ISUP which is supported by CCS7 can also used for some, or all of the steps described above.
[0030] More than one IP address can be used by an originating switch to communicate with a terminating switch. For example, if several different Internet subnetworks connect the two switches, a different IP address would be used for each subnetwork to ensure that a call is transmitted over a selected subnetwork.
[0031] The above is only one preferred embodiment of Applicants' invention. Many alternatives will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The invention is only limited by the attached claims. | A method and apparatus for selectively establishing a connection via a telephone network, or via the Internet. A network access switch decides whether to use the telephone network or the Internet. If connections are established using the Internet, the establishment of connection is controlled using existing CCS7 interoffice signaling messages. Advantagesouly, this permits most of the switching control software to be retained and allows the access switches to interface with the present array of operations support systems. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/452,594, for a Low Interflow Hydraulic Shuttle Valve, filed on Dec. 1, 1999, which is assigned to Gilmore Valve Company.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to valves, and more particularly to shuttle valves. The invention is an improvement upon shuttle valves of the type made and sold by applicant's assignee, Gilmore Valve Company, which is the owner of the other U.S. patents for improved shuttle valves including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,533,431 and 4,253,481.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Shuttle valves have been used for many years to control the flow of gases as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,529,384 and 2,408,799. Other shuttle valves have been used to control the flow of liquids as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,686,310 and 1,795,386.
Shuttle valves used to control hydraulic fluid, particularly those used in underwater oil field equipment, must be designed taking into consideration working pressures, up to several thousand psi and flow rates of up to several hundred gpm. It is especially important that underwater shuttle valves used in connection with operation of subsea blowout preventers (BOPs) have a long trouble-free life because of their inaccessibility. The differential pressure on the shuttle often results in high momentum as it moves from one valve seat to another. When a shuttle contacts a valve seat, the repeated impact can break or crack the cage or cause it to be warped, and can otherwise disrupt proper valve operation.
One way to address the problem of shuttle impact is to lighten the shuttle and provide rubber cushions in the form of thick sealing elements as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,487. Yet another way of addressing shuttle impact is a hydraulic cushion as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481 owned by applicant's assignee. The hydraulic cushion discussed above is similar to the action of a hydraulic cushioned slush pump valve as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,197,455 and 2,605,080. U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,564 discloses a metal to metal seat to take the axial load imposed on the shuttle and thereby to limit the pressure on the rubber seal ring so that the rubber is prevented from being overloaded, cut or extruded by the action of high pressure fluid.
The shuttle valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481 was sold for many years by Gilmore Valve Company for use with underwater oil field equipment. This prior art valve shuttle valve was limited to two inputs and was relatively expensive to manufacture. To overcome some of these limitations, Gilmore introduced the Mark I shuttle valve in 1997 as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The Mark I relied upon two elastomeric o-rings mounted around the central flange of the shuttle to achieve a seal. The end portions of the shuttle were relatively thin and were prone to cracking because of shuttle impact. In addition, the o-rings were sometimes cut or blown off due to operational pressures and flow rates.
In order to overcome some of the limitations of the Mark I, Gilmore developed a retrofit design known as the Mark II which was introduced in 1998 as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The Mark II design included an increased thickness of the end portions or cage, a decrease in hole size, larger o-rings which were stretched around the shuttle and a pair of plastic teflon bearings to center the shuttle and reduce vibration as it traveled back and forth. The Mark II eliminated many of the problems of the Mark I; however, at the highest operational flow rates, o-rings were still lost. The present invention is designed for operation at 5,000 psi; the ½ inch model is designed for an 80 gpm flow rate, the 1 inch model is designed for a 250 gpm flow rate and the 1½ inch model, is designed for a 350 gpm flow rate.
In an effort to overcome the limitations of the Mark I and Mark II, applicant has developed an improved design which is the subject of the present invention. In order to overcome some of the problems associated with elastomeric seals, the present invention has eliminated such seals and now relies upon a metal to metal seal. The metal to metal seal of the present invention is progressively coined because of repeated contact between opposing tapered sealing surfaces surrounding a central flange on the shuttle and opposing metal valve seats.
The present invention includes alternative embodiments having a modular design that allows the components to be stacked one upon the other to receive more than two inputs. Another stackable, multi-input valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,825. This design uses a plurality of spool valve members to direct a superior fluid input signal to the outlet.
The present invention is less expensive to manufacture than prior shuttle valves sold by Gilmore Valve Company as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481. Alternative embodiments of the present invention allow the shuttle valve to receive 3 or more inputs which was not possible with the shuttle valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481. In addition, the present invention overcomes the limitations of the Mark I and Mark II discussed above.
In emergency situations or during testing, it may be necessary to close the subsea BOPs using a remote operated vehicle (ROV). The ROV is an unmanned submarine with an on-board television camera so the ROV can be maneuvered by topside personnel on board a ship. The ROV is equipped with a plug that stabs into a receptacle on the ROV docking station on the lower marine riser platform (LMRP). The LMRP sets on top of the BOPs. A hose runs from the receptacle on the ROV docketing station to a biased shuttle valve.
In an emergency or during testing, the ROV is maneuvered to stab into the receptacle on the ROV docking station. The ROV injects hydraulic fluid at relatively high pressures (greater than 1,000 psi) and relatively low flow rates into the hose to the biased shuttle valve to close the BOPs. Gilmore Valve Company has sold a flow biased shuttle valve to work with the ROV, but it has operational limitations. This prior art flow biased shuttle valve was flow activated and it needed the following minimum flow rates to activate: one-half inch model, 5 GPM; 1-inch model 20 GPM and one and one-half inch model 50 GPM. Some ROVs on the market may not be able to produce sufficient flow rates in the larger sizes to activate the prior art Gilmore flow biased shuttle valve.
In order to address this need, a pressure biased shuttle valve was developed that operates on pressure, not flow. The pressure biased shuttle valve of the present invention needs a minimum operating pressure of 1000 psi and little or no flow. Most, if not all ROVs currently on the market, can produce operational pressures well in excess of 1,000 psi, and thus can operate the pressure biased shuttle valve of the present invention. The pressure biased shuttle valve uses the coining technique to achieve a metal to metal seal.
Some prior art shuttle valves had problems with switchback. This phenomena occurs only on return flow and is the result of fluid momentum shifting the shuttle after closing pressure is relieved and prior to opening pressure being applied. This results in an indefinite flow path for return flow. Most return flow paths in the closing circuit exhaust to the ocean, so usually this does not create an operating problem. The exception to this is when one of the possible return paths is an ROV port. Such ports are commonly plugged to prevent saltwater ingress into the system. If the return flow becomes inadvertently switched to a plugged ROV port, it will substantially increase the opening time of the BOP. The present invention was developed to reduce switchback. The present invention employs a spring which biases the return flow to the non-biased port. The biased port is energized by pressure, permitting operation with low volume pumps employed on ROV's. In addition, the spring is preloaded so that saltwater may exceed the ambient hydraulic system pressure by up to 100 psi without leakage of salt water into the hydraulic system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes two coaxial inlets or supply ports and a single transverse outlet or function port. A metal valve seat surrounds each of the coaxial opposing supply ports. An elongate shuttle is coaxial with the metal valve seats and the supply ports. The shuttle valve moves from one valve seat to the other in response to differential fluid pressure. The shuttle includes a central circumferential flange with opposing tapered sealing surfaces that alternatively engage the metal valve seats around the supply ports. Each metal valve seat has a chamfer which forms an obtuse metal point. As the shuttle moves back and forth into alternative engagement with the metal valve seats, the opposing tapered sealing surfaces strike the obtuse points and displaces a portion of the metal into each respective chamfer. This displacement occurs repeatedly as the shuttle strikes the obtuse points. This displacement of metal from the obtuse point into the chamfer insures a good metal to metal seal between the valve seats and the tapered sealing surfaces on the flange of the shuttle. This phenomena is also known as “progressive coining.”
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the above-identified features, advantages, and objects of the present invention are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiment thereof which is illustrated in the appended drawings.
It is noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only a typical embodiment of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. Reference the appending drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a section view of the Mark I shuttle valve, a prior art design, sold by Gilmore Valve Company.
FIG. 2 is a section view of the Mark II shuttle valve, a prior art design, sold by Gilmore Valve Company.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve of the present invention with two supply ports.
FIG. 4 is a top view of the shuttle valve shown in FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 is an end view of the shuttle valve of FIG. 3 along the line 5 — 5 .
FIG. 6 is a section view of the shuttle valve of FIG. 3 with the shuttle in engagement with the valve seat of the second supply port allowing fluid flow from the first supply port to the function port.
FIG. 7 is a section view of the shuttle valve of FIG. 6, except the shuttle has moved to the mid-point of travel, which is a low or no flow position.
FIG. 8 is a section view of the shuttle valve of FIG. 6, except the shuttle has moved into engagement with the valve seat of the first supply port allowing fluid flow from the second supply port to the function port.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of the metal valve seat and a portion of the shuttle before any coining has occurred.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a portion of the metal valve seat and a portion of the shuttle after coining has occurred and sealing engagement has been established.
FIG. 11 is a section view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention with three supply ports.
FIG. 12 is an alternative embodiment of the present invention with four supply ports.
FIG. 13 is a section view of a prior art flow biased shuttle valve sold by Gilmore Valve Company.
FIG. 14 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve of the present invention in the closed position.
FIG. 15 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve of FIG. 14 in an intermediate position.
FIG. 16 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve in the open position.
FIG. 17 is an enlarged section view of the piston rod head and piston before any coining has occurred.
FIG. 18 is an enlarged section view of the piston rod head and piston after coining has occurred and sealing engagement has been established.
FIG. 19 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve installed in a valve with seven supply ports.
FIG. 20 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle assembly which is sold as a repair kit for the pressure biased shuttle valve shown in FIGS. 14-19.
FIG. 21 is a section view of an alternative embodiment of the pressure biased shuttle assembly. It can be sold as an alternative to the repair kit of FIG. 20 . It can likewise be used in the pressure biased shuttle valve of FIGS. 14-19.
FIG. 22 is an enlarged section view showing a portion of the alternative embodiment of FIG. 21 .
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Subsea wellheads are often relied upon during deep water exploration for oil and natural gas. The subsea wellheads includes a stack of BOPs. Annular BOPs are actuated on a routine basis to snub or otherwise control pressure during normal drilling operations. Other blow-out preventers, such as blind rams, pipe rams, kelly rams and shear rams will also be included in the stack on the subsea wellhead. When these types of rams are actuated, operations in the well cease in order to control pressure or some other anomaly. Blind rams, pipe rams, kelly rams and shear rams are periodically tested to make sure that they are operational.
The control pod is a capsule attached to the LMRP which extends from the subsea wellhead. The accumulators (tanks with air space in the tops) are mounted on the LMRP. At least one shuttle valve of the present invention may be attached to each BOP on the subsea wellhead. Fluid flows from the accumulators through valves on the control pod through the shuttle valve of the present invention, to activate the BOPs.
FIG. 1 is a section view of the Mark I shuttle valve, a prior art design sold by Gilmore Valve Company. The shuttle valve 10 , has a first inlet or supply port 12 , a coaxial second inlet or supply port 14 and a transverse outlet or function port 16 . The supply ports 12 and 14 are in fluid communication with the accumulators and the function port 16 is in fluid communication with the BOP on the subsea wellhead. The shuttle valve 10 mounts via a bracket 18 to a BOP. The shuttle 20 includes a central circumferential flange 22 which is located between a first o-ring groove 24 and a second o-ring groove 26 . A first o-ring 28 is positioned in the first o-ring groove 24 . A second o-ring 30 is positioned in the second o-ring groove 26 .
The shuttle 20 has elongate end portions or cages 32 and 34 . The first end portion 32 includes a central bore 36 which is perforated by apertures 38 , 40 , 42 and fourth aperture not shown in the drawing. These apertures allow fluid to flow from the first supply port 12 through the bore 36 , through the apertures 38 , 40 and 42 through a passageway 43 in the body 54 and out through the function port 16 . The other end portion or cage 34 has a bore 44 and apertures 46 , 48 , 50 and a fourth aperture not shown.
The first supply port 12 is formed by an adapter 52 which threadably engages the body 54 . The second supply port 14 is formed by an adapter 56 which also threadably engages the body 54 . The first supply port 12 and the second supply port 14 are located on opposite sides of the body 54 and are coaxial. The adapter 52 further defines a tubular valve seat 58 which engages and seals with the o-ring 28 on the shuttle 20 . The other adapter 56 likewise defines a tubular valve seat 60 which engages and seals with the o-ring 30 as shown in this figure. During operation of this prior art shuttle valve, o-rings were sometimes cut or lost and the end portions, or cages were cracked due to shuttle impact.
FIG. 2 is a section view of the Mark II shuttle valve, a prior art design sold by Gilmore Valve Company. The Mark II was developed as a retrofit design to overcome some of the limitations in the Mark I. In this embodiment, the shuttle 20 was redesigned with deeper o-ring grooves 27 and 31 and larger o-rings 63 and 65 . In addition, the diameter of the bores 36 and 44 was diminished, thereby thickening the wall of the end portions or cages 32 and 34 . The diameter of the holes was decreased thus necessitating more holes to accommodate the same volume of fluid flow. End portion 32 was redesigned with six holes 66 , 68 , 70 , 72 and two other holes not shown in the drawing. Likewise, end portion or cage 34 was redesigned with six holes 74 , 76 , 78 , 80 and two other holes not shown. (The Mark I only had four holes.) In order to reduce valve impact and vibration, a circumferential channel 82 was formed in end portion 32 to receive a plastic teflon bearing 84 . Likewise, a circumferential channel 86 was formed around end portion 34 to receive another plastic teflon bearing 88 . These improvements in the design overcame many of the limitations of the prior art shown in FIG. 1; however, at the highest flow rates, o-rings were still being lost. Further improvements were needed.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention, which is a low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve, generally identified by the numeral 100 . The shuttle valve 100 includes a body 102 which is supported by a bracket 104 . The valve 100 includes a first adapter 106 and a second adapter 108 coaxially aligned on opposite sides of the body 102 . The first adapter 106 forms an inlet or supply port 110 and the second adapter 108 forms a second inlet or supply port 112 . Each supply port 110 and 112 is connected to a separate hose or piping, not shown in the drawings. The body 102 forms a transverse outlet or function port 114 . The function port 114 is connected to a hose or piping, not shown, in the drawing. Fluid enters the valve 100 either through the first supply port 110 or the second supply port 112 and exits the valve 100 through the function port 114 .
FIG. 4 is a top view of the valve 100 of FIG. 3 . The bracket 104 includes a first aperture 116 and a second aperture 118 for mounting purposes. Looking down into the function port 114 , the shuttle 120 is shown in a right-hand position shutting off any fluid flow from the second function port 112 .
FIG. 5 is an in view of the valve 100 and the bracket 104 along the line 5 — 5 of FIG. 3 . The second supply port 112 is formed by the second adapter 108 .
FIG. 6 is a section view of the present invention with the shuttle 120 in the right hand position sealing off fluid flow from the second supply port 112 . In this view, fluid can flow from the first supply port 110 through a passageway 111 in the body 102 and out the function port 114 as shown by the flow arrows in the drawing. The first adapter 106 threadably engages an aperture 122 in the body 102 . An o-ring 124 seals the adapter 106 to the body 102 . The second adapter 108 includes a recess 126 to engage the bracket 104 . The second adapter 108 threadably engages an aperture 128 in the body 102 . An o-ring 130 seals the adapter 108 to the body 102 . The adapter 106 includes a metal valve seat 132 and the second adapter 108 includes an opposing coaxial metal valve seat 134 . The shuttle 120 includes a centrally located circumferential flange 136 which has opposing tapered sealing surfaces 138 and 140 . As shown in this drawing, sealing surface 140 is in sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 134 blocking any fluid flow from the second supply port 112 .
The shuttle 120 may be produced from a variety of materials as a matter of manufacturing choice including, but not limited to, Nitronic 60 (ASTMA-276 TP S21800) or 17-4PH Stainless Steel. The material should have good wear characteristics. In the case of the aforementioned stainless steel, the shuttle 120 may be nitrided by Houston Unlimited, Inc. of Houston, Tex. Other hardening processes, such as conventional heat treating may also be suitable depending on the application. Nitriding, like heat treating, is widely available from other vendors on a national basis. It is not necessary to nitride a shuttle 120 produced from Nitronic 60.
FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show a section view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the shuttle 120 in three different operational positions. In FIG. 6, the shuttle 120 is shown in the right hand position in sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 134 of second supply port 112 . This allows fluid to flow from the first supply port 110 through the bore 146 and apertures 148 , 150 , 152 and 156 through the passageway 111 of valve 100 to the function port 114 . In FIG. 7 the shuttle 120 has disengaged with the valve seat 134 of the second supply port 112 and is shown at the mid point of its travel where there is little or no interflow from the first supply port 110 or the second supply port 112 into the passageway 111 or the function port 114 . In FIG. 8 the shuttle 120 has moved into the left hand position in sealing engagement with the valve seat 132 of the first supply port 110 . As shown by the flow arrows in FIG. 8, fluid can now pass through the second supply port 112 through the passageway 111 of valve 100 and out the function port 114 as indicated by the flow arrows in the drawing.
FIG. 7 is a section view of the shuttle valve 100 with the shuttle 120 at its mid point of travel between valve seat 134 and valve seat 132 . The shuttle 120 has a first end portion or cage 142 that includes a central bore 146 and a total of six apertures 148 , 150 , 152 , 156 and two others not shown. The other end portion or cage 158 includes a bore 160 that is coaxial with the bore 146 and a total of six apertures 162 , 164 , 166 , 168 and two others not shown.
FIG. 8 is a section view of the shuttle valve 100 with the shuttle 120 in sealing engagement with the metal seat 132 so that fluid can not flow from the first supply port 110 to the function port 114 . In FIG. 8, fluid flows from the second supply port 112 through the central bore 160 of the end portion or cage 158 through the apertures 162 , 164 , 166 and 168 into a central passageway 111 in the body 102 and out the shuffle valve 100 through the function port 114 as shown by the flow arrows in the drawing.
Due to differential pressure, the shuttle 120 will travel from the right hand position as shown in FIG. 6 to the mid-point position shown in FIG. 7 to the left hand position shown in FIG. 8 . This movement of the shuttle 120 from right hand position to the left hand position, occurs quickly and creates impact forces on the shuttle 120 and the valve seats 132 and 134 . Cracking of the end portions or cages was one of the problems in the prior art design shown in FIG. 1 . The cracking problem has been overcome through the use of holes with a smaller diameter thus allowing more structural metal in the cage between the holes and a smaller diameter bore 146 and 160 thus allowing a thicker cage wall 172 and 174 when contrasted with the prior art design of FIG. 1 . These dimensions vary with each size valve. Applicant has found that a six hole design with. holes having a diameter of 0.328 inches and a cage wall thickness of 0.113 inches works well for a 1 inch valve. However, a shuttle with a different number or size of holes and a different cage wall thickness is within the scope of this invention provided that it does not result in cracks due to valve impact or otherwise damage the valve 100 .
FIG. 9 is an enlarged section view of a portion of the shuttle 120 and a portion of the adapter 108 . FIG. 9 shows the sealing surfaces after the valve 100 has been manufactured but before any coining has occurred. FIG. 10 shows the sealing surfaces after coining has occurred. In FIG. 9 the shuttle 120 includes a circumferential external flange 136 with opposing outwardly tapered metal sealing surfaces 138 and 140 . Applicant believes that a taper of approximately 8 degrees is optimum for this application. However, other tapers are within the scope of this invention so long as they will create a coining effect on the metal valve seats 132 and 134 of the adapters 106 and 108 . Other tapers may be suitable for other applications possibly in the range of 5 to 15 degrees. The only requirement for the angle of taper is to achieve coining and therefore sealing with the metal valve seats 132 and 134 .
The adapter 108 includes a chamfer 176 recessed behind the metal valve seat 134 to thereby create an obtuse metal point 180 that will contact the tapered metal sealing surface 140 on the flange 136 of the shuttle 120 . FIG. 9 shows the metal valve seat 134 and the metal sealing surface 140 on the shuttle 120 before any coining has occurred. Applicant uses a chamfer with a 15 degree angle and a 0.015″ radius. However, the exact size and depth of the chamfer are not particularly critical because this is merely a recess or space into which displaced metal will move due to progressive coining. A stepped back shoulder or other recess would be sufficient to achieve the goals of this invention, provided that there is room to receive the displaced metal from the point 180 such that it does not interfere with movement of the shuttle 120 . When adapter 106 is first manufactured it likewise has a chamfer 177 recessed behind the metal valve seat 132 to thereby create an obtuse metal point 181 that will contact the tapered metal sealing surface 138 on the flange 136 of the shuttle 120 . The point 181 is progressively coined in the same fashion as the point 180 by the impact of the shuttle 120 .
FIG. 10 is an enlarged section view of a portion of the shuttle 120 and a portion of the second adapter 108 after coining has occurred. As the tapered metal sealing surface 140 of the shuttle 120 impacts the point 180 of the metal valve seat 134 , a portion of the metal in the point 180 is displaced into the chamfer 176 . This displaced metal is identified by the numeral 182 . A metal to metal seal is therefore achieved between the metal valve seat 134 and the outwardly tapered metal sealing surface 140 of the flange 136 on the shuttle 120 .
Likewise, the outwardly tapered metal sealing surface 138 will impact point 181 on the metal valve seat 132 and will displace a portion of the metal into the chamfer, thus creating a metal to metal seal between the metal valve seat 132 and the outwardly tapered sealing surface 138 on the flange 136 of shuttle 120 .
FIG. 11 is a section view of an alternative embodiment of a low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve with three supply ports. (The embodiment in FIG. 3 has two supply ports.) The shuttle valve 200 includes a first body portion 202 and a second body portion 204 that are held together by a plurality of bolts 206 and 208 and a plurality of nuts 210 , 212 , 214 and 216 that mechanically grip the two body sections 202 and 204 thus joining them together into an integral assembly. An alignment pin 220 fits into a bore 222 of the body 202 and a coaxial bore 224 of the body 204 . A zig-zagged interconnecting passageway 226 is formed in the body 202 and is in fluid communication with a second zig-zag passageway 227 in the body 204 . A connector 228 is positioned in a bore 230 of the body 202 and another coaxial bore 232 in the body 226 . The connector 228 has a first seal 234 and a second seal 236 to prevent fluid from leaking from the zig-zagged passageways 226 and 227 . The connector 228 also helps align the body portions 202 and 204 .
A first supply port 236 is formed in the body 202 and is in fluid communication with the passageway 226 . A second supply port 238 is formed in a first adapter 240 . The adapter 240 threadably engages the body 202 . The adapter 240 is sealed against the body 202 by an o-ring 242 . A metal valve seat 244 is formed on one end of the adapter 240 . A second metal valve seat 246 is formed in the body 202 and is coaxial with valve seat 244 . A shuttle 250 moves from sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 244 of the adapter 240 to alternative sealing engagement with the valve seat 246 of the body 202 .
A third supply port 250 is formed in another adapter 252 . The adapter 252 threadably engages the body 204 and is sealed by an o-ring 254 . A mounting bracket 105 is positioned between the body 204 and the adapter 252 . The adapter 252 includes a metal valve seat 256 . An opposing metal valve seat 258 is formed in the body 204 and is coaxial with valve seat 244 . A shuttle 260 travels back and forth into alternative sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 256 and the metal valve seat 258 depending on differential fluid pressure in the third supply port 250 and the passageway 227 . A function port 260 is formed in the body 204 and connects to the BOP, not shown.
A first supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to the first supply port 236 , a second supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to the second supply port 238 and a third supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to the third supply port 250 . If the pressure into the first supply port 236 is greater than the fluid pressure in the second supply port 238 or the third supply port 250 , the shuttle 248 and the shuttle 260 will be urged into sealing engagement with the metal valve seats 244 and 256 as shown in FIG. 11 . This allows fluid to flow from the first supply port 236 through the zig-zagged passageways 226 and 227 and out the function port 260 to the BOP, not shown.
If fluid pressure in the second supply port 238 is greater than fluid pressure in the first supply port or the third supply port, the shuttle 248 will unseat and move into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 246 of the body 202 . This will allow fluid to flow from the second supply port 238 through the zig-zagged passageways 226 and 227 and out the function port 260 to the BOP, not shown. If, in the alternative, fluid pressure in the third supply port 250 is greater than fluid pressure in the first supply port 236 or the second supply port 238 , then the shuttle 260 will disengage from the metal valve seat 256 and engage the metal valve seat 258 of the body 204 . This allows fluid to flow from the third supply port directly to the function port 260 and the BOP. The shuttle 248 progressively coins the metal valve seats 244 and 246 in similar fashion as the shuttle 120 described in FIGS. 3-10. Likewise, the shuttle 260 progressively coins the metal valve seats 256 and 258 .
FIG. 12 is an alternative embodiment with a four supply design for a low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve 300 . The design in FIG. 12 is identical to the three supply valve 200 shown in FIG. 11 except another supply port and another body section have been added. The four supply valve 300 includes a first body section 202 , a second body section 204 and a third body section 302 . The body sections are aligned and connected by the first alignment pin 220 and a second alignment pin 304 . Zig-zagged passageways 226 , 227 and 229 are formed in the respective bodies 202 , 204 and 302 and are interconnected and sealed against the bodies via a first connector 228 and a second connector 306 . The second connector 306 is identical to the connector 228 shown and described in FIG. 11 except connector 228 joins body sections 202 and 204 and connector 306 joins body sections 204 and 302 . The respective body sections 202 , 204 and 302 are connected by a plurality of nuts 210 , 212 , 214 and 216 and bolts 206 and 208 . The valve 300 is mounted via brackets 310 and 312 to a BOP, not shown. Brackets 310 and 312 are used to mount the valve 300 .
The body section 202 includes a first supply port 236 and a second supply port 238 formed in the adapter 240 . The adapter defines a first metal valve seat 244 and the body 202 defines a coaxial second metal valve seat 246 . The shuttle 248 moves from alternative sealing engagement with the first metal valve seat 244 to the second metal valve seat 246 in response to differential fluid pressures in the first supply port 236 or the second supply port 238 .
The second adapter 252 defines another metal valve seat 256 and the body portion 204 defines an opposing coaxial metal valve seat 258 . The shuttle 260 moves back and forth into alternative sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 256 or the metal valve seat 258 depending on differential fluid pressures exerted upon the shuttle 260 . A third adapter 314 defines a fourth supply port 316 and another metal valve seat 318 . An opposing coaxial metal valve seat 320 is formed in the body section 302 . A third shuttle 322 moves into alternative sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 318 of the adapter 314 or the metal valve seat 320 of the body 302 depending on differential fluid pressures.
FIG. 12 shows the valve 300 with the highest pressure in the first supply port 236 which a) urges the shuttle 246 into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 244 of the second supply port 238 , b) urges the shuttle 260 into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 256 of the third supply port 250 , and c) urges the shuttle 322 into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 318 of the fourth-supply port 316 . This allows hydraulic fluid to pass from the first supply port 236 through the zig-zagged passageways 226 , 227 and 229 of the body portions 202 , 204 and 302 into the function port 322 and thereafter to the BOP, not shown.
In the alternative, a higher differential pressure in the second supply port 238 will cause the shuttle 248 to move into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 246 thereby allowing fluid to pass from the second supply port 238 through the zig-zagged passageways 226 , 227 and 229 to the function port 322 and into the BOP, not shown. Higher differential pressures in the third supply port 250 will likewise cause the shuttle 260 to move and engage the metal valve seat 258 and allow fluid to pass from the third supply port 250 through the passageways 226 , 227 and 229 into the function port 322 and out to the BOP, not shown. If the highest fluid pressure occurs in the four supply port 312 , the shuttle 322 will move into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 320 , thus allowing fluid to flow from the fourth supply port 316 into the function port 322 and thereafter to the BOP, not shown.
Using the modular body approach, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, it is possible to create low interflow hydraulic shuttle valves with as many supply ports as needed depending on the specific application.
FIG. 13 is a section view of a prior art flow biased shuttle valve sold by Gilmore Valve Company, generally identified by the numeral 399 . The shuttle 121 is in the right-hand position sealing off fluid flow from the remote operated vehicle (ROV) supply port 113 . The ROV supply port 113 is connected by a hose (not shown) to an ROV docking station. In emergencies or during testing, an ROV may be maneuvered by topside personnel to engage the ROV docking station. Fluid is then injected by the ROV through the fluid line into the ROV supply port 113 . When this occurs, the shuttle 121 moves into the left-hand position, not shown in the drawing, thus allowing the hydraulic fluid to pass from the ROV through valve 399 to the BOPs.
The shuttle valve 399 includes a body 102 which is supported by a bracket, not shown. The valve 399 includes a first adapter 106 and a second adapter, sometimes referred to as the ROV adapter, 402 . The first adapter 106 and the ROV adapter 402 are coaxially aligned on opposite sides of the body 102 . The first adapter 106 forms an inlet or supply port 110 and the ROV adapter 402 forms a second inlet or supply port sometimes referred to as the ROV supply port, 113 . The supply port 110 is connected to a hose or piping, not shown in the drawings, which connects to a pressurized fluid source. The ROV supply port 113 connects via a hose or piping, not shown in the drawings, to an ROV docking station, not shown in the drawings.
The body 102 forms a transverse outlet or function port 114 . The function port 114 is connected to a hose or piping, not shown in the drawings. Fluid enters the valve 399 either through the first supply port 110 or the ROV supply port 113 and exits the valve 399 through the function port 114 . When fluid leaves the function port 114 it goes to the BOPs.
In FIG. 13, fluid can flow from the first supply port 110 through a passageway 111 in the body 102 and out the function port 114 . The first adapter 106 threadibly engages an aperture 122 in the body 102 . An o-ring 124 seals the adapter 106 to the body 102 . The ROV adapter 402 threadibly engages an aperture 128 in the body 102 . An o-ring 130 seals the ROV adapter 402 to the body 102 .
The adapter 106 has a metal valve seat 132 and the ROV adapter 402 has an opposing coaxially metal valve seat 129 . The shuttle 121 includes a centrally located circumferential flange 136 which has opposing sealing services 139 and 141 . As shown in FIG. 13, sealing surface 141 is in sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 129 on the ROV adapter 402 , blocking any fluid flow from the ROV supply port 113 .
The flow biased shuttle assembly generally identified by the numeral 400 in this prior art device, has a number of components including the elongate tubular ROV adapter 402 , piston rod 404 with a head 406 on one end and a threaded point 408 on the other end which threadibly engage an aperture 409 in the shuttle 121 and a spring 410 . A central bore 401 in the ROV adapter 402 allows fluid to move from the ROV supply port 113 , through the central bore 401 and into the passageway 111 of the valve 399 when the shuttle 121 disengages from the valve seat 129 on the ROV adapter 402 . When the piston rod 402 moves axially, the shuttle, 121 likewise moves axially. A spring 410 surrounds the piston rod 404 and is captured between the head 406 and the end 407 of the shuttle 121 .
When fluid is injected by the ROV into the ROV supply port 113 , the shuttle 121 moves from the position shown in the drawing to engagement with the valve seat 132 . This causes compression of the spring 410 . When the fluid flow subsides, the compressed spring 410 exerts forces on the head 406 which is translated through the piston rod 404 to the shuttle 121 causing it to move from engagement with the valve seat 132 back to engagement with the valve seat 129 , as shown in FIG. 13 .
The shuttle 121 has a first end portion or cage 142 that includes a central bore 46 with a total of six apertures, 148 , 150 , 152 , 156 and two others not shown. The other end portion or cage 158 includes a bore 160 that is coaxially with the bore 146 and a total of six apertures, 162 , 164 , 166 , 168 and two others not shown. When fluid flows from the inlet port 110 , it moves through the bore 146 and the apertures 148 , 150 , 152 , 156 and then into the passageway 111 . From the passageway 111 , it exits the function port 114 . When the shuttle moves into the opposite position, fluid flows from the ROV support port 113 through the central bore 401 , through the bore 160 and out the apertures 162 , 164 , 166 , 168 and two others not shown. The fluid then flows into the passageway 111 and out the function port 114 . This prior art device 399 had certain limitations because it was actuated by flow only. If an ROV did not generate sufficient flow rates, the apparatus would not always function properly. In order to make sure that the biased shuttle valve would function with all different types of ROVs, the design was changed so that it would function based on pressure and not flow.
FIG. 14 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve generally identified by the numeral 499 . In this view, the shuttle is in the right-hand position allowing fluid to flow as indicated by the flow arrows. The pressure biased shuttle assembly is generally identified by the numeral 500 .
The pressure biased shuttle valve 499 includes a body 102 which is supported by a bracket 104 . The valve 499 includes a first adapter 106 and a second ROV adapter 501 , coaxially aligned on opposite sides of the body 102 . The first adapter 106 forms an inlet or supply port 110 and the second adapter, generally referred to as the ROV adapter 501 , forms an inlet or supply port 113 , also referred to as the ROV supply port. Each supply port 110 and 113 is connected to a separate hose or piping, not shown in the drawings. The ROV supply port 113 is connected to an ROV docking station and receives hydraulic fluid from the ROV, as previously discussed. The inlet port 110 is connected to a different pressurized fluid source, not shown. The body 102 forms a transverse outlet or function port 114 . The function port 114 is connected to a hose or piping, not shown in the drawings. The function port 114 connects to the BOPs. Fluid enters the valve 499 either through the first supply port 110 or the ROV supply port 113 and exits the valve 499 through the function port 114 .
The first adapter 106 threadibly engages an aperture 122 in the body 102 . An o-ring 124 seals the adapter 106 to the body 102 . The ROV adapter 501 threadibly engages an aperture 128 in the body 102 . An o-ring 130 seals the adapter 501 to the body 102 . The adapter 106 includes a metal valve seat 132 and the ROV adapter 501 includes an opposing coaxially metal valve seat 133 . The shuttle 119 includes a centrally located circumferential flange 136 which has opposing tapered sealing services 138 and 140 . As shown in this drawing, the sealing surface 140 is in sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 133 blocking any fluid flow from the ROV supply port 113 .
The shuttle 119 has a first end portion or cage 142 that includes a central bore 146 and a total of six apertures 148 , 150 , 152 , 156 and two others not shown. The other end portion or cage 158 includes a bore 160 that is coaxially with the bore 146 and a total of six apertures 162 , 164 , 166 , 168 and two others not shown. In FIG. 14, the shuttle 119 is in the right-hand position in sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 133 of the ROV adapter 501 . This allows fluid to flow from the first supply port 110 through the bore 146 and the apertures 148 , 150 , 152 and 156 through the passageway 111 of the valve 100 to the function port 114 , as shown by the flow arrows in the drawing.
The pressure biased shuttle assembly is generally identified by the numeral 500 . It includes an ROV supply port 113 on one end and a metal valve seat 133 on the other end. A central bore 503 is formed on the longitudinal axis of the ROV adapter 501 and allows fluid communication from the ROV supply port 113 past the metal valve seat 133 .
A piston rod 502 is formed with a head, 506 on one end and a threaded point 508 on the other end. The threaded point 508 threadibly engages a similarly threaded receptacle 507 formed in the shuttle 199 . Adjacent to the threaded end 508 of the piston rod 502 is a radial flange 509 . The radial flange abuts a shoulder 511 formed in the shuttle 119 . A spring 510 surrounds the piston rod 502 . A piston 512 is positioned inside the central bore 502 of the ROV adapter 501 . An o-ring channel 513 is formed in the outer circumference of the piston 502 and receives an o-ring 514 . The o-ring 514 provides a seal between the piston 510 and the inside diameter of the bore 503 . The spring 510 is captured between the back side of the piston 512 and a shoulder 515 formed in the ROV adapter 501 . In order to function in response to pressure rather than in response to fluid flow, the outside diameter of the piston 512 must be larger than the outside diameter of the shuttle 119 as measured between the points A and B on the circumferential flange 136 . For example, in the present invention for a one-inch valve, the outside diameter of the shuttle 119 as measured between the points A and B on the circumferential flange 136 is nominally 1⅜ inches and the outside diameter of the piston 512 is nominally 1½ inches. This larger diameter on the piston 512 insures that pressure from the ROV supply port 113 exerted upon the piston 512 will cause the shuttle to open against the spring force of spring 510 .
Applicants have determined that a spring 510 with a spring rate of 85 lb./inch is suitable for a ½ in size pressure biased shuttle valve and a spring 510 with a spring rate of 175 lb./inch is suitable for a 1 inch size pressure biased shuttle valve. Springs with different spring rates may also be suitable depending on the size and configuration of a particular valve.
A frustro-conical valve surface 507 is formed on the backside of the head 506 of the piston rod 502 . A valve seat 513 is formed in a depression in the piston 512 . A metal-to-metal seal is achieved between the valve 507 and the seat 513 , as better shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. The piston 512 has a central aperture 522 through which fluid flows when the valve 507 is disengaged from the seat 513 , as better seen in FIG. 16 . In FIG. 14, the valve 502 and the seat 513 are engaged and there is no flow from the ROV supply port 113 to the function port 114 .
FIG. 15 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve 499 like FIG. 14, except the ROV has injected fluid into the ROV port 113 causing the shuttle 119 to move from the right-hand position to the left-hand position into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 132 on the adapter 106 . This pressurized fluid exerts a force across the entire diameter of the piston 512 and the head 506 of the piston rod 502 . As shown in FIG. 15, the valve 507 is in sealing engagement with the seat 513 so that no fluid can pass through the aperture 522 . The force being exerted upon the piston 512 and the head 506 is transferred through the piston rod 502 to the shuttle 119 causing it to move from the right-hand position of FIG. 14 into the left-hand position shown in FIG. 15 . There is no flow through the function port 114 when the valve is in the position shown in FIG. 15 .
FIG. 16 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle valve 499 of FIG. 14, except the valve has now opened and fluid can flow from the ROV supply port 113 around the head 506 through the annular passageway 522 , through the bore 503 , through the bore 160 and through the apertures 162 , 164 , 166 , 168 and two others not shown, into the passageway 111 and out the function port 114 , as shown by the flow arrows in the drawings.
In FIG. 16, the valve 507 has disengaged from the seat 513 and the tapered sealing service 140 has disengaged from the metal valve seat 133 , again allowing fluid to flow as indicated by the flow arrows from the ROV supply port 113 through the pressure biased shuffle assembly 500 through the valve 499 and out the function port 114 . This fluid flow only occurs during emergencies to shut down the well or during tests of such emergency equipment.
FIG. 17 is an enlarged section view of a portion of the pressure biased shuttle assembly 500 showing the piston rod head 506 before any coining has occurred between the valve 507 and the seat 513 . The angle of the frustro-conical valve 507 is mismatched when compared with the angle of the seat 513 . The seat 513 forms a point 515 which contacts the frustro-conical valve 507 . FIG. 17 is a drawing of a portion of the pressure biased shuttle valve 499 after manufacture, but before any testing or operation of the valve. After the pressure biased shuttle valve 499 has been tested and/or actuated, coining or displacement of metal at the point 515 occurs, as shown in the next figure.
FIG. 18 is an enlarged section view of a portion of the pressure biased shuttle valve assembly 500 , after coining has occurred and sealing engagement has been established between the frustro-conical valve 507 and the seat 513 . After the head 506 has been stroked axially several times, the metal in the point 515 is progressively coined and/or displaced at 520 . This displacement of the metal on the seat 513 creates a metal-to-metal seal between the seat 513 and the frustro-conical valve 507 . As the shuttle 119 moves axially, the piston rod 502 likewise moves axially, causing the head 506 to contact the piston 512 . This causes the frustro-conical valve 507 to contact the seat 513 at the point 515 to continually refresh the metal-to-metal seal between the head 506 and the piston 512 . A seal is likewise established between the o-ring 514 and the inside diameter of the passageway 503 of the ROV adapter 501 .
FIG. 19 is a section view of an alternative embodiment of the pressure biased shuttle valve 600 with seven supply ports. (The embodiment shown in FIGS. 14-18 has two supply ports.)
The pressure biased shuttle valve 600 includes a first body portion 610 , a second body portion 612 , a third body portion 614 , a fourth body portion 616 , a fifth body portion 618 and a sixth body portion 620 . The body portions 610 , 612 , 614 , 616 , 618 and 620 are held together by a plurality of bolts 622 and 624 and a plurality of nuts 626 and 628 , that mechanically grip the six body sections, thus joining them together into an integral assembly.
An alignment pin 630 fits into a bore 632 of the body 610 and a coaxial bore 634 of the body 612 . A zig-zag interconnecting passageway 636 is formed in the body 610 and is in fluent communication with a second zig-zag passageway 638 in the body 612 . A connector 640 is positioned in a bore 642 of the body 610 and another coaxial bore 646 in the body 612 . The connector 640 has a first seal 644 and a second seal 650 to prevent fluid from leaking from the zig-zag passageways 636 and 638 . The connector 640 also helps align the body portions 610 and 612 .
An alignment pin 652 fits into a bore 654 of the body 612 and a coaxial bore 656 of the body 614 . A zig-zag interconnecting passageway 658 is formed in the body 614 and is in fluid communication with the zig-zag passageways 636 and 638 . A connector 660 is positioned in a bore 662 of the body 612 and another coaxial bore 664 in the body 614 . The connector 660 has a first seal 668 and a second seal 670 to prevent fluid from leaking from the zig-zag passageways 638 and 658 . The connector 660 also helps align the body portions 612 and 614 .
An alignment pin 672 fits in a bore 674 of the body 614 and a coaxial bore 676 of the body 616 . A zig-zag interconnecting passageway 678 is formed in the body 616 and is in fluid communication with the other zig-zag passageways, 658 , 638 and 636 . A connector 680 is positioned in a bore 682 of the body 614 and another coaxial bore 684 of the body 616 . The connector 680 has a first seal 686 and a second seal 688 to prevent fluid from leaking from the zig-zag passageways 678 and 658 . The connector 680 also helps align the body portions of 614 and 616 .
An alignment pin 690 fits into a bore 692 of the body 616 and a coaxial bore 694 of the body 618 . A zig-zag interconnecting passageway 696 is formed in the body 618 and is in fluid communication with the other zig-zag passageways 678 , 658 , 638 and 636 .
A connector 698 is positioned in a bore 700 of the body 616 and another coaxial bore 702 in the body 618 . The connector 698 has a first seal 704 and a second seal 706 to prevent fluid from leaking from the zig-zag passageways 698 and 678 . The connector 698 also helps align the body portions 618 and 616 .
An alignment pin 708 fits into a bore 710 of the body 618 and a coaxial bore 712 of the body 620 . A zig-zag interconnecting passageway 724 is formed in the body 620 and is in fluid communication with the other zig-zag passageways 696 , 678 , 658 , 638 and 636 . A connector 714 is positioned in a bore 716 of the body 620 and another coaxial bore of 718 in the body 620 . The connector 714 has a first seal 720 and a second seal 722 to prevent fluid from leaking from the zig-zag passageways 724 and 696 . The connector 714 also helps align the body portions 620 and 618 .
A connector 728 is positioned in a bore 730 of the body 620 and another coaxial bore 732 in the whatchamacallit 726 . The connector 728 has a first seal 734 and a second seal 736 to prevent fluid from leaking from the passageways 738 and 724 . The connector 728 also helps align the body portion 620 and the whatchamacallit 726 (Harold help me). The pressure biased shuttle assembly 500 is the same shuttle assembly shown in FIGS. 14-18.
A first supply port 740 is formed in the body 610 and is fluid communication with the passageway 636 . A second supply port 742 is formed in a first adapter 744 . The adapter 744 threadibly engages the body 610 . The adapter 744 is sealed against the body 610 by an o-ring 746 . The metal valve seat 748 is formed on one end of the adapter 744 . A second metal valve seat 750 is formed in the body 610 and is coaxially with the valve seat 748 . A shuttle 752 moves from sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 748 of the adapter 744 , as shown in the drawing, to alternative sealing engagement with the valve seat 740 of the body 610 . A third supply port 754 is formed in a third adapter 756 . The adapter 756 threadibly engages the body 612 . The adapter 756 is sealed against the body 612 by an o-ring 758 . A metal valve seat 760 is formed on one end of the adapter 756 . An opposing metal valve seat 762 is formed in the body 612 and is coaxial with the valve seat 760 . A shuttle 764 moves from sealing engagement with the valve seat 760 of the adapter 756 , as shown in the drawing, to alternative sealing engagement with the valve seat 762 of the body 612 .
A third supply port 766 is formed in a third adapter 768 . The adapter 768 threadibly engages the body 614 . The adapter 768 is sealed against the body 614 by an o-ring 770 . A metal valve seat 772 is formed on one end of the adapter 768 . A second metal valve seat 774 is formed in the body 612 and is coaxial with the valve seat 772 . A shuttle 776 moves from sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 772 of the adapter 768 , as shown in the drawing, to alternative sealing engagement with the valve seat 774 of the body 614 .
A fourth supply port 780 is formed in a fourth adapter 784 . The adapter 784 threadibly engages the body 616 . The adapter 784 is sealed against the body 616 by an o-ring 782 . A metal valve seat 786 is formed on one end of the adapter 784 . A second metal valve seat 788 is formed in the body 616 and is coaxial with the valve seat 786 . A shuttle 789 moves from sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 786 of the adapter 784 , as shown in the drawing, to alternative sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 788 of the body 616 .
A sixth supply port 790 is formed in the adapter 792 . The adapter 792 threadibly engages the body 618 . The adapter 792 is sealed against the body 618 by an o-ring 794 . A metal valve seat 796 is formed on one end of the adapter 792 . A second metal valve seat 798 is formed in the body 618 and is coaxial with the valve seat 796 . A shuttle 799 moves from sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 796 of the adapter 792 , as shown in the drawing, to alternative sealing engagement with the valve seat 798 of the body 618 .
The ROV supply port 113 is formed in the ROV adapter 501 . The ROV adapter 501 threadibly engages the body 620 . The ROV adapter 501 is sealed against the body 620 by an o-ring 800 . A metal valve seat 133 is formed on one end of the ROV adapter 501 . A second metal valve seat 802 is formed in the body 620 and is coaxial with the valve seat 133 . A shuttle 119 moves from sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 133 of the ROV adapter 501 , as shown in the drawing, to alternative sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 802 of the body 620 .
A first supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to the first supply port 740 , the second supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to the second supply port 754 , a third supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to a third supply port 766 , a fourth supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to a fourth supply port 780 , a fifth supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to a fifth supply port 790 , and a seventh supply line, not shown in the drawing, connects to an ROV docking terminal and the ROV supply port 113 . If pressure in the first supply port 740 is greater than the fluid pressure in the second supply port 742 , the third supply port 754 , the fourth supply port 766 , the fifth supply port 780 , the sixth supply port 790 , and the ROV supply port 113 , the shuttles 752 , 764 , 776 , 789 , 799 and 119 will be urged into sealing engagement with the respective valve seats 748 , 764 , 772 , 786 , 796 and 133 , as shown in FIG. 19 . This allows fluid to flow from the first supply port 740 through the zig-zag passageways 636 , 638 , 658 , 618 , 696 , 742 and 738 and out the function port 804 , to the VOP, not shown.
If fluid in the second supply port 742 is greater than fluid pressure in the first supply port 740 , the second supply port 754 , the third supply port 766 , the fourth supply port 780 , the fifth supply port 790 , or the ROV supply port 113 , then the shuttle 752 will unseat and move into sealing engagement with the metal valve seat 750 of the body 610 . This will allow fluid to flow from the second supply port 742 through the zig-zag passageways 638 , 658 , 618 , 696 , 724 and 738 and out the function port 804 to the BOP, not shown. The other supply ports work in similar function. The supply port with the highest fluid pressure will open and the others will remain closed, allowing fluid from the highest supply port to move to the function port 804 .
The shuttles 752 , 764 , 776 , 789 , and 799 progressively coin the respective opposing metal valve seats in similar fashion as the shuttle 120 described in FIGS. 3-10. Likewise, the shuttle 119 progressively coins the valve seats 133 and 124 to achieve a metal to metal seal.
FIG. 20 is a section view of the pressure biased shuttle assembly 500 , which is sold as a repair kit for the pressure biased shuttle valve shown in FIGS. 14-19. The pressure biased shuttle valve assembly includes all of the components shown, including the elongate tubular ROV adapter 501 , the piston rod 502 , the piston 512 , the shuttle 119 and the spring 510 . From time to time, it is necessary to service the pressure biased shuttle valve which is normally located subsea. In order to service the valve, it and accompanying apparatus is brought to the surface. Time is therefore of the essence and anything that can be done to speed repair and replacement of the valves is desirable. The pressure biased shuttle valve assembly repair kit 500 can therefore be sold as a separate component and used on board during repair and maintenance.
FIG. 21 is a section view of an alternative embodiment of the pressure biased shuttle assembly and is generally identified by the numeral 850 . The elongate tubular ROV adapter 501 includes an ROV supply port 113 on one end and a metal valve seat 133 on the other end. A central bore 503 is formed along the longitudinal axis of the ROV adapter 501 . 133 .
A piston rod 502 is formed with a head or valve, 506 on one end and an abutment 852 on the other end. The shuttle 121 has a first end portion or cage 142 that includes a central bore 146 and a total of 6 apertures, 148 , 150 , 152 , 156 and two others not shown. The other end portion or cage 159 includes a bore 161 that is coaxial with the bore 146 . The cage 159 has 6 apertures, not shown in the drawing, similar to the apertures in the opposing cage 146 . In FIG. 21, the shuttle 121 is in the right-hand position and sealing engagement is achieved between the metal valve seat 133 of the ROV adapter 501 and the sealing surface 140 . When the shuttle 121 disengages from the valve seat 133 fluid can flow from the ROV supply port 113 through the central bore 503 and past the metal valve seat 133 .
FIG. 22 is an enlarged section view of the shuttle 121 and a portion of the ROV adapter 501 . An abutment 852 is formed on one end of the piston rod 502 opposite the valve 506 . A transverse hole 855 is formed in the abutment 852 . The tip 854 of the abutment 852 is rounded. However, other surfaces are within the scope of this invention such as a point or a frustro-conical projection.
A hole 861 and an opposing coaxial hole 863 are formed in the cage 159 . The holes 861 and 863 are sized and arranged to receive the crosspin 862 , which is pressed to fit into the holes 861 and 863 . The outside diameter of the crosspin 862 is primarily a matter of manufacturing convenience. However there should be a gap 870 between the outside diameter of the crosspin 862 and the inside diameter of the hole 855 allowing some slop so that the shuttle 121 has some freedom of movement relative to the piston rod 502 . In other words, there is a flexible connection between the shuttle 121 and the piston rod 502 . This allows the sealing surfaces 138 and 140 on the circumferential flange 136 of the shuttle 121 to make a better seal with the metal valve seats 132 and 133 .
In other words, the shuttle 121 has the ability to slightly pivot about the tip 854 of the piston rod 502 because of the slop 870 between the crosspin 862 and the hole 855 . This flexible connection allows the shuttle 121 to find and make a better seal, especially in smaller size valves. | The pressure biased shuttle valve assembly in the pressure biased shuttle valve operates in conjunction with a remote operated vehicle (ROV) to actuate blow-out preventers and thus shut in the well during emergency situations. The pressure biased shuttle valve assembly opens in response to fluid pressure from the ROV. It requires little or no flow to open. These pressure biased shuttle valves are typically located subsea on a lower marine riser platform (LMRP). These platforms are sometimes brought to the surface for a periodic testing and maintenance. The pressure biased shuttle valve assembly is also used as a repair kit which facilitates easy maintenance and repair when the LMRP is brought to the surface. In one embodiment, the shuttle is rigidly connected to a piston rod. In another embodiment, there is a flexible connection between the piston rod and shuttle. The purpose of the flexible connection is to encourage a better seal in smaller size valves. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Reference is made to copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application to Pan et al., filed Mar. 21, 2007, entitled, “Systems and Methods for Material Authentication” (Attorney Docket No. 20061489-359754), and copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application to Pan et al., filed Mar. 21, 2007, entitled, “Systems and Methods for Material Authentication” (Attorney Docket No. 20061545-359244).
BACKGROUND
[0002] Herein disclosed are embodiments generally relating to imaging members and assemblies and the authentication of specific material components used in the imaging members and assemblies. The disclosed embodiments may be used in various printing systems, such as for example, in phase change or solid ink jet printing systems or electrophotographic printing systems. Authentication of the materials ensures that compatible components are being used with the imaging members and assemblies. More specifically, the embodiments disclose a system and method for efficiently detecting whether materials being used in the imaging members and assemblies are compatible and authentic materials authorized for such uses.
[0003] Manufacturers of the various imaging members and assemblies produce materials and components specific for use with these imaging members and assemblies. The materials are tailored to each member or assembly for optimal performance. A problem arises when materials, used in the imaging members and assemblies, not authorized by the manufacturers are substituted for the authentic counterparts. Use of these unauthentic materials causes compatibility issues and has a significant negative impact on the imaging business and reputation of the manufacturers. The unauthentic materials often are not as compatible with the imaging member or assembly as advertised and subsequently introduce operational problems that negatively impact machine performance. Such problems lead to higher maintenance costs, increased down-time, and the like. These type of problems in turn lead to lower customer satisfaction with the imaging members and assemblies.
[0004] Previous attempts to devise a monitoring system with which to determine the authenticity of imaging materials were problematic in that the systems did not provide easy detection of the unauthentic or unauthorized materials involved. The systems generally did not detect the unauthentic materials until after an extended period of problematic behavior raised suspicions, and subsequently involved obtaining samples from the dissatisfied customer and conducting extensive and costly laboratory analysis to determine authenticity.
[0005] As such, the previous attempts did not yield an effective way in which to deal with the issue of unauthentic materials. Therefore, there is a need for a way in which to efficiently detect the presence of unauthentic materials used in an imaging member or assembly without taking up a large amount of time and resources.
[0006] The term “electrostatographic” is generally used interchangeably with the term “electrophotographic.”
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0007] According to embodiments illustrated herein, there is provided a system and method for more efficiently detecting whether materials being used in the imaging members and assemblies are compatible and authentic materials authorized for such uses.
[0008] In particular, an embodiment provides a method for authenticating an imaging material, comprising tagging an imaging material with at least one fluorescent tag, wherein the imaging material is a fuser lubricant, generating an energy source for stimulating an emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant, stimulating the emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant, measuring the emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant at a predetermined wavelength, and identifying a test fuser lubricant as authentic when the measured emission of fluorescent light from the test fuser lubricant meets a predetermined emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant at the predetermined wavelength.
[0009] In another embodiment, there is provided an imaging material comprising a fuser lubricant and at least one fluorescent tag. In specific embodiments, the imaging material is prepared for use with the above described method. For example, the imaging material is prepared to be identified as authentic by the above described method.
[0010] Further embodiments provide for a system for authenticating an imaging material, comprising at least one fluorescent tag for tagging an imaging material, wherein the imaging material is a fuser lubricant, an energy source for stimulating an emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant, and a fluorescent detector for measuring the emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant at a predetermined wavelength, wherein the fluorescent detector includes an indicator for identifying a test fuser lubricant as authentic when the measured emission of fluorescent light from the test fuser lubricant meets a predetermined emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tagged fuser lubricant at the predetermined wavelength.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying figures.
[0012] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fusing system;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of a web-cleaning fusing system;
[0014] FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a transfix system with an image on the drum surface being transfixed to a sheet of final substrate by passing through the transfix nip;
[0015] FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a drum maintenance (DM) and imaging cycle; and
[0016] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a system for authenticating a material for use in imaging systems according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] In the following description, it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made without departure from the scope of the present embodiments disclosed herein.
[0018] The present embodiments provide a system and method for detecting the presence of unauthentic materials used in imaging apparatuses in a time and cost-efficient manner. The present embodiments propose to incorporate a chemical tag in specific imaging materials that can be traced online or offline. The incorporated tags do not affect the performance of the imaging materials. In embodiments, the tag molecule is a fluorescent tag that is detected by fluorescence. In further embodiments, the tag is colorless in order to broaden the tag concentration latitude.
[0019] Use of a fluorescent tag for identification is known in the biotechnological field. For example, such tags have been used as part of a molecule that researchers have chemically attached to aid in the detection of the molecule to which it has been attached. The fluorescent molecule is also known as a fluorophore.
[0020] Use of similar tags have also been introduced into toner particles for use in custom color control techniques, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,893, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The disclosure teaches a novel sensor adapted to sense fluorescent molecules in the toner particles to provide a color independent measure of total toner solids.
[0021] The present embodiments, the imaging materials include any materials that are used in various imaging systems known in the art. For example, specific embodiments described herein include adding a tag molecule in small quantities into imaging materials used in piezoelectric ink jet (PIJ) and solid ink jet (SIJ) printing systems as well as electrostatographic materials used in xerographic systems for monitoring and evaluating authenticity. In one embodiment, the tag can be incorporated into fusing system materials and components generally used in electrostatographic printing systems, such as the fuser fluid. Typical fusing systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,166,031, 5,736,250, and 6,733,839, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the fuser fluid or fuser release oil can be present in several locations throughout the fusing system 23 , for example, in the fluid sump 22 , on the surfaces of the metering roll 17 , donor roll 19 , fuser roll 1 , pressure roll 8 , and ultimately on the media 12 passing through the fusing system 23 . The fuser fluid to be evaluated can be obtained from any of these locations. Other embodiments include incorporating the tag into fuser web-cleaning system materials and components, such as the fuser lubricant, or incorporating the tag into drum maintenance materials and components in a transfix system, such as the drum maintenance fluid. Typical web-cleaning fusing systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,929,983, 5,045,890, and 6,876,832, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Web-cleaning fusing systems are generally used in, but not limited to, electrostatographic printing systems. Typical transfix systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,389,958, 5,805,191, and 6,176,575, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Transfix systems are typically used in piezoelectric ink jet or solid ink jet printing systems.
[0022] As seen in FIG. 2 , the fuser lubricant can be present in many locations in the web-cleaning system 56 , for example, the cleaning web 48 , fuser roll 50 , pressure roll 52 , and ultimately on the media 54 passing through the web-cleaning fusing system 56 . The fuser lubricant to be evaluated can be obtained from any of these locations. Likewise, the drum maintenance fluid can be present in several locations throughout the drum maintenance system, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , including the surface of the drum maintenance roller 58 , metering blade 60 , drum surface 62 , transfix roller 64 , and ultimately on the print media 66 passing through the transfix system. Again, the drum maintenance fluid to be evaluated can be obtained from any of these locations.
[0023] In embodiments, the imaging material comprises a fuser lubricant and at least one fluorescent tag. In a specific embodiment, the imaging material is prepared for use with the system and methods described herein. For example, the imaging material is prepared to be identified as authentic by the system and methods. The tag comprises a fluorescence or scintillation chemical. Fluorescent or scintillating materials are those materials exhibiting fluorescence while being acted upon by radiant energy such as ultraviolet (UV) rays or X-rays. Suitable materials may be solid or liquid, organic or inorganic, and include, for example, any well-known fluorescent crystals or fluorescent dyes. As previously mentioned, fluorescent dyes have been typically used in tagging molecules in chemical or biochemical research.
[0024] Any known fluorescent dyes may be used. Suitable dyes include, for example, fluorescein, rhodamine, rosaline, uranium europium, uranium-sensitized europium, and mixtures thereof. Organic compounds may also be used. Those that have been tested to be solvent compatible with fuser fluids include poly(methylphenyl siloxane), 1,4-Bis(4-methyl-5-phenyloxazol-2-yl)benzene, 1,4-Bis(5-phenyl oxazol-2-yl)benzene, 2,5-diphenyl oxazole, 1,4-Bis(2-methylstyryl)benzene, trans-4,4′-diphenyl stilbebene, 9,10-diphenyl anthracene, and mixtures thereof. Positions of the fluorescence band for toluene range from about 350 nm to about 420 nm while being radiated with ultraviolet rays having wavelengths of 365 nm. In addition, the present embodiments also contemplate using fluorescence tags which can fluoresce in all different visible colors, namely from about 350 nm to about 700 nm.
[0025] In embodiments, the fluorescent material is capable of exhibiting fluorescence in small amounts. Consequently, the fluorescent tag can be added in small amounts to the imaging material without altering the properties or performance of the tagged material. The present embodiments provide for a fluorescent tag that is present in the tagged imaging material in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 10,000 ppm, in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 1,000 ppm, or in an amount from about 0.01 to about 100 ppm.
[0026] Methods used to “treat” or incorporate the fluorescent tag into the imaging material, may be physical in nature, chemical in nature or a combination of both. For example, a physical treatment method may involve simple mixing of the fuser fluid with the fluorescent material, or a chemical treatment method may involve bonding the fluorescent tag to the fuser fluid by any suitable technique. If the tag comprises a fluorescent material that is not sufficiently soluble in the tagged material, the insolubility can be addressed by modifying the molecule with a moiety compatible with the tagged material. In one embodiment, for increasing the solubility of a fluorescent tag in fuser fluid, the moiety is a short silicone chain.
[0027] In embodiments, a method for authenticating an imaging material, comprises tagging an imaging material with the fluorescent tag described above, and measuring the level of fluorescence emitted. An energy source, such as radiant energy, is generated and directed to a material to be assessed for authenticity. The energy source will stimulate an emission of fluorescent light from the fluorescent tag if the evaluated material contains one. Any fluorescence that is stimulated from the evaluated imaging material is measured. The measurement may be set at a predetermined wavelength that is set to only pick up fluorescence from the authentic imaging materials. Fluorescence that meets the predetermined values is identified as authentic. Furthermore, the method may include subjecting the emission of fluorescent light from the imaging material to a filter to remove background fluorescence or interference before measuring the emission of fluorescent light from the material at the predetermined wavelength.
[0028] In further embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4 , a system 5 for authenticating an imaging material 10 obtained from an imaging assembly 15 is provided. The system comprises a fluorescent tag used to tag imaging materials used in the imaging assembly. The system provides an energy source 20 for stimulating an emission 25 of fluorescent light from the imaging material 10 , and a fluorescent detector 30 for measuring the emission 25 of fluorescent light from the imaging material 10 at a predetermined wavelength. In addition to the commonly used UV illumination systems, the energy source 20 could be a cost-effective UV light emitting diode (LED). For example, such a UV LED may have a peak emission wavelength of 365 nm and a narrow spectrum half width, e.g., 10 nm. The fluorescent detector 30 includes an indicator 35 for identifying the evaluated imaging material 10 as authentic when the measured emission 25 of fluorescent light, if any, from the imaging material 10 meets the predetermined wavelength. The indicator 35 may be a part of the detector 30 , for example, a display screen disposed on the detector. The indicator 35 may also be a separate component not attached to the detector, for example, a remote personal computer that remotely communicates with the detector 30 via a wired or wireless network. In embodiments, the fluorescent detector 30 detects light within a visible spectrum. In further embodiments, the detector 30 comprises multiple sensors. In certain arrangements, where the sensors (and their filters) are placed in close proximity to the tagged material, the detector are able to detect the fluorescence of the material without additional optics. However, if other considerations force the detectors to be placed at some distance from the tagged material, then it may be advantageous to also include collection optics between the material being tested and the detector to gather and focus the fluorescent light from the tested material onto the detector(s).
[0029] In addition, the system 5 may further include a smart chip 40 coupled to the fluorescence detector 30 for requesting replacement of the evaluated material when the material is not authentic. An optical filter 45 may be included in the system 5 to remove background fluorescence or interference that may be involved in the evaluation of the imaging material 10 . Such filters may include, for example, an acousto-optic tunable filter, a fiber tunable, a thin-film interference filter, or an optical band-pass filter. Thin-film filters may be interference filter wheels or interference filter turrets. In further embodiments, a “digital” filter may be used to distinguish fluorescence from the fluorescent tag from that of other interferences or contaminants that may also cause a test imaging material to fluoresce. Digital filtering involves measuring fluorescent intensity in a range of wavelength. A plot of intensity versus wavelength shows peaks, each being characterized by a set of fluorescent parameters (e.g., fluorescent wavelength, intensity, and full width at half maximum (FWHM)). By comparing these parameters, one can isolate the fluorescent parameter unique to the specific tag. For example, among the superimposed intensity curve, only one peak is due to the fluorescent tag. Thus, by fitting the entire intensity curve with peaks identified for each of the fluorescent parameters associated with the tag (fluorescent wavelength, intensity, and FWHM), the digital modeling process can be used to distinguish the fluorescent tag from the other fluorescent interferences/contaminants.
[0030] While the description above refers to particular embodiments, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of embodiments herein.
[0031] The presently disclosed embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of embodiments being indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning of and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.
EXAMPLE
[0032] The example set forth herein below and is illustrative of different compositions and conditions that can be used in practicing the present embodiments. All proportions are by weight unless otherwise indicated. It will be apparent, however, that the embodiments can be practiced with many types of compositions and can have many different uses in accordance with the disclosure above and as pointed out hereinafter.
Example 1
[0033] A typical fusing system (e.g., electrostatographic printing system), includes a fuser roll, a pressure roll, a printing medium, an image, a metering roll, a donor roll, a release agent sump, and a fuser fluid or fuser release oil. In this example, the fuser fluid is treated with a fluorescent tag.
[0034] An ultraviolet lamp is radiated onto the fluorescent tagged fuser fluid in the sump, and fluorescence intensity is measured as a function of wavelength. The measured fluorescence spectrum is then fit to a model in which the model parameters are compared with predetermined values, for example, predetermined wavelengths, stored in a fluorescence detection device. The fuser fluid is authenticated if the model parameters meet the stored values.
[0035] As the model parameters are dependent on the location of the detection, for example, where in the fusing system the tested fuser fluid is obtained from, and thereby the parameters are dependent on the amount and temperature of the fuser fluid.
Example 2
[0036] A typical solid ink jet (SIJ) printing system includes a drum maintenance and imaging cycle. An image on the drum surface is transfixed to a sheet of final substrate by passage through the transfix nip. The drum maintenance roller then cleans and applied drum maintenance fluid to the drum before the image is jetted. In this example, the drum maintenance fluid is treated with a fluorescent tag. Poly(methylphenyl siloxane), which is readily soluble in typical silicone-based drum maintenance fluids, may be used as the fluorescent tag molecule in this example.
[0037] An ultraviolet lamp is radiated on the fluorescent tagged drum maintenance fluid in the drum maintenance system. The fluorescence intensity is measured as a function of wavelength. The measured fluorescence spectrum is then fit to a model in which the model parameters are compared with predetermined values, for example, predetermined wavelengths, stored in a fluorescence detection device. The drum maintenance fluid is authenticated if the model parameters meet the stored values.
[0038] As the model parameters are dependent on the location of the detection, for example, where in the drum maintenance system the tested drum maintenance fluid is obtained from, and thereby the parameters are dependent on the amount and temperature of the drum maintenance fluid.
[0039] Fluoranthene (99%), available from Sigma-Aldrich Co. (St. Louis, Mo.) and fluorescent clear blue dye (Invisible Blue), available from Risk Reactor (Huntington Beach, Calif.), were tested as fluorescent tags. It was noted that fluoranthene (99%) was soluble in a variety of organic solvents, and miscible in silicone, while fluorescent clear blue dye had limited solubility in methyl ethyl ketone (MEK).
[0040] The fluoranthene (99%) and fluorescent clear blue dye were first dissolved in appropriate solvents and then added directly to SIJ silicone fluid for evaluation of fluorescent tag effectiveness. The following samples were used in the evaluation: (1) 5 g of drum maintenance fluid alone, (2) 5 g of drum maintenance fluid with 0.2 g of 5% fluoranthene in acetone (0.2% of fluoranthene), and (3) 5 g of drum maintenance fluid with 0.2 g of 5% fluorescent clear blue dye in MEK (0.2% of DFSB-C0).
[0041] Ten drops, or approximately 80 mg were spin-coated onto two-inch square 304V stainless steel plates and two-inch square card-stock paper samples. Small drops were placed directly onto a fourth stainless steel plate for comparative evaluation. The samples were evaluated for visibility of the tag in the sample under a black light. Fluorescence of the fluorescent tags in silicone oil showed good visibility.
[0042] It was further noted that the paper substrate also fluoresces under black light. Thus, using proper filtering techniques before imaging fluorescence signals in the samples would amplify the differences in fluorescence signal between the control sample and samples with fluorescent tags.
Example 3
[0043] A typical web-cleaning fusing system (e.g., electrostatographic printing system) includes a fuser roll having a TEFLON outer layer. Such a fuser roll generally does not require a fuser release agent. Although the TEFLON outer layer has a very low surface energy (thereby having sufficient release properties), it is still desirable to use a cleaning web for removal of paper dust or a very small quantity of residual toner on the surface. The cleaning web is largely improved by impregnated lubricant, such as silicone oil. In this example, the fuser lubricant is treated with a fluorescent tag.
[0044] An ultraviolet lamp is radiated on the fluorescent tagged drum fuser lubricant in the web-cleaning fusing system. The fluorescence intensity is measured as a function of wavelength. The measured fluorescence spectrum is then fit to a model in which the model parameters are compared with predetermined values, for example, predetermined wavelengths, stored in a fluorescence detection device. The evaluated fuser lubricant is authenticated if the model parameters meet the stored values.
[0045] As the model parameters are dependent on the location of the detection, for example, where in the web-cleaning fusing system the tested fuser lubricant is obtained from, and thereby the parameters are dependent on the amount and temperature of the fuser lubricant.
[0046] All the patents and applications referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety in the instant specification.
[0047] It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims. Unless specifically recited in a claim, steps or components of claims should not be implied or imported from the specification or any other claims as to any particular order, number, position, size, shape, angle, color, or material. | Systems and methods for authentication of materials used in imaging members and assemblies. Authentication of imaging materials ensure that compatible components are being used with the imaging members and assemblies. Embodiments provide a system and method for efficiently detecting whether materials being used in the imaging members and assemblies are compatible and authentic materials authorized for such uses. | 2 |
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a divisional patent application of United States Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 13/446,575, filed Apr. 13, 2012, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/475,352, filed Apr. 14, 2011, which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to novel phenyl bicyclic methyl amine derivatives, processes for preparing them, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and their use as pharmaceuticals as modulators of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. The invention relates specifically to the use of these compounds and their pharmaceutical compositions to treat disorders associated with sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sphingosine-1 phosphate Sphingosine-1-phosphate is stored in relatively high concentrations in human platelets, which lack the enzymes responsible for its catabolism, and it is released into the blood stream upon activation of physiological stimuli, such as growth factors, cytokines, and receptor agonists and antigens. It may also have a critical role in platelet aggregation and thrombosis and could aggravate cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand the relatively high concentration of the metabolite in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) may have beneficial implications for atherogenesis. For example, there are recent suggestions that sphingosine-1-phosphate, together with other lysolipids such as sphingosylphosphorylcholine and lysosulfatide, are responsible for the beneficial clinical effects of HDL by stimulating the production of the potent antiatherogenic signaling molecule nitric oxide by the vascular endothelium. In addition, like lysophosphatidic acid, it is a marker for certain types of cancer, and there is evidence that its role in cell division or proliferation may have an influence on the development of cancers. These are currently topics that are attracting great interest amongst medical researchers, and the potential for therapeutic intervention in sphingosine-1-phosphate metabolism is under active investigation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
We have now discovered a group of novel compounds which are potent and selective sphingosine-1-phosphate modulators. As such, the compounds described herein are useful in treating a wide variety of disorders associated with modulation of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. The term “modulator” as used herein, includes but is not limited to: receptor agonist, antagonist, inverse agonist, inverse antagonist, partial agonist, partial antagonist.
This invention describes compounds of Formula I, which have sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor biological activity. The compounds in accordance with the present invention are thus of use in medicine, for example in the treatment of humans with diseases and conditions that are alleviated by S1P modulation.
In one aspect, the invention provides a compound having Formula I or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof or stereoisomeric forms thereof, or the geometrical isomers, enantiomers, diastereoisomers, tautomers, zwitterions and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof:
wherein:
represents a single
or a double bond
A is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkenyl or hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 3 is hydrogen, halogen, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, C(O)R 8 or hydroxyl;
R 4 is OPO 3 H 2 , carboxylic acid, PO 3 H 2 , substituted or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl, —S(O) 2 H, —P(O)MeOH, —P(O)(H)OH or OR 11 ;
R 5 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 6 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 7 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 8 is H, OR 11 or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 9 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 10 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 11 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
L 1 is O, S, NH or CHR 12 ;
L 2 is O, S, NH or CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 13 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
a is 0 or 1;
b is 0, 1, 2 or 3;
c is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; with the provisos
when a is 1 then
represents
and
when a is 0 then R 1 is O, S, NH, or CH 2 .
In another embodiment, the invention provides a compound having Formula I wherein:
represents a single
or a double bond
A is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkenyl, or hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 3 is hydrogen, halogen, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, C(O)R 8 or hydroxyl;
R 4 is OPO 3 H 2 , carboxylic acid, PO 3 H 2 , substituted or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl, —S(O) 2 H, —P(O)MeOH, —P(O)(H)OH or OR 11 ;
R 5 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 6 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 7 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 8 is H, OR 11 or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 9 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 10 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 11 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
L 1 is O, S, NH or CHR 12 ;
L 2 is O, S, NH or CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 13 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
a is 0;
b is 0, 1, 2 or 3;
c is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
R 1 is O, S, NH, or CH 2 .
In another embodiment, the invention provides a compound having Formula I wherein:
represents a double bond
A is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkenyl, or hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 3 is hydrogen, halogen, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, C(O)R 8 or hydroxyl;
R 4 is OPO 3 H 2 , carboxylic acid, PO 3 H 2 , substituted or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl, —S(O) 2 H, —P(O)MeOH, —P(O)(H)OH or OR 11 ;
R 5 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 6 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 7 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 ,
NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 8 is H, OR 11 or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 9 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 10 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 11 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
L 1 is O, S, NH or CHR 12 ;
L 2 is O, S, NH or CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 13 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
a is 0;
b is 0, 1, 2 or 3;
c is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4;
R 1 is O, CH 2 .
In another aspect, the invention provides a compound having Formula II or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof or stereoisomeric forms thereof, or the geometrical isomers, enantiomers, diastereoisomers, tautomers, zwitterions and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof:
wherein:
represents a single
or a double bond
A is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkenyl or hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 3 is hydrogen, halogen, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, C(O)R 8 or hydroxyl;
R 4 is OPO 3 H 2 , carboxylic acid, PO 3 H 2 , substituted or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl, —S(O) 2 H, —P(O)MeOH, —P(O)(H)OH or OR 11 ;
R 5 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 6 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 7 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 8 is H, OR 11 or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 9 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 10 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 11 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
L 1 is O, S, NH or CHR 12 ;
L 2 is O, S, NH or CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 13 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
a 1 is 0 or 1;
b is 0, 1, 2 or 3;
c is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; with the provisos
when a 1 is 1 then
represents
and
when a 1 is 0 then R 1a is O, S, NH, or CH 2 .
In another embodiment, the invention provides a compound having Formula II wherein:
represents a single
or a double bond
A is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 5-8 cycloalkenyl, or hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 3 is hydrogen, halogen, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, C(O)R 8 or hydroxyl;
R 4 is OPO 3 H 2 , carboxylic acid, PO 3 H 2 , substituted or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl, —S(O) 2 H, —P(O)MeOH, —P(O)(H)OH or OR 11 ;
R 5 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 ,
NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 6 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 7 is H, halogen, —OC 1-3 alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl, CN, C(O)R 8 , NR 9 R 10 or hydroxyl;
R 8 is H, OR 11 or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 9 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 10 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 11 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
L 1 is O, S, NH or CHR 12 ;
L 2 is O, S, NH or CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
R 13 is H or substituted or unsubstituted C 1-3 alkyl;
a 1 is 0;
b is 0, 1, 2 or 3;
c is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
R 1a is O, S, NH, or CH 2 .
In another embodiment, the invention provides a compound having Formula II wherein:
represents a single
or a double bond
A is hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen;
R 3 is hydrogen;
R 4 is PO 3 H 2 ;
R 5 is H;
R 6 is H;
R 7 is H;
L 1 is CHR 12 ;
L 2 is CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H;
R 13 is H;
a 1 is 0;
b is 1;
c is 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
R 1a is O or CH 2 .
In another embodiment, the invention provides a compound having Formula II wherein:
represents a double bond
A is hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen;
R 3 is hydrogen;
R 4 is PO 3 H 2 ;
R 5 is H;
R 6 is H;
R 7 is H;
L 1 is CHR 12 ;
L 2 is CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H;
R 13 is H;
a 1 is 0;
b is 1;
c is 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
R 1a is O.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a compound having Formula II wherein:
represents a single
A is hydrogen;
R 2 is hydrogen;
R 3 is hydrogen;
R 4 is PO 3 H 2 ;
R 5 is H;
R 6 is H;
R 7 is H;
L 1 is CHR 12 ;
L 2 is CHR 13 ;
R 12 is H;
R 13 is H;
a 1 is 0;
b is 1;
c is 1, 2, 3 or 4;
d is 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
R 1a is CH 2 .
The term “alkyl”, as used herein, refers to saturated, monovalent or divalent hydrocarbon moieties having linear or branched moieties or combinations thereof and containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms. One methylene (—CH 2 —) group, of the alkyl can be replaced by oxygen, sulfur, sulfoxide, nitrogen, carbonyl, carboxyl, sulfonyl, or by a divalent C 3-6 cycloalkyl. Alkyl groups can be substituted by halogen, hydroxyl, cycloalkyl, amino, non-aromatic heterocycles, carboxylic acid, phosphonic acid groups, sulphonic acid groups, phosphoric acid.
The term “cycloalkyl”, as used herein, refers to a monovalent or divalent group of 3 to 8 carbon atoms, preferably 3 to 5 carbon atoms derived from a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon. Cycloalkyl groups can be monocyclic or polycyclic. Cycloalkyl can be substituted by 1 to 3 C 1-3 alkyl groups or 1 or 2 halogens.
The term “cycloalkenyl”, as used herein, refers to a monovalent or divalent group of 3 to 8 carbon atoms, preferably 3 to 6 carbon atoms derived from a saturated cycloalkyl having one double bond. Cycloalkenyl groups can be monocyclic or polycyclic. Cycloalkenyl groups can be substituted by 1 to 3 C 1-3 alkyl groups or 1 or 2 halogens.
The term “halogen”, as used herein, refers to an atom of chlorine, bromine, fluorine, iodine.
The term “alkenyl”, as used herein, refers to a monovalent or divalent hydrocarbon radical having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, derived from a saturated alkyl, having at least one double bond. C 2-6 alkenyl can be in the E or Z configuration. Alkenyl groups can be substituted by 1 to 2 C 1-3 alkyl.
The term “alkynyl”, as used herein, refers to a monovalent or divalent hydrocarbon radical having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, derived from a saturated alkyl, having at least one triple bond.
The term “heterocycle” as used herein, refers to a 3 to 10 membered ring, which can be aromatic or non-aromatic, saturated or non-saturated, containing at least one heteroatom selected form O or N or S or combinations of at least two thereof, interrupting the carbocyclic ring structure. The heterocyclic ring can be saturated or non-saturated. The heterocyclic ring can be interrupted by a C═O; the S heteroatom can be oxidized. Heterocycles can be monocyclic or polycyclic. Heterocyclic ring moieties can be substituted by hydroxyl, 1 to 2 C 1-3 alkyl or 1 to 2 halogens. Usually, in the present case, heterocyclic groups are 5 or 6 membered rings. Usually, in the present case, heterocyclic groups are pyridine, furan, azetidine, thiazol, thiophene, oxazol, pyrazol.
The term “aryl” as used herein, refers to an organic moiety derived from an aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of a ring containing 6 to 10 carbon atoms by removal of one hydrogen, which can be substituted by 1 to 3 halogen atoms or by 1 to 2 C 1-3 alkyl groups. Usually aryl is phenyl. Preferred substitution site on phenyl are meta and para positions.
The term “hydroxyl” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—OH”.
The term “carbonyl” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—C(O)”.
The term “carboxyl” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—C(O)O—”.
The term “sulfonyl” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—SO 2 ”.
The term “sulfate” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—O—S(O) 2 —O—”.
The term “carboxylic acid” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—C(O)OH”.
The term “sulfoxide” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—S═O”.
The term “phosphonic acid” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—P(O)(OH) 2 ”.
The term “phosphoric acid” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—(O)P(O)(OH) 2 ”.
The term “boronic acid”, as used herein, represents a group of formula “—B(OH) 2 ”.
The term “sulphonic acid” as used herein, represents a group of formula “—S(O) 2 OH”.
The formula “H”, as used herein, represents a hydrogen atom.
The formula “O”, as used herein, represents an oxygen atom.
The formula “N”, as used herein, represents a nitrogen atom.
The formula “S”, as used herein, represents a sulfur atom.
Some compounds of the invention are:
[3-({[7-(4-hexylphenyl)-1-benzofuran-4-yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic acid; [3-({[7-(4-hexylphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-4-yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic acid; [3-({[4-(4-hexylphenyl)-1-benzofuran-7-yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic acid.
Some compounds of Formula I or Formula II and some of their intermediates have at least one stereogenic center in their structure. This stereogenic center may be present in an R or S configuration, said R and S notation is used in correspondence with the rules described in Pure Appli. Chem. (1976), 45, 11-13.
The term “pharmaceutically acceptable salts” refers to salts or complexes that retain the desired biological activity of the above identified compounds and exhibit minimal or no undesired toxicological effects. The “pharmaceutically acceptable salts” according to the invention include therapeutically active, non-toxic base or acid salt forms, which the compounds of Formula I are able to form.
The acid addition salt form of a compound of Formula I or Formula II that occurs in its free form as a base can be obtained by treating the free base with an appropriate acid such as an inorganic acid, such as for example, hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid and the like; or an organic acid such as for example, acetic, hydroxyacetic, propanoic, lactic, pyruvic, malonic, fumaric acid, maleic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid, benzoic acid, tannic acid, pamoic acid, citric, methylsulfonic, ethanesulfonic, benzenesulfonic, formic and the like (Handbook of Pharmaceutical Salts, P. Heinrich Stahal Stahl & Camille G. Wermuth (Eds), Verlag Helvetica Chemica Chimica Acta—Zürich, 2002, 329-345).
The base addition salt form of a compound of Formula I or Formula II that occurs in its acid form can be obtained by treating the acid with an appropriate base such as an inorganic base, for example, sodium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, ammonia and the like; or an organic base such as for example, L-Arginine, ethanolamine, betaine, benzathine, morpholine and the like. (Handbook of Pharmaceutical Salts, P. Heinrich Stahal Stahl & Camille G. Wermuth (Eds), Verlag Helvetica Chemica Chimica Acta—Zürich, 2002, 329-345).
Compounds of Formula I or Formula II and their salts can be in the form of a solvate, which is included within the scope of the present invention. Such solvates include for example hydrates, alcoholates and the like.
With respect to the present invention reference to a compound or compounds, is intended to encompass that compound in each of its possible isomeric forms and mixtures thereof unless the particular isomeric form is referred to specifically.
Compounds according to the present invention may exist in different polymorphic forms. Although not explicitly indicated in the above formula, such forms are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
The compounds of the invention are indicated for use in treating or preventing conditions in which there is likely to be a component involving the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors.
In another embodiment, there are provided pharmaceutical compositions including at least one compound of the invention in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In a further embodiment of the invention, there are provided methods for treating disorders associated with modulation of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. Such methods can be performed, for example, by administering to a subject in need thereof a pharmaceutical composition containing a therapeutically effective amount of at least one compound of the invention.
These compounds are useful for the treatment of mammals, including humans, with a range of conditions and diseases that are alleviated by S1P modulation: not limited to the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, other retinal degenerative conditions, dry eye, angiogenesis and wounds.
Therapeutic utilities of S1P modulators are ocular diseases, such as but not limited to: wet and dry age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, angiogenesis inhibition, retinopathy of prematurity, retinal edema, geographic atrophy, glaucomatous optic neuropathy, chorioretinopathy, hypertensive retinopathy, ocular ischemic syndrome, prevention of inflammation-induced fibrosis in the back of the eye, various ocular inflammatory diseases including uveitis, scleritis, keratitis, and retinal vasculitis; or systemic vascular barrier related diseases such as but not limited to: various inflammatory diseases, including acute lung injury, its prevention, sepsis, tumor metastasis, atherosclerosis, pulmonary edemas, and ventilation-induced lung injury; or autoimmune diseases and immunosuppression such as but not limited to: rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, Graves' disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, Myasthenia gravis, Psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, antoimmune autoimmune uveitis, renal ischemia/perfusion injury, contact hypersensitivity, atopic dermatitis, and organ transplantation; or allergies and other inflammatory diseases such as but not limited to: urticaria, bronchial asthma, and other airway inflammations including pulmonary emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; or cardiac protection such as but not limited to: ischemia reperfusion injury and atherosclerosis; or wound healing such as but not limited to: scar-free healing of wounds from cosmetic skin surgery, ocular surgery, GI surgery, general surgery, oral injuries, various mechanical, heat and burn injuries, prevention and treatment of photoaging and skin ageing, and prevention of radiation-induced injuries; or bone formation such as but not limited to: treatment of osteoporosis and various bone fractures including hip and ankles; or anti-nociceptive activity such as but not limited to: visceral pain, pain associated with diabetic neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic knee and joint pain, tendonitis, osteoarthritis, neuropathic pains; or central nervous system neuronal activity in Alzheimer's disease, age-related neuronal injuries; or in organ transplant such as renal, corneal, cardiac or adipose tissue transplant.
In still another embodiment of the invention, there are provided methods for treating disorders associated with modulation of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. Such methods can be performed, for example, by administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of at least one compound of the invention, or any combination thereof, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, hydrates, solvates, crystal forms and individual isomers, enantiomers, and diastereomers thereof.
The present invention concerns the use of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of ocular disease, wet and dry age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, retinal edema, geographic atrophy, angiogenesis inhibition, glaucomatous optic neuropathy, chorioretinopathy, hypertensive retinopathy, ocular ischemic syndrome, prevention of inflammation-induced fibrosis in the back of the eye, various ocular inflammatory diseases including uveitis, scleritis, keratitis, and retinal vasculitis; or systemic vascular barrier related diseases, various inflammatory diseases, including acute lung injury, its prevention, sepsis, tumor metastasis, atherosclerosis, pulmonary edemas, and ventilation-induced lung injury; or autoimmune diseases and immunosuppression, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, Graves' disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, Myasthenia gravis, Psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, antoimmune autoimmune uveitis, renal ischemia/perfusion injury, contact hypersensitivity, atopic dermatitis, and organ transplantation; or allergies and other inflammatory diseases, urticaria, bronchial asthma, and other airway inflammations including pulmonary emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; or cardiac protection, ischemia reperfusion injury and atherosclerosis; or wound healing, scar-free healing of wounds from cosmetic skin surgery, ocular surgery, GI surgery, general surgery, oral injuries, various mechanical, heat and burn injuries, prevention and treatment of photoaging and skin ageing, and prevention of radiation-induced injuries; or bone formation, treatment of osteoporosis and various bone fractures including hip and ankles; or anti-nociceptive activity, visceral pain, pain associated with diabetic neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic knee and joint pain, tendonitis, osteoarthritis, neuropathic pains; or central nervous system neuronal activity in Alzheimer's disease, age-related neuronal injuries; or in organ transplant such as renal, corneal, cardiac or adipose tissue transplant.
The actual amount of the compound to be administered in any given case will be determined by a physician taking into account the relevant circumstances, such as the severity of the condition, the age and weight of the patient, the patient's general physical condition, the cause of the condition, and the route of administration.
The patient will be administered the compound orally in any acceptable form, such as a tablet, liquid, capsule, powder and the like, or other routes may be desirable or necessary, particularly if the patient suffers from nausea. Such other routes may include, without exception, transdermal, parenteral, subcutaneous, intranasal, via an implant stent, intrathecal, intravitreal, topical to the eye, back to the eye, intramuscular, intravenous, and intrarectal modes of delivery. Additionally, the formulations may be designed to delay release of the active compound over a given period of time, or to carefully control the amount of drug released at a given time during the course of therapy.
In another embodiment of the invention, there are provided pharmaceutical compositions including at least one compound of the invention in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier thereof. The phrase “pharmaceutically acceptable” means the carrier, diluent or excipient must be compatible with the other ingredients of the formulation and not deleterious to the recipient thereof.
Pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention can be used in the form of a solid, a solution, an emulsion, a dispersion, a patch, a micelle, a liposome, and the like, wherein the resulting composition contains one or more compounds of the present invention, as an active ingredient, in admixture with an organic or inorganic carrier or excipient suitable for enteral or parenteral applications. Invention compounds may be combined, for example, with the usual non-toxic, pharmaceutically acceptable carriers for tablets, pellets, capsules, suppositories, solutions, emulsions, suspensions, and any other form suitable for use. The carriers which can be used include glucose, lactose, gum acacia, gelatin, mannitol, starch paste, magnesium trisilicate, talc, corn starch, keratin, colloidal silica, potato starch, urea, medium chain length triglycerides, dextrans, and other carriers suitable for use in manufacturing preparations, in solid, semisolid, or liquid form. In addition auxiliary, stabilizing, thickening and coloring agents and perfumes may be used. Invention compounds are included in the pharmaceutical composition in an amount sufficient to produce the desired effect upon the process or disease condition.
Pharmaceutical compositions containing invention compounds may be in a form suitable for oral use, for example, as tablets, troches, lozenges, aqueous or oily suspensions, dispersible powders or granules, emulsions, hard or soft capsules, or syrups or elixirs. Compositions intended for oral use may be prepared according to any method known in the art for the manufacture of pharmaceutical compositions and such compositions may contain one or more agents selected from the group consisting of a sweetening agent such as sucrose, lactose, or saccharin, flavoring agents such as peppermint, oil of wintergreen or cherry, coloring agents and preserving agents in order to provide pharmaceutically elegant and palatable preparations. Tablets containing invention compounds in admixture with non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable excipients may also be manufactured by known methods. The excipients used may be, for example, (1) inert diluents such as calcium carbonate, lactose, calcium phosphate or sodium phosphate; (2) granulating and disintegrating agents such as corn starch, potato starch or alginic acid; (3) binding agents such as gum tragacanth, corn starch, gelatin or acacia, and (4) lubricating agents such as 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 monostearate or glyceryl distearate may be employed.
In some cases, formulations for oral use may be in the form of hard gelatin capsules wherein the invention compounds are mixed with an inert solid diluent, for example, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate or kaolin. They may also be in the form of soft gelatin capsules wherein the invention compounds are mixed with water or an oil medium, for example, peanut oil, liquid paraffin or olive oil.
The pharmaceutical compositions may be in the form of a sterile injectable suspension. This suspension may be formulated according to known methods using suitable dispersing or wetting agents and suspending agents. The sterile injectable preparation may also be a sterile injectable solution or suspension in a non-toxic parenterally-acceptable diluent or solvent, for example, as a solution in 1,3-butanediol. 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, fatty acids (including oleic acid), naturally occurring vegetable oils like sesame oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, etc., or synthetic fatty vehicles like ethyl oleate or the like. Buffers, preservatives, antioxidants, and the like can be incorporated as required.
Invention compounds may also be administered in the form of suppositories for rectal administration of the drug. These compositions may be prepared by mixing the invention compounds with a suitable non-irritating excipient, such as cocoa butter, synthetic glyceride esters of polyethylene glycols, which are solid at ordinary temperatures, but liquefy and/or dissolve in the rectal cavity to release the drug.
Since individual subjects may present a wide variation in severity of symptoms and each drug has its unique therapeutic characteristics, the precise mode of administration and dosage employed for each subject is left to the discretion of the practitioner.
The compounds and pharmaceutical compositions described herein are useful as medicaments in mammals, including humans, for treatment of diseases and/or alleviations of conditions which are responsive to treatment by agonists or functional antagonists of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. Thus, in further embodiments of the invention, there are provided methods for treating a disorder associated with modulation of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. Such methods can be performed, for example, by administering to a subject in need thereof a pharmaceutical composition containing a therapeutically effective amount of at least one invention compound. As used herein, the term “therapeutically effective amount” means the amount of the pharmaceutical composition that will elicit the biological or medical response of a subject in need thereof that is being sought by the researcher, veterinarian, medical doctor or other clinician. In some embodiments, the subject in need thereof is a mammal. In some embodiments, the mammal is human.
The present invention concerns also processes for preparing the compounds of Formula I or Formula II. The compounds of Formula I or Formula II according to the invention can be prepared analogously to conventional methods as understood by the person skilled in the art of synthetic organic chemistry. The synthetic schemes set forth below, illustrate how compounds according to the invention can be made.
The following abbreviations are used in the general schemes:
NaOH sodium hydroxide
EtOH ethanol
Et 3 SiH triethylsilane
TFA trifluoroacetic acid
tBu-Li t-butyllithium
THF tetrahydrofuran
B(OMe) 3 trimethylborate
Pd(PPh 3 ) 4 tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0).
K 2 CO 3 potassium carbonate
LiCl lithium chloride
Tol toluene
MeOH methanol
H 2 O water
Bu 4 NOH
NaCNBH 3
Zn(CN) 2 zinc cyanide
DMF N,N-dimethylformamide
BBr 3 boron tribromide
CH 2 Cl 2 dichloromethane
DMAP 4-Dimethylaminopyridine
DIBAL diisobutylaluminium hydride
To a solution of appropriately substituted bromophenone in ethanol is added sodium hydroxide followed by a solution of aldehyde. The reaction mixture is stirred at room temperature and then an extraction with water and ethyl acetate is performed. The ene-one formed is reduced in the presence of trifluorocaetic trifluoroacetic acid and triethylsilane to afford the corresponding saturated arylbromide. This arylbromide will be reacted with the desired bromoquinolone aldehyde or bromo naphthylmethylester after treated with t-butyllithium and trimethylborate. The compound of Formula I is obtained from the reaction between the quinolone aldehyde or the naphthylmethyester naphthylmethylester and the phosphoric derivative.
A bromo-methoxy derivative is converted to the corresponding cyano in the presence of zinc cyanide and tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0). The hydroxyl group is deprotected with boron tribromide. The resulting hydroxyl group is transformed to the triflate leaving group with DMAP and N-(5-chloro-2-pyridyl)bis(trifluoromethane sulfonimide). The cyano group reacts with DIBAL to give the corresponding aldehyde, which then undergoes reductive amination to give a compound of Formula II.
Those skilled in the art will be able to routinely modify and/or adapt the following scheme to synthesize any compounds of the invention covered by Formula I or Formula II.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention claimed. As used herein, the use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise.
It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that some of the compounds of the invention may contain one or more asymmetric centers, such that the compounds may exist in enantiomeric as well as in diastereomeric forms. Unless it is specifically noted otherwise, the scope of the present invention includes all enantiomers, diastereomers and racemic mixtures. Some of the compounds of the invention may form salts with pharmaceutically acceptable acids or bases, and such pharmaceutically acceptable salts of the compounds described herein are also within the scope of the invention.
The present invention includes all pharmaceutically acceptable isotopically enriched compounds. Any compound of the invention may contain one or more isotopic atoms enriched or different than the natural ratio such as deuterium 2 H (or D) in place of protium 1 H (or H) or use of 13 C enriched material in place of 12 C and the like. Similar substitutions can be employed for N, O and S. The use of isotopes may assist in analytical as well as therapeutic aspects of the invention. For example, use of deuterium may increase the in vivo half-life by altering the metabolism (rate) of the compounds of the invention. These compounds can be prepared in accord with the preparations described by use of isotopically enriched reagents.
The following examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended, nor should they be construed as limiting the invention in any manner. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that variations and modifications of the following examples can be made without exceeding the spirit or scope of the invention.
As will be evident to those skilled in the art, individual isomeric forms can be obtained by separation of mixtures thereof in conventional manner. For example, in the case of diasteroisomeric diastereoisomeric isomers, chromatographic separation may be employed.
Compound names were generated with ACD version 8; and Intermediates and reagent names used in the examples were generated with software such as Chem Bio Draw Ultra version 12.0 or Auto Nom 2000 from MDL ISIS Draw 2.5 SP1.
In general, characterization of the compounds is performed according to the following methods:
NMR spectra are recorded on 300 and/or 600 MHz Varian and acquired at room temperature. Chemical shifts are given in ppm referenced either to internal TMS or to the solvent signal.
All the reagents, solvents, catalysts for which the synthesis is not described are purchased from chemical vendors such as Sigma Aldrich, Fluka, Bio-Blocks, Combi-blocks, TCI, VWR, Lancaster, Oakwood, Trans World Chemical, Alfa, Fisher, Ak. Scientific, AmFine Com, Carbocore, Maybridge, Frontier, Matrix, Ukrorgsynth, Toronto, Ryan Scientific, SiliCycle, Anaspec, Syn Chem, Chem-Impex, MIC-scientific, Ltd; however some known intermediates, were prepared according to published procedures.
Usually the compounds of the invention were purified by column chromatography (Auto-column) on an Teledyne-ISCO CombiFlash with a silica column, unless noted otherwise.
The following abbreviations are used in the examples:
DMF N,N-dimethylformamide
CDCl 3 deuterated chloroform
CD 3 OD deuterated methanol
MPLC medium pressure liquid chromatography
DMAP 4-Dimethylaminopyridine
MeOH methanol
RT room temperature
MgSO 4 magnesium sulfate
DIBAL diisobutylaluminium hydride
HCl hydrochloric acid
Those skilled in the art will be able to routinely modify and/or adapt the following schemes to synthesize any compound of the invention covered by Formula I or Formula II.
Some compounds of this invention can generally be prepared in one step from commercially available literature starting materials.
Example 1
Intermediate 1
7-methoxyindane-4-carbonitrile
To a solution of 4-bromo-2,3-dihydro-7-methoxy-1H-indene (CAS 872785-24-5) (4.44 g, 19.5 mmol) in DMF (130 mL) were added zinc cyanide (8.6 g, 73.5 mmol) and tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (4.0 g, 3.5 mmol). After heating to 50° C. with stirring for 16 h, the reaction mixture was cooled to RT and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated and purified by MPLC (5% ethyl acetate in hexanes) to give rise to 2.56 g of Intermediate 1 as colorless solid.
1 H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.44 (dd, J=0.88, 8.50 Hz, 1H), 6.71 (d, J=8.20 Hz, 1H), 3.87 (s, 3H), 3.09 (t, J=7.62 Hz, 2H), 2.89 (t, J=7.47 Hz, 2H), 2.14 (quin, J=7.55 Hz, 2H).
Example 2
Intermediate 2
7-hydroxyindane-4-carbonitrile
To a solution of Intermediate 1 (2.56 g, 14.6 mmol) in methylene chloride (20 mL) at −78° C. was added boron tribromide (1 M solution in methylene chloride, 29 mL) slowly dropwise. After stirring at RT for 16 h, more boron tribromide (1 M solution in methylene chloride, 29 mL) was added and continued to stir for another day. This was repeated another two times after which time, the reaction mixture was quenched with water at −78° C. The reaction mixture was further diluted with water and extracted with methylene chloride. The organic layers were combined, washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude material was purified by MPLC (30% ethyl acetate in hexanes) to afford 2.04 g of Intermediate 2 as colorless solid.
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.35 (d, J=8.22 Hz, 1H), 6.68 (dd, J=1.76, 8.22 Hz, 1H), 5.30 (br. s, 1H), 3.11 (t, J=7.63 Hz, 2H), 2.90 (t, J=7.34 Hz, 2H), 2.19 (quin, J=7.56 Hz, 2H).
Example 3
Intermediate 3
7-cyano-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-4-yl trifluoromethanesulfonate
To a solution of Intermediate 2 (1.19 g, 7.5 mmol) in dichloromethane (150 mL) were added DMAP (1.83 g, 15.0 mmol) and N-(5-chloro-2-pyridyl)bis(trifluoromethanesulfonimide) (4.4 g, 11.2 mmol) with stirring. After 16 h at RT, the reaction mixture was quenched with water. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate, dried (MgSO 4 ), and concentrated under reduced pressure. Purification by MPLC (5% ethyl acetate in hexanes) gave rise to 787 mg of Intermediate 3 as a colorless solid.
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.53 (d, J=8.51 Hz, 1H), 7.17 (d, J=8.22 Hz, 1H), 3.21 (t, J=7.63 Hz, 2H), 3.11 (t, J=7.48 Hz, 2H), 2.26 (quin, J=7.56 Hz, 2H).
Intermediate 4 and 5 were prepared from the corresponding carbonitriles, in a similar manner to the procedure described in Example 3 for Intermediate 3. The results are tabulated below in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Interm
IUPAC name
No.
Structure
Starting material
1 H NMR δ (ppm)
4
4-hydroxy-1- benzofuran-7- carbonitrile (CAS 1258959-98- 6)
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.86 (d, J = 2.35 Hz, 1H), 7.70 (d, J = 8.22 Hz, 1H), 7.32 (d, J = 8.51 Hz, 1H), 7.01 (d, J = 2.35 Hz, 1H))
5
7-hydroxy-1- benzofuran-4- carbonitrile (CAS 94019-86-0)
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.92 (d, J = 2.05 Hz, 1H), 7.66 (d, J = 8.22 Hz, 1H), 7.35 (d, J = 8.22 Hz, 1H), 7.12 (d, J = 2.05 Hz, 1H)
Example 4
Intermediate 6
7-(4-hexylphenyl)indane-4-carbonitrile
To a solution of 4-bromo-1-hexylbenzene (500 mg, 1.7 mmol) in THF (15 mL) at −78° C. was added t-butyllithium (1.7 M in pentane, 2.0 mL) slowly dropwise. After stirring at −78° C. for 1 h, trimethyl borate (0.39 mL, 3.46 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was warmed at RT over 2 h. After stirring at RT for 15 min, the reaction mixture was quenched with saturated solution of ammonium chloride and extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with HCl (10% solution), brine, and dried (MgSO 4 ), filtered, and concentrated under reduce pressure to give 415 mg (4-hexylphenyl)boronic acid as a colorless solid.
A solution of the resulting boronic acid (962 mg, 4.07 mmol) and Intermediate 3 (1.1 g, 4.27 mmol) in toluene (37 mL), methanol (1.2 mL) and water (2 mL) were added potassium carbonate (1.09 g, 8.45 mmol) and LiCl (181 mg, 4.27 mmol) with stirring. After bubbling with Ar for 10 min, tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (99 mg) was added and heated at 95° C. for 16 h. After the reaction mixture was cooled at RT, it was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with brine, and dried (MgSO 4 ), filtered, and concentrated under reduce pressure. The residue was purified by MPLC (15% ethyl acetate in hexanes) gave 1.16 g of Intermediate 6 as colorless solid.
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.49 (d, J=7.92 Hz, 1H), 7.32-7.34 (m, 2H), 7.26 (d, J=7.92 Hz, 3H), 3.16 (t, J=7.48 Hz, 2H), 3.03 (t, J=7.34 Hz, 2H), 2.66 (t, J=7.60 Hz, 2H), 2.12 (dq, J=7.43, 7.63 Hz, 2H), 1.65 (quin, J=7.63 Hz, 2H), 1.30-1.40 (m, 6H), 0.90 (t, J=7.00 Hz, 3H).
Intermediates 7 and 8 were prepared from the corresponding bromide in a similar manner to the procedure described in Example 3 for Intermediate 6. The results are tabulated below in Table 2.
TABLE 2
Interm
IUPAC name
Starting
No.
Structure
material
1 H NMR δ (ppm)
7
Intermediate 4
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.79 (d, J = 2.05 Hz, 1H), 7.65 (d, J = 7.92 Hz, 1H), 7.52- 7.54 (m, 2H), 7.39 (d, J = 7.92 Hz, 1H), 7.34 (d, J = 7.92 Hz, 2H), 7.04 (d, J = 2.05 Hz, 1H), 2.69 (t, J = 8.20 Hz, 2H), 1.67 (dt, J = 7.63, 15.26 Hz, 2H), 1.31-1.41 (m, 6H), 0.90 (t, J = 7.00 Hz, 3H)
8
Intermediate 5
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.84 (d, J = 2.35 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (dd, J = 3.80, 8.22 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (d, J = 8.22 Hz, 1H), 7.65 (d, J = 7.92 Hz, 1H), 7.51 (d, J = 7.92 Hz, 1H), 7.34 (d, J = 8.22 Hz, 2H), 7.06 (d, J = 2.35 Hz, 1H), 2.69 (t, J = 8.20 Hz, 2H), 1.64- 1.70 (m, 2H), 1.28-1.41 (m, 6H), 0.90 (t, J = 6.70 Hz, 3H)
Example 5
Intermediate 9
7-(4-hexylphenyl)indane-4-carbaldehyde
To a solution of Intermediate 6 (1.16 g, 3.82 mmol) in dichloromethane (30 mL) at −78° C. was added DIBAL (1 M solution in dichloromethane, 6.6 mL, 6.6 mmol). After stirring at −78° C. for 8 h, the reaction mixture was quenched with methanol then warmed to 0° C. A 10% HCl solution was then added and warmed to RT. The mixture was diluted with water and the aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over MgSO 4 , and concentrated under reduced pressure. Purification by MPLC (5% ethyl acetate in hexanes) gave 929 mg of Intermediate 9 as colorless oil.
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 10.06 (s, 1H), 7.58 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 7.23-7.27 (m, 3H), 7.15 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 2H), 3.23 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 2H), 2.87 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 2H), 2.50-2.59 (m, 2H), 1.99 (quin, J=7.4 Hz, 2H), 1.56 (quin, J=7.6 Hz, 2H), 1.21-1.30 (m, 6H), 0.80 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 3H).
Intermediates 10 and 11 were prepared from the corresponding cyanide derivative in a similar manner to the procedure described in Example 5 for Intermediate 9. The results are tabulated below in Table 3.
TABLE 3
Interm
IUPAC name
Starting
No.
Structure
material
1 H NMR δ (ppm)
10
Intermediate 7
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 10.47 (s, 1H), 7.87 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.82 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 7.57 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.57 (dd, J = 8.2, 3.8 Hz, 1H), 7.46 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.34 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.04 (d, J = 2.1 Hz, 1H), 2.69 (dd, J = 7.6 Hz, 2H), 1.65-1.71 (m, 2H), 1.36-1.42 (m, 2H), 1.31-1.35 (m, 4H), 0.90 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
11
Intermediate 8
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 10.21 (s, 1H), 7.85 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 7.82 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.82 (q, J = 4.1 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (d, J = 7.9 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (d, J = 1.5 Hz, 1H), 7.59 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.34 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 2.69 (t, J = 7.9 Hz, 2H), 1.65-1.70 (m, 2H), 1.35- 1.41 (m, 2H), 1.32 (dq, J = 7.3, 3.6 Hz, 4H), 0.90 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
Example 6
Compound 1
[3-({[7-(4-hexylphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-4-yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic acid
To a solution of Intermediate 9 (366 mg, 1.2 mmol) and (3-aminopropyl)phosphonic acid (166 mg, 1.2 mmol) in methanol (10 mL) was added tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (1 M in MeOH, 1.2 mL, 1.2 mmol). The reaction mixture was heated at 50° C. for 1 h with stirring, then sodium cyanoborohydride (75 mg, 1.2 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was heated at 50° C. with stirring for 3 h. After cooling to RT, the mixture was concentrated and purified by MPLC (100% methanol) to give 170 mg of Compound 1 as colorless solid.
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CD 3 OD) δ 7.35 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 7.32 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.24 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 2H), 7.23 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 4.17 (s, 2H), 3.17 (t, J=6.3 Hz, 2H), 3.07 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 2H), 2.99 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 2H), 2.65 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 2H), 2.09 (quin, J=7.3 Hz, 2H), 2.01 (dquin, J=18.8, 6.5 Hz).
Compounds 2 and 3 were prepared from the corresponding aldehyde or methylester in a similar manner to the procedure described in Example 6 for Compound 1 and in the general procedure described above. The results are tabulated below in Table 4.
TABLE 4
Comp.
IUPAC name
Starting
No.
Structure
material
1 H NMR δ (ppm)
2
Intermediate 10
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CD 3 OD) δ 7.93 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 7.51- 7.55 (m, 3H), 7.41 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.34 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.07 (d, J = 2.1 Hz, 1H), 4.52 (s, 2H), 3.19 (t, J = 6.3 Hz, 2H), 2.69 (t, J = 7.6 Hz, 2H), 2.02 (dquin, J = 18.8, 6.5 Hz, 2H), 1.65-1.74 (m, 4H), 1.33-1.41 (m, 6H), 0
3
Intermediate 11
1 H NMR (600 MHz, CD 3 OD) δ 7.94 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 7.78 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.56 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.48 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.32 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.22 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 4.45 (s, 2H), 3.18-3.21 (m, 2H), 2.68 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 2H), 1.98-2.05 (m, 2H), 1.65-1.75 (m, 4H), 1.33-1.41 (m, 6H), 0.91 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 3H)
Example 7
Biological Data
Compounds were synthesized and tested for S1P1 activity using the GTP γ 35 S binding assay. These compounds may be assessed for their ability to activate or block activation of the human S1P1 receptor in cells stably expressing the S1P1 receptor.
GTP γ35S binding was measured in the medium containing (mM) HEPES 25, pH 7.4, MgCl2 10, NaCl 100, dithitothreitol dithitothreitol 0.5, digitonin 0.003%, 0.2 nM GTP γ35S, and 5 μg membrane protein in a volume of 150 μl. Test compounds were included in the concentration range from 0.08 to 5,000 nM unless indicated otherwise. Membranes were incubated with 100 μM 5′-adenylylimidodiphosphate adenylylimmidodiphosphate for 30 min, and subsequently with 10 μM GDP for 10 min on ice. Drug solutions and membrane were mixed, and then reactions were initiated by adding GTP γ35S and continued for 30 min at 25° C. Reaction mixtures were filtered over Whatman GF/B filters under vacuum, and washed three times with 3 mL of ice-cold buffer (HEPES 25, pH7.4, MgCl2 10 and NaCl 100). Filters were dried and mixed with scintillant, and counted for 35S activity using a β-counter. Agonist-induced GTP γ35S binding was obtained by subtracting that in the absence of agonist. Binding data were analyzed using a non-linear regression method. In case of antagonist assay, the reaction mixture contained 10 nM S1P1 in the presence of test antagonist at concentrations ranging from 0.08 to 5000 nM.
Table 5 shows activity potency: S1P1 receptor from GTP γ 35 S: nM, (EC 50 )
TABLE 5
S1P1
IUPAC name
EC 50 (nM)
[3-({[7-(4-hexylphenyl)-1-benzofuran-4-
44.4
yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic
[3-({[7-(4-hexylphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-4-
37.1
yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic acid
[3-({[4-(4-hexylphenyl)-1-benzofuran-7-
170
yl]methyl}amino)propyl]phosphonic acid | The present invention relates to novel bicyclic methyl amine derivatives, processes for preparing them, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and their use as pharmaceuticals as modulators of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims, under 35 U.S.C. §109, priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0126877 filed on Dec. 13, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for maintaining the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or audio-video deck, and more particularly to a system for maintaining the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or audio-video deck, which can selectively supply cooled or heated air so as to maintain the temperature of the deck at a target temperature or range.
(b) Background Art
Vehicles have a deck for holding an audio unit for replaying a cassette tape or a CD or for a radio, an audio-video (AV) unit for broadcasting or a navigator, or the like.
The deck is composed of various parts. A great amount of heat can be accumulated in the deck, which causes the temperature of the deck to become high. Typically, if a cassette tape or a CD is replayed for a long time, the deck temperature may become seriously high.
To resolve this problem of temperature rise, some technologies have been proposed. One example of such technologies provides a system that stops the operation of the deck when its temperature becomes higher than a certain temperature. This system, however, has drawbacks in that the operation of the deck can be frequently stopped in summer, which causes inconvenience to passengers.
Another proposed system uses a cooling fan to reduce the temperature, as shown in FIG. 1 . This system also has drawbacks in that although a deck 1 can be cooled by a cooling fan 3 , overall cooling efficiency is not good for some reasons. First, the size of the cooling fan 3 is not large enough to achieve a desired cooling efficiency. Second, positioning the cooling fan 3 is limited. As a result, it is difficult to cool the entire deck 1 and it takes a long time to do so.
There is thus a need for a new system that can solve the above-described problems associated with prior art.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in an effort to provide systems for maintaining the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or AV deck, in which cooled or heated air can be selectively introduce to the deck so as to maintain the temperature of the deck at a target temperature or range.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a system comprising: an air duct positioned on both sides of the deck for supplying cooled or heated air to the vehicle cabin, a side part of the air duct defining therein a plurality of through holes through which cooled or heated air can be supplied to the deck; a sensor disposed inside the deck for detecting the temperature inside the deck; a side panel provided in the deck, which defines therein a penetration part for introducing cooled or heated air supplied through the through holes into the deck; a guide rail formed to the side panel; a sliding panel guided by the guide rail so as to open or close the penetration part; a driving motor coupled to the deck for moving the sliding panel along the guild rail; and a controller coupled to the deck for driving the driving motor in response to the temperature detected by the sensor so as to open or close the sliding panel, thereby maintaining the temperature of the deck at a target temperature or range.
In this embodiment, the controller may be a full automatic temperature control device. Also, the controller may regulate the temperature of the deck in response to the manipulation of a switch by a user.
Another preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a system comprising: an air duct positioned on both sides of the deck for supplying cooled or heated air to the vehicle cabin: a sensor disposed inside the deck for detecting the temperature inside the deck; a side panel provided in the deck, which defines therein a plurality of communication holes for supplying cooled or heated air to the deck; a panel guide rail formed to the side panel; an opening/closing device including a gear device and a flow panel that defines therein a plurality of opening/closing holes the shape and position of which are corresponding to those of the communication holes, wherein the flow panel is moved by the gear device along the panel guide rail so as to open or close the communication holes; and a controller coupled to the deck for driving the opening/closing device in response to the temperature detected by the sensor so as to open or close the communication holes, thereby maintaining the temperature of the deck at a target temperature or range.
Likewise, in this embodiment, the controller may be a full automatic temperature control device. It also may regulate the temperature of the deck in response to the manipulation of a switch by a user.
Preferably, in this embodiment, the flow panel may further comprise a gear that has a plurality of gear teeth formed along an end part thereof in a length direction and is operatively connected to the gear device. In this case, the gear device may further comprise: a main body; at least one rotating gear inside the main body, the rotating gear having a plurality of gear teeth that can engage with the gear teeth of the flow panel so as to raise and lower the flow panel; an operating part inside the main body, the operating part having a plurality of gear teeth that can engage with the gear teeth of the rotating gear so as to rotate the rotating gear in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction; a damping member provided to the operating part for dampening an operating impact; and a supporter which is disposed at a lower part of the operating part and is provided with a receiving part at an inside thereof to receive and support the operating part.
Suitably, the rotating gear may comprise: a main rotating gear having a plurality of gear teeth that can engage with the gear teeth of the operating part and the gear teeth of the flow panel; and a sub rotating gear having a plurality of gear teeth that can engage with the gear teeth of the main rotating gear at a lower part of the main rotating gear. In this case, preferably, the main rotating gear has a diameter greater than that of the sub rotating gear.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional deck which is provided with a cooling fan.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an air duct and a deck according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the air duct of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the deck of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an air duct and a deck according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the communication hole opening/closing device shown in FIG. 5 .
FIG. 7 is a drawing showing how the communication hole of FIG. 5 operates.
FIG. 8 is another drawing showing how the communication hole of FIG. 5 operates.
Reference numerals set forth in the Drawings includes reference to the following elements as further discussed below:
10:
vehicle cabin
20:
crash panel
60:
air duct
620:
communication hole
64:
opening/closing device
640:
flow panel
660:
gear device
664:
rotation gear
666:
operating part
666a:
piston
666b:
damping member
668:
supporter
50:
controller
70:
deck
76:
sensor
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numeral will be used for the same elements throughout the specification.
Referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 , a system for maintaining the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or AV deck according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained.
As shown in FIG. 2 , a vehicle cabin 10 is provided with a crash panel 20 . A plurality of air ducts 30 is installed to the crash panel 20 for introducing air into the vehicle cabin 10 . The introduced air can be heated or cooled by an air conditioner. A deck 40 is disposed between the air ducts 30 .
As shown in FIG. 3 , each of the air ducts 30 includes a plurality of through holes 33 formed in a side part 32 thereof, which are disposed to face the deck 40 . Heated or cooled air is introduced to the air duct 30 , and then to the neighboring deck 40 via the through holes 33 .
As shown in FIG. 4 , an audio unit 42 and an AV unit 43 are provided to the deck 40 . Within the deck 40 is provided a sensor 41 for detecting the temperature inside the deck 40 .
A side panel 44 is provided in the deck 40 . At least one penetration part 45 is formed to the side panel 44 for introducing into the deck 40 heated or cooled air that has passed the through holes 33 .
The penetration part 45 can be perforated in a length direction or, as shown in FIG. 4 , in a width direction of the side panel 44 . Preferably, the penetration part 45 is formed at a position corresponding to the position of the through holes 33 .
A guide rail 46 is formed in the side panel 44 . The guide rail 46 receives a sliding panel 47 and support it so as to be slidable.
An end part in a length direction of the sliding panel 47 is inserted into the guide rail 46 . It can slidably move so as to be able to open or close the penetration part 45 . The size and the shape of the sliding panel 47 may vary according to the size and the number of the penetration part 45 .
A driving motor 48 operates the sliding panel 47 to open or close the penetration part 45 . A controller 50 drives the driving motor 48 on the basis of temperature data detected by the sensor 41 so as to maintain the temperature of the deck 40 at a constant temperature.
Preferably, the controller 50 can be provided as a separate device. Also preferably, it can be realized by a full automatic temperature control (FATC) unit.
In case that it is necessary to cool an overheated deck 40 , the controller 50 (or the FATC unit) operates an air conditioner to supply cooled air. The cooled air is supplied to the deck 40 via the through holes 33 and the penetration part 45 . Meanwhile, the driving motor 48 moves the sliding panel 47 , thereby opening the penetration part 45 .
Similarly, in case that it is necessary to warm an overcooled the deck 40 , the controller 50 (or the FATC unit) operates an air conditioner to supply heated air. The heated air is supplied to the deck 40 via the through holes 33 and the penetration part 45 . Meanwhile, the driving motor 48 moves the sliding panel 47 , thereby opening the penetration part 45 .
These operations can be either automatically performed by the FATC unit or the controller 50 or manually performed by operation of a switch by a user. In case of manual operation, preferably, a separate switch is provided at an instrument panel or a deck. Also preferably, a switch may be added to the FATC unit.
Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 , a system for maintaining the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or AV deck according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained.
A plurality of air ducts 60 for introducing heated or cooled air into the vehicle cabin 10 is installed to the crash panel 20 within the vehicle cabin 10 , and a deck 70 is disposed between the air ducts 60 (see FIG. 2 ).
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , each of the air ducts 60 includes a plurality of communication holes 620 which are formed in a side panel 62 . In addition, a panel guide rail 622 for guiding a flow panel 640 to slidably move is formed in a length direction on an outside of the side panel 62 .
The communication holes 620 have a shape of an ellipse. Cooled or heated air produced by an air conditioner is sent to the air duct 60 and then to the neighboring deck 70 via the communication holes 620 .
Preferably, the communication holes 620 may be formed on the side panel 62 . Also preferably, the communication holes 620 may be formed on a separate panel and the panel may be fixed to the side panel 62 by welding or the like. In this case, the side panel 62 includes a cut part in response to the separate panel. The communication holes 620 are opened or closed by an opening/closing device 64 .
The opening/closing device 64 includes the flow panel 640 which opens or closes the communication holes 620 . The device 64 also includes a gear device 660 which drives the flow panel 640 .
The flow panel 640 is a separate panel corresponding to a part to which the communication holes 620 are formed. The panel 640 has a plurality of opening/closing holes 642 having a size and a shape corresponding to those of the communication holes 620 . The panel 640 further includes a gear 644 which operates to be linked with the gear device 660 .
The gear 644 includes a plurality of gear teeth P, and is formed at an end part in a length direction of the flow panel 640 . The gear teeth P of the gear 644 are engaged with the gear teeth P formed to a rotating gear 664 of the gear device 660 so as to cause the flow panel 640 to move up and down along a length direction.
If the flow panel 640 moves up and down by the gear device 660 , the opening/closing holes 642 are overlapped by or deviated from the communication holes 620 so that the communication holes 620 can be opened or closed.
The gear device 660 includes a main body 662 in a shape of a box, a rotating gear 664 rotatably disposed within the main body 662 , an operating part 666 which drives the rotating gear 664 , and a supporter 668 which supports the operating part 666 .
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , a plurality of gear teeth P are formed on an outer surface of the rotating gear 664 . The gear teeth P are engaged with the gear teeth P formed on the operating part 666 and the gear 644 of the flow panel 640 so as to rotate the rotating gear 664 .
There is no specific limitation on the number of the rotating gear 664 . Preferably, one rotating gear can be used. Also preferably, two rotating gears can be used. For example, the rotating gear 664 may include a main rotating gear 664 a and a sub rotating gear 664 b. The main rotating gear 664 a may be engaged with the gear teeth P formed to the operating part 666 and the gear 644 . The sub rotating gear 664 b rotates by engagement with the main rotating gear 664 a and is engaged with the supporter 668 . In order to drive the flow panel 640 , only the main rotating gear 664 a should be engaged with the gear 644 and the sub rotating gear 664 b should not contact the gear 644 , so it is preferable that the diameter of the main rotating gear 664 a is greater than the diameter of the sub rotating gear 664 b.
The operating part 666 is provided with the gear tooth P engaging with the rotating gear 664 , and moves along a length direction of the main body 662 so as to rotate the rotating gear 664 . A lower end of the operating part 666 to which the gear teeth P is extended is provided with a piston 666 a.
The piston 666 a is received by the supporter 668 , and an end thereof is formed to be wider than an inlet of a receiving part 668 a formed to the supporter 668 so as not to be arbitrarily separated from the supporter 668 . A damping member 666 b is inserted into an end of the piston 666 a.
The damping member 666 b serves to reduce operation noise which is generated by collision of an end of the piston 666 a with the supporter 668 during the operation of the operating part 666 . The damping member 666 b may be realized by any one of coil spring, hydraulic cylinder, pneumatic cylinder, and so forth. In case that the damping member 666 b is realized by hydraulic cylinder or pneumatic cylinder, the damping member 666 b may preferably be integrated with the piston 666 a, and the supporter 668 may be omitted (only the coil spring is shown in the drawing for convenience).
The receiving part 668 a is formed to the supporter 668 so as to receive the piston 666 a. If two rotating gears 664 are used, gear teeth are formed on a side surface to support the sub rotating gear 664 b.
The operating part 666 can be connected to an alternating current (A/C) electric power source of the FATC unit so as to obtain driving force.
FIG. 5 shows a system including an audio unit 72 and an AV unit 74 provided to the deck 70 . A sensor 76 is provided inside the deck 70 for detecting the temperature inside the deck 70 .
In response to the temperature inside the deck 70 is detected by the sensor 76 , the controller 50 operates the opening/closing device 64 to open or close the communication holes 620 which are formed to the side panel 62 . Accordingly, the temperature of the deck 70 may be maintained at a temperature or within a range to ensure normal operation of the deck 70 .
In case of a vehicle which is provided with a FATC unit, the controller 50 can be realized by the FATC unit. In a vehicle without the FATC unit, the controller 50 is provided as a separate device to regulate the temperature of the deck 70 .
These processes will be explained in more detailed hereinafter.
As shown in FIG. 7 , if the deck 70 is overheated, communication holes 620 should become opened.
In order to open the communication hole 620 , the controller 50 or FATC unit operates the opening/closing device 64 . While the operating part 666 connected to the controller 50 moves down, the gear teeth P are engaged with one another so as to rotate the rotating gear 664 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 7 .
While the rotating gear 664 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the gear 644 engaged with the gear teeth P moves in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the rotating gear 664 , and the flow panel 640 moves up.
At this time, the piston 666 a of the operating part 666 moves down to a bottom surface of the receiving part 668 a of the supporter 668 , and the damping member 666 b is extended to slowly lower the piston 666 a.
As such, if the flow panel 640 moves up so that the opening/closing holes 642 overlap the communication holes 620 , the communication holes 620 become opened. The cooled air produced by an air conditioner is sent to the deck 70 via the communication holes 620 so that the deck 70 is cooled.
On the other hand, in case that the temperature of the deck 70 is too low, the communication holes 620 can be opened in the similar way, and heated air will be supplied to the deck 70 .
As shown in FIG. 8 , if the temperature of the deck 70 reaches a target temperature or range thereof, the communication holes 620 become closed and supplying of cooled or heated air will be stopped.
In order to close the communication holes 620 , the controller 50 or FATC unit operates the opening/closing device 64 .
While the operating part 666 connected to the controller 50 moves up, the gear teeth P are engaged with one another so as to rotate the rotating gear 664 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 8 .
While the rotating gear 664 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the gear 644 engaged with the gear teeth P moves in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the rotating gear 664 , and the flow panel 640 moves down.
At this time, the piston 666 a of the operating part 666 moves up to the position of an inlet of the receiving part 668 a of the supporter 668 . While the damping member 666 b is compressed, the piston 666 a is prevented from colliding with the receiving part 668 a.
As such, if the flow panel 640 moves down so that the opening/closing holes 642 are deviated from the communication holes 620 , the communication holes 620 become closed. Accordingly, supply of cooled or heated air to the deck 70 through the communication hole 620 is cut off.
For this, the sizes and shapes of the opening/closing holes 642 and the communication holes 620 should be similar or identical. Preferably, the rotation distance of the rotating gear 664 , the operation distance of the operating part 666 , and the operation distance of the flow panel 640 are formed to be slightly greater than the length (longitudinal diameter) of the communication hole 620 .
With these embodiments of the present invention as described above, the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or AV deck can be maintained at a target temperature or range that ensures normal operation of the deck, credibility of the product, and user convenience.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | A system for maintaining the temperature of a vehicle audio and/or audio-video deck provided in a vehicle cabin is provided, comprising: an air duct positioned on both sides of the deck for supplying cooled or heated air to the vehicle cabin, a side part of the air duct defining therein a plurality of through holes through which cooled or heated air can be supplied to the deck; a sensor disposed inside the deck for detecting the temperature inside the deck; a side panel provided in the deck, which defines therein a penetration part for introducing cooled or heated air supplied through the through holes into the deck; a guide rail formed to the side panel; a sliding panel guided by the guide rail so as to open or close the penetration part; a driving motor coupled to the deck for moving the sliding panel along the guild rail; and a controller coupled to the deck for driving the driving motor in response to the temperature detected by the sensor so as to open or close the sliding panel, thereby maintaining the temperature of the deck at a target temperature or range. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for detecting jaundice and establishing the level of severity by direct determination of the bilirubin concentration in the blood serum from measurement of the spectral reflectance of the skin at selected wavelengths.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Jaundice, as is well known, is a condition one of the characterizations of which is yellowness of the skin of a person and is due to deposition of bile pigment resulting from excess bilirubin, known as hyperbilirubinemia, in the blood.
Bilirubin, in its indirect form, is potentially harmful, for example, to the central nervous system of a newborn infant. The severity of the damage caused is related to the level of bilirubin in the serum of the blood. In its most severe form, this damage is called kernicterus. After jaundice has been detected, treatment regimens, such as exchange transfusions and phototherapy, are commonly used, when considered necessary, to prevent levels of bilirubin known to cause kernicterus. It is currently felt that lower levels of bilirubin may also be one of the causes for minimal brain dysfunction, a condition thought to be responsible for a large majority of learning disorders in children. If such a relationship is true, early detection and treatment of lower level hyperbilirubinemia becomes even more critical.
The practice now commonly utilized in hospital nurseries for detecting jaundice is visual. A positive diagnosis is then normally verified by a serum bilirubin test using established laboratory techniques. While these techniques provide a reasonable indication of an infant's potential for kernicterus in most cases, the techniques now utilized have been shown to be inadequate in at least some instances, such as, for example, in the occasional development of kernicterus in infants with lower bilirubin levels (under 10 mg/100 ml).
The disadvantages of the current visual detection practice and laboratory confirmation process include the danger of missing many lower-level hyperbilirubinemias, causing a delay in the initiation of treatment until the laboratory results are known, causing discomfort to the infant, risking infection to the infant from the blood sample withdrawal process, being relatively expensive, and/or being time consuming and unsuited for mass screening.
Three factors must be normally considered in the visual detection process: experience of the physician or nursing staff, skin pigmentation of the infant, and nature of the environmental lighting of the nursery or hospital environment. Only the experienced nurse or medical practitioner can now consistently indentify the onset of jaundice.
In addition to the initial detection process, proper monitoring of bilirubin level during treatment for jaundice is likewise important. Improper monitoring can result in excessive or insufficient phototherapy or unintended delay in administering an exchange transfusion. Both initial detection of jaundice and the monitoring of jaundice during therapy are therefore critical in the treatment of the disorder.
Thus, the process of detecting jaundice in current nursery practice is based upon one vital sign -- subtle color change of the infant's skin. Obviously, if subjective judgment in recognizing a subtle color change can be replaced by a dependable quantitative apparatus and method to detect jaundice, this would provide a needed improvement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a method for detecting jaundice in a person utilizing a determination of bilirubin concentration from spectral reflectance measurements of the skin.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved method for detecting jaundice.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method for detecting jaundice by measuring spectral reflectance from the skin of a person.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method that measures the blood serum bilirubin concentration of a person with said measurement being in agreement with established procedures requiring blood samples which must be removed from the person's blood stream.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method for detecting jaundice by determining bilirubin concentration of a person in a noninvasive manner.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a method for quickly determining bilirubin concentration at the site of a patient.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method for determining bilirubin concentration of a patient without disturbance to the physical positioning of the patient.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method for determining bilirubin concentration of a patient without unnecessary constraint to the patient and during normal body movements.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method for detecting jaundice that is independent of the patient's skin pigmentation, spectral distribution of ambient lighting, and color of the patient's enclosure.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a method to detect the presence of jaundice that is quantitative rather than subjective.
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, and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention are meant to be included as come within the scope of the claims.
BRIEF 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 apparatus of this invention showing the elements of a measuring system to obtain the spectral reflectivity of a patient's skin;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the probe shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a graphical illustration of a typical skin reflectance spectra for patients with differing degrees of jaundice as indicated by bilirubin concentrations measured by the apparatus of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a graphical illustration of the comparison of bilirubin concentration measurements achieved utilizing this invention as compared with measurements by the Jendrassik method.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings, the spectral reflectivity of the patient's skin can be obtained by the apparatus, or system, 7 as shown in FIG. 1. A light source 9, typically a tunsten-halogen filament lamp, has power supplied thereto from a conventional power supply 11. Light source 9 is optically coupled to a dispersion device 13, such as a grating or prism type monochromator, which provides a resolved spectral band width, Δλ, of less than 10 nm. The wavelength band passed and the spectral scan rate are determined and controlled by wavelength drive mechanism 15 which is also connected to power supply 11.
Drive mechanism 15 also provides an electrical signal output to recording device 17 that is proportional to the wavelength of the spectral band, the proportionality being determined by conventional wavelength calibration procedures.
The spectral flux exiting from the dispersion device 13 is passed to the input leg 19 of a bifurcated fiber optic system 21 through an optical coupler 23 comprised of a conventional lens arrangement. The functions of the bifurcated fiber optical system 21 are to connect the spectral source with probe 25, which contacts the patient's skin, to allow motion of the probe 25 relative to the dispersion device 13 permitting ease of application to the patient in any position, and to connect probe 25 with optical detector 27 through output, or return, leg 29 of the bifurcated fiber optic system 21.
The bifurcated fiber optic system 21 (consisting of input leg 19 and output leg 29) transmits the spectral flux from the dispersion device to probe 25 and then is incident upon the patient's skin. Spectral flux reflected from the patient's skin reach the fiber optic elements of output leg 29 which are randomly arranged and gathered with the fibers from the input leg 19 at probe 25. The light reflected from the skin of the patient and collected at output leg 29 of the fiber optic system is then conducted from the probe through leg 29.
Probe 25, as indicated in FIG. 2, includes a housing 33 that is constructed from a material that is opaque to room ambient light in order to minimize stray radiation with the material being nonconducting to electrically isolate the patient from ground leakage and potential harm. Housing 33 is preferably generally cylindrical and includes a body portion 35 having an aperture therein to receive the free end 37 of bifurcated fiber optic system 21. End 37 of the fiber optic system may be maintained in the aperture in body portion 35 of the probe by frictional engagement between end 37 and body portion 35 or a bond may be established therebetween in conventional fashion, such as by use of an adhesive, if desired. The lower end 39 of probe 25 extends outwardly and downwardly from body portion 35 and terminates as annular ring 41. As shown in FIG. 2, this creates a generally conical space 43 below the lower end of body portion 35 of the probe that is surrounded by lower end 39 and ring 41. When ring 41 is then brought into contact with the skin 45 of a patient, the space 43 is enclosed for a better and more accurate light reflectance from the skin of the patient.
The end 37 of fiber optic system 21 within probe 12 is polished flat and positioned in such a manner that the end is either touching the skin or at a distance such as 1 to 3 mm above the plane of the skin. The precise location of the end of the fiber optic bundle 21 relative to the plane of the skin affects the magnitude of the spectral flux collected by output leg 29 of the fiber optice system but will have a minimal influence on the accuracy in determining the condition jaundice.
The flux reflected from the patient's skin is transmitted through the fiber optic system (through output leg 29) to the detection system consisting of optical detector 27 which provides an electrical signal proportional to the flux incident upon its active element. This electrical signal is coupled through amplifier 49 which provides a higher level signal to the recording device 17. Recording device 17 is a two-channel system to simultaneously record the wavelength position signal from the wavelength drive system 15 and the spectral reflected flux signal originating at probe 25 in contact with the patient's skin.
Included in the method of the invention is obtaining the ratio of the detector signal corresponding to the spectral flux reflected from the patient's skin to the detector signal corresponding to the spectral flux reflected from a perfectly diffusing reflecting standard, such as barium sulphate. The ratio of these signals is the true, or absolute, spectral reflectivity of the patient's skin and is independent of the spectral responsivity of the detector 27, spectral radiant power of the source 9, and optical transfer functions of the dispersion device 13, optical coupler 23, and the fiber optic system 21. Most important is that the ratio (or spectral reflectivity) is only slightly influenced by the configuration of the probe 25 and the spacing between the end 37 of fiber optic system 21 and the patient's skin.
FIG. 3 illustrates typical spectral reflectivity measurements made by apparatus 7 as shown in FIG. 1. The coordinates of this graph include wavelengths corresponding to the region of the visible spectrum in which the human skin displays spectral character and spectral reflectivity represented by the ratio of the spectral flux reflected from the patient's skin to that reflected from a perfectly diffusing reflecting standard. Four curves 52-55 are shown of patients having differing degrees of severity of jaundice as indicated by the level of bilirubin concentration in blood expressed in units of mg/100 m l of serum. It should be noticed that all the curves have the same general shape. It is not possible by inspection alone to relate changes in the spectral reflectance at any one wavelength or changes in the shape of the curves with the bilirubin concentration. The individuality of each patient's spectral reflectance due to pigmentation and textural characteristics needs to be considered before the bilirubin concentration can be related to the reflectance spectra.
The method of the invention to relate the reflectance spectra similar to those illustrated in FIG. 3 to the bilirubin concentration is based upon an analysis of variance. This analysis determines to what extent the level of the bilirubin concentration can be explained by some function or combination of skin spectral reflectance values at discrete wavelengths. Mathematically, this is expressed as ##EQU1## where BL is the serum bilirubin concentration measured in mg bilirubin per 100 ml of serum, m is a constant, n i and f(ρ i ) are respectively coefficients of some function of the spectral reflectance at discrete wavelengths denoted by the subscript i, and j is the number of such terms corresponding to i wavelengths that are required. The nature of the function f(ρ i ) can be linear, logarithmic, double logarithmic, or any other mathematical function which satisfies the analysis to the degree of confidence required.
The results of the analysis of variance on a sample population of 30 infants as shown in Table 1.
Table 1.______________________________________Spectro-correlation Analysis of Data______________________________________Analysis Wavelength (nm) R.sup.2______________________________________First Order Linear 450 .783Regression 460 .776 420 .708 530 .193 550 .169 600 .064Multiple Linear 450 .783Regression 450 550 .835 450 530 550 .868 410 450 530 550 .882 410 440 450 530 550 .915Polynomial Nonlinear 460 .796Regression 460 545 .847 425 460 545 .884 425 460 535 545 .922 425 460 525 535 545 .931______________________________________
The first column of Table 1 describes the nature of the mathemtatical function, the second column identifies the single wavelength or combination of wavelengths used in the analysis, and the third column is the coefficient of determination R 2 . The R 2 value gives a statistical measure of the closeness of fit of the observed reflectance measurements to the mathematical relation. As can be seen from Table 1, simple linear relationships (first order linear regression) between spectral reflectivity at any one wavelength and bilirubin level give R 2 values too low to be of any practical use. The multiple linear regression considers 2, 3, 4, and 5 discrete wavelength combinations resulting in improved R 2 values. However, the highest R 2 value was obtained from a double logarithmic function involving the five wavelengths shown in the last line of Table 1.
FIG. 4 illustrates the comparison bilirubin concentration results determined by the conventional laboratory chemical test with the bilirubin concentration result determined by the apparatus and method of this invention.
Curve 58 as shown in FIG. 4 is represented by the relationship, ##EQU2## where the function represented by the general expression above is known to be a double logarithmic function, m = 14.40, and the coefficients n i and the discrete wavelength denoted by the subscript i are
______________________________________Wavelengths Correspondingto Subscript i (nm) Coefficient, n.sub.i______________________________________425 -13.30460 -39.24525 -19.75535 -75.08545 +137.66______________________________________
Thus,
b = 14.40 - 13.30lnln(ρ535) + 39.24lnln(ρ460) -19.74InIn(ρ525) - 75.08InIn(ρ535) = 137.66InIn(ρ545)
where
b = serum bilirubin concentration measured in mg/100 ml of serum, and
ρ = spectral reflectance at wavelength n
with the measurement of the spectral reflectance skin at wavelengths 425, 460, 525, 535, and 545 nm, which wavelengths were not randomly selected but are physically related to the optical properties of individual constituents of the blood serum.
FIG. 4 illustrates the invention results by comparing the bilirubin concentration determined by the invention to the bilirubin concentration determined by conventional laboratory tests based upon the Jendrassik method. On the basis of measurements made on 30 infant patients represented by the open circles 60 on this graph of FIG. 4, the 95% confidence limits (represented by curves 62 and 64) indicate that the device and method of the invention can determine the bilirubin concentration with an accuracy of ±2 units over the region 0.5 to 10 mg/100 ml concentration using the specific relationship described above.
The apparatus and method of this invention are illustrated hereinabove, but the invention is not meant to be limited to the exact embodiment shown and described. The apparatus in its simplest form could be realized, for example, by an apparatus in which only the spectral reflectance or a parameter proportional to the spectral reflectance at the specific wavelengths identified above are measured. Such an apparatus could be constructed using dispersion devices other than a prism monochromator operating in other than a continuous wavelength scanning mode. In addition and again by way of example, specific relationship of a form different from the one described could be generated using the method of analysis of variance, other statistical and mathematical treatments, and/or physical modeling of the interaction of light with skin. The essential thrust of the apparatus and method of this invention is that the spectral reflectance of the skin of a jaundiced patient contains sufficient information from which the bilirubin concentration in the blood stream can be determined. | A method is disclosed for determining the bilirubin concentration in the blood serum of a person from measurement of the spectral reflectance of the skin. The disclosed method detects the severity of jaundice, a common neonatal condition, and enables determination of the type of treatment regimen needed to prevent the bilirubin level from becoming sufficiently high to cause kernicterus which can result in brain damage. The method includes measuring the reflectance of the skin within a predetermined frequency spectrum, and more particularly at a number of specific wavelengths in the visible portion of the spectrum. | 0 |
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, it has been found that the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid may be prepared according to the following scheme: ##STR1##
STATE OF THE ART
During the last years, the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid (I) has been successfully introduced in therapy as an antirheumatic and antiphlogistic agent, in its free form or in the form of its sodium salt. Various chemical processes have been described for the preparation thereof. For example, in South African Pat. No. 67/5987, there is reported a synthesis by which the chloroacetyl derivative of the N-benzyl-2,6-dichloroaniline is treated with aluminium trichloride. There is thus obtained the cyclic lactam of the desired acid (II), which is then hydrolized by standard techniques. Such ring closure by the use of aluminium trichloride, according to what is reported in another patent (Ger. Offen. No. 1,815,802), causes the formation of various secondary transition products.
In this second patent there is described, in fact, an alternate synthesis in which the N-benzyl-2,6-dichloroaniline is changed into its corresponding isatin by means of oxalyl chloride. The isatin is then reduced with hydrazine hydrate through a classical Wolff-Kishner reaction to give the product (II).
The process of latter patent, aside from the inconvenient caused by the use of the oxalyl chloride and of the hydrazine hydrate (reactants which are both substantially toxic), has in common with the first and with the other alternate processes (such, for example, the process described in Japanese Pat. No. 46104/1967), the use of the N-benzyl-2,6-dichloroaniline, compound which, because of the low reactivity of the amine group of the 2,6-dichloroaniline, is prepared by means of reactions carried out at high temperatures, over very long reaction periods and with very low yields.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
Object of the invention is a completely new and improved method for the preparation of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid from mixtures of a pyridic base, an organic or inorganic acid and the 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatine or its simple derivatives.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
More specifically, it has been found that a compound corresponding to formula (III) may be transformed into a compound (II) by heating in the presence of a salt of a pyridic base. The salt used may be selected among various organic or inorganic acids and among the various pyridic bases; one of the two components may also be in excess with respect to the other. Depending on the particular salt used there are obtained variable reaction times, temperature, yield and quality of the final product. The choice of the particular salt must thus take in consideration the related factors such as availability of the salt, cost and reactivity of the two components, as well as the ease of recovery of the resulting product from the reaction mixture. However, a particular favorable choice has been the utilization of a mixture of adipic acid and pyridine, even if such choice is not to be considered as a limiting factor. In fact, positive results may be obtained also with pyridine hydrochloride, quinoline hydrobromide, lutidine adipate and the like.
The optimal temperature and heating time depend both on the particular derivative of the general formula (III) which is utilized, and on the nature of the acid and the pyridic base. Furthermore, they are interdependent one from the other, since, for example, to a higher reaction temperature corresponds a lower heating time and vice versa.
The choice of the two parameters on the base of an effective convenience in further dependent on the apparatus used. In practice, it has been found that a reaction period of 3 hours (when one operates with III, where X=H) and a temperature of 220° C., or a reaction period of 1/2 hour (when one operates with III, where X=COCH 3 ) and a temperature of 230° C. are sufficient for the completion of the reaction. It is to be also taken in consideration that the aforementioned reaction times do not take into consideration the time used in the initial heating of the reaction mixture, which is extremely variable in function of the apparatus used and of the actual quantity of the reaction mixture. Thus said quantities may be considered indicative and not limitative.
As far as regards the nature of X in the formula III, it can be hydrogen, acyl or alkyl.
Also at this point the choice is dictated by various factors, since the tetrahydro-isatin is the most available compound while, in order to obtain the acyl or alkyl derivatives thereof, it is necessary to effect an additional reaction for their preparation. On the other hand, however, said acyl and alkyl derivatives react at a higher reaction speed than the unsubstituted tetrahydro-isatin. In addition, among the various acyl derivatives, there are preferred those which are obtainable from more economical reactants and which can be more easily used. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, there was used the acetyl derivative of the tetrahydro-isatin, which is easily obtainable by heating the product III (X=H) to the boiling point with acetic anhydride. Once the aforementioned boiling operation is ended, the resulting reaction mixture is taken up with water, which dissolves the salt and the eventual excess of the acid or bases utilized.
The residue, which contains the lactam of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid is then hydrolized to the corresponding acid.
It has also unexpectedly been found that the addition of 1% by weight of sodium sulphite to the alkaline solutions used to effect the aforementioned hydrolysis raises the yield of said reaction by about 5%, and additionally yields a product of higher titer.
Such action is somewhat specific and is not effected by other anti-oxidizing agents such as hydroquinone and sodium hydrosulphite.
The 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatin needed for the reaction is prepared by the condensation of the 2,6-dichloroaniline with the ethyl 2-cyclohexanone glyoxylate. The 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-isatin analogues described in the literature, such as the 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-phenyl-isatine (J.A.C.S., 75, 4060 (1953)), are obtained by hydrolysis of the corresponding anil.
The reaction may be carried out with equimolecular quantities of ethyl 2-cyclohexanone-glyoxylate and 2,6-dichloroaniline or with an excess of the latter reactant. In this case, the utilization of the 2-cyclohexanone-glyoxylate results more efficient and further it results easier to recover the unreacted aniline by a simple steam distillation. In a particularly useful variation, at least on a lab scale, there have been used 2,6 mols of aniline for each mole of 2-cyclohexanone-glyoxylate.
Also for this operation, as for the operations already described, there is to be kept in consideration that the various parameters (temperature, reaction, time, molar proportions, nature of the solvents and of the catalysts) may be varied within wide limits without, for this reason, changing the basic essence of the invention. Said parameters must be taken in consideration in order to optimize the costs, the investments, the productivity and the work safety for each single productive installation.
The examples, which follow, and which illustrate the invention, are not limitative and relate to solutions which have been particularly effective on a bench scale.
EXAMPLE 1
4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatin
A solution of 65 g (0.33 mols) of ethyl 2-cyclohexanone-glyoxylate and 135 g (0.83 mols) of 2,6-dichloroaniline in 150 ml of methanol is refluxed for 30 hours. After this period, there is introduced steam into the reaction vessel, thus removing the excess 2,6-dichloroaniline. The residue of the steam distillation is removed by filtration and recrystallized from methanol.
Yield: 30 g (31%); m.p. 251°-253° C.
Sodium salt of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid
In a cooled round bottom distillation flask there are added 70 g (0.24 mols) of the preceding product, 714 ml (9 mols) of pyridine and 650 g (4.5 mols) of adipic acid. The mixture is heated rapidly with stirring up to an internal temperature of 230° C. and kept at this temperature for three hours. During this period, most of the pyridine is removed by distillation. The resulting reaction mixture is allowed to cool to about 100° C. and is then poured into 1500 ml of water. The mixture is filtered at 60° C. and the residue is again washed with 1500 ml of water at 60° C. The residue is suspended in a water-alcohol solution obtained by mixing 600 ml of NaOH (1 N) in 900 ml of 95° ethanol and adding 6 g of Na 2 SO 3 .
After 2.5 hours of refluxing, the alcohol is removed under reduced pressure. On cooling of the remaining aqueous solution, there separates therefrom the sodium salt of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid, which is removed by filtration and eventually recrystallized from water; m.p. 282°-285° C. The melting point reported in the literature (Germ. Offen. No. 1,815,802) is 281°-283° C.
EXAMPLE 2
Acetyl derivative of the 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatin
There are dissolved in 500 ml of acetic anhydride 87 g (0.29 mols) of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)isatin. The solution is refluxed for 2 hours and the excess acetic anhydride is removed by heating on a steam bath under reduced pressure. The residue is taken up in one liter of water and the solid which separates is filtered and washed with 95° alcohol;
Yield: 93 g (93.5%); m.p.: 160°-161° C.
Lactam of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid
A mixture of 30 g (0.089 mols) of the preceding product, 150 ml (1.86 mols) of pyridine and 150 g (0.96 mols) of adipic acid are heated as described in Ex. 1. After one half hour of heating at the maximum temperature (230° C.), the mixture, still hot, is poured into 1000 ml of water. The solid which separates is washed by decantation with another 1000 ml of water at 60° C. and then recrystallized from methanol.
Yield: 16 g (64.5%); m.p.: 122°-124° C.
2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid
To a solution obtained by admixing 42 ml of 1 N NaOH, 0.42 g of Na 2 SO 3 and 65 ml of 95° ethanol, there is added 6 g (0.022 mols) of the preceding product. The mixture is then refluxed for 2 hours and the alcohol is then removed under reduced pressure. The mixture is diluted with 150 ml of water, the solution is acidified and the acid, which precipitates, is removed by filtration.
The product may be recrystallized from isopropyl ether. The melting point is 164°-167° C. The reported melting point (South African Pat. No. 67/5987) is 156°-158° C.
EXAMPLE 3
3-0-methyl derivative of the enolic form of the 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatin
A suspension of 30 g of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatin (0.1 mols) in 300 ml of methanol is saturated with gaseous HCl, while cooling the reaction mixture with an ice-water mixture. The resulting solution, after it is allowed to rest for one night, is poured into 1500 ml of an ice-water mixture. The solid thus obtained is filtered and is air-dried.
Yield: 26 g (83%); m.p.: 134°-137° C.
Lactam of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid
A mixture of 250 ml (3.2 mols) of pyridine, 230 g (1.57 mols) of adipic acid and 25 g (0.08 mols) of the preceding product is heated for one hour at 230° C.
At the end of the heating cycle, the resulting mixture is treated as described in Example 1.
There is obtained 12 g (Yield 54%, m.p.: 123°-125° C.) of the lactam of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid which is hydrolyzed as described in Example 2. | Process for the preparation of the 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)-phenylacetic acid which comprises, as a basic step, the heating of a mixture containing a pyridic base, an organic or inorganic acid and 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-N-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-isatin or its O-acyl or O-alkyl derivatives. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not applicable.
[0003] The invention relates to audio signal processing in audio systems having multiple directional channels, such as so-called “surround systems,” and more particularly to audio signal processing that can adapt multiple directional channel systems to audio systems having fewer or more loudspeaker locations than the number of directional channels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] For background, reference is made to surround sound systems and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,809,153 and 5,870,484. It is an important object of the invention to provide an improved audio signal processing system for the processing of directional channels in a multi-channel audio system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] According to the invention, an audio system has a first audio signal and a second audio signal having amplitudes. A method for processing the audio signals includes dividing the first audio signal into a first spectral band signal and a second spectral band signal; scaling the first spectral band signal by a first scaling factor to create a first signal portion, wherein the first scaling factor is proportional to the amplitude of the second audio signal; and scaling the first spectral band signal by a second scaling factor to create a second signal portion.
[0006] In another aspect of the invention. An audio system has a first audio signal, a second audio signal and a directional loudspeaker unit. A method for processing the audio signals includes electroacoustically directionally transducing the first audio signal to produce a first signal radiation pattern; electroacoustically directionally transducing the second audio signal to produce a second signal radiation pattern, wherein the first signal radiation pattern and the second signal radiation pattern are alternatively and user selectively similar or different.
[0007] In another aspect of the invention. An audio system has a first audio signal, a second audio signal, and a third audio signal that is substantially limited to a frequency range having a lower limit at a frequency that has a corresponding wavelength that approximates the dimensions of a human head. The audio system further includes a directional loudspeaker unit, and a loudspeaker unit, distinct from the directional loudspeaker unit. A method for processing the audio signals, includes electroacoustically directionally transducing by the directional loudspeaker unit the first audio signal to produced a first radiation pattern; electroacoustically directionally transducing by the directional loudspeaker unit the second audio signal to produce a second radiation pattern; and electroacoustically transducing by the distinct loudspeaker unit the third audio signal.
[0008] In another aspect of the invention, an audio system has a plurality of directional channels. A method for processing audio signals respectively corresponding to each of the plurality of channels includes dividing a first audio signal into a first audio signal first spectral band signal and a first audio signal second spectral band signal; scaling the first audio signal first spectral band signal by a first scaling factor to create a first audio signal first spectral band first portion signal; scaling the first spectral band signal by a second scaling factor to create a first audio signal first spectral band second portion signal; dividing a second audio signal into a second audio signal first spectral band signal and a second audio signal second spectral band signal; scaling the second audio signal first spectral band signal by a third scaling factor to create a second audio signal first spectral band first portion signal; and scaling the second audio signal first spectral band signal by a fourth scaling factor to create a second audio signal first spectral band second portion signal.
[0009] In another aspect of the invention, a method for processing an audio signal includes filtering the signal by a first filter that has a frequency response and time delay effect similar to the human head to produce a once filtered signal. The method further includes filtering the once filtered audio signal by a second filter, the second filter having a frequency response and time delay effect inverse to the frequency and time delay effect of a human head on a sound wave.
[0010] In another aspect of the invention, an audio system has a plurality of directional channels, a first audio signal and a second audio signal, the first and second audio signals representing adjacent directional channels on the same lateral side of a listener in a normal listening position. A method for processing the audio signals includes dividing the first audio signal into a first spectral band signal and a second spectral band signal; scaling the first spectral band signal by a first time varying calculated scaling factor to create a first signal portion; and scaling the first spectral band signal by a second time varying calculated scaling factor to create a second signal portion.
[0011] In still another aspect of the invention, and audio system has an audio signal, a first electroacoustical transducer designed and constructed to transduce sound waves in a frequency range having a lower limit, and a second electroacoustical transducer designed and constructed to transduce sound waves in a frequency range having a second transducer lower limit that is lower than the first transducer lower limit. A method for processing audio signals, includes dividing the audio signal into a first spectral band signal and a second spectral band signal; scaling the first spectral band signal by a first scaling factor to create a first portion signal; scaling the first spectral band signal by a second scaling factor to create a second portion signal; transmitting the first portion to the first electroacoustical transducer for transduction; and transmitting said second portion signal to said second electroacoustical transducer for transduction.
[0012] Other features, objects, and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description, which refers to the following drawing in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0013] FIGS. 1 a - 1 c are diagrammatic views of configurations of loudspeaker units for use with the invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 a is a block diagram of an audio signal processing system incorporating the invention;
[0015] FIGS. 2 b and 2 c are block diagrams of audio signal processing systems FIGS. 1 a - 1 c are diagrammatic views of configurations of loudspeaker units for use with the invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 a is a block diagram of an audio signal processing system incorporating the invention;
[0017] FIGS. 2 b and 2 c are block diagrams of audio signal processing systems for creating directional channels in accordance with the invention;
[0018] FIGS. 3 a - 3 d are block diagrams of alternate directional processors for use in the audio signal processing system of FIG. 2 a;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of some of the components of the directional processors of FIGS. 3 a - 3 c;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a configuration of loudspeakers helpful in explaining aspects of the invention;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a configuration of loudspeaker units for use with another aspect of the invention;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an audio signal processing system incorporating another aspect of the invention;
[0023] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a directional processor for use with the audio signal processing system of FIG. 7 ;
[0024] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an alternate directional processor for use with the audio signal processing system of FIG. 7 ;
[0025] FIGS. 10 a - 10 c are top diagrammatic views of some of the components of an audio system for describing another feature of the invention; and
[0026] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a component of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. for creating directional channels in accordance with the invention;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] With reference now to the drawing and more particularly to FIGS. 1 a - 1 c, there are shown top diagrammatic views of three configurations or surround sound audio loudspeaker units according to the invention. In FIG. 1 a, tow directional arrays each including two full range (as defined below in the discussion of FIGS. 2 a - 2 c ) acoustical drivers are positioned in front of a listener 14 . A first array 10 including acoustical drivers 11 and 12 may be positioned to the listener's left and a second array 15 , including acoustical drivers 16 and 17 may be positioned to the listener's right. In FIG. 1 b, two directional arrays each including two full range acoustical drivers are positioned in front of a listener 14 . A first array 10 including acoustical drivers 11 and 12 may be positioned to the listener's left and a second array 15 , including acoustical drivers 16 and 17 may be positioned to the listener's right. In addition, a first limited range (as defined below in the discussion of FIGS. 2 a - 2 c ) acoustical driver 22 is positioned behind the listener, to the listener's left, and a second limited range acoustical driver 24 is positioned behind the listener to the listener's right. In FIG. 1 c, two directional arrays each including two full range acoustical drivers are positioned in front of a listener 14 . A first array 10 including acoustical drivers 11 and 12 may be positioned to the listener's left and a second array 15 , including acoustical drivers 16 and 17 may be positioned to the to the listener's right. In addition, a first full range acoustical driver 28 is positioned behind the listener, to the listener's left, and a second limited range acoustical driver 30 is positioned behind the listener to the listener's right. Other surround sound loudspeaker systems may have loudspeaker units in additional locations, such as directly in front of listener 14 . Surround sound systems may radiate sound waves in a manner that the source of the sound may be perceived by the listener to be in a direction (for example direction X) relative to the listener at which there is no loudspeaker unit. Surround sound systems may further attempt to radiate sound waves in a manner such that the source of the sound may be perceived by the listener to be moving (for example in direction Y-Y′) relative to the viewer
[0028] Referring to FIG. 2 a, there is shown a block diagram of an audio signal processing system for providing audio signals for the loudspeaker units of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c. An audio signal source 32 is coupled to a decoder 34 which decodes the audio source from the audio signal source into a plurality of channels, in this case a low frequency effects (LFE) channel, and bass channel, and a number of directional channels, including a left surround (LS) channel, a left (L) channel, a left center (LC) channel, a right center (RC) channel, a right (R) channel, and a right surround (RS) channel. Other decoding systems may output a different set of channels. In some systems, the bass channel is not broken out separately from the directional channels, but instead remains combined with the directional channels. In other systems, there may be a single center (C) channel, instead of the RC and LC channels, or there may be a single surround channel. An audio system according to the invention may be used with any combination of directional channels, either by adapting the signal processing to the channels, or by decoding the directional channels to produce additional directional channels. One method of decoding a single C channel into an RC channel and an LC channel is shown in FIG. 2 b. The C channel is split into an LC channel and an RC channel and the LC and the RC channel are scaled by a factor, such as 0.707. Similarly, a method of decoding a single S channel into an RS channel and an LS channel is shown in FIG. 2 c. The S channel is split into an RS channel and an LS channel, and the RS channel and LS channel are scaled by a factor, such as 0.707. If the audio input signal has no surround channel or channels, there are several known methods for synthesizing surround channels from existing channels, or the system may be operated without surround sound.
[0029] Some surround sound systems have a separate low frequency unit for radiating low frequency spectral components and “satellite” loudspeaker units for radiating spectral components above the frequencies radiated by the low frequency units. Low frequency units are referred to by a number of names, including “subwoofers” “bass bins” and others.
[0030] In surround sound systems having both and LFE channel and a bass channel, the LFE and bass channels may be combined and radiated by the low frequency unit, as shown in FIG. 2 a. In surround systems not having a combined bass channel, each directional channel, including the bass portion of each directional channel) may be radiated by separate directional loudspeaker units, with only the LFE radiated by the low frequency unit. Still other surround systems may have more than one low frequency unit, one for radiating bass frequencies and one for radiating the LFE channel. “Full range” as used herein, refers to audible spectral components having frequencies above those radiated by a low frequency unit. If an audio system has no low frequency unit, “full range” refers to the entire audible frequency spectrum. “Directional channel” as used herein is an audio channel that contains audio signals that are intended to be transduced to sound waves that appear to come from a specific direction, LFE channels and channels that have combined bass signals from two or more directional channels are not, for the purposes of this specification, considered directional channels.
[0031] The directional channels, LS, L, LC, RC, R, and RS are processed by directional processor 36 to produce output audio signals at output signal lines 38 a - 38 f for the acoustical drivers of the audio system. The signals output by directional processor 36 and the low frequency unit signal in signal line 40 may then be further processed by system equalization (EQ) and dynamic range control circuitry 42 . (System EQ and dynamic range control circuitry is shown to illustrate the placement of elements typical to audio processing circuitry, but does not perform a function relevant to the invention. Therefore, system EQ and dynamic range control circuitry 42 are not shown in subsequent figures and its function will not be further described. Other audio processing elements, such as amplifiers that are not germane to the present invention are not shown or described). The directional channels are then transmitted to the acoustical drivers for transduction to sound waves. The signal line 38 a designated “left front (LF) array driver A” is directed to acoustical driver 12 of array 10 (of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c ); the signal line 38 b designated “left front (LF) array driver B” is directed to acoustical driver 11 of array 10 (of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c ); the signal line 38 c designated “right front (RF) array driver A” is directed to acoustical driver 17 of array 15 (of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c ); and the signal line 38 d designated “right front (RF) array driver B” is directed to acoustical driver 16 of array 15 (of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c ). The signal line 38 e designated “left surround (LS) driver” is directed to limited range acoustical driver 22 of FIG. 1 b or acoustical driver 28 of FIG. 1 c as will be explained below, and the signal line 38 f designated “right surround (RS) driver” is directed to acoustical driver 24 of FIG. 1 b or acoustical driver 30 of FIG. 1 c, as will also be explained below. In some implementations, there is no output signal from LS output terminal 38 e or RS output terminal 38 f or both. In other implementations one or both of LS output terminal 38 e or RS output terminal 38 f may be absent entirely, as will be explained below.
[0032] Referring now to FIGS. 3 a - 3 d, there are shown four block diagrams of audio directional processor 36 for use with surround sound loudspeaker systems as shown in FIGS. 1 a - 1 c. FIGS. 3 a - 3 d show the portion of the directional processor for the LC, LS and L channels. In each of the implementations, there is a mirror image for processing the RC, RS, and R channels. In FIGS. 3 a - 3 d, like reference numerals refer to like elements performing like functions.
[0033] FIG. 3 a shows the logical arrangement of directional processor 36 for a configuration having no rear speakers. In FIG. 3 a, the L channel is coupled to presentation mode processor 102 and to level detector 44 . One output terminal 35 of presentation mode processor 102 , designated L′, is coupled to summer 47 . The operation of presentation mode processor 102 will be described below in the discussion of FIG. 11 . LS channel is coupled to level detector 44 and frequency splitter 46 . Level detector 44 provides front/rear scaler 48 , front head related transfer function (HRTF) filters and rear HRTF filters with signal levels to facilitate the calculation of filter coefficients as will be described below. Frequency splitter 46 separates the signal into a first frequency band including signals below a threshold frequency and a second frequency band including signals above the threshold frequency. The threshold frequency is a frequency that corresponds to a wavelength that approximates dimensions of a human head. A convenient frequency is 2 kHz, which corresponds to a wavelength of about 6.8 inches. Hereinafter, the portion of the surround signal above the threshold frequency will be referred to as “high frequency surround signal” and the portion of the surround signal below the threshold frequency will be referred to as “low frequency surround signal.” The low frequency surround signal is input by signal path 43 to summer 54 , or alternatively to summer 47 as will be explained in the discussion of FIG. 3 d. The high frequency surround signal is input by signal path 45 to front/rear sealer 48 , which splits the high frequency surround signal into a “front” portion and a “rear” portion in a manner that will be described below in the discussion of FIG. 4 . The “front” portion of the high frequency surround signal is transmitted by signal line 49 to front head related transfer function (HRTF) filter 50 , where it is modified in a manner that will be described below in the discussion of FIG. 4 . Modified front high frequency surround is the optionally delayed by five ms by delay 52 and input to summer 54 . “Rear” portion of the high frequency surround signal is transmitted by signal line 51 to rear HRTF filter 56 , where it is modified in a manner that will be described below in the discussion of FIG. 4 . The modified rear portion is then optionally delayed by ten ms by delay 58 , and summed with front portion and low frequency surround signal at summer 54 . The summed front, rear, and low frequency surround portions are modified by front speaker placement compensator 60 (which will be further explained below following the discussion of FIGS. 4 and 5 ) and input to summer 47 , so that at summer 47 the L channel, the low frequency surround, and the modified high frequency surround are summed. The output signal of summer 47 may then be adjusted by a left/right balance control represented by multiplier 57 and is then input subtractively through time delay 61 to summer 62 and additively to summer 58 . LC channel is coupled to presentation mode processor 102 . Output terminal 37 , designated LC′ of presentation mode processor 102 is coupled additively to summer 62 and subtractively through time delay 64 to summer 58 . Output signal of summer 58 is transmitted to acoustical driver 11 (of FIGS. 1 and 2 ). Output signal of summer 62 is transmitted to acoustical driver 12 (of FIGS. 1 and 2 ). Time delays 61 and 64 facilitate the directional radiation of the signals combined at summer 47 . If desired, the outputs of time delay 61 and 64 can be sealed by a factor such as 0.631 to improve directional radiation performance. Directional radiation using time delays is discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,809,153 and 5,870,484 and will be further discussed below.
[0034] FIG. 3 b shows directional processor 36 for a configuration having a limited range rear speaker, that is, a speaker that is designed to radiate frequencies above the threshold frequency. In the circuitry of FIG. 3 b, summer 54 of FIG. 3 a is not present. Instead, front HRTF filters and optional five ms delay are coupled through front speaker placement compensator 60 to summer 47 and rear HRTF filters and optional ten ms delay are coupled to rear speaker placement compensator 66 , which is in turn coupled to limited range acoustical driver 22 of FIGS. 1 and 2 .
[0035] FIG. 3 c shows directional processor 36 for a configuration having a full range rear speaker, that is, a speaker that is designed to radiate the full audible spectrum of frequencies above the frequencies radiated by a low frequency unit. The circuitry of FIG. 3 c is similar to the circuitry of FIG. 3 b, but low frequency surround signal output of frequency splitter 46 is summed with output signal of rear HRTF filter and optional ten ms delay 58 at summer 70 , which is output to full-range acoustical driver 28 .
[0036] FIG. 3 d shows directional processor 36 that can be used with no rear speaker, with a limited-range rear speaker, or with a full range rear speaker. FIG. 3 d includes a switch 68 and summer 69 arranged so that with switch 68 in a closed position, the low frequency surround signal is directed to summer 70 . With switch 68 in an open position, the low frequency is directed to summer 47 for radiation from the front speaker array. FIG. 3 d further includes a switch 72 and summer 73 , arranged so that with switch 72 in an open position, the output signal from summer 70 is directed to rear speaker placement compensator 66 for radiation from a rear speaker. With switch 72 in a closed position, the output signal from summer 70 is directed to summer 54 . With switch 72 in an open position and 68 in an open position, the circuitry of FIG. 3 d becomes the circuitry of FIG. 3 b. With switch 72 in an open position and switch 68 in a closed position, the circuitry of FIG. 3 d becomes the circuitry of FIG. 3 c. With switch 72 in a closed position and switch 68 in a closed position, the circuitry of FIG. 3 d (since the effect of the signal on line 43 being coupled to summer 54 as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 d is functionally equivalent to the signal on line 43 being directly connected to summer 54 as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 a ) becomes the circuitry of FIG. 3 a. With switch 72 in a closed position and switch 68 in an open position, the circuitry of FIG. 3 d becomes the circuitry of FIG. 3 a, with the low frequency surround signal directed to summer 47 .
[0037] In operation, switch 72 is set to the open position when there is a rear speaker and to the closed position when there is no rear speaker. Switch 68 is set to the open position for a limited range rear speaker and to the closed position for a full range rear speaker. Logically if switch 72 is set to the closed position, the position of switch 68 should be irrelevant. It was stated in the preceding paragraph that that if switch 72 is in the closed position, the low frequency surround signal may be summed with the high frequency surround signal before or after the front speaker placement compensator depending on the position of switch 68 . However, as will be explained below in the discussion of FIG. 4 , the front and rear speaker placement compensators have little effect on frequencies below the threshold frequency, so it does not matter whether the low frequency surround is summed with the high frequency surround before or after the front speaker placement compensator. Alternatively, switches 68 and 72 could be linked so that if switch 72 is in the closed position, switch 68 would automatically be set to the open or closed position as desired.
[0038] In an exemplary embodiment, the directional processor 36 is implemented as digital signal processors (DSPs) executing instructions with digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters as necessary. In other embodiments, the directional processor 36 may be implemented as a combination of DSPs, analog circuit elements, and digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters as necessary.
[0039] FIG. 4 shows the frequency splitter 46 , the front/rear scaler 48 , the front HRTF filter 50 and the rear HRTF filter 56 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 c in greater detail. Frequency splitter 46 is implemented as a high pass filter 74 and a summer 76 . High pass filter 74 and summer 76 are arranged so that high pass filtered LS channel is combined subtractively with the LS channel signal so that the low frequency surround is output on line 43 . The high pass filter 74 is directly coupled to signal line 45 , so that the high frequency surround is output on signal line 45 . Front/rear scaler is implemented as a summer 78 and a multiplier 80 . Multiplier 80 scales the signal by a factor that is related to the relative amplitudes of the signals in the LS channel and the L channel. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the factor is
LS _ LS _ + L _ .
Summer 78 and multiplier 80 are arranged so that scaled signal is combined subtractively with the unscaled signal and output on signal line 49 so that the signal on signal line 49 is the input signal scaled by
( 1 - LS _ LS _ + L _ ) .
Multiplier is directly coupled to signal line 51 so that the signal on the signal line 51 is the input signal scaled by
LS _ LS _ + L _ .
It can be seen that if LS approaches zero, the portion of the input signal that is directed to signal line 49 approaches one and the portion of the signal that is directed to signal line 51 approaches zero. Similarly if LS is much greater that L, the portion of the input signal that is directed to signal line 49 approaches zero and the portion of the input signal that is directed to signal line 51 approaches one. If LS and L are approximately equal, then the portion of the input signal that is directed to signal line 49 is approximately equal to the portion of the input signal that is directed to signal line 51 . The effect of the front/rear scaler is to orient the apparent source of a sound relative to the listener. If L is greater that LS, a greater portion of the high frequency surround signal will be directed to the front speaker unit, and the apparent source of the sound is toward the front. If LS is greater than L, a greater portion of the high frequency surround signal will be directed to the rear speaker unit (or in the absence of a rear speaker unit, be processed so that it will appear to come from the rear) and the apparent source of the sound is toward the rear. If LS and L are relatively equal, then an approximately equal portion of the high frequency surround signal will be directed to the front and rear loudspeaker units, and the apparent source of the sound is to the side. The values L and LS are made available to multiplier 80 by level detectors 44 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. Scaling factors
LS _ LS _ + L _ and ( 1 - LS _ LS _ + L _ )
may be calculated as often as practical. In one implementation, the scaling factors are recalculated at five millisecond intervals.
[0040] Front HRTF filter 50 may be implemented as, in order in series, a multiplier 82 , a first filter 84 representing the frequency shading effect of the head (hereinafter the head shading filter), a second filter 86 representing the diffraction path delay of the head (hereinafter the head diffraction path delay filter), a third filter 88 representing the diffraction path delay of the pinna (hereinafter the pinna diffraction path delay filter), and a summer 90 . Summer 90 sums the output signal from pinna diffraction path delay filter 88 with the output of head diffraction path delay filter 86 , the output of head frequency shading filter 84 , and the unmultiplied input signal of front HRTF filter 50 . Rear HRTF filter 56 may be implemented as, in order in series, multiplier 82 , head frequency shading filter 84 , pinna diffraction path delay filter 88 , head diffraction path delay 86 , and a fourth filter 92 representing the frequency shading effect of the rear surface of the pinna (hereinafter the pinna rear frequency shading filter), and a summer 94 . Summer 94 sums the output of pinna rear frequency shading filter 92 , output of head diffraction path delay filter 86 , pinna diffraction path delay filter 88 , and the unmultiplied input signal of the rear HRTF filter 56 . In one implementation, the signal from head diffraction path delay 86 to summer 94 is scaled by a factor of 0.5 and the signal from pinna rear frequency shading filter 92 to summer 94 is scaled by a factor of two.
[0041] Head frequency shading filter 84 is implemented as a first order high pass filter with a single real pole at −2.7 kHz; head diffraction path delay filter 86 is implemented as a fourth order all-pass network with four real poles at −3.27 kHz and four real zeros at 3.27 kHz; pinna diffraction delay filter 88 is implemented as a fourth order all-pass network with four real poles at −7.7 kHz and four real zeros at 7.7 kHz; and pinna rear frequency shading filter 92 is implemented as a first order high pass filter with a single real pole at −7.7 kHz. Multiplier 82 scales the input signal by a factor of
Y ( Y - LS _ ) + ( Y - L _ ) + Y ,
where Y is the larger of L and LS. The values L and LS are made available to multiplier 80 by level detectors 44 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. “Pinna” as used herein refers to the auricle portion of the external ear as shown on p. 1367 Gray's Anatomy, 38 th Edition, Churchill Livingston 1995. “Pinna rear” or “rear surface of the pinna” as used herein, refers to the anterior surface or the external ear, or the external ear as viewed in the direction of the arrow in Appendix 1. The pinna is an acoustic surface for sounds from all directions, while the rear pinna is an acoustic surface only for sounds from directions ranging from the side to the rear.
[0042] Filters having characteristics other than those described above (including a filter having a flat frequency response, such as a direct electrical connection) may be used in place of the filter arrangements shown in FIG. 4 and described in the accompanying portion of the disclosure.
[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates the purpose of the front speaker placement compensator 60 and the rear speaker placement compensator 66 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. Front speaker placement compensator is implemented as a filter or series of filters that has an effect that is inverse to the front HRTF filter 50 when front HRTF filter 50 acts upon a signal that radiated from a first specific angle. Similarly, the rear speaker placement compensator is implemented as a filter of series of filters that has an effect that is inverse to the rear HRTF filter 56 when rear HRTF filter 56 acts upon a signal that radiated from a second specific angle.
[0044] FIG. 5 shows for explanation purposes a sound system according to the configuration of FIG. 3 b, with desired apparent source of a sound is a point Z, which is oriented at an angle θ relative to a listener 14 . All angles in FIG. 5 lie in a horizontal plane which includes the entrances to the ear canals of listener 14 . The reference line for the angles is a line passing through the points that are equidistant from the entrances to the ear canals of listener 14 . Angles are measured counter-clockwise from the front of the listener 14 . Placement of the apparent source of the sound at point Z is accomplished in part by the front/rear scaler 48 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 c and FIG. 4 . Front/rear scaler directs more of the high frequency surround signal to the front array 10 than to the rear speaker unit, so that the apparent source of the sound is somewhat forward. Placement of the apparent source of the sound at point Z is further accomplished by the front and rear HRTF filters 50 and 56 (of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d ) respectively. Front and rear HRTF filters 50 and 56 alter the audio signals so that when the signals are transduced to sound waves by front array 10 and limited range acoustical driver 22 , the sound waves will have the frequency content and phase relationships as if the sound waves had originated at point Z and had been modified by the head 96 and pinna 98 or listener 14 . However, when the sound waves are actually transduced by front array 10 and rear limited range acoustical driver 22 , the frequency content and the phase relationships of the sound waves will be modified by the physical head 96 and pinna 98 of listener 14 , so that in effect the sound waves that reach the ear canal have the frequency content and phase relationships that have been twice modified by the head and pinna of the listener over angle φ 1 . Front speaker placement compensator 60 modifies the audio signal so that when it is transduced by front array 10 , the sound waves will not have the change in frequency content and phase relationships attributable to the angle φ 1 , leaving in the audio signal the change in frequency and phase relationships attributable to the difference between angle θ and angle φ 1 . Then, when the sound waves are transduced by front array 10 and modified by the head and pinna of the listener, the sound waves that reach the ear canal will have the frequency content and phase relationships as a sound from a source at angle θ. Similarly, the rear speaker placement compensator 66 modifies the audio signal so that when it is transduced by rear limited range acoustical driver 22 , the sound waves will not have the change in frequency content and phase relationships attributable to the angle φ 2 , leaving the change in frequency and phase relationships attributable to the difference between angle θ and angle φ 2 . Then, when the sound is transduced by rear limited range acoustical driver 22 , the sound waves that reach the ear canal will have the same frequency content and phase relationships as a sound from a source at angle θ. If the speaker configuration is the configuration of FIG. 3 a the same explanation applies. However the configuration having the limited range rear speaker was chosen to illustrate that the front and rear HRTF filters 50 and 56 and the front and rear speaker placement compensators 60 and 66 , all have little effect below frequencies having corresponding wavelengths that approximate the dimensions of the head, for example 2 kHz. In one embodiment, the angles φ 1 and φ 2 are measured and input into audio system so that speaker placement compensators 60 and 66 calculate using the precise angle. One technique for measuring angles φ 1 and φ 2 is to physically measure them. In a second embodiment, speaker placement compensators are set to pre-selected typical values of angles φ 1 and φ 2 (for example 30 degrees and 150 degrees). This second embodiment gives acceptable results, but does not require actual measurement of the speaker placement angles and may require somewhat less complex computing in speaker placement compensators 60 and 66 .
[0045] Speaker placement compensators 60 and 66 may be implemented as filters having the inverse effect as front and rear HRTF filters, respectively, evaluated for the selected values of angles φ 1 and φ 2 , by using values derived from the relationships
ϕ 1 = arcsin [ 1 - [ Y - LS _ + Y - L _ Y ] ]
and
ϕ 2 = arcsin [ 1 - [ Y - LS _ + Y - L _ Y ] ] ,
respectively.
[0046] If some filter arrangement other than the filter arrangement of FIG. 4 is used for the front HRTF filter 50 and the rear HRTF filter 56 , the front speaker placement compensator 60 and the rear speaker placement compensator 66 may be modified accordingly. If HRTF filters 50 and 56 have a flat frequency response, the front speaker placement compensator 60 and rear speaker placement compensator 66 may be replaced by a filter having a flat frequency response (such as a direct electrical connection).
[0047] Referring now to FIG. 6 , there is shown an example of two more acoustical loudspeaker configurations for illustrating another feature of the invention. In FIG. 6 , there is an acoustical driver array 10 , similar to the acoustical driver array 10 of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c, placed at a point displaced by 30 degrees from listener 14 . In addition, there are limited range acoustical drivers, similar to the limited range acoustical drivers 22 of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c, at 60 degrees, 90 degrees, 120 degrees, and 150 degrees OR full range acoustical drivers 28 similar to the full range acoustical drivers 28 of FIGS. 1 a - 1 c . The limited range acoustical drivers are designated 22 - 60 , 22 - 90 , 22 - 120 , and 22 - 150 , respectively, to indicate the angular position of the limited range acoustical driver. The alternate full range acoustical drivers are designated 28 - 60 , 28 - 90 , 28 - 120 , and 28 - 150 , respectively, to indicate the angular position of the limited range acoustical driver. All angles in FIG. 6 lie in the horizontal plane that includes the entrances to the ear canal of listener 14 . The reference line for the angles is a line passing through the points that are equidistant from the entrances to the listener's ear canals. The angles for the acoustical driver units on the left of listener 14 are measured counterclockwise from the reference line in front of the listener. The angles for the acoustical driver units on the right of listener 14 are measured clockwise from the reference line in front of the listener. There may also be other acoustical driver units, such as a center channel acoustical driver unit or a low frequency unit, which are not shown in this view.
[0048] FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an audio signal processing system for providing audio signals for the loudspeaker units of FIG. 6 . An audio signal source 32 is coupled to a decoder 34 which decodes the audio source from the audio signal source into a plurality of channels, in this case a low frequency effects (LFE) channel, and bass channel, and a number of directional channels, including a left (L) channel, a left center (LC) channel, and further including a number of left channels, L 60 , L 90 , L 120 , and LS in which the numerical indicator corresponds to the angular displacement, in degrees, of the channel relative to the listener. There are corresponding right channels, RC, R, R 60 , R 90 , R 120 and RS. The remainder of the discussion will focus on the left channels, since the right channels can be processed in a similar manner to the left channels. The left channel signals are processed by directional processor 36 to produce output signals for low frequency (LF) array driver 12 on signal line 38 a, for LF array driver 11 on signal line 38 b, for driver 22 - 60 L or driver 28 - 60 L on signal line 39 a, for driver 22 - 90 L or driver 28 - 90 L on signal line 39 b, for driver 22 - 120 L or 28 - 120 L on signal line 39 c, and for driver 22 - 150 L or driver 28 - 150 L on signal line 39 d. As with the embodiment of FIG. 2 a, the outputs on the signal lines are processed by system EQ and dynamic range controller 42 .
[0049] In an exemplary embodiment, the directional processor 36 is implemented as digital signal processor (DSPs) executing instructions with digital to analog and analog-to-digital converters as necessary. In other embodiments, the directional processor 36 may be implemented as a combination of DSPs, analog circuit elements, and digital to analog and analog-to-digital converters as necessary.
[0050] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of the directional processor 36 of FIG. 7 , for an implementation with limited range side and rear acoustical drivers. The directional processor has inputs for five left directional channels. The five directional channels can be created from an audio signal processing system having two channels, a left (L) channel designed, for example, to be radiated at 30 degrees) and a left surround (LS) channel, designed, for example to be radiated at 150 degrees). The L and LS channels can be decoded according the teachings of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/796,285, incorporated herein by reference, to produce channel L 90 (intended to be radiated at 90 degrees). Channel L and L 90 and channels L 90 and LS can then be decoded to produce channels L 60 and L 120 , respectively. The invention will work equally well with fewer directional channels or more directional channels. The audio signal processing system of FIG. 7 has several elements that are similar to elements of the system of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and perform similar functions to the corresponding elements of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. The similar elements use similar reference numbers. Some elements of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d that are not germane to the invention (such as multiplier 57 ) are not shown in FIG. 8 . A mirror image audio processing system could be created to process right directional channels corresponding to the left directional channels.
[0051] Referring now to FIG. 8 , the input terminals for channels L 60 , L 90 , L 120 , and LS are coupled to level detector 44 for making measurements for the scalers and HRTF filters. The input terminal for channel L is coupled to presentation mode processor 102 . Output terminal 35 designated L′ of presentation mode processor 102 is coupled to summer 47 . The input terminal for channel LC is coupled to presentation mode processor 102 . Output terminal 37 of presentation mode processor 102 designated LC′ is coupled subtractively to summer 58 through time delay 58 and additively to summer 62 . The audio signal is channel L 60 is split by frequency splitter 46 a into a low frequency (LF) portion and a high frequency (HF) portion. LF portion in input to summer 47 . HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 60 is input to front/rear scaler 48 a, (similar to the front/rear scaler 48 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L and L 60 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 . Front/rear scaler 48 a separates the HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 60 into a “front” portion and a “rear” portion. Front portion of the HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 60 is processed by front HRTF filter 50 a (similar to the front HRTF filter 50 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L and L 60 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 , and speaker placement compensator 60 a, (similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), calculated for 30 degrees, and input to summer 47 . Rear portion of the audio signal in channel L 60 is processed by front HRTF filter 50 b (similar to the front HRTF filter 50 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L and L 60 respectively for the values z, 901 and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 ) and speaker placement compensator 60 a, similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 , calculated for 60 degrees, and input to summer 100 - 60 .
[0052] The audio signal in channel L 90 is split by frequency splitter 46 b into a low frequency (LF) portion and a high frequency (HF) portion. LF portion is input to summer 47 . HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 90 is input to front/rear scaler 48 b, similar to the front/rear scaler 48 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 , using the values L 60 and L 90 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 . Front/rear scaler 48 b separates the HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 90 into a “front” portion and a “rear” portion. Front portion of the HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 90 is processed by front HRTF filter 50 c (similar to the front HRTF filter of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L 60 and L 90 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 ), and speaker placement compensator 60 b, calculated for 60 degrees, and input to summer 100 - 60 . Rear portion of the audio signal in channel L 60 is processed by front HRTF filter 50 d (similar to the front HRTF filter of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L 60 and L 90 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 and speaker placement compensator 60 d, (similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), calculated for 90 degrees, and input to summer 100 - 90 .
[0053] The audio signal in channel L 120 is split by frequency splitter 46 c into a low frequency (LF) portion and a high frequency (HF) portion. LF portion is input to summer 47 . HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 120 is input to front/rear scaler 48 c, (similar to the front/rear scaler 48 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L 90 and L 120 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 . Front/rear scaler 48 c separates the HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 120 into a “front” portion and a “rear” portion. Front portion of the HF portion of the audio signal in channel L 120 is processed by front HRTF filter 50 e (similar to the front HRTF filter 50 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 , using the values L 90 and L 120 respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 and speaker placement compensator 60 e (similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), calculated for 90 degrees, and input to summer 100 - 90 . Rear portion of the audio signal in channel L 90 is processed by rear HRTF filter 56 a (similar to the rear HRTF filter 56 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L 90 and L 120 respectively for the values L and LS, and speaker placement compensator 60 f (similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), calculated for 120 degrees, and input to summer 100 - 120 .
[0054] The audio signal in channel LS is split by frequency splitter 46 d into a low frequency (LF) portion and a high frequency (HF) portion. LF portion is input to summer 47 . HF portion of the audio signal in channel LS is input to front/rear scaler 48 d, (similar to the front/rear scaler 48 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L 120 and LS respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 . Front/rear scaler 48 d separates the HF portion of the audio signal in channel LS into a “front” portion and a “rear” portion. Front portion of the HF portion of the audio signal in channel LS is processed by rear HRTF filter 56 b (similar to the rear HRTF filter 56 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), using the values L 120 and LS respectively for the values L and LS in the discussion of FIG. 4 , and speaker placement compensator 60 fg (similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), calculated for 120 degrees, and input to summer 100 - 120 . Rear portion of the audio signal in channel LS is processed by rear HRTF filter 56 c (similar to the rear HRTF filter 56 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), and speaker placement compensator 60 h (similar to the speaker placement compensator 60 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and 4 ), calculated for 150 degrees.
[0055] The output signal of summer 47 is transmitted additively to summer 58 and subtractively through time delay 61 to summer 62 . The output signal of summer 58 is transmitted to full range acoustical driver 11 (of speaker array 10 ) for transduction to sound waves. The output signal of summer 62 is transmitted to full range acoustical driver 12 for transduction to sound waves. Time delay 61 facilitates the directional radiation of the signals combined at summer 47 . Output signals of summers 100 - 60 , 100 - 90 , 100 - 120 , and of speaker placement compensator 60 h are transmitted to limited range acoustical drivers 22 - 60 , 22 - 90 , 22 - 120 , and 22 - 150 , respectively, for transduction to sound waves.
[0056] FIG. 9 shows the directional processor of FIG. 7 for an implementation having full range side and rear acoustical drivers. The implementation of FIG. 9 has the same input channels as the implementation of FIG. 7 . The invention will work with fewer directional channels or more directional channels. The audio signal processing system of FIG. 7 has several elements that are similar to elements of the system of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d and perform similar functions to the corresponding elements of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. The similar elements use similar reference numerals. A mirror image audio processing system could be created to process right directional channels corresponding to the left directional channels.
[0057] FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. 8 , except for the following. The low frequency (LF) signal line from frequency splitter 46 a is coupled to summer 100 - 60 instead of summer 47 ; the LF signal line from frequency splitter 46 b is coupled to summer 100 - 90 instead of summer 47 ; the LF signal line from frequency splitter 46 c is coupled to summer 100 - 120 instead of summer 47 ; the LF signal line from frequency splitter 46 d is coupled to summer 100 - 150 instead of summer 47 ; and the output of speaker placement compensator 60 h is coupled to a summer 100 - 150 . Output signals of summers 100 - 60 , 100 - 90 , 100 - 120 , and 100 - 150 are transmitted to full range acoustical drivers 28 - 60 , 28 - 90 , 28 - 120 , and 28 - 150 , respectively, for transduction to sound waves.
[0058] Referring now to FIGS. 10 a - 10 c, there are shown three top diagrammatic views of some of the components of an audio system for describing another feature of the invention. As described in patens such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,809,153 and 5,870,484, arrays of acoustical drivers and signal processing techniques can be designed to radiate sound waves directionally. By radiating the same sound wave from two acoustical drivers subtractively (functionally equivalent to out of phase) and time-delayed, a radiation pattern can be created in which the acoustic output is greatest along one axis (hereinafter the primary axis) and in which the acoustic output is minimized in another direction (hereinafter the null axis). In FIGS. 10 a - 10 c, an array 10 , including acoustical drivers 11 and 12 is arranged as in an audio system shown in FIGS. 1 a - 1 c, 2 a, and FIGS. 3 a - 3 d. The parameters of time delay 64 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d are set such that a signal that is transmitted undelayed to acoustical driver 12 and delayed to acoustical driver 11 and transduced results in a radiation pattern that has a primary axis in a direction 104 generally toward a listener 14 in a typical listening position, a null axis in a direction 106 generally away from listener 14 in a typical listening position, and a radiation pattern 105 as indicated in solid line. The parameters of time delay 61 of FIGS. 3 a - 3 d are set such that a signal that is transmitted undelayed to acoustical driver 11 and delayed to acoustical driver 12 and transduced results in a radiation pattern that has a primary axis in direction 106 generally away from a listener 14 in a typical listening position, a null axis in direction 104 generally toward listener 14 in a typical listening position, and a radiation pattern 107 as indicated in dashed line. In FIG. 10 a, the audio signal in channel LC is processed and radiated such that the radiation pattern has a primary axis in direction 104 and a null axis in direction 106 and the audio signal in channels L and LS are processed and radiated such that they have a primary axis in direction 106 . In FIG. 1 b, the audio signal in channels L and LC are processed and radiated such that the radiation patterns have a primary axis in direction 104 and a null axis in direction 106 , and the audio signal in channel LS in processed and radiated such that it has a primary axis in direction 106 and a null axis in direction 104 . In FIG. 10 c, the audio signals in channels L, LC, and LS are processed and radiated such that they all have primary axes in direction 106 and null axes in direction 104 . Hereinafter, the combination of radiation patterns, primary axes, and null axes will referred to as “presentation modes.” Generally, the presentation mode of FIG. 10 a is preferable when the audio system is used as a part of a home theater system, in which is desirable to have a strong center acoustic image and a “spacious” feel to the directional channels. The presentation mode of FIG. 10 b may be preferable when the audio system is used to play music, when center image is not so important. The presentation mode of FIG. 10 c may be preferable if the audio system is placed in a situation in which the array 10 must be placed very close to a center line (that is when the angle φ 1 of FIG. 5 is small). As with several of the previous figures, there may be mirror image audio system for processing the right side directional channels.
[0059] Referring now to FIG. 11 , there is shown presentation mode processor 102 (of FIGS. 3 a - 3 c, 8 , and 9 ) in more detail. Channel L input is connected additively to summer 108 and to the one side of switch 110 . Other side of switch 110 is connected additively to summer 112 and subtractively to summer 108 . Channel LC is connected additively to summer 112 which is connected additively to summer 116 and to one side of switch 118 . Other side of switch 118 is connected additively to summer 114 and subtractively to summer 116 . Summer 114 is connected to terminal 35 , designated L′. Summer 116 is connected to terminal 37 , designated LC′. Depending on whether switches 110 and 118 are in the open or closed position, the signal at output terminal 35 (designated L′) may be the signal that was input from channel L, the combined input signals from channels L and LC, or no signal. Depending on whether switches 110 and 118 are in the open or closed position, the signal at output terminal 37 (designated LC′) may be the signal that was input from channel LC, the combined input signals from channels L and LC, or no signal.
[0060] Referring now to any of FIGS. 3 a - 3 c, the output signal of terminal 35 is summed with the low frequency portion of the surround channel at summer 47 , and is transmitted to summer 58 , which is coupled to acoustical driver 11 , and through time delay 61 to summer 62 , which is coupled to acoustical driver 12 . The output signal of terminal 37 is coupled to summer 62 and through time delay 64 to summer 58 . Thus the output of terminal 35 is summed with the low frequency (LF) portion of the left surround (LS) signal and transmitted undelayed to acoustical driver 11 and delayed to acoustical driver 12 . The output of terminal 37 is transmitted undelayed to acoustical driver 12 and delayed to acoustical driver 11 . As taught above in the discussion of FIGS. 10 a - 10 c, the parameters of time delay 64 may be set so that an audio signal that is transmitted undelayed to acoustical driver 12 and delayed to acoustical driver 11 and transduced results in an radiation pattern that has a primary axis in direction 104 of FIGS. 10 a - 10 b. Similarly, the discussion of FIGS. 10 a - 10 c teaches that the parameters of time delay 61 may be set so that an audio signal that is transmitted undelayed to acoustical driver 11 and delayed to acoustical driver 12 and transduced results in radiation pattern that has a primary axis in direction 106 of FIGS. 10 a - 10 b. Therefore, by setting the switches 110 and 118 of presentation mode processor 102 to the “closed” or “open” position, it is possible for a user to achieve the presentation modes of FIGS. 10 a - 10 c. The table below the circuit of FIG. 11 shows the effect of the various combinations of “open” and “closed” positions of switches 110 and 118 . For each of the four combinations, the table shows which of channels L and LC are output on the output terminals designated L′ and LC′ (terminals 35 and 37 , respectively), which channels when radiated have a radiation pattern that has a primary axis in direction 104 and a null axis in direction 106 and which have a primary axis in direction 106 and a null axis in direction 104 , and which of FIGS. 10 a - 10 c are achieved by the combination of switch settings. In the implementation of FIGS. 3 a - 3 c, 10 and 11 , the low frequency portion of surround channel LS is always radiated with the primary axis in direction 106 . Also, if switch 118 is in the closed position, the radiation pattern of FIG. 10 c results, regardless of the position of switch 110 .
[0061] In the implementations of FIGS. 8 and 9 , the presentation mode processor 102 has the same effect on input channels L and LC and the signals on the output terminals 35 and 37 (designated L′ and LC′, respectively).
[0062] It is evident that those skilled in the art may now make numerous modifications of and departures from the specific apparatus and techniques herein disclosed without departing from the inventive concepts. Consequently, the invention is to be construed as embracing each and every novel feature and novel combination of features herein disclosed and limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | A method for processing and transducing audio signals. An audio system has a first audio signal and a second audio signal that have amplitudes. A method for processing the audio signals includes dividing the first audio signal into a first spectral band signal and a second spectral band signal; scaling the first spectral band signal by a first scaling factor proportional to the amplitude of the second audio signal; and scaling the first spectral band signal by a second scaling factor to create a second signal portion. Other portions of the disclosure include application of the signal processing method to multichannel audio systems, and to audio systems having different combinations of directional loudspeakers, full range loudspeakers, and limited range loudspeakers. | 7 |
CONTRACTUAL ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38 between the U.S. Department of Energy and The University of Chicago, representing Argonne National Laboratory.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is concerned generally with aqueous biphasic extraction processes. More particularly, the invention is concerned with controlling particle size and/or pH levels to control the separation behavior of silica in aqueous biphasic extraction processes.
Aqueous biphasic extraction processes are heterogeneous liquid/liquid systems that result from the use of immiscible combinations of inorganic salts and water-soluble polymers, such as polyethylene glycol. Colloid-size particles that are suspended in an aqueous biphasic system will partition to one of the two immiscible phases, depending on a complex balancing of particle interactions with the surrounding solvent. With regard to waste treatment applications, aqueous biphasic systems are similar to conventional solvent extraction. However, aqueous systems do not utilize an organic diluent which may itself become a source of pollution. While biphasic separation processes are known, there still remain substantial problems in separating particular substances. For example, silica-based substances are considered impurities in numerous common substances, such as clays. Historically, efficient and inexpensive removal of excess silica (which can coexist as a separate phase in a mechanical mixture with silica chemically bonded to desirable materials) from desirable materials, such as kaolin clay in particular, has been unavailable.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved biphasic aqueous extraction process.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel method of separating silica from other materials.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved aqueous biphasic extraction system for separating silica from other materials.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an improved method of separating silica from materials using precise pH control of an aqueous biphasic extraction process.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a novel method of separating silica, metallic oxides and other metallic compounds utilizing control of pH and particle size in combination.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention, together with the organization and manner of operation thereof, will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when taken into conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates an aqueous biphasic extraction process controlled in accordance with one aspect of the invention to separate silica from metal oxides; and
FIG. 2 shows an aqueous biphasic extraction process controlled in accordance with another aspect of the invention to separate excess silica from kaolin clay.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the figures, and more particularly to FIG. 1, an aqueous biphasic extraction method controlled in accordance with the invention is shown in the form of a flow diagram. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the general concept of extraction of metallic compounds will be described with reference to an illustrative metal oxide example, extraction of colloidal plutonium oxides.
Many plutonium residues are heterogeneous and, therefore, are amenable to physical beneficiation techniques. Such plutonium residues contain plutonium oxides which are often embedded in a complex matrix of silicates. However, particle size reduction of the plutonium residues, such as by ultrafine grinding, can be used to liberate the plutonium oxides from the matrix of the waste material. This grinding operation can be performed by a variety of commercially available devices. Once liberated, an aqueous biphasic extraction process can be used to separate and recover the plutonium oxides.
As a nonlimiting example of plutonium extraction, separation of plutonium oxides from a silica-based substance will be described. An aqueous biphasic extraction process utilized a first phase of 15% polyethylene glycol (PEG) with a molecular weight of 3400 and a second phase of 7.5% sodium sulfate (Na 2 SO 4 ). It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that a wide variety of starting phase constituents can be used in the biphasic process, including, but not limited to, sodium carbonate (which reduces environmental concerns) and sodium phosphate. The silica matrix containing the plutonium oxides was introduced into the starting phase constituents to commence the aqueous biphasic extraction process.
In one form of the invention the Applicants have determined that when the starting phase constituents of the above-described aqueous biphasic extraction process are controlled to a pH level of 3, greater than 99% of the plutonium oxide particles reported to the bottom sodium sulfate phase. At the same time greater than 99.99% of the silica particles reported to the top (PEG) phase.
Applicants have determined that silica migration between the two phases of the aqueous biphasic extraction system can be controlled by pH alone. This feature enables efficient and relatively inexpensive separation of the silica from the metal oxides and like compounds. In another aspect of the preferred invention, the pH range of the starting constituents of the aqueous biphasic extraction system are controlled to pH levels between 6 and 8. Applicants have determined that the silica migrates to the sodium sulfate (lower) phase at these pH levels.
The paper industry and other commercial industries utilize large amounts of kaolin clay in their paper producing processes. At the present time, certain ore deposits are unusable due to contamination by ultrafine quartz particles. Therefore, kaolin clay, which is contaminated by excess quartz, and which would otherwise be unusable due to the abrasiveness of the quartz contamination, can be purified using an aqueous biphasic extraction system controlled in accordance with Applicants' invention.
In the process of this form of the invention, the quartz-contaminated kaolin clay is introduced into the aqueous phases of the biphasic extraction system. The aqueous phases are controlled to a pH range between 6 and 8, yielding highly effective separation of particulate quartz to the lower sodium sulfate phase. The kaolin clay on the other hand migrates to the PEG phase, and a high degree of separation results. Accordingly, large amounts of kaolin clay deposits which have previously been less valuable commercially can now be commercially exploited after purification in accordance with the invention.
EXAMPLE 1
Separation of a PuO 2 /SiO 2 mixture was performed using the PEG/sodium sulfate biphase system previously described. Polymeric plutonium (Pu(IV)) was used for testing purposes rather than particulate PuO 2 . It is expected that the critical surface properties of the plutonium polymer and the PuO 2 particles found in the plutonium residues are similar. The surfaces of both contain hydrated Pu--O--Pu and Pu--OH sites and should therefore display similar partitioning behavior. Further, the crystal structure of the polymeric plutonium is identical to particulate PuO 2 .
As with other metal oxides, polymeric plutonium reported quantitatively to the sulfate layer. Its partition coefficient in the PEG-3400/sodium sulfate system at starting constituent pH levels of about 1-4 is approximately 0.001. During the extraction of polymeric plutonium in the presence of ground amorphous silica, the silica reported to the top phase, leaving the bottom phase with no trace of cloudiness. The size distribution of the ground silica was between about 0.2 and 1.0 microns. Because the bottom phase was clear, the silica concentration in that phase was estimated as less than 10 -4 wt %. Based on the total amount of silica added, slightly greater than 99.99% of the silica had partitioned into the top phase. With greater than 99% of the polymeric plutonium remaining in the bottom phase, a separation factor greater than 10 6 was obtained in a single stage.
EXAMPLE 2
The same procedure in Example 1 was followed except sodium carbonate solution was substituted for sodium sulfate. Substantially the same degree of separation was achieved.
While preferred embodiments have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. Various features of the invention are defined in the following claims. | A process for aqueous biphasic extraction of metallic oxides and the like from substances containing silica. Control of media pH enables efficient and effective partition of mixture components. The inventive method may be employed to remove excess silica from kaolin clay. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the present invention relates generally to dispensers, and particularly to dispensers for gel or cream-like products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Deodorants, pharmaceuticals and beauty aids in the form of cream or gel products are often applied by forcing them through apertures in the dome of a container with an elevator within the container that is advanced toward the dome by turning a knob or by some other manually operable mechanism.
One of the problems encountered is that continuous application of pressure by the elevator in the contained cream product, after a desired amount of gel or cream (such as an antiperspirant, for example) has been dispensed causes a liquid phase separation of the cream or any product that would separate into the liquid phase under compression, allowing the silicon portion of an antiperspirant, for example, to separate and flow through the apertures in the dome and down the sides of the container so as to get on the hands of a user as well as on the surface where the container is stored. This is generally referred to as weeping. This same problem may occur with certain gel products.
In some applicators designed to overcome this problem, a spring forces the elevator away from the dome of the container so as to relieve pressure on the cream after a desired amount of cream or gel has been dispensed. Examples of such applicators are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,756,730 and 5,000,356, and in the European Patent No. 95307297.2.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In one applicator of this invention, the elevator is attached to pins that ride on an helical ramp having valleys distributed along it. As the pins ride the up ramp side of a valley, the elevator is advanced so as to dispense cream or gel, but when the pins reach the down ramp side of the next valley along the ramp, the pressure in the cream or gel against the elevator forces the pins down the down ramp side of the valley so as to retract the elevator and relieve the pressure on the cream or gel that would otherwise cause weeping. It is important that the down ramp sides of the valleys be steep enough to permit the force exerted against the elevator by pressure in the cream or gel to overcome the force of friction between the periphery of the elevator and the inner wall of the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Various embodiment of the present inventions are described with reference to drawings, in which like items are identified by the same reference designation, wherein:
FIG. 1A is an external view of the container of the invention showing some of the internal components;
FIG. 1B is a top view of the container of FIG. 1A showing apertures in its dome through which cream or gel is extruded;
FIG. 2A is a cross-section 2, 2 of FIG. 1A in one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of the lower portion of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 3A is a top view of a collar;
FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view 3B, 3B of FIG. 3A collar;
FIG. 3C is a bottom view of the collar of FIG. 3A;
FIG. 3D is an external view of the base portion of a spindle carrying the helical ramp showing its seal;
FIG. 4 illustrates a helical ramp mounted around a spindle;
FIG. 5A is an axial view of one turn of an helical ramp;
FIG. 5B is a side view of one-half of the turn shown in FIG. 5A;
FIG. 5C is a table illustrating details of a ramp that can be used in this invention;
FIG. 6A illustrates the "a" turn of the ramp of FIG. 5C formed into a straight line;
FIG. 6B illustrates the "a" turn of a ramp of FIG. 5C formed into a straight line;
FIG. 7 is an outside projection view of the top of an elevator;
FIG. 7A is a section 7A, 7A of FIG. 7;
FIG. 7B is a top view of the elevator of FIG. 7;
FIG. 7C is a bottom view of the elevator of FIG. 7;
FIG. 7D is a section 7D, 7D of FIG. 7C;
FIG. 7E is a section of 7E, 7E of FIG. 7C;
FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, and 8D illustrate the progression of a pin through the valleys of an helical ramp;
FIG. 9 is an axial cross-section through an elevator having a unitary structure;
FIG. 9A is a top view of the elevator of FIG. 9;
FIG. 9B is a bottom view of the elevator of FIG. 9;
FIG. 9C is a section 9C, 9C of FIG. 9B; and
FIG. 9D is a section 9D, 9D of FIG. 9B.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1A and 1B are exterior views of a container 2 having a knob 4 at one end, a dome 6 at the other, and apertures 8 in the dome 6. Although not usually visible from the outside, an elevator 10 that is driven toward the dome 6 by turning the knob 4 and a spindle 12 that supports an helical ramp 14 on which the elevator 10 rides are shown so as to give a general illustration of the overall operation of the applicator. Note that for purposes of illustration cream products are discussed, but gel products may also be applicable.
Although not shown, the cream to be applied is between the elevator 10 and the dome 6. When the elevator 10 is advanced toward the dome 6, the portions of the dome 6 between and around the apertures 8 produce considerable back pressure on the cream that if allowed to remain, would cause the cream to undergo a liquid phase separation and weep through the apertures 8. Note that for purpose of this illustration cream refers to any compound that can undergo liquid phase separation, where products of the compound separate under pressure.
In the cross-section 2, 2 of FIG. 1 that is shown in FIG. 2, it is seen that the outer periphery 16 of the elevator 10 is in contact with the inner wall 18 of the container 2, which, as shown in FIG. 1B, is other than circular in cross-section. The spindle 12 with the helical ramp 14 wrapped around it is coaxial with the container 2 so as to extend through the elevator 10, which in this embodiment of the invention, is comprised of a cup 20 and a collar 22. The cylindrical collar 22 has an external circumferential groove 24 that snaps onto a circumferential ridge 26 around the inside of the cup 20. Cup 20 also includes an inner circular flange 25. Diametrically opposed pins 28 and 30, not shown, that are axially displaced by the height of one-half turn of the helix 14 extend inwardly from the front and rear of the collar 22 so as to ride on diametrically opposed front and rear sides of the ramp 14. Thus, as the spindle 12 is axially rotated in one direction, the pins 28 and 30 ride up the ramp 14, carrying the collar 22 and the cup 20 that form the elevator 10 with them so as to force any cream within the container 2 that is between the elevator 10 and the dome 6 through the apertures 8 in the dome 6. As the pins 28 and 30 ride on the helical ramp 14 they follow the contours of specially shaped valleys 32 in the ramp 14. Note that the valleys each have a radius at their peaks as shown in enlarged views such as FIG. 5B. Also, although not shown in FIGS. 2, 2A, and 4, the peaks are generally not in vertical alignment with one another, but skewed relative to one another as described below with reference to FIGS. 5C and 6B.
The spindle 12 is mounted for axial rotation by affixing its bottom end to a hub 34 that is mounted for axial rotation on the inside of the container 2. The knob 4 is attached by a shaft 36 to the hub 34. Thus, turning the knob 4 in the proper direction causes the spindle 12 and the helical ramp 14 to rotate so as to advance the elevator 10 toward the dome 6.
In this particular embodiment of the invention, the hub 34 has a cylindrical axial extension 38 of smaller diameter on the side facing the knob 4 so as to form a circular shelf 40 that interfits with the inner end 42 of a reentrant tube 44 of the container 2 to provide a circular bearing. A bearing surface 46 of the knob 4 bears against a surface 48 at the end of the container 2. In assembly, the spindle 12 to which the collar 22 and the cup 20 have been attached is thrust along the axis of the container 2 until the shelf 40 of the hub 34 snaps over the inner end 42 of the reentrant tube 44, at which point the bearing surface 46 of the knob 4 will bear against the surface 48 of the container 2.
Cream within the container 2 is prevented from passing between its inner wall 18 and the outer periphery of the cup 20 of the elevator 10 because of the frictional contact between them, and it is prevented from passing between the elevator 10 and the collar 22 by the engagement of the ridge 26 and the groove 24.
In order to prevent separation products of the compound from escaping through the collar 22 along the helical ramp 14, a sealing bead 50 extending around the spindle 12 and adjacent to the hub 34 is in pressure contact with the inside of the collar 22.
Note that the collar 22 consists of a high density polyethylene (HDPE) material or other suitable high density resin material. The remainder of the container consists of polypropylene or other suitable material.
Reference is made to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C for a more detailed description of an embodiment of the collar 22. In the axial cross-section of FIG. 3A, the diametrically opposed pins 28 and 30 extend radially inward from the collar 22 and are axially displaced by one-half the elevation of a turn of the helical ramp 14. The annular groove 24 is adjacent the top of the collar 22. Before assembly, the collar 22 has a longitudinal gap 54 parallel to its axis, but when assembled as shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A, the gap 54 is closed so as to provide a continuous surface against which the sealing bead 50 bears. Extending downwardly and outwardly from the outside of the collar 22 are legs 56, 58, 60, and 62 that as seen in FIG. 2 rest on the hub 34. FIG. 3A is a top view of the collar 22, FIG. 3B is a section 3B, 3B thereof, FIG. 3C is a bottom view of the collar 22, and FIG. 3D is an external enlarged view of the hub 34 showing the projection 38 from the hub that with the hub form the circular shelf 40, the sealing bead 50 and the shaft 36 between the projection 38 and a knob that is not shown.
In FIG. 4 the helical ramp 14 that winds around the spindle 12 is shown to have turns "a" through "t" of a low slope. Distributed along the ramp 14 are the valleys 32. The valleys 32 of turns "a" through "s" vary in length and depth to provide random pressure relief. Note that "t" is a starter thread (see FIG. 5C).
In a single turn of the ramp 14 depicted in the axial view of the spindle 12 shown in FIG. 5A, each of a pair of diametrically opposed valleys 62 and 64 subtend and angle of A° around the spindle 12, and each of another pair of diametrically opposed valleys 66 and 68 subtend and angle of B°. FIG. 5B is a side view 5B, 5B of FIG. 5A in which only valleys 64 and 68 are visible. They meet at a peak 70. Although the valley 66 of FIG. 5A is not visible of FIG. 5B it meets the valley 64 at a peak 72. Similarly, the valley 62 meets the valley 68 at a peak 74.
The slope of the ramp 14 is illustrated by a dashed line drawn through the peaks 70 and 72 and a dashed line 78 drawn through the peaks 70 and 74. A dashed line 80 that is parallel to the dashed line 76 passes through the bottom 82 of the valley 64 so that the depth of the valley 64 is the distance D between the dashed lines 76 and 80. A dashed line 84 that is parallel through the dashed line 78 passes through the bottom 86 of the valley 68 so that the depth of the valley 68 is the distance C between the dashed lines 78 and 84.
Since diametrically opposed valleys of a single turn are identical, the valleys 62 and 64 are of the depth D and subtend angle of A° about the spindle 12, and the valleys 66 and 68 are of the depth C and subtend angle of B°. In each case, A°+B°=180°.
The table of FIG. 5C illustrates one example of the lengths and depths of the valleys in the turns "a" through "s" of the ramp 14. If A=75°, B=105°, C=0.013" and D=0.012", FIGS. 5A and 5B show the turn "b". As indicated, thread "t" is a starter thread.
FIG. 6A shows what the turn "a" of FIG. 5C would look like if it were straightened out. The dimensions on the left are measurements from the top of the ramp 14. Identical valleys 88 and 90 that would be on opposite sides of the spindle 12 subtend an angle "A" of 90° and have a depth of 0.012". Although not shown in this drawing, the valleys 88 and 90 are axially displaced with respect to each other by one-half the height of one turn. Identical valleys 92 and 94 that would be on opposite sides of the spindle 12, subtend an angle "B" of 90° and have a depth of 0.010".
FIG. 6B shows what the turn "m" in the table of FIG. 5C would look like if it were straightened out. The dimensions of depth are shown by the horizontal dashed lines. Valleys 94 and 96 would be on opposite sides of the spindle 12, and although not shown they are axially displaced with respect to each other by one-half the height of one turn. The valleys 94 and 96 are necessarily identical with their subtended angles being A=105° and their depth below the ramp being 0.016". The other pair of valleys 98 and 100 of the turn "m" are also identical and axially spaced by one-half the axial height of one turn, but the subtended angles are B=75°, and their depths are 0.024".
FIG. 7 is an external view of the cup 20 by itself showing the ridge 26 that is to snap into the circumferential groove 24 of the collar 22 (see FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C). In the cross-section 7A of FIG. 7, pairs of fingers such as 102 and 104 extend downwardly from around the ridge 26, with the fingers 102 and 104 having vertical edges 106 spaced slightly from each other and tapered bottoms 108. In Fingers 2 and 2A the cross-section of such fingers appear at 110 and 112. FIG. 7B is a top view of the cup 20, and FIG. 7C is a bottom view, in which only the fingers 104 are identified by number. The fingers are flexible and forced outwardly by the collar 22 so as to stabilize the structure of the elevator 10 (see FIG. 2A). FIG. 7D is a section of FIG. 7C, and FIG. 7E is a section of 7C, showing fingers 110 and 112. Note that the outer periphery 16 of the elevator 10 (see FIG. 2A), which is the outer periphery of the cup 20, is farther from the center in FIG. 7D than in FIG. 7E because of the oval shape of the cup 20.
Operation of the applicator of this invention will now be described by reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, and 8D showing different positions of a pin, such as the pin 28, as the spindle 12 is rotated. In FIG. 8A, the pin 28 is resting at the bottom of a valley 110, but as the spindle 12 is rotated, the pin 28 rides up the up ramp side 112 of the valley 110 so as to force the elevator mechanism 10 upwardly toward the dome 6 and force the substance between the elevator 10 and the dome 6 through the apertures 8.
The maximum movement of the elevator 10 during this portion of the operation occurs when the pin 28 is on top of a ridge between the valley 110 and the next valley 116 along the ramp 114. When the ramp 14 is rotated a little bit more, the pin 28 is forced down the down ramp portion 118 of the valley 116 as shown in FIG. 8D by the pressure in substance being distributed so as to relieve that pressure and prevent the substance from weeping out of the apertures 8. It is important that the down ramp sides of a valley be steeper than the up ramp sides.
Reference is made to the axial cross-section of FIG. 9 for a description of an applicator having an elevator 10 of unitary construction so as to eliminate the collar 22. A cup 120 is provided having the same outer shape as the cup 20 of FIGS. 2 and 2A, but a cylindrical section 122 is formed at the center with such inner diameter as to form a seal with the sealing bead 50. Thus the section 122 takes the place of fingers like 102 and 104 in FIG. 2 and 2A and rests on the top of the hub 34. Pins extend radically inward from the front and back of the cylindrical section 122 at position such as indicated at 28 and 30 and rides on the ramp 14.
FIG. 9A is a top view of the cup 120 showing pins 124 and 126, and FIG. 9B is a bottom view. FIG. 9C is a cross-section of 9C, 9C of FIG. 9B showing the axial displacement between the pins 124 and 126, and FIG. 9D is a cross-section of 9D, 9D of FIG. 9B.
Although various embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail, they are not meant to be limiting. Those of skill in the art may recognize certain modifications to these embodiments, which modifications are meant to covered by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | An applicator for cream-like or gel-like compounds having an elevator in a container that is advanced toward a dome applicator head at one end of the container by turning a helical ramp that engages ramp follows attached to the elevator, the ramp having valleys therein that allow pressure that is present in the compound after a portion has been dispensed through the apertures to force the elevator away from the dome so as to relieve the pressure and prevent the formation of liquid-phase separation products from weeping through the apertures. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a novel crystalline form of 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole. 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole is known under the generic name omeprazole and its novel crystalline form is hereinafter referred to as omeprazole form A. Further, the present invention also relates to use of omeprazole form A for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, pharmaceutical compositions containing omeprazole form A and processes for the preparation of omeprazole form A.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
The compound 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole, having the generic name omeprazole, as well as therapeutically acceptable salts thereof, are described in EP 5129. The single crystal X-ray data and the derived molecular structure of the so far only known crystal form of omeprazole is described by Ohishi et al., Acta Cryst. (1989), C45, 1921-1923. This published crystal form of omeprazole is hereinafter referred to as omeprazole form B.
Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor, i.e. effective in inhibiting gastric acid secretion, and is useful as an antiulcer agent. In a more general sense, omeprazole may be used for treatment of gastric-acid related diseases in mammals and especially in man.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an X-ray powder diffractogram of omeprazole form A.
FIG. 2 is an X-ray powder diffractogram of omeprazole form B.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It has surprisingly been found that the substance omeprazole can exist in more than one crystal form. It is an object of the present invention to provide omeprazole form A. Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the preparation of omeprazole form A, substantially free from other forms of omeprazole. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) is used as a method of differentiating omeprazole form A from other crystalline and non-crystalline forms of omeprazole. Additionally it is an object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical formulations comprising omeprazole form A.
Omeprazole form A is a crystalline form exhibiting advantageous properties, such as being well-defined, being thermodynamically more stable and less hygroscopic than omeprazole form B, especially at room temperature. Omeprazole form A does also show a better chemical stability, such as thermo stability and light stability, than omeprazole form B.
Omeprazole form B can under certain conditions, completely or partly, be converted into omeprazole form A. Omeprazole form A is thereby characterized in being thermodynamically more stable than omeprazole form B.
Omeprazole form A is further characterized as being essentially non-hygroscopic.
Omeprazole form A is characterized by the positions and intensities of the peaks in the X-ray powder diffractogram, as well as by the unit cell parameters. The unit cell dimensions have been calculated from accurate Guinier data. The X-ray powder diffractogram data as well as the unit cell parameters for omeprazole form B are different compared to omeprazole form A. Omeprazole form A can thereby be distinguished from omeprazole form B, using X-ray powder diffraction.
Omeprazole form A, according to the present invention, is characterized in providing an X-ray powder diffraction pattern, as in FIG. 1, exhibiting substantially the following d-values and intensities;
______________________________________Form A Form Ad-value Relative d-value Relative (Å) intensity (Å) intensity______________________________________9.5 vs 3.71 s 7.9 s 3.59 m 7.4 w 3.48 m 7.2 vs 3.45 s 6.0 m 3.31 w 5.6 s 3.22 s 5.2 s 3.17 m 5.1 s 3.11 w 4.89 w 3.04 w 4.64 m 3.00 w 4.60 m 2.91 w 4.53 w 2.86 w 4.49 m 2.85 w 4.31 m 2.75 w 4.19 w 2.67 w 4.15 w 2.45 w 3.95 w 2.41 w______________________________________
The peaks, identified with d-values calculated from the Bragg formula and intensities, have been extracted from the Guinier diffractogram of omeprazole form A. The relative intensities are less reliable and instead of numerical values the following definitions are used;
______________________________________% Relative Intensity* Definition______________________________________25-100 vs (very strong) 10-25 s (strong) 3-10 m (medium) 1-3 w (weak)______________________________________ *The relative intensities are derived from diffractograms measured with fixed slits.
Omeprazole form A according to the present invention is further characterized by a triclinic unit cell with parameters;
a=10.410(4)Å
b=10.468(3)Å
c=9.729(4)Å
α=111.51(3)°
β=116.78(3)°
γ=90.77(3)°
Omeprazole form A can also be characterized by Raman spectroscopy, where omeprazole form A is characterized by the absence of a band at 1364 cm -1 , which is observed for omeprazole form B, and by the ratio of the relative intensities of the 842 and 836 cm-1 bands. The ratio (intensity of 842 cm-1 band/intensity of 836 cm-I band) is <1 for omeprazole form A, while the ratio is >1 for omeprazole form B.
According to the invention there is further provided a process for the preparation of omeprazole form A.
Omeprazole form A is obtained upon slow crystallization and omeprazole form B is obtained from fast crystallization. Omeprazole form A may be prepared by reaction crystallisation or recrystallizing omeprazole of any form, or mixtures of any forms, in an appropriate solvent, such as for instance methanol, at around room temperature and for a prolonged time period. Examples of prolonged time periods include, but are not limited to, a few hours, such as 2 hours, up to several weeks. Suitable solvents are alkyl alcohols and especially a lower alcohol comprising 1-4 carbon atoms.
Omeprazole form A may also be prepared by suspending omeprazole of any form, or mixtures of any forms, in an appropriate solvent at around room temperature and for a prolonged time period. Examples of appropriate solvents include, but are not limited to, methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, methyl tert. butyl ether, toluene, or any mixture thereof. Examples of prolonged time periods include, but are not limited to, a few hours, such as 2 hours, up to several weeks.
The omeprazole form A obtained according to the present invention is substantially free from other crystal and non-crystal forms of omeprazole, such as omeprazole form B. Substantially free from other forms of omeprazole shall be understood to mean that omeprazole form A contains less than 10%, preferably less than 5%, of any other forms of omeprazole, e.g. omeprazole form B.
Omeprazole form A in mixture with other solid form/forms of omeprazole, e.g. omeprazole form B, also exhibits advantageous properties, such as being chemically more stable than pure omeprazole form B. Mixtures comprising a certain amount of omeprazole form A, by weight, are also chemically more stable than other mixtures comprising a lesser amount of omeprazole form A, by weight. Such mixtures comprising omeprazole form A can be prepared, for example, by mixing omeprazole form A prepared according to the present invention with other solid forms of omeprazole, such as form B, prepared according to prior art.
The present invention also relates to mixtures comprising omeprazole form A in mixture with other solid forms of omeprazole. Such mixtures comprising omeprazole form A include for instance mixtures containing a detectable amount of omeprazole form A, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 98% or 99% (by weight), of omeprazole form A.
Examples of other solid forms of omeprazole include, but are not limited to, omeprazole form B, amorphous forms, and other polymorphs.
A detectable amount of omeprazole form A is an amount that can be detected using conventional techniques, such as FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, XRPD and the like.
The expression chemical stability includes, but is not limited to, thermo stability and light stability.
The compound of the invention, i.e. omeprazole form A, pre pared according to the present invention is analyzed, characterized and differentiated from omeprazole form B by X-ray powder diffraction, a technique which is known per se. Another suitable technique to analyze, characterize and differentiate omeprazole form A from omeprazole form B is by Raman spectroscopy.
Omeprazole form A is effective as a gastric acid secretion inhibitor, and is useful as an antiulcer agent. In a more general sense, it can be used for treatment of gastric-acid related conditions in mammals and especially in man, including e.g. reflux esophagitis, gastritis, duodenitis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. Furthermore, it may be used for treatment of other gastrointestinal disorders where gastric acid inhibitory effect is desirable e.g. in patients on NSAID therapy, in patients with Non Ulcer Dyspepsia, in patients with symptomatic gastro-esophageal reflux disease, and in patients with gastrinomas. The compound of the invention may also be used in patients in intensive care situations, in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding, pre- and postoperatively to prevent aspiration of gastric acid and to treat stress ulceration. Further, the compound of the invention may be useful in the treatment of psoriasis as well as in the treatment of Helicobacter infections and diseases related to these. The compound of the invention may also be used for treatment of inflammatory conditions in mammals, including man.
Any suitable route of administration may be employed for providing the patient with an effective dosage of omeprazole form A according to the invention. For example, peroral or parenteral formulations and the like may be employed. Dosage forms include capsules, tablets, dispersions, suspensions and the like, e.g. enteric-coated capsules and/or tablets, capsules and/or tablets containing enteric-coated pellets of omeprazole. In all dosage forms omeprazole form A can be admixtured with other suitable constituents.
According to the invention there is further provided a pharmaceutical composition comprising omeprazole form A, as active ingredient, in association with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient and optionally other therapeutic ingredients. Compositions comprising other therapeutic ingredients are especially of interest in the treatment of Helicobacter infections. The invention also provides the use of omeprazole form A in the manufacture of a medicament for use in the treatment of a gastric-acid related condition and a method of treating a gastric-acid related condition which method comprises administering to a subject suffering from said condition a therapeutically effective amount of omeprazole form A.
The compositions of the invention include compositions suitable for peroral or parenteral administration. The compositions may be conveniently presented in unit dosage forms, and prepared by any methods known in the art of pharmacy.
In the practice of the invention, the most suitable route of administration as well as the magnitude of a therapeutic dose of omeprazole form A in any given case will depend on the nature and severity of the disease to be treated. The dose, and dose frequency, may also vary according to the age, body weight, and response of the individual patient. Special requirements may be needed for patients having Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, such as a need for higher doses than the average patient. Children and patients with liver diseases as well as patients under long term treatment will generally benefit from doses that are somewhat lower than the average. Thus, in some conditions it may be necessary to use doses outside the ranges stated below. Such higher and lower doses are within the scope of the present invention.
In general, a suitable oral dosage form may cover a dose range from 5 mg to 250 mg total daily dose, administered in one single dose or equally divided doses. A preferred dosage range is from 10 mg to 80 mg.
The compound of the invention may be combined as the active component in intimate admixture with a pharmaceutical carrier according to conventional techniques, such as the oral formulations described in WO 96/01623 and EP 247 983, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated as a whole by reference.
Combination therapies comprising omeprazole form A and other active ingredients in separate dosage forms, or in one fixed dosage form, may also be used. Examples of such active ingredients include anti-bacterial compounds, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, antacid agents, alginates and prokinetic agents.
The examples which follow will further illustrate the preparation of the compound of the invention, i.e. omeprazole form A, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined hereinabove or as claimed below.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Preparation of omeprazole form A
Omeprazole (55.8 g) is added a room temperature to methanol (348 ml) containing ammonia (1.3 ml; 25%). The suspension is thereafter stirred in darkness for approximately 45 hours and then filtered. The filtrate is dried 18 hours at 30° C. under reduced pressure (<5 mbar). Yield: 43.9 g.
Example 2
Preparation of omeprazole form B
Omeprazole (50 g)is added to methanol (750 ml) containing ammonia (0.7 ml; 25%) at 50° C. The solution is thereafter filtered and cooled in about 20 minutes to approximately 0° C. The formed crystals are filtered and washed with ice cooled methanol and then dried. is The filtrate was dried 24 hours at 40° C. under reduced pressure (<5 mbar). Yield: 39 g.
Example 3
Characterization of omeprazole form A and omeprazole form B using X-ray powder diffraction
X-ray diffraction analysis was performed according to standard methods which can be found in e.g. Bunn, C. W. (1948), Chemical Crystallography, Clarendon Press, London; or Klug, H. P. & Alexander, L. E. (1974), X-Ray Diffraction Procedures, John Wiley and Sons, New York. The unit cell parameters for omeprazole form A and B have been calculated from the Guinier X-ray powder diffractograms using the program "TREOR" by Werner, P. -E., Eriksson, L. and Westdahl, M., J. Appt. Crystallogr. 18 (1985) 367-370. The fact that the positions of all peaks in the diffractograms for omeprazole form A and form B may be calculated using the respective unit cell parameters, proves that the unit cells are correct and that the diffractograms are indicative of the pure forms. The diffractogram of omeprazole form A, prepared according to Example 1 in the present application, is shown in FIG. 1 and the diffractogram of omeprazole form B, prepared according to Example 2 in the present application is shown in FIG. 2.
The peaks, identified with d-values calculated from the Bragg formula and intensities, have been extracted from the diffractograms for omeprazole forms A and form B, and are given in Table 1. In this table the unit cell parameters for omeprazole forms A and B are also given. The relative intensities are less reliable and instead of numerical values the following definitions are used;
______________________________________% Relative Intensity Definition______________________________________25-100 vs (very strong) 10-25 s (strong) 3-10 m (medium) 1-3 w (weak)______________________________________
Some additional weak or very weak peaks found in the diffractograms have been omitted from table 1.
Table 1. X-ray powder diffraction data for omeprazole form A and form B shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. All peaks noted for omeprazole form A and form B can be indexed with the unit cells given below.
______________________________________Form A Form Bd-value Relative d-value Relative (Å) intensity (Å) intensity______________________________________9.5 vs 9.6 vs 7.9 s 8.0 m 7.4 w 7.9 m 7.2 vs 7.5 w 6.0 m 7.1 vs 5.6 s 5.9 m 5.2 s 5.6 m 5.1 s 5.3 s 4.89 w 5.1 s 4.64 m 4.54 m 4.60 m 4.48 s 4.53 w 4.41 m 4.49 m 4.14 w 4.31 m 3.75 s 4.19 w 3.57 m 4.15 w 3.47 s 3.95 w 3.40 w 3.71 s 3.28 s 3.59 m 3.22 m 3.48 m 3.02 w 3.45 s 2.97 w 3.31 w 2.87 w 3.22 s 2.37 w 3.17 m 3.11 w 3.04 w 3.00 w 2.91 w 2.86 w 2.85 w 2.75 w 2.67 w 2.45 w 2.41 w______________________________________
The triclinic unit cells are:
______________________________________Unit cell form A Unit cell form B______________________________________a = 10.410(4) Å a = 10.257(10) Å b = 10.468(3) Å b = 10.717(6) Å c = 9.729(4) Å c = 9.694(10) Å α = 111.51(3)° α = 112.14(7)° β = 116.78(3)° β = 115.56(5)° γ = 90.77(3)° γ = 91.76 (7)°______________________________________ | The present invention relates to a novel crystalline form of 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole, known under the generic name omeprazole. Further, the present invention also relates to the use of the novel crystalline form of 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, pharmaceutical compositions containing it as well as processes for the preparation of the novel crystalline form of 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to portable exercise devices, and more specifically, to devices for exercising muscles of the upper torso.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,617, entitled “Pectoralis Major and Upper Back Exerciser,” issued on Aug. 4, 1998, and is incorporated herein. The invention described therein represented a marked improvement over devices of the past, by providing two-way, spring-less resistance in a hand held exerciser. The exerciser included a joint between two hydraulic arms, each of which had an adjustable valve to permit more or less pneumatic resistance during operation.
[0003] While the invention described in the aforementioned patent had several advantages over the prior art, forces exerted by the user could cause damage to the joint between the two arms, particular when using an infinitely adjustable locking mechanism. Moreover, experience indicated that infinite positions of the arms relative to each other, between 0 and 180 degrees, does not provide any advantage that outweighs the disadvantage of having a joint that is too susceptible to weakening through use.
[0004] Thus, a need exists for an improved exercise device, for exercising the upper torso, and which is portable for use at home or on the road
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] According to one aspect, the present invention comprises an apparatus for exercising the muscles of the body. Preferably, the muscles of the upper torso may be exercised. However, in other aspects any muscle of the body may be exercised including, but not limited to, arm muscles, shoulder muscles, neck muscles, abdominal muscles, back muscles, leg muscles, and the like. According to one aspect, the present invention includes a first arm having a proximal end and a distal end, a second arm having a proximal end and a distal end, and joint means connecting the proximal ends of the first and second arms, for providing limited movement of the first and second arms relative to each other between 0 degrees and 180 degrees.
[0006] Preferably, the first and second arms are limited to movement between only four positions: a zero degree orientation, a forty-five degree orientation, a ninety degree orientation, and a one hundred eighty degree orientation. These positions have been determined to be the ideal positions for movement, in terms of maximizing the usefulness of the device for exercising the muscles, and minimizing the complexity and thus cost, of the joint, while providing strong holding power when the joint is in a locked position.
[0007] The device is preferably made of two pneumatic cylinders, substantially of the same design and construction as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,617, which is hereby incorporated by reference. As described in the '617 patent, the arms have adjustable valves to vary the amount of pneumatic pressure and thus resistance to manipulation by the user.
[0008] The device is preferably of a size that allows for easy portability, e.g., storage in a suitcase or carry on bag, for easy of inclusion on travel away from home. Also, the device is preferably made of a light weight plastic material, but could also be made of light weight alloys or composite materials.
[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the device includes joint means that includes first and second mating, complimentary parts, and the arms include means for imparting fluid resistance to movement by a user. The means for imparting fluid resistance includes first and second rods connected to respective ones of the first and second mating, complimentary parts, first and second cylinders fitting onto respective ones of the first and second rods, wherein an air chamber is formed inside the first and second cylinders. Preferably, valve means, associated with each of the first and second cylinders, control fluid flow in and out of the air chambers, thereby providing means to adjust the resistance offered by each of the first and second arms.
[0010] One aspect of the invention is to keep the overall size of the device to one where the device can fit in any relatively portable luggage or baggage. For this purpose, the device includes arms that are between 12 and 18 inches in length.
[0011] The joint preferably includes a complementary fastener for holding the two complementary, mating parts of the joint together. The complementary fastener can include a bolt having an enlarged head, and a nut, which is capable of being tightened to fix the first and second arms relative to each other, and of being loosened to adjust the orientation of the first and second arms.
[0012] Another aspect of the invention is to provide an exercise device which includes a first arm having proximal and distal ends, a second arm having proximal and distal ends, and a joint connecting the first and second arms to each other at their respective proximal ends. The joint preferably including first and second mating, complementary parts, each having an interface formed with alternating projections and recesses that interfit with each other in a locked position, and a complementary fastener for alternatively separating and fixing the first and second parts in a limited number of desired positions. The limited number of desired positions includes 0, 45, 90 and 180 degrees.
[0013] Preferably, the projections and recesses are square teeth having abutting shoulders, and the number of projections and recesses is limited to the number of desired positions. In all embodiments, the first and second arms include means for providing fluid resistance.
[0014] The first and second arms includes first and second rods respectively and fixedly connected to the joint, and first and second cylinders respectively and slidably mounted on the first and second rods, and the means for providing fluid resistance includes the first and second rods, the first and second cylinders, and valve means for controlling the amount of air that enters and exits the cylinder during operation of the device.
[0015] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of exercising, which includes the steps of providing a device having two reciprocating arms connected to each other at their respective proximal ends, the two reciprocating arms having an angular orientation relative to each other, reciprocating at least one of the two arms, and changing the angular orientation of the two arms relative to each other to one of a 0, 45, 90 and 180 degree orientation.
[0016] Preferably, the step of changing the angular orientation of the two arms comprises loosening a complementary fastener, changing the angular orientation to one of 0, 45, 90 and 180 degrees, and tightening the complementary fastener. Moreover, the method further includes changing a resistance to reciprocal motion of the arms by adjusting air pressure within the two arms. The method further includes moving the two arms to a position of 45 degrees relative to each other, adjusting the air pressure to a desired level, and reciprocating the two arms by pushing and pulling the arms in alternating fashion. The method further comprises moving the two arms to a position of 90 degrees relative to each other, adjusting the air pressure to a desired level, and reciprocating the two arms by pushing and pulling the arms in alternating fashion. The method further involves moving the arms to a 180 degree position, thus making the arms in a straight line, so that they can be used to reciprocate both, or one or the other.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Further features and advantages of the invention can be ascertained from the following detailed description that is provided in connection with the drawings described below:
[0018] FIGS. 1A through 1D show the device of the present invention in its preferred degrees of orientation;
[0019] FIG. 2 is an exploded view, showing one of the arms having the cylinder separated from its supporting piston;
[0020] FIG. 3 is an enlarged, partial exploded view showing details of a preferred embodiment of the joint of the present invention; and
[0021] FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross sectional view showing the joint of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1A through 1D , an exercise device 10 includes a first arm 12 having a proximal end and a distal end, a second arm 14 having a proximal end and a distal end, and a joint 16 connecting the two arms 12 and 14 at their proximal ends. Although the operation of the arms is described in detail in the '617 patent, it bears noting that in a preferred embodiment of the invention, each arm comprises a reciprocating cylinder that moves back and forth relative to the joint 16 in response to manipulation by the user. The joint 16 includes pistons (not shown) that are mounted on piston rods. The respective rods are connected to the joint at one end, and carry pistons at the opposite ends. Airflow in and out of the cylinders is regulated by a valve so that as the valves are more closed, there is more resistance, and as the valves are more open, there is less resistance. The amount of resistance is selected by the user depending on his or her strength, or on their desired amount of exercise.
[0023] In the orientation shown in FIG. 1A , the two arms 12 , and 14 are folded over top of each other in a manner desired for stowage, as for example, in a suit case, brief case, gym bag, or other baggage used for travel. The device can have a variety of sizes, but preferably, the arms are of a length not to exceed 12-24 inches, and preferably, 12-18 inches. Even in the stowed position shown in FIG. 1A , the device 10 can be used to exercise the upper torso muscles of the user by gripping one arm with one hand, and reciprocating the arm with the other hand. This procedure can be reversed so that each arm takes turns being stationary while the other arm reciprocates. A user can emulate “push ups” by having the user lay down on his or her back, affix the joint over head to a fixed structure such as a wall or ceiling or horizontal bar, and then simultaneously push both cylinders in, and then pull them out, to thereby give two-way resistance push ups. If the resistance valves are fully closed, thereby making relative movement between the cylinders and pistons of the arms difficult or impossible, the user can loop the device 10 around a stationary bar or other structure to perform pull ups.
[0024] In the orientation of FIG. 1B , the arms 12 and 14 are moved to a position substantially at 45 degrees to one another. In this position, the user can simultaneously move the cylinders of the two arms 12 and 14 in and out for two way resistance. Alternatively, the user can hold one arm stationary, while manipulating the other arm. In any event, the forces on the joint 16 are such that a separation force must be resisted by a joint that has ease of adjustment, but strength in alternative positions.
[0025] FIG. 1C shows the arms 14 and 16 in 90 degree orientation, such that after the arms are moved into this position, the joint 16 is locked to prevent movement of the arms relative to each other. In this position, both arms 14 and 16 can be manipulated, so that the user is simultaneously moving both arms in and out. Alternatively, one arm can be held stationary while the other arm is pushed and pulled to reciprocate the one arm in and out.
[0026] In moving the arms from 45 degrees to 90 degrees, different muscles will be exercised while the device is in use. In FIG. 1D , the arms are moved into a 180 degree orientation and locked so that the user can grab the two arms, with the joint 16 approximately at the sternum, and then the arms are pushed outwardly then pulled inwardly, reciprocating both arms in front of the user. Alternatively, the user can hold one arm stationary, while reciprocating the other arm, then reversing and reciprocating the other arm.
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 2 , arm 12 is shown in simplified, exploded view. The proximal end of the arm 12 includes a base 18 fixedly connected to the joint 16 . The base 18 is preferably integrally formed by injection molding with the base 18 , and with a rod 20 . The rod 20 is preferably fluted or splined as shown, and carries the sleeve or cylinder 22 which is open at both ends. One end slides over the rod 20 and includes abutment or other means to prevent the cylinder 22 from sliding off the rod 20 once assembled. Essentially, the range of reciprocating movement for each cylinder is the length of the cylinder 22 , which when assembled, abuts the base 18 , as shown in FIG. 2 with respect to the arm 14 . Fully extracted, the cylinder 22 extends outwardly the length of the rod 20 . Air is brought into and out of the cylinder through a valve (not shown) at the end of the cylinder 22 opposite the base 18 . For more detailed understanding of the valve, reference is made to the aforementioned '617 patent.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 3 , the joint 16 is preferably of a form that includes two cylindrical mating, complimentary parts 24 and 26 , each of which supports a base 18 , 28 which in turn supports a rod 20 , 30 . Each part 24 and 26 includes complimentary projections 32 that mate with recesses 34 to lock the arms relative to each other. Any number of means can be employed to hold the two parts together, including nut and bolt, where the nut 36 is enlarged head with gripping formations around the periphery so that the user can screw and unscrew the two parts together. The bolt (not shown) can be fixedly connected to the part 24 , projecting upwardly through the inside of the two parts and into a threaded bore provided in the nut 36 . Other variations can include that the bolt is fixedly connected to the nut 36 , so that the nut is actually the head of the bold, and the threaded end of the bold can threadedly engage a bore provided in the part 24 . Any other means can be employed as long as the user can separate the parts without tools or great effort, yet when assembled, the joint locks the arms relative to each other, and resists the forces imparted on the joint by reciprocation of the arms.
[0029] The number of projections 32 and recesses 34 is limited because of the limited number of preferred angular orientations of the arms relative to each other. Preferably, the recesses and projections are deep enough so that the shoulders of the recesses are not ground off by repeated use, or do not allow slippage during use.
[0030] Preferably the device 10 is made of light weight, hard plastic in order to make the device inexpensive to manufacture, yet strong for repeated use. Other materials can be used, such as composite materials, and even light weight alloyed metals. The outer surface of the cylinders can be provided with a soft rubber sleeve to provide better grip for the user.
[0031] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing one example of a locking mechanism, where the two parts 24 and 26 are mated together, with projections mating with recesses. An adjustment screw 40 has an enlarged head 42 and an integrally formed bolt 44 which passes through the interior defined by the mated parts 24 and 26 . A nut 46 is fitted into a recess formed in the central region of the part 24 . To make an adjustment, the user turns the head 42 counterclockwise until the two parts can be pulled apart. Thereafter, the two parts are moved relative to each other until the recesses and projections are fitted together with the arms being in a desired orientation. For simplicity, there are only enough projections and recesses to allow four positions of the arms: 0, 45, 90 and 180 degrees.
[0032] Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a variety of alternative embodiments within the spirit of the appended claims. For example, while the inventive aspects have been described above mainly in conjunction with a locking joint, the invention may also take the form of a joint that uses a spring loaded adjustment mechanism or other means for easily separating the two parts of the joint and reassembling them in a different, but limited number of positions. Moreover, not all disclosed aspects need to be included in any single embodiment. Further, directional references disclosed herein are with respect to the arms relative to each other and are only illustrative in nature.
[0033] Finally, although the present invention has been described with respect to exercising the muscles of the upper torso, skilled artisans will recognize that the present invention may be used to exercise any muscles of the body. For instance, in one aspect the present invention may be used to exercise arm, shoulder, leg, torso, back, neck, hand, abdominal, and/or calf muscles. | An exercise device has two reciprocating arms, each provided with pneumatic or other fluid resistance. The angular orientation of the two arms is limited to one of 0, 45, 90, and 180 degrees. Adjustments are made by loosening a complementary fastener, moving the arms to the desired angular orientation, and then tightening the complementary fastener. Mating projections and recesses prevent movement of the arms relative to each other once the angular position is set. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a surfactant flooding method of recovering petroleum from subterranean petroleum containing formations. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for recovering high asphalt content petroleum which is otherwise not satisfactorily displaced by surfactant flooding, by incorporating a material in the surfactant preflush or surfactant solution which is moderately soluble in water and which is also an effective solvent for the asphaltic petroleum.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
Many subterranean, petroleum containing formations contain natural energy in the form of active bottom water drive, solution gas drive, or gas cap drive, in sufficient quantity to drive the petroleum to the production well from which it can be transported to the surface. This phase of oil recovery, known as primary recovery, recovers only a small portion of the petroelum originally in place. When the natural energy source has been depleted, or in those formations were insufficient natural energy was originally present to permit primary recovery, some form of supplemental treatment is required to recover additional petroleum from the formation. Water flooding is by far the most economical and widely practiced supplemental recovery procedure, and involves injecting water into the formation by one or more injection wells. The injected water displaces or moves the petroleum toward one or more production wells, where it is transported to the surface. Although considerable additional oil is recoverable by means of water flooding, usually about 50% or more of the oil originally in the formation remains in the formation after termination of conventional water flooding operations.
It is well known in the art of oil recovery that the inclusion of a surface active material or surfactant in the flood water will increase the recovery efficiency by a substantial amount. Many materials have been proposed for use in surfactant oil recovery processes. Petroleum sulfonate is a particularly popular material at the present time, although other surfactants, and combinations of surfactants are known to be very effective in special types of reservoirs for recovering petroleum.
Although surfactant flooding has been effective in some formations, there are many petroleum reservoirs known to exist which do not respond satisfactorily to surfactant flooding. Even formations having rock and formation waters similar to other formations in which surfactant flooding may be used satisfactorily are sometimes unresponsive to surfactant flooding. One common reason for failure of surfactant flooding to recover appreciable quantities of additional oil is the high asphalt content of the formation petroleum. When the formation petroleum contains large amounts of asphalt and/or asphaltenes, these materials adsorb on formation rock or sand surfaces and consequently make the formation surfaces oil wet, with the result that very little additional oil recovery is achieved.
The uses of quinoline and related compounds as an interfacial tension reducer in oil recovery processes other than surfactant flooding processes have been described in the prior art, particularly in U.S. Pats. 3,490,532 and 3,732,926. The same material is also disclosed in connection with the method of transporting viscous hydrocarbon in a pipeline in U.S. Pat. 3,490,471.
In view of the foregoing discussion, it can be appreciated that there is a substantial unfulfilled need for a surfactant oil recovery method applicable to formations containing petroleum having abnormally high contents of asphaltic materials or asphaltenes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
We have discovered that asphaltic petroleum may be recovered from a subterranean, asphaltic petroleum containing formation by contacting the formation with an aqueous solution of a material which is an effective solvent for the asphaltic material contained in the petroleum, and which is sparingly soluble in water. The substance may be incorporated in a preflush which is injected into the formation immediately in advance of the surfactant solution or the material may be dissolved in the same solution as contains the surfactant material. Suitable materials for use in the process of our invention include quinoline, and related materials generally known by persons skilled in the art as coal tar bases.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The drawing illustrates the oil recovery resulting from a surfactant flood preceeded by a quinoline water preflush compared to an identical surfactant flood without the quinoline water preflush.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Surprisingly, it has been discovered that the incorporation of a small amount of quinoline or coal tar bases which contain appreciable amounts of quinoline and other related materials in aqueous surfactant solution, or in an aqueous solution used as a preflush injected in advance of the surfactant flood, will substantially increase the effectiveness of the surfactant solution for recovering asphaltic petroleum from a subterranean formation. By asphaltic petroleum is meant for the purpose of this application, any crude petroleum containing at least 1.5% by weight pentane insoluble hydrocarbons.
A variety of materials may be employed in the method of this invention. It is essential that the material used be very soluble in the asphaltic petroleum and reduce the viscosity of the petroleum in which it is dissolved as a consequence of its presence therein. It is also essential that the materials have a limited solubility in water. Surprisingly, it has been found that for several reasons it is preferable that the material not be highly soluble in water. Ideally, the solubility of the material in water should be at least 0.05 percent by weight but not more than about five or ten percent by weight, as measured in distilled water at 75°F.
There are several reasons for the preferred limited solubility in water for the material to be used in the process of our invention. If the material is highly soluble in water and in asphaltic petroleum, where will be no great tendency for the material to partition from the aqueous solution to the asphaltic petroleum phase. By contrast, when a sparingly water soluble material which is very soluble in petroleum is used, there is a strong tendency for the material to partition from an aqueous solution into the asphaltic petroleum phase in the reservoir. There is another advantage to be used in the low water soluble compound. For economic reasons, it is generally necessary to use relatively low concentrations of any material injected into a subterranean reservoir, since large volumes are generally required. If a compound is used for which the optimum treating level from the economic point of view is about the same as the maximum solubility of the material, then a saturated solution may be used and the preferred concentration is easier to maintain since there is no way that a concentration higher than needed can be inadvertently injected.
The preferred material for use in the process of our invention is quinoline, whose structure is as follows: ##EQU1##
As can be seen from the above structure, quinoline is a benzopyridine formed by fusion of a pyridine ring and a benzene ring. These hetrocyclic chemicals are derived principally from coal tar. They are weakly alkaline, hydrophilic liquids having principally aromatic characteristics.
Coal tar, which is a by-product from the manufacture of illuminating gas and the preparation of coke for use in blast furnaces used in the smelting of iron, is usually divided by means of distillation into four fractions. These fractions are generally classified by persons skilled in the art as light oil, middle oil, heavy oil and green oil plus a pitch residue. The middle oil distillate contains naphthalein, phenol, cresol, pyridine and quinoline. The heavy oil fraction also contains some quinoline but most quinoline is obtained from the middle oil cut. While quinoline exhibits strongly aromatic characteristics, and exhibits the same reactions as do benzene and pyridine, it is unique in that it is sparingly soluble in water. Approximately 0.6 grams of quinoline will dissolve in 100 grams of water, whereas 0.003 grams of naphthalein will dissolve in 100 grams of water and 0.07 grams of benzene will dissolve in 100 grams of water. Thus, the water solubility and aromatic solvent characteristics of quinoline make it ideal for the process of our invention.
Although quinoline is the especially preferred species, a much less expensive, crude form may also be used. For example, quinoline residue as is suppled by Allied Chemicals, and which contains a high content of quinoline, substituted quinolines and isoquinoline, is quite satisfactory for use in our process.
The concentration quinoline or coal tar base containing quinoline used in the process of our invention may be varied over a reasonables range from about 0.2% by weight to an essentially saturated solution which will contain approximately 0.6% by weight. For economic and operational reasons, it is generally preferable to use a solution which is essentially saturated in quinoline, since this is a particularly convenient means of maintaining the quinoline concentration at a constant effective level during the course of operating according to the process of our invention.
The quinoline or other coal tar base containing solution may be injected into the formation as a preflush in advance of the surfactant solution. From about 5 to about 30 pore volume percent of the quinoline containing preflush solution should be injected into the formation immediately prior to the injection of the surfactant containing solution.
The quinoline or other coal tar base may be dissolved in essentially fresh water, or field water containing an appreciable amount of salt may also be used. Although the presence of sodium chloride in the preflush solution is not essential or necessarily beneficial to the functioning of the process of our invention, it is an advantage of our process that quinoline may be used in field waters containing an appreciable amount of salt, since these waters are frequently available for supplemental oil recovery purposes in more abundant supply and at lower cost than fresh water.
Other materials may also be added to the preflush, for the purposes of enhancing the effectiveness of the surfactant flooding process. For example, a sacrificial compound may be incorporated into the preflush which adsorbs on the formation surfaces and thereby prevents adsorption of surfactant or other chemicals employed in the process. For example, polyphosphates such as sodium tetrapyrophosphate may be dissolved in the water along with the quinoline for the purposes of decreasing the amount of surfactant or other chemicals adsorbed on the formation mineral surfaces. Other sacrificial materials used in preflushes for this purpose include sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate, sodium phosphate, water soluble flourides and certain quaternary ammonium salts.
The quinoline may be incorporated in the aqueous surfactant solution to form a novel composition which may be used in the process of our invention. The solution comprises an aqueous solution of surfactant plus from about 0.05 to about 10% of the solubilizing agent such as quinoline. The surfactant may be petroleum sulfonate, alkyl or alkylaryl surfonates, or multi-component surfactants such as a combination of an anionic and a nonionic surfactant. A specific embodiment comprises an aqueous solution containing 0.5% by weight petroleum sulfonate and 0.6% by weight quinoline (e.g. an essentially saturated solution of quinoline). Salts such as sodium chloride may also be included in the novel fluid. This fluid may be used in the same manner as a conventional surfactant containing fluid, with or without a preflush. One preferred method of accomplishing this is to prepare quinoline saturated water and dissolve the surfactant material to be used in the supplemental oil recovery operation in the quinoline saturated water. Although water which is less than fully saturated with quinoline may be used, it is particularly desirable to use an essentially saturated solution. The pore volumes of surfactant solution which additionally contain quinoline or other coal tar bases according to the process of our invention, is not materially different from the volume which would otherwise be required in surfactant flooding. Generally from about 5 to about 30 pore volume percent of surfactant solution is utilized in surfactant oil recovery operations, and this is a satisfactory volume for use in our process when a solution containing both surfactant and quinoline is injected.
The quinoline containing preflush or surfactant solution may be used in combination with any of the surfactants used for oil recovery operations. For example, quinoline may be used in combination with petroleum sulfonates as well as other anionic surfactants such as alkyl or alkylaryl sulfonates or phosphonate. Multiple component surfactant combinations are sometimes used in formations containing water having high concentrations of salt, or hard water which contains appreciable calcium or magnesium salts, or both. For example, a combination of an anionic surfactant such as an alkylaryl surfonate plus a nonionic surfactant such as a polyethoxylated alkyl phenol are quite effective in formations containing salty or hard water. The efficiency for recovering asphaltic petroleum using multi-component surfactant combinations such as these is increased by incorporation of quinoline or coal tar bases in the preflush or in the surfactant solution or both.
It should be realized that the solubility of quinoline is about 0.6% in tap water at about 75°F, but the solubility increases with temperature and decreases as the concentration of sodium chloride or other salts or solids dissolved in the solution increases. For example, the solubility of quinoline in distilled water at 75°F is 0.667% and at 300°F it is 13.37% by weight. In a formation whose temperature is substantially above 75°F, a solution which is saturated at surface ambient temperatures may be well below the saturation level at the temperature of the formation. In some applications this is not a consideration; however, one embodiment of our invention includes heating the quinoline solution to a temperature higher than ambient temperatures and preferably to a temperature at least as great as the temperature of the oil formation into which the solution is to be injected.
When it is desired to dissolve quinoline in salt containing water, the loss of quinoline solubility due to the salt may be offset by heating the solution to a temperature above surface ambient temperature prior to saturation of the solution with quinoline. The solution should not, of course, be allowed to cool appreciably prior to being injected into the formation.
Generally if it is necessary to heat the quinoline solution, it is satisfactory to heat the solution to a temperature between about 125°F and the formation temperature.
The following laboratory experiments further serve to illustrate the methods for utilizing the process of our invention. These examples are offered only for purposes of disclosure, however, and are not intended to be limitative or restrictive.
Two core displacement tests were performed in a Salem Benoist Core using Walpole formation injection water and Walpole crude oil, a highly asphaltic crude. In both runs, a conventional surfactant flood was performed comprising a 0.3 pore volume surfactant slug containing 24 kilograms per cubic meter of Witco TRS 10 B (active) petroleum sulfonate, 1.0 kilograms per cubic meter of sodium tetrapyrophosphate, 15 kilograms per cubic meter sodium chloride, and 0.5 kilograms per cubic meter Nalco polymer Q-41-F, a polyacrylamide in tap water. This was followed by a 0.7 pore volume slug containing 0.50 kilograms per cubic meter Nalco Polymer Q-41-F in tap water, followed by Walpole injection water to a final total injected fluid value of two pore volumes. Run 1 was performed using a preliminary waterflood with water containing 15 kilograms of soidum chloride per cubic meter of solution. The preflush slug for Run 2 comprised a 0.3 pore volume slug which contained the same amount of sodium chloride as in Run 1 but was formulated in quinoline saturated water. The results are shown in the attached drawing. As can be seen, Run 2, performed with a quinoline saturated water preflush recovered 48% of the oil originally present in the core, whereas Run 1 recovered only 31% of the oil. Thus the presence of quinoline in the preflush injected into the core in advance of the surfactant solution resulted in the recovery of 55% more oil than an otherwise identical surfactant flood using a preflush which contained no quinoline. It is especially surprising that only 0.6% by weight quinoline in the preflush would result in an increase in oil recovery of this magnitude.
Two linear cores obtained from wells in the Aux Vases formation in Hamilton county, Illinois were used in the next examples. The core properties are listed in Table I below.
TABLE I______________________________________CORE PROPERTIES Core A Core B______________________________________Well depth, meters 569 578Diameter of core, cm. 5.08 5.08Core Length, cm. 12.0 46.70Core Porosity, cm.sup.3 /cm.sup.3 0.180 0.173Permeability, μm.sup.2 .026 .182______________________________________
Water from the same unit as contained in the wells from which the cores described above was obtained and analyzed, and found to contain the following dissolved solids: 35,791 milligrams per liter sodium, 6,713 milligrams per liter calcium, 912 milligrams per liter magnesium, 69,090 milligrams per liter chloride, 770 milligrams per liter sulfate, and 123 milligrams per liter bicarbonate.
Crude oil from the same unit was also used in the experiment. This oil is a 34° API oil containing 3.2% pentane insolubles (asphaltenes). The core was saturated with the above described crude and water flooded with the above described water until a high water cut was reached, after which a 0.2 pore volume preflush prepared by dissolving 1.3% sodium chloride in quinoline saturated fresh water was injected into the core. This was followed by a 0.85 pore volume slug containing the following materials prepared in fresh water: 3% TRS 10-80A, Witco Petroleum Sulfonate, 0.06% TRS 50, Witco Petroleum Sulfonate, 0.1% STP and 1.3% sodium chloride, and 500 milligrams per kilogram of Nalco polymer, a polyacrylamide. This was followed by a 1.25 pore volume slug containing 500 milligrams per kilogram Nalco polymer dissolved in fresh water as a controlled mobility displacing slug. A final recovery of approximately 88% and a final residual oil saturation of 6% were observed. This is by far the best recovery measured using this crude and core.
The above described results were obtained using Core A, the shorter of the two cores. An essentially identical experiment was performed using the longer core, Core B, with very similar results. The final oil recovery was 84.5% of the oil originally in place, and the oil saturation was reduced to approximately 9% of the pore volume.
Another experiment was performed using an Aux Vases core similar to those described above, and saturated with the same crude petroleum as was described above. The core was first flooded with a 10 pore volume percent preflush prepared in quinoline saturated fresh water and having 13 kilograms of sodium chloride per cubic meter. This was followed by a 35 pore volume percent surfactant slug containing 30 kilograms of TRS 10-80, a petroleum sulfonate per cubic meter of solution, 1.0 kilograms of STPP, sodium tetrapyrophosphate per cubic meter of solution, and 13 kilograms sodium chloride per cubic meter of solution. 0.5 kilograms of Nalco polymer solution was similarly dissolved in fresh water. This was followed by 65 pore volume percent solution containing .5 kilograms of Nalco polymer solution per cubic meter of fresh water, which was then followed by unit supply water to a high water cut. This experiment resulted in recovering slightly better than 70% of the oil originally in place, and reduced the residual oil saturation to 7% of the pore space. This is a very satisfactory response.
Thus we have disclosed and demonstrated in laboratory core displacement experiments that the inclusion of a small amount of a coal tar base such as quinoline or related compounds in the preflush solution will increase the effectiveness of a surfactant oil recovery process for recovering high asphalt content crudes. While our invention has been described in terms of a number of specific illustrated embodiments, it is not so limited since many variations thereof will be apparent to persons skilled in the related art without departing from the true spirit and scope of our invention. Similarly, while a mechanism has been disclosed to explain the benefits resulting from the use of the process of our invention, it is not necessarily represented that this is the only or even the principal explanation for the benefits to be achieved in the utilization of the process of our invention and we do not wish to be bound by any particular explanation of the operation of our process. It is out intention that our invention be limited and restricted only by those limitations and restrictions as appear in the claims appended hereinafter below. | Surfactant flooding is frequently ineffective for recovering highly asphaltic petroleum because the asphaltic constituents of the petroleum have a strong affinity for the mineral surfaces such as sand grains present in the subterranean formation, and so are inefficiently displaced by passage of a surfactant containing solution through the pore spaces of the formation. Surfactant flooding is effective for asphaltic crudes if an effective solvent for the asphaltic petroleum which has a moderate water solubility is included in the preflush solution which preceded the surfactant solution or in the surfactant solution itself. Effective materials include quinoline and crude coal tar bases which contain substantial amounts of quinoline. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dosing and dispensing device for liquid laundry detergents. The device according to the present invention is particularly adapted to pretreat fabrics with a portion of liquid detergent.
BACKAGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Dispensing devices for liquid detergent, which are to be introduced with the fabrics in the washing machine, are well known in the prior art. It is also known that it is possible to achieve a greater effectiveness in respect of stain removal by pretreating the fabrics with the liquid detergent. Pretreatment means that a certain amount of detergent is applied directly onto the dirty parts of said fabrics before they are washed in the machine. The devices in the prior art adapted to pretreat are generally dispensing devices with a spreader of liquid detergent for pretreatment purposes. In the following detergent means a detergent composition for the treatment of fabrics. This detergent composition may comprise washing additives, like bleaches, enzymes and/or others known in the art.
We found that a pretreatment spreader has to provide certain features to maximize the pretreatment performance. Such an important feature is a controlled multi-directional spreading. "Multi-directional spreading" means that the spreading is not bound to act in a predetermined direction, but it is always completely free to change the spreading direction. This ensures a comfortable spreading of the liquid detergent even on very complicated patterns of stains, without the need for the user to perform complicated movements with his hand. In this manner the spreading is also better controlled, and therefore avoids waste of liquid detergent, since it is easier to spread with accuracy only on the limited area of the stain.
Various pretreatment devices for liquid detergent are described in the prior art, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5.388,298 and 5,355,541. The pretreatment devices of U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,541 have predetermined outlets. The liquid detergent is spreaded and then rubbed on the areas of the fabrics through irregularities on the external surface of the pretreatment device itself. In this manner the application of the liquid detergent on the fabrics can not be performed with an accurate control of the direction.
One of the removable pretreatment applicators disclosed in WO 92/09737 is generically a ball. It is not specified in which direction said ball rotates. Furthermore, this ball applicator is in fact a separate piece from the dispensing device. This means that to pretreat the user has to hold the filled dosing device in one hand and the ball applicator in the other which renders the pretreatment very complicated. Furthermore, the ball applicator has to be dipped from time to time into the filled dosing device to keep the ball always wet enough for the pretreatment.
Another approach is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,660. A circular-sectioned applicator acts as a spreader of the liquid detergent onto the fabrics. Said applicator rotates about opposite pins engaged in the rim of said orifice. Said applicator is able to apply the liquid detergent flowing out of the orifice on a surface by rotating about the axis defined by the pins. A predetermined axis of rotation is therefore defined by these opposite pins. This does not allow a controlled multi-directional spreading of the liquid detergent in the pretreatment.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dosing and dispensing device adapted to pretreat fabrics with a spreader acting in a controlled multi-directional manner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process for pretreating and washing fabrics in a washing machine with the dosing and dispensing device herein described.
We have now found that this could be achieved by designing a pretreatment device with a "roller ball", i.e. a ball which rotates in all directions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a dosing and dispensing device for liquid detergent which can be introduced in a washing machine with the fabrics. Said device comprises a hollow body, an opening and means to spread at least a portion of the contained liquid detergent onto a surface of fabrics. This means comprises an orifice which lets the contained liquid detergent communicate with a ball. Said ball rotates freely in all directions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 shows the preferred embodiment of the dosing and dispensing device of the present invention adapted to pretreat fabrics.
FIG. 2 illustrates a cross sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a pretreatment device for containing liquid substances. An embodiment of the device is shown in FIG. 1. The pretreatment device (10) comprises a hollow body (13), an opening (12), an orifice (FIG. 2, 14), and a ball (16). The orifice (FIG. 2, 14) and the ball (16) form the pretreatment means. In the following "horizontal" means a direction or a plane parallel to the supporting basis of the pretreatment device in its upright position.
The hollow body (13) may be made of any material resistant to water and also to weak alkalines/acids, withstanding the temperatures reached in the washing machines. In particular, for temperatures up to 95° C. For example it is possible to use plastic materials, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, or any other similar material. Preferably said devices are transparent to allow a visible measuring and dosing of the liquid detergent into said devices. To facilitate the measuring and dosing, the device preferably comprises on the external and/or internal surface of the hollow body at least a dosing line (11).
The hollow body may be also deformable at least by the mechanical agitation during the wash cycle and resilient to regain its original shape after any deformation. This compression/springback helps wash liquid to enter in the hollow body of the device, and therefore a better dilution of the liquid detergent within the device is achieved even when said detergents are considered difficult to dispense by virtue of viscosity.
Through the opening (12) the filling of the device with the liquid detergent is achieved. When this device is put inside the washing machine with the fabrics, it also allows the dispensing of the liquid detergent into the wash liquid of the machine during the wash cycle. Several filling and dispensing openings on one device are also possible. The dimensions of the openings (12) can be chosen by any person skilled in the art. The openings are preferably permanently open. They can be also subdivided in predetermined outlets or closable as described for example in EP-A-339 197.
The orifice (FIG. 2, 14) brings in communication the contained liquid (FIG. 2, 19) with the ball (16). The dimensions and the shape of said orifice can be chosen by any person skilled in the art. The orifice can be permanently open, or it can be a slit which opens progressively upon squeezing on the hollow body of the device and closes again when the squeezing stops. With the slit the leakage tightness can be improved and the amount of liquid detergent coming in contact with said ball (16) can be better adjusted by the user. In the case of a slit, the device must be made of a deformable and resilient material. The pretreatment device of the present invention may have a single permanently open orifice or slit, but also several orifices or slits are possible in one device. Orifices and slits as defined before may be also combined in one device.
The ball (16) may be made of any water resistant material, withstanding also the temperatures reached in the washing machines. The present invention is not limited to a single ball; several balls for a single device are also possible. For example it is possible to use plastic materials, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, or any other similar material used also for the hollow body. The surface of said ball can be rough or smooth.
As said before the ball (16) has to come in contact with the contained liquid through the orifice (14) and has to have the possibility to rotate freely in all directions when spreading the liquid detergent during pretreatment. This can be accomplished in the following way referring also to FIG. 2. As schematically illustrated, the ball (16) is partially located in the volume (20) part of the hollow body (13) of the device (10). This volume (20) has two openings: the mouth (FIG. 1, 18) and the orifice (14). The ball protrudes at least partially from the mouth (18). The lip (23) of the mouth (18) holds the ball inside the mouth. The dimensions of the ball (16) and the dimensions of the mouth (18) are tuned one to each other so that the ball is not able to exit completely through the mouth. This means that the diameter of the mouth is at least slightly smaller than the diameter of the ball. In this manner, the ball is free to rotate about any axis inside the volume (20).
The liquid tightness is ensured by the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid contained in the device (10) which pushes the ball to the lip (23) of the mouth (18). In this manner any gap is closed between said ball and the mouth achieving a leakage-free device.
The ball held in this manner is not bound to act in predetermined directions. This is due to the fact that said ball is able to rotate about any possible axis, since the described holding method of said ball does not introduce any constraints. This allows a more even spreading of the liquid detergent in all possible directions. The movement of the ball upon the pretreated surface facilitates also the foaming of the spreaded liquid detergent on any type of surface, even delicate surfaces, like silk.
The pretreatment means described so far allows a controlled multidirectional spreading, i.e. a spreading which is not bound to act in a predetermined direction, but it is always completely free to change the spreading direction. This feature is particularly useful to achieve an accurate and comfortable spreading of liquid detergent, ensured also on very complicated patterns of stains. Otherwise the user would be obliged to perform complicated movements with his hand, like twisting the wrist. In this manner the spreading is also better controlled, and therefore avoids waste of liquid detergent, since it is easier to spread only on the limited area of the stain.
The ball (16) is manufactured separately from the hollow body (13). This ball can be inserted in the volume (20) by simply pushing said ball through the mouth (18). This is possible, since the lip (23) of the mouth is flexible enough to be elastically deformed, at least slightly, since said mouth, part of the hollow body, is preferably made of a plastic material. Another possibility is to mould the hollow body holding or suspending the ball in a space which will become the volume (20). The device (10) can also comprise more than one ball (16), holded separately or in a common mouth (18).
In both FIGS. 1 and 2 the pretreatment means are located in the bottom part of the device (10), with the opening (12) being on the top part of the same device. The pretreatment means being in the bottom part of the device (10) means that the level of the contained liquid detergent (19) is always above the orifice (14). The orifice (14), as explained before, allows the communication between the contained liquid (19) and the ball (16). The location of the orifice (14) on the internal wall (21) of the volume (20) can be selected by any person skilled in the art. For the device (10) of FIG. 1 and 2, the contained liquid automatically flows inside the volume (20) intercepting the ball (16), since the minimum liquid detergent level is always higher than the orifice (14).
This means that the liquid detergent needs not to be poured into the orifice, therefore the device remains in a horizontal position during the pretreatment operation allowing an easy measuring and/or controlling of the amount of liquid detergent applied onto the fabrics during the pretreatment. The measuring and/or controlling can be further facilitated by the dosing lines (11). Nevertheless, the pretreatment means can be easily located on the top part of device nearby the opening (12).
Gripping means (FIG. 1, 25) can also be provided in the form of cavities, depressions or striations on the external surface of the hollow body (13). They facilitate in holding or even squeezing the device for the pretreatment. This type of means is easy to produce during the moulding of the body of the device. Specific dimensions or shapes of the device in general can be selected by any person skilled in the art.
A process comprising the following steps, which desribe the pretreating and washing of fabrics in a washing machine with the dosing and dispensing device according to the present invention, is provided:
a dose of the total quantity of liquid detergent to be utilized during the pretreatment and washing cycle is introduced into the dosing and dispensing device;
pretreatment of the fabrics is executed with a controlled quantity of the liquid detergent dosage contained in said device and dispensed from said device through that cut;
the thus pretreated fabrics are placed in the drum of the washing machine together with said dosing and dispensing device and with other non-pretreated fabrics. | A dosing and dispensing device for liquid detergent has a hollow body and a dispenser. The hollow body has an opening for receiving liquid detergent. The dispenser spreads the liquid detergent onto a fabric to pretreat the fabric. The dispenser has a cavity and a ball positioned within the cavity. The cavity has a mouth, lips, and an orifice. The ball is retained by the lips and communicates with the orifice. The diameter of the mouth is at least slightly smaller than the diameter of the ball such that the ball protrudes partly outside of the mouth. In addition, the ball rotates freely in all directions within the cavity. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission component, in particular a plate-link chain especially for continuously adjustable, belt-driven, conical pulley transmissions. More particularly, the plate-link chain includes individual chain links formed form plate-link sets that are connected by pairs of articulation members that are inserted into apertures of the plate links and are formed as rocker members having rocker faces supported against each other. Furthermore, the invention relates to a thrust-carrying link band, especially for continuously adjustable, belt-driven, conical pulley transmissions, with at least one closed belt strand and thrust links carried by the strand. In addition, the invention relates to a continuously adjustable, belt-driven, conical pulley transmission with a first shaft and a second shaft, whereby on each of the first and second shafts two conical disks are provided that have essentially conically-formed surfaces that face each other, whereby at least one conical disk per shaft is axially movable relative to the shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such plate-link chains and transmissions are known from DE 38268009 and DE 195 44 644. Thrust link bands of the type mentioned above are known from DE 31 45 470.
In transmission components, such as plate-link chains, thrust link bands, and drive elements, because of substantial frictional forces in the frictionally-based force transfer between the endless torque-transmitting member and the conical disks in belt-driven, conical pulley transmissions, substantial pressing forces are necessary to support the drive torque transmitted by the transmission.
With increasing power concentrations at the friction points of the transmission, the losses that are therein dissipated also rise, and the thermal and mechanical load increases considerably, so that impermissibly high wear of contacting members can occur.
An object of the invention is to produce a transmission component, such as a plate-link chain, or in accordance with a further concept of the invention, a thrust link band, or in accordance with a further concept of the invention, a belt-driven, conical pulley transmission with conical disks, which relative to the state of the art particularly withstand a higher operating load or have a higher durability at the same load.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
That object is advantageously attained in plate-link chains if at least the end faces of the rocker members that are in operative contact with the conical disks are provided with a nitrogen-enriched outer layer, such as a carbon-nitride layer.
In thrust link bands, that object is advantageously achieved if at least the end faces that come into operative contact with the thrust elements are provided with a nitrogen-enriched outer layer, such as a carbon-nitride layer.
In continuously adjustable, belt-driven, conical pulley transmissions, that object is advantageously achieved if at least the truncated conical surfaces of the conical disks that are in operative contact with an endless torque-transmitting means, such as a plate-link chain or a thrust link band, are provided with a nitrogen-enriched outer layer, such as a carbon-nitride layer.
It is thereby appropriate if the outer layer is characterized in such a way that a nitrogen content of at least 0.01%, advantageously at least in the range of 0.05% to 0.1%, is present in an outer layer of at least 50 μm.
It is especially appropriate if besides a carbon-nitride process, a hardening process is likewise carried out. Thereby it is appropriate if the carburized depth in the region is greater than 0.3 mm, preferably greater than 0.5 mm.
In plate-link chains of the type mentioned, a stretching process of the extended plate-link chain is conducted, to increase the load-carrying capacity after assembly of the plate links and rocker members, in an open band in a straight strand while applying considerable pulling forces. In that way, contact areas of the plate links between the plate links and the rocker members of all plate links of a row are uniformly plastically deformed. In stretching the straight strand, an even plastic deforming of the plate links occurs in the contact areas, so that the plate links of a row of plate links are equally lengthened across the width of the plate links, or have the same length. That has the drawback that the chains do not manifest an optimal durability and performance capacity under load of the plate-link chain during operation of the continuously adjustable transmission.
An additional object of the invention is to produce a plate-link chain and a process for manufacturing a plate-link chain which, in relation to plate-link chains of the state of the art, especially withstand a higher operating toad or have a longer durability at the same load.
That is achieved in accordance with the invention with the above-mentioned plate-link chains in that the plate-link chain is stretched when in the closed condition.
The objective of the invention is also accomplished in that, with a plate-link chain of the type mentioned above, the plate links have a different plate-link inner width as a function of chain width. That result can be obtained in accordance with the invention by a stretching of the plate-link chain in the closed state, when it is in a loop.
The concept of plate-link inner width corresponds with the distance between the contours on which the two outer rocker members lie against the plate link. That is consequently a distance that is independent of whether the plate link has one central opening or two openings for receiving the rocker members. Further particulars are presented in the description of the figures.
It is, however, advantageous in another embodiment if the plate links are manufactured differently in the production process, such as by a stamping process or a cutting process, for example, or by means of a laser, or the like, and the individual plate links are stretched equally or differently and are assembled with one another or the assembled chain is stretched when in a loop.
It is also appropriate by a further embodiment if the plate links with the same plate-link inner width are produced by a stamping process and stretched differently and assembled with each other. In that embodiment the stretching can also be conducted on the individual plate links prior to assembly, or on the assembled chain when in a loop.
In accordance with a further concept of the invention, the objective of the invention can also be accomplished in connection with a plate-link chain of the type described above in that the plate links have a different degree of stretching as a function of the chain width.
That object can be advantageously accomplished in that the plate links with the same or different plate link inner widths are stretched with a different degree of stretching and can be assembled with each other. That object can also be achieved by stretching when in a loop.
In accordance with a further inventive concept, the objective of the invention can also be accomplished with a plate-link chain of the type described above in that the plate links have, as a function of chain width, a different angle between the contact areas and an axis viewed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the chain. In that way, a modulation or variation of that angle is achieved across the chain width, which allows a relatively good adaptation or position of the plate links to the partially curved rocker members during operation of the chain.
In accordance with a further inventive concept, the objective of the invention in a plate-link chain of the type described above can also be accomplished in that the plate links are acted upon in the stretching process with a stretching load at a variable angle in relation to the longitudinal direction of the plate links in that way, the plate links in their contact areas with the rocker members are stretched at different positions, and thereby strengthened such that they exhibit sufficient strength when loaded during operation of the chain, both in the straight strand between the pairs of conical disks as well as in the region of the pairs of conical disks.
It is especially advantageous if the plate links are individually stretched and subsequently assembled with one another. In another embodiment, it is appropriate that the plate links are stretched when in the assembled condition of a closed chain, such as especially in a loop arranged between two sets of conical disks of an apparatus.
The invention relates advantageously to plate-link chains in which at least one of the end faces of the rocker members per link facing the respective conical disks transmits the frictional forces between the conical disks and the plate-link chain. It can also be appropriate according to the application of the embodiment for the rocker members to be equally long or to be of different lengths.
The invention advantageously also relates, however, to plate-link chains in which the plate-link chain has, in addition to the rocker members, crosspins that transmit the frictional forces between the conical disks and the plate-link chain.
It is especially advantageous if the plate links adjacent to the edge of the plate-link chain are more highly lengthened than the plate links arranged in the middle of the plate-link chain, or if plate links adjacent to the edge of the plate-link chain have a greater inner width than the plate links arranged in the middle of the plate-link chain.
Furthermore, it is appropriate if areas of the plate links that contact the rocker members are plastically deformed by a stretching process, so that an angle is formed between the contact areas and a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the chain.
It is also appropriate when the plastically deformed contact areas of the plate links viewed across the width of the chain form a curved shape, or the shape of a polynomial of the n th degree.
It is especially advantageous if the plate-link chain is received in the gap between two pairs of conical disks and rotation and/or torque is applied during the stretching process.
It is also appropriate if the stress applied to the plate-link chain during the stretching process is caused by an axial load through contact pressure from the conical disk and/or through spreading apart of the axes of the pairs of conical disks. Accordingly, the invention also relates to an apparatus for stretching a plate-link chain. Thereby it is appropriate that the conical disks of the pairs of conical disks are movable relative to each other or are fixed.
During stretching of the plate-link chain it is appropriate if the torque that can be applied during the stretching process is substantially greater than the nominal torque during operation of a transmission equipped with a plate-link chain.
It is also appropriate for the torque applied during the stretching process to be in the region between zero and ten times, preferably three times to five times, the nominal torque during the operation of a transmission equipped with a plate-link chain.
It is also appropriate if the tension in the strand of chain during the stretching process is greater than the nominal tension during the operation of a transmission equipped with a plate-link chain.
The invention also relates to a process for manufacturing a plate-link chain and to a process for stretching a plate-link chain.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further material inventive features and details result from the following description of embodiments, which are represented in the drawings. The drawings show:
FIG. 1 shows a known plate-link chain with a double link connection in a side view;
FIG. 2 shows a side view of another design of a known plate-link chain;
FIG. 3 shows a top view of the plate-link chain shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 shows a top view corresponding with FIG. 3 to represent the triple link connection of a known plate-link chain in accordance with FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of an apparatus for stretching a plate-link chain,
FIG. 6 shows a plot;
FIG. 7 shows a plot;
FIG. 8 shows a plot;
FIG. 9 shows a representation of elongation of plate links;
FIG. 9 a shows an enlarged, fragmentary section of FIG. 9;
FIG. 9 b shows another enlarged, fragmentary section of FIG. 9;
FIG. 10 shows a plot;
FIG. 11 shows a plot;
FIG. 12 shows a plot;
FIG. 13 shows a view of a plate link;
FIG. 14 shows a plate-link chain in section;
FIG. 15 shows a schematic representation of a transmission and
FIG. 16 shows a schematic representation of a thrust link band.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1 and 3 show a side view and a top view of a portion of a known plate-link chain with standard plate links 1 and outer plate links 2 , wherein the plate links as viewed are arranged over the width B of the plate-link chain and repeat themselves in an appropriate arrangement pattern. The plate links form link sets in series. The chain links formed by the plate links 1 and 2 are articulated by articulation members that are connected with each other, which are composed of pairs of rocker members 3 , which are inserted into openings 4 in the plate links and are pivotably coupled and connected by an interlocking connection 5 with the particular associated plate links. The openings 4 can be formed in such a way that there are two openings formed per plate link for both links, or also that per plate only one opening is provided to receive rocker members for both links. The rocker members 3 have, for example, at least single convex rocker faces 6 that are directed toward each other and that can roll against each other, which permits the link movement of adjacent chain links. The rocker faces can both be convex or one rocker face can be flat or concave and the other rocker face is convex.
Such plate-link chains can be formed in such a way that at least some rocker members are at least partially non-rotatably connected with their plate links associated with their chain links.
The individual links have a center-to-center spacing 7 that in general is designated the chain pitch. The magnitude of the chain pitch 7 depends on the given extent of the rocker members 3 in the direction of movement 8 of the chain, as well as on the necessary spacing between the individual openings 4 . It is generally known that the chain pitch 7 is designed to remain unchanged over the full chain length; it can, however, also vary irregularly within given limits if necessary, in order to favorably influence the noise developed by the chain.
The rocker members have end faces at their side end areas with which they can frictionally engage the conical disks during operation of a transmission. It is advantageous for both rocker members to have the same length, so that both rocker members are in contacting engagement with the conical disk. In another embodiment it is appropriate to provide rocker members having different lengths and thereby only one rocker member per link is in frictional contact with the conical disk.
It can be seen from the top view of FIG. 3 that the chain is assembled as a double-link unit, which means that in each case two radial end links 9 , 10 , respectively, of adjacent chain links are positioned adjacent to each other between two pairs of rocker members 3 , whereby the spacing of those links formed by pairs of rocker members is correspondingly determined.
FIG. 3 likewise shows the outer layer 19 a of end face 19 , which is advantageously improved by a carbon-nitride process, and if necessary by a hardening process.
It can be seen from the top view of FIG. 4 how known chains can be constructed as triple-link units. Here can be seen over the width of the chain the standard plate links 11 and the outer plate links 12 that are set against each other in each case and separated in the direction of chain movement, whereby on the other hand, however, the spacing between links assembled by pairs of rocker members 13 can be reduced compared with the double-link unit in accordance with FIG. 3 .
The top view of FIG. 4 corresponds with another known chain construction, shown in a side view in FIG. 2, having standard plate links 11 and outer plate links 12 , whereby the articulation members are composed of pairs of rocker members 13 . These rocker members 13 are shaped in such a way that they only lie against the plate link openings 16 at two positions 14 and 15 . Between the contact positions 14 and 15 the rocker members 13 are free of the plate links 11 , 12 of the chain.
For carbon-nitriding and hardening in accordance with the invention, on at least the end faces of the endless, torque-transmitting means and/or the conical disk surfaces, a diffusion/solution treatment, for example, can be applied to produce a nitrogen-enriched outer layer (carbon-nitrided layer) with subsequent hardening.
For case hardened steels as the material for the chain, thrust link belt, or conical disk transmission components, the following results, for example, are produced:
Annealing treatment for the purpose of outer layer carburization, or outer layer carburization and nitrification, in the temperature range between 780° C. and 1050° C. The duration of the annealing treatment is determined by the desired case hardening depth and the process/medium selected for carburizing or nitrification (gas, salt bath, or granulate). The preferred process is gas carburizing/nitrification in a carburizing atmosphere, in which natural gas, propane, or other C-containing enrichment gases and ammonia are admixed as reaction gases.
Furnace cooling to hardening temperature with subsequent martensitic hardening by quenching to T<Ms. The retention time at hardening temperature is to be selected corresponding to the necessary duration until temperature equilibrium is reached in the structural component.
Tempering/annealing at temperatures between 150° C. and 250° C.
The case hardening depth of conical disks is preferably greater than 0.5 mm. A possible variant of carbon-nitriding in connection with the case hardening is the separation of carburizing and nitrification in the individual annealing phases: during diffusion annealing ( 1 ) carburizing takes place, and nitrification at hardening temperature. That method has the following advantages compared with simultaneous carburizing and nitrification: 1. better possibility of regulating C-potential, 2. smaller carbon-nitrided layer densities on the basis of shorter nitrification times and therewith thoroughly lower total C and N concentrations, that is, higher toughness and less residual austenite in the outer area.
Carbon-nitriding in roller bearing or heat-treatable steels:
With roller bearing or heat-treatable steels as a basic material for friction-force-carrying elements of the endless, torque-transmitting loop member, carbon-nitriding preferably takes place directly at hardening temperature without the prior diffusion annealing treatment employed in connection with case-hardening steels. The hardening temperatures typically lie between 800° C. and 900° C., the holding times between 10′ and 2 h.
A prerequisite for favorable wear behavior is that at least 0.01%, preferably 0.05% to 0.1% nitrogen up to a depth of preferably 50 μm is present in the outer layer.
Hardening by quenching can take place both in the martensitic stage (T<<Ms) as well as in the intermediate stage (for example, bainite at temperatures around Ms), whereby martensitic hardened parts must be tempered subsequently (tempering temperature about 150° C. to 250° C.).
In comparison with conventional hardening, among other things the following advantages result from the freedom from wear of carbon-nitrided rocker members of the chain:
with the same dimensions of the conical disks, a greater transmission spread can be realized than with conventionally hardened rocker members, as limiting transmission ratios practically do not change,
higher tempering permanence, therewith less damage by slippage or sliding of the endless loop member,
a lower surface grade of conical disks is tolerable,
less contamination of the transmission and greater oil longevity,
possibility of influencing chain acoustics, for example, over the chain width (randomizing the chain width or selective succession of shorter and longer rocker members)
Advantages of carbon-nitrided conical disks:
better resistance to pitting
lower scuffing tendency in connection with carbon-nitrided rocker members
higher good tempering properties
less surface abrasion, from which follows a lower contour alteration and a better ability to regulate the transmission with regard to transmission ratio and contact pressure.
it is furthermore advantageous if the elements carrying the frictional force are made of alloy steel, are fully hardened, and have at their core a predominantly martensitic or a predominantly bainitic structure and a nitrogen-enriched outer layer (carbon-nitrided layer).
It is also advantageous if the elements carrying the frictional force are manufactured of alloy steel and if a nitrogen content of at least 0.05% is present to a depth of 50 μm in the carbon-nitrided layer.
FIG. 5 shows an arrangement 50 to stretch a plate-link chain 32 in accordance with the invention, whereby the plate-link chain 32 is received in a conical disk gap 48 between two sets of conical disks. The arrangement of FIG. 5 can, however, also act as a loop-driven, conical pulley transmission, which in operation includes a chain in accordance with the invention. One set of conical disks is formed by the two conical disks 24 and 25 that are axially displaceable relative to each other. The one conical disk 25 is axially movable, see arrow 30 . The adjusting cylinder 28 serves to axially displace the chain and to press it against the set of conical disks.
The other set of conical disks is formed from the two conical disks 26 and 27 that are axially displaceable relative to each other. For that purpose one conical disk 27 can be shifted axially, see arrow 31 . The adjusting cylinder 29 serves to axially displace the chain and to press it against the set of conical disks. The rotational speed and/or the torque can be adjusted by the input side shaft 22 and the output side shaft 23 .
According to another embodiment of an apparatus for stretching a plate-link chain, it can be advantageous for the axes or shafts of the apparatus to be pulled away from each other by the application of a force, so that the plate-link chain is forced into the conical-disk gap and so the power transmission between the plate-link chain and the conical disks can be set at the desired value. In addition, it is not absolutely necessary that the conical disks of the pairs of conical disks be axially displaceable relative to each other. It can also be suitable that the conical disks are rigidly affixed to each other.
When stretching the chain in the loop direction after assembly, the individual links of the plate-link chain will be tight against the rocker members. Thereafter it will be placed in a variable speed unit, for example in accordance with FIG. 5 . The chain is stretched in the loop direction by the compression between the rocker members and the conical disks and/or by torque transmission. In addition, there will be set a multiple of the pressing forces and torques that normally appear in a transmission, and the chain will be allowed, for example, to run through the variable speed unit with fewer revolutions, so that each chain link, such as plate links and rocker members, passes around the variable speed unit at least once or several times. It is advantageous for the chain to be rotated slowly and with fewer revolutions, compared with the conditions in a motor vehicle transmission.
Typically, the stretching process can be carried out in the starting gear ratio (underdrive), whereby the torque of the variable speed unit is adjustable within the range of from zero to ten times the nominal torque, that is, the maximum torque that occurs in the transmission. In particular, a torque in the range of approximately three times the maximum moment of the variable speed unit is set. It is also appropriate that the tension in the strand 70 of the chain is larger during the stretching process than during operation of the transmission. Advantageously, the tension is at least twice the maximum tension during normal transmission operation.
The plate-link chain is then rotated at a low rotational speed, in the range of about 0.5 revolutions per minute to about 500 revolutions, advantageously from about 10 revolutions per minute to 50 revolutions per minute, over several revolutions or passes. It can be beneficial, depending upon the plate-link chain, to perform 1 to 20 revolutions.
In accordance with the invention, the transmission ratio can also be changed during the stretching process.
In that way the load distribution is set in a manner corresponding substantially with underdrive (starting gear ratio) in the vehicle. During a stretching process, however, another transmission ratio can also be set, such as, for example, an overdrive transmission ratio or a variable transmission ratio. The advantage of the stretching process in the wrap-around member is that the chain is stretched substantially at each bend of the chain that occurs during operation, and as a result the load distribution is similar to the actual load distribution during operation of the transmission.
As a result of the stretching process in the loop member, on the basis of the contact pressure and/or the torque loading of the chain that is loaded in that manner, the rocker members, considered relative to the shaft of the set of disks, are elastically deformed, or bent, in the radial direction as well as in the circumferential direction. As a result, considered over the width of the chain, the outwardly-disposed plate links are more heavily loaded than the plate links disposed in the middle of the chain. That has the result that the outer plate links or those plate links disposed on the edge are more greatly elongated than the plate links disposed inwardly, and those outer plate links experience a higher degree of stretching than the inner plate links. By the degree of stretching is meant the condition between the loading by stretching and the condition of ultimate load.
Moreover, it can be beneficial for the plate links of one plate-link row which when assembled have the same length, for those plate links to be elongated differently as a function of the width.
Likewise, it can be beneficial for the plate links of one plate-link row when assembled to already exhibit different lengths and plate-link inner widths, respectively, so that the plate links disposed at the edge of the chain exhibit a larger plate-link inner width than the middle plate links. That can be especially appropriate when stretching is not of the loop member, but, on the contrary, the plate links are stretched before assembly and the plate links are thereafter assembled together to form a chain. Then one can, on the basis of the assembly of the plate links having different plate-link inner widths, construct a chain that already has at its edges longer plate-link inner widths than in the middle. That is shown in exemplary form in FIG. 12 where it is shown that the plate-link inner width as a function of the position of the plate links is greater at the edge than in the middle. That can result both from the stretching process in the loop member as well as from the assembly of different length plate links in accordance with the invention.
Additionally, the plate links that are stretched by a stretching process before assembly can be stretched with different degrees of stretch, and during assembly they can be constructed in such a way that the plate links with a higher degree of stretching are arranged at the edge of the chain. That has the result that the outer plate links or those plate links arranged at the edge are more highly plasticized and loaded than the inwardly-arranged plate links, and those outer plate links experience a higher degree of stretch than the inner plate links. That is shown in exemplary form in FIG. 11 where it is shown that the degree of stretching as a function of plate link position is greater at the edges than in the middle area. That can result both through the stretching process of the loop member and also through the assembly of various highly-stretched plate links in accordance with the invention.
FIGS. 6 through 8 show in graphs the condition of the lengths of the plate links considered as a function of their disposition across the width of the chain. On the y-axes of FIGS. 6 and 7 are shown the lengths of the plate links and the length of the spacing L between both contact areas of one plate link, respectively. The length L also represents the plate-link inner width. In FIG. 8 is shown the length difference ΔL of the plate links between an unstretched and a stretched condition in accordance with the invention. Shown along the x-axes of each of FIGS. 6 through 8 is the position of the plate links across the width of the chain. Position 1 corresponds with the position of the plate link on one side of the chain and position 14 corresponds with the position of the plate link on the other side of the chain. Positions 2 through 13 correspond with the plate link positions between the edge plate links 1 and 14 . Thereby there is shown specifically a chain with 14 plate link positions across the width of the chain as an illustrative embodiment, though other chain variations can also be included without restrictions on generality.
FIG. 6 shows a graph of an unstretched chain or a stretched open chain in straight condition. The length L as a function of the plate link position 1 through 14 is substantially equal and constant.
FIG. 7 is a graph of a chain that has been dynamically stretched in the wrap-around, closed condition. The length L variation is a function of the plate link position 1 through 14 , whereby the edge plate links in positions 1 through 3 and 12 through 14 are more highly stretched than the plate links at the middle plate link positions 4 through 11 . That result is based on the radial and circumferential bending of the rocker members and the corresponding high plastic deformation of the contact areas of plate links that are disposed at positions at the edge or near the edge.
FIG. 8 is a graph of a chain that has been dynamically stretched in the wrap-around, closed condition. The length difference ΔL variation is a function of the plate link positions 1 through 14 , whereby the edge plate links in positions 1 through 3 and 12 through 14 are more highly stretched than the plate links at the middle plate link positions 4 through 11 . That result is based on the radial and circumferential bending of the rocker members and the corresponding plastic deformation of the contact areas of plate links that are disposed at the edge or near the edge. The presentation in FIG. 8 clearly illustrates once again the inventive effect to increase the efficiency of the chain.
The small fluctuations in the length L, that is, in the elongation ΔL in the middle area results from measurement errors.
The elongation of the plate links during the stretching process produces a plastic deformation of the plate links in the contact areas between the plate links and the rocker members.
Through the particularly radially- and/or circumferentially-directed bending of the rocker members there results a plate link plastic deformation, which accommodates the angle between the movement direction and the rocker member.
FIG. 9 shows a section of a chain 100 with rocker members 101 and 102 , which are received in openings 120 of the plate links 103 through 113 . The rocker members are represented as bent in the manner that they can be bent in a dynamic stretching process in the wrap-around mode, such as, for example, in the disk wedge. The representation is for illustration and is, of course, a somewhat exaggerated representation.
The contact areas 103 a through 113 a are plastically deformed by the bending of the rocker members 101 and 102 and match their contour with that of the rocker members. FIG. 9 a and FIG. 9 b each show a detail in which the outer plate links are more severely elongated and the plastic deformation leads to a larger angle a between the chain transverse direction Q and the contact surface F than at a middle plate link such as, for example, 107 .
The angle α increases moving from the middle of the chain to the outside.
FIG. 10 shows a graph in which the angle ax is shown as the value |α| represented as a function of the plate link position. The angle increases outwardly toward the edges and returns to zero at the middle area. That can be achieved in accordance with the invention by stretching the loop member or, suitably by a further object of the invention, also by stretching the plate links in such a way before assembly, in which they are stretched to different angles ax and are subsequently mounted together to form a chain.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show the degree of stretch of the plate links, and the plate-link inner width, respectively, as a function of width-wise plate-link position.
The plate links near the edge are more highly loaded by the stretching in accordance with the invention than by a stretching process on a straight strand. Thereby the plate links at the edge are more highly elongated and the degree of stretch is higher.
Through the proper stretch loading of the chain by the stretching process the chain will be preconditioned in such way that during later operation of the chain in a transmission the loading will be equalized and the chain will therefore experience a longer service life.
Furthermore it is advantageous, for reducing the loading on the chain, that the force introduction by the rocker members to the link elements, by a two-area contact 80 , 81 in conformance with FIG. 2, be equalized in both areas. Regarding that, reference is particularly made to German patent application DE 30 27 834, the contents of the disclosure of which expressly forms part of the content of the foregoing application.
FIG. 13 shows a detail of a plate link 200 with rocker members 201 and 202 , wherein the plate link is stretched in such a way by a stretching process that the force introduction of the stretching force 210 is oriented at an angle φ to the plate link, that is, to the chain length direction 220 . During a stretching operation the angle φ will be varied so that it extends from about 60 degrees to about −60 degrees, so that the contact areas 230 will be stretched and plastically deformed over a wide angular range. Those plate links are also individually preconditioned.
FIG. 14 shows a plate-link chain 300 in section, in which next to the plate links 301 , 302 , 303 and the rocker members 310 there exist cross pins 320 as a hinge for torque transmission between the conical disks and the chain. The frictional force transmission takes place at the end faces 321 of the cross-pins.
FIG. 15 schematically shows a transmission 400 in accordance with the invention with a first shaft 401 , a second shaft 402 and conical disk pairs 403 and 404 arranged thereon. Conical disk pairs 403 and 404 have in each case two conical disks 403 a , 403 b , and 404 a , 404 b , of which in each case at least one of the two conical disks is movable axially relative to the shaft in question. An endless torque transmitting means 410 , such as a plate-link chain or a thrust link belt, is arranged between the conical disk pairs for transmission of torque.
FIG. 16 schematically shows a thrust link belt 411 in accordance with the invention wherein at least one, advantageously two, closed band strands 420 , 421 are provided, and they receive the thrust links 422 , see also FIG. 15 . FIG. 16 likewise shows the outer layer 423 of the end face 422 a which is advantageously improved by a carbon-nitrided process, and if necessary a hardening process.
The claims included in the application are illustrative and are without prejudice to acquiring wider patent protection. The applicant reserves the right to claim additional combinations of features disclosed in the specification and/or drawings.
The references contained in the dependent claims point to further developments of the object of the main claim by means of the features of the particular claim; they are not to be construed as renunciation to independent, objective protection for the combinations of features of the related dependent claims.
Although the subject matter of the dependent claims can constitute separate and independent inventions in the light of the state of the art on the priority date, the applicants reserve the right to make them the subject of independent claims or separate statements. They can, moreover, also embody independent inventions that can be produced from the independent developments of the subject matter of the included dependent claims.
The exemplary embodiments are not to be considered to be limitations of the invention. On the contrary, many changes and variations are possible within the scope of the invention in the existing disclosure, in particular such variants, elements, and combinations and/or materials which, for example, are inventive by combining or modifying single features that are in combination and are described individually in relation to the general specification and embodiments as well as the claims and shown in the drawings, as well as elements or method steps that can be derived by a person skilled in the art in the light of the disclosed solutions of the problem, and which by means of combined features lead to a new object or new method steps or sequences of method steps, as well as manufacturing, testing and operational procedures. | A continuously variable, conical disk transmission including a torque-transmitting member in the form of a plate-link chain or a thrust link band. The chain includes plate links that are interconnected by pairs of rocker members that extend transversely relative to the chain movement direction. The thrust link band includes a number of thrust links that are in face-to-back contact and that extend transversely relative to the band movement direction. Each of the rocker members and the thrust links have ends that contact surfaces of the conical disks of the transmission for transmitting torque between the sets of disks. The ends of the rocker members and of the thrust links have a carbon-nitrided outer layer having a thickness of at least about 50 μm for increased durability. The surfaces of the conical disks that are contacted by the chain or the thrust link band can also be similarly treated. | 1 |
[0001] This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/276,573, filed Mar. 6, 2006, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/659,696, filed on Mar. 8, 2005.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] The invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of macrocyclic compounds useful as agents for the treatment of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections.
[0004] 2. Background Information
[0005] The macrocyclic compounds of the following formula (I) and methods for their preparation are known from: Tsantrizos et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1; Llinas Brunet et al, U.S. Application Publication No. 2003/0224977 A1; Llinas Brunet et al, U.S. Application Publication No. 2005/0075279 A1; Llinas Brunet et al, U.S. Application Publication No. 2005/0080005 A1; Brandenburg et al., U.S. Application Publication No. 2005/0049187 A1; and Samstag et al., U.S. Application Publication No. 2004/0248779 A1:
[0000]
[0006] wherein W is CH or N,
[0007] L 0 is H, halo, C 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 haloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-6 cycloalkoxy, hydroxy, or N(R 23 ) 2 ,
[0008] wherein each R 23 is independently H, C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0009] L 1 , L 2 are each independently H, halogen, C 1-4 alkyl, —O—C 1-4 alkyl, or —S-C 1-4 alkyl (the sulfur being in any oxidized state); or
[0010] L 0 and L 1 or
[0011] L 0 and L 2 may be covalently bonded to form together with the two C-atoms to which they are linked a 4-, 5- or 6-membered carbocyclic ring wherein one or two (in the case of a 5- or 6-membered ring) —CH 2 — groups not being directly bonded to each other, may be replaced each independently by —O— or NR a wherein R a is H or C 1-4 alkyl, and wherein said ring is optionally mono- or di-substituted with C 1-4 alkyl;
[0012] R 2 is H, halo, C 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 haloalkyl, C 1-6 thioalkyl , C 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-6 cycloalkoxy, C 2-7 alkoxy-C 1-6 alkyl, C 6 or C 10 aryl or Het, wherein Het is a five-, six-, or seven-membered saturated or unsaturated heterocycle containing from one to four heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur;
[0013] said cycloalkyl, aryl or Het being substituted with R 6 ,
[0014] wherein R 6 is H, halo, C 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-6 cycloalkoxy, NO 2 , N(R 7 ) 2 , NH—C(O)—R 7 ; or NH—C(O)—NH—R 7 , wherein each R 7 is independently: H, C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0015] or R 6 is NH—C(O)—OR 8 wherein R 8 is C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0016] R 3 is hydroxy, NH 2 , or a group of formula —NH—R 9 , wherein R 9 is C 6 or C 10 aryl, heteroaryl, —C(O)—R 10 , —C(O)—NHR 10 or —C(O)—OR 10 ,
wherein R 10 is C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0018] D is a 5 to 10-atom unsaturated alkylene chain;
[0019] R 4 is H, or from one to three substituents at any carbon atom of said chain D, said substituent independently selected from: C 1-6 alkyl,
[0020] C 1-6 haloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, hydroxy, halo, amino, oxo, thio, and C 1-6 thioalkyl; and
[0021] A is an amide of formula —C(O)—NH—R 11 , wherein R 11 is selected from: C 1-8 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 6 or C 10 aryl; C 7-16 aralkyl and SO 2 R 11A wherein R 11A is C 1-8 alkyl, C 3-7 cycloalkyl or C 1-6 alkyl-C 3-7 cycloalkyl;
[0022] or A is a carboxylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof;
[0023] The compounds of formula (I) are disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents as being active agents for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. The methods disclosed for the preparation of these compounds include many synthetic steps. The problem addressed by the present invention is to provide a practical and economical process which allows for the efficient manufacture of these compounds with a minimum number of steps and with sufficient overall yield.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] It has been discovered that the compounds of formula (I) described above can be prepared more efficiently if the synthesis is carried out using the following key synthetic substitution step wherein a macrocyclic compound of formula (3) is reacted with a sulfonyl-substituted compound of formula QUIN:
[0000]
[0025] and when A is a protected carboxylic acid group, optionally subjecting the compound of formula (I) to de-protection conditions to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is a carboxylic acid group;
[0026] and when A is a carboxylic acid group in the resulting compound of formula (I), optionally coupling this compound with a sulfonamide of formula R 11A SO 2 NH 2 in the presence of a suitable coupling agent, such as carbodiimide reagents, TBTU or HATU, to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is —C(O)—NH—SO 2 R 11A .
[0027] In this process there is also no inversion of configuration at the hydroxyl group of the proline moiety which further renders the approach more direct and minimizes problems of stereocontrol, and the quinoline building block is incorporated in the molecule toward the end of the process thus minimizing losses of a costly intermediate.
[0028] The present invention is therefore directed to a synthetic process for preparing compounds of formula (I) using the synthetic sequences as described herein; particular individual steps of this process; and particular individual intermediates used in this process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] Definition of Terms and Conventions Used
[0030] Terms not specifically defined herein should be given the meanings that would be given to them by one of skill in the art in light of the disclosure and the context. As used in the specification, however, unless specified to the contrary, the following terms have the meaning indicated and the following conventions are adhered to.
[0031] In the groups, radicals, or moieties defined below, the number of carbon atoms is often specified preceding the group, for example, C 1 - 6 alkyl means an alkyl group or radical having 1 to 6 carbon atoms. In general, for groups comprising two or more subgroups, the last named group is the radical attachment point, for example, “thioalkyl” means a monovalent radical of the formula HS-Alk-. Unless otherwise specified below, conventional definitions of terms control and conventional stable atom valences are presumed and achieved in all formulas and groups.
[0032] The term “C 1-6 alkyl” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means acyclic, straight or branched chain alkyl substituents containing from 1 to six carbon atoms and includes, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, hexyl, 1-methylethyl, 1-methylpropyl, 2-methylpropyl, and 1,1-dimethylethyl.
[0033] The term “C 3-6 cycloalkyl” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means a cycloalkyl substituent containing from three to six carbon atoms and includes cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, and cyclohexyl.
[0034] The term “unsaturated alkylene chain” as used herein means a divalent alkenyl substituent derived by the removal of one hydrogen atom from each end of a mono- or poly-unsaturated straight or branched chain aliphatic hydrocarbon and includes, for example:
[0035] —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH═CH— and —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH 2 —CH═CH—CH 2 —.
[0036] The term “C 1-6 alkoxy” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means the substituent C 1-6 alkyl-O— wherein alkyl is as defined above containing up to six carbon atoms. Alkoxy includes methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, 1-methylethoxy, butoxy and 1,1 -dimethylethoxy. The latter substituent is known commonly as tert-butoxy.
[0037] The term “C 3-6 cycloalkoxy” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means the substituent C 3-6 cycloalkyl-O— containing from 3 to 6 carbon atoms.
[0038] The term “C 2-7 alkoxy-C 1-6 alkyl” as used herein, means the substituent C 2-7 alkyl-O—C 1-6 alkyl wherein alkyl is as defined above containing up to six carbon atoms.
[0039] The term “haloalkyl” as used herein means as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means acyclic, straight or branched chain alkyl substituents having one or more hydrogens substituted for a halogen selected from bromo, chloro, fluoro or iodo.
[0040] The term “thioalkyl” as used herein means as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means acyclic, straight or branched chain alkyl substituents containing a thiol (HS) group as a substituent. An example of a thioalkyl group is a thiopropyl, e.g., HS—CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 — is one example of a thiopropyl group.
[0041] The term “C 6 or C 10 aryl” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means either an aromatic monocyclic system containing 6 carbon atoms or an aromatic bicyclic system containing 10 carbon atoms. For example, aryl includes a phenyl or a naphthyl ring system.
[0042] The term “C 7-16 aralkyl” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means an aryl as defined above linked through an alkyl group, wherein alkyl is as defined above containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms. Aralkyl includes for example benzyl, and butylphenyl.
[0043] The term “Het” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means a monovalent substituent derived by removal of a hydrogen from a five-, six-, or seven-membered saturated or unsaturated (including aromatic) heterocycle containing carbon atoms and from one to four ring heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. Examples of suitable heterocycles include: tetrahydrofuran, thiophene, diazepine, isoxazole, piperidine, dioxane, morpholine, pyrimidine or
[0000]
[0044] The term “Het” also includes a heterocycle as defined above fused to one or more other cycle be it a heterocycle or a carbocycle, each of which may be saturated or unsaturated. One such example includes thiazolo[4,5-b]-pyridine. Although generally covered under the term “Het”, the term “heteroaryl” as used herein precisely defines an unsaturated heterocycle for which the double bonds form an aromatic system. Suitable example of heteroaromatic system include: quinoline, indole, pyridine,
[0000]
[0045] The term “oxo” means the double-bonded group (═O) attached as a substituent.
[0046] The term “thio” means the double-bonded group (═S) attached as a substituent.
[0047] In general, all tautomeric forms and isomeric forms and mixtures, whether individual geometric isomers or optical isomers or racemic or non-racemic mixtures of isomers, of a chemical structure or compound are intended, unless the specific stereochemistry or isomeric form is specifically indicated in the compound name or structure.
[0048] The term “pharmaceutically acceptable ester” as used herein, either alone or in combination with another substituent, means esters of the compound of formula I in which any of the carboxyl functions of the molecule, but preferably the carboxy terminus, is replaced by an alkoxycarbonyl function:
[0000]
[0049] in which the R moiety of the ester is selected from alkyl (e.g. methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, t-butyl, n-butyl); alkoxyalkyl (e.g. methoxymethyl); alkoxyacyl (e.g. acetoxymethyl); aralkyl (e.g. benzyl); aryloxyalkyl (e.g. phenoxymethyl); aryl (e.g. phenyl), optionally substituted with halogen, C 1-4 alkyl or C 1-4 alkoxy. Other suitable prodrug esters are found in Design of Prodrugs, Bundgaard, H. Ed. Elsevier (1985) incorporated herewith by reference. Such pharmaceutically acceptable esters are usually hydrolyzed in vivo when injected in a mammal and transformed into the acid form of the compound of formula I.
[0050] With regard to the esters described above, unless otherwise specified, any alkyl moiety present advantageously contains 1 to 16 carbon atoms, particularly 1 to 6 carbon atoms. Any aryl moiety present in such esters advantageously comprises a phenyl group. In particular the esters may be a C 1-16 alkyl ester, an unsubstituted benzyl ester or a benzyl ester substituted with at least one halogen, C 1-6 alkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, nitro or trifluoromethyl.
[0051] The term “pharmaceutically acceptable salt” as used herein includes those derived from pharmaceutically acceptable bases. Examples of suitable bases include choline, ethanolamine and ethylenediamine. Na + , K + , and Ca ++ salts are also contemplated to be within the scope of the invention (also see Pharmaceutical Salts, Birge, S. M. et al., J. Pharm. Sci., (1977), 66, 1-19, incorporated herein by reference).
[0052] The following chemicals may be referred to by these abbreviations:
[0000]
Abbreviation
Chemical Name
ACN
Acetonitrile
Boc
Tert-butoxylcarbonyl
DABCO
1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane
DBU
1,8-Diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene
DCC
1,3-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide
DCHA
Dicyclohexylamine
DCM
Dichloromethane
DIPEA
Diisopropylethylamine or Hünigs-Base
DMAP
Dimethylaminopyridine
DMF
N,N-Dimethylformamide
DMSO
Dimethylsulfoxide
DMTMM
4-(4,6-Dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-4-
methylmorpholinium Chloride
EDC
1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiinide
hydrocholide
HATU
O-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,′,N′-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate
HBTU
O-Benzotriazol-1-yl-N,N,′,N′-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate
HOAT
1-Hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole
HOBT
1-Hydroxybenzotriazole
IPA
Isopropyl alcohol
KDMO
Potassium 3,7-dimethyl-3-octanoxide
MCH
Methylcyclohexane
MIBK
4-Methyl-2-pentanone
NMP
1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidinone
SEH
Sodium 2-ethylhexanoate
TBTU
O-(Benzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyluronium
tetrafluoroborate
THF
Tetrahydofuran
THP
Trishydroxymethylphosphine
TKC
Tetrakis hydroxymethyl phosphonium chloride
EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0053] In the synthetic schemes below, unless specified otherwise, all the substituent groups in the chemical formulas shall have the same meanings as in the Formula (I). The reactants used in the synthetic schemes described below may be obtained either as described herein, or if not described herein, are themselves either commercially available or may be prepared from commercially available materials by methods known in the art. Certain starting materials, for example, may be obtained by methods described in the International Patent Applications WO 00/59929, WO 00/09543 and WO 00/09558, U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,180 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1.
[0054] Optimum reaction conditions and reaction times may vary depending on the particular reactants used. Unless otherwise specified, solvents, temperatures, pressures, and other reaction conditions may be readily selected by one of ordinary skill in the art to obtain optimum results for a particular reaction. Typically, reaction progress may be monitored by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), if desired, and intermediates and products may be purified by chromatography on silica gel and/or by recrystallization.
I. General Multi-Step Synthetic Method
[0055] In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a general multi-step synthetic method for preparing the compounds of formula (I). Specifically, this embodiment is directed to a process for preparing a compound of the following formula (I):
[0000]
[0056] wherein W is CH or N,
[0057] L 0 is H, halo, C 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 haloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-6 cycloalkoxy, hydroxy, or N(R 23 ) 2 ,
[0058] wherein each R 23 is independently H, C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0059] L 1 , L 2 are each independently H, halogen, C 1-4 alkyl, —O—C 1-4 alkyl, or —S—C 1-4 alkyl (the sulfur being in any oxidized state); or
[0060] L 0 and L 1 or
[0061] L 0 and L 2 may be covalently bonded to form together with the two C-atoms to which they are linked a 4-, 5- or 6-membered carbocyclic ring wherein one or two (in the case of a 5- or 6-membered ring) —CH 2 — groups not being directly bonded to each other, may be replaced each independently by —O— or NR a wherein R a is H or C 1-4 alkyl, and wherein said ring is optionally mono- or di-substituted with C 1-4 alkyl;
[0062] R 2 is H, halo, C 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 haloalkyl, C 1-6 thioalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-6 cycloalkoxy, C 2-7 alkoxy-C 1-6 alkyl, C 6 or C 10 aryl or Het, wherein Het is a five-, six-, or seven-membered saturated or unsaturated heterocycle containing from one to four heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur;
[0063] said cycloalkyl, aryl or Het being substituted with R 6 ,
[0064] wherein R 6 is H, halo, C 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-6 cycloalkoxy, NO 2 , N(R 7 ) 2 , NH—C(O)—R 7 ; or NH—C(O)—NH—R 7 , wherein each R 7 is independently: H, C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0065] or R is NH—C(O)—OR 8 wherein R 8 is C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0066] R 3 is hydroxy, NH 2 , or a group of formula —NH—R 9 , wherein R 9 is C 6 or C 10 aryl, heteroaryl, —C(O)-R 10 , —C(O)—NHR 10 or —C(O)—OR 10 ,
wherein R 10 is C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0068] D is a 5 to 10-atom unsaturated alkylene chain;
[0069] R 4 is H, or from one to three substituents at any carbon atom of said chain D, said substituent independently selected from: C 1-6 alkyl,
[0070] C 1-6 haloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, hydroxy, halo, amino, oxo, thio, and C 1-6 thioalkyl; and
[0071] A is an amide of formula —C(O)—NH—R 11 , wherein R 11 is selected from: C 1-8 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 6 or C 10 aryl; C 7-16 aralkyl and SO 2 R 11A wherein R 11A is C 1-8 alkyl, C 3-7 cycloalkyl or C 1-6 alkyl-C 3-7 cycloalkyl;
[0072] or A is a carboxylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof;
[0073] said process comprising the following steps:
[0074] (i) when R=PG and PG is a protecting group, cyclizing a diene compound of formula (1) in the presence of a suitable catalyst to obtain a compound of formula (2) and subsequently subjecting the compound of formula (2) to de-protection conditions to obtain a compound of formula (3); or when R═H, cyclizing a diene compound of formula (1) in the presence of a suitable catalyst to obtain a compound of formula (3):
[0000]
[0075] wherein A, D, R 3 and R 4 are as defined for formula (I) above, R is hydrogen or PG wherein PG is a protecting group, n is an integer from 0 to 2, and D 1 =D−(n+2);
[0076] (ii) when A is a protected carboxylic acid group in formula (3), optionally subjecting the compound of formula (3) to de-protection conditions to obtain a compound of formula (3) wherein A is a carboxylic acid group; and
[0077] (iii) reacting a compound of formula (3) with a compound of formula QUIN, wherein R 3 , R 4 , D, A, L 0 , L 1 , L 2 , W and R 2 are as defined for formula (I) above, and R is C 1-6 alkyl, C 6 or C 10 aryl or heteroaryl, to obtain a compound of formula (I):
[0000]
[0078] and when A is a protected carboxylic acid group in formula (I), optionally subjecting the compound of formula (I) to de-protection conditions to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is a carboxylic acid group;
[0079] and when A is a carboxylic acid group in the resulting compound of formula (I), optionally coupling this compound with a sulfonamide of formula R 11A SO 2 NH 2 in the presence of a suitable coupling agent, such as carbodiimide reagents, TBTU or HATU, to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is —C(O)—NH—SO 2 R 11A .
II. The Individual Steps of the Synthetic Method
[0080] Additional embodiments of the invention are directed to the individual steps of the multistep general synthetic method described above and the individual intermediates used in these steps. These individual steps and intermediates of the present invention are described in detail below. All substituent groups in the steps described below are as defined in the general multi-step method above.
[0081] Step (i)
[0082] This step is directed to cyclizing a diene compound of formula (1) in the presence of a suitable catalyst to obtain a compound of formula (2) when R=a protecting group and subsequently subjecting the compound of formula (2) to de-protection conditions to obtain a compound of formula (3); or when R═H, cyclizing a diene compound of formula (1) in the presence of a suitable catalyst to directly obtain a compound of formula (3):
[0000]
[0083] Suitable ring-closing catalysts for this cyclization step include ruthenium based catalysts, as well as the commonly used molybdenum-based (Schrock and modified Schrock catalysts) and tungsten-based catalysts. For example, any of the well-known ruthenium based catalysts used in olefin metathesis reactions, such as Grubb's catalyst (first and second generation), Hoveyda's catalyst (first and second generation) and Nolan's catalyst, may be used with appropriate adjustment of reaction conditions as may be necessary to allow ring-closing to proceed, depending upon the particular catalyst that is selected.
[0084] Suitable ruthenium catalysts for the cyclization step include, for example, the compounds of formula A, B, C, D or E:
[0000]
[0085] wherein
[0086] X 1 and X 2 each independently represent an anionic ligand,
[0087] L 1 represents a neutral electron donor ligand which is bonded to the ruthenium atom and is optionally bonded to the phenyl group, and
[0088] L 2 represents a neutral electron donor ligand which is bonded to the ruthenium atom;
[0089] and R 5 is selected from one or more substituents on the benzene ring, each substituent independently selected from hydrogen, C 1-6 alkyl, haloC 1-6 alkyl, HS-C 1-6 alkyl, HO—C 1-6 alkyl, perfluoroC 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, hydroxyl, halogen, nitro, imino, oxo, thio or aryl; and
[0090] wherein X 2 and L 2 may optionally together form a chelating bidentate ligand.
[0091] In a more specific embodiment, the ruthenium catalyst is a compound of formula (A-1) or (A-2):
[0000]
[0092] wherein:
[0093] L 1 is a trisubstituted phosphine group of the formula PR 3 , wherein R is selected from C 1-6 alkyl and C 3-8 cycloalkyl,
[0094] L 2 is a trisubstituted phosphine group of the formula PR 3 , wherein R is selected from C 1-6 alkyl and C 3-8 cycloalkyl,
[0095] or L 2 is a group of the formula A or B:
[0000]
wherein
R 7 and R 8 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 6-12 aryl or C 6-12 aryl-C 1-6 alkyl group; and
[0098] R 9 and R 10 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 6-12 aryl or C 6-12 aryl-C 1-6 alkyl group, each optionally substituted by one, two or three groups selected from hydrogen, C 1-6 alkyl, haloC 1-6 alkyl, HS-C 1-6 alkyl, HO-C 1-6 alkyl, perfluoroC 1-6 alkyl, C 3-6 cycloalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, hydroxyl, halogen, nitro, imino, oxo, thio or aryl;
[0099] X 1 and X 2 each independently represent a halogen atom;
[0100] R 5 represent hydrogen or nitro; and
[0101] R 6 represents a C 1-6 alkyl group.
[0102] In another more specific embodiment, the ruthenium catalyst is selected from:
[0000]
[0103] where Ph is phenyl and Mes is 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl.
[0104] Ruthenium-based catalysts useful for the metathesis cyclization step, such as those set forth above, are all known catalysts that may be obtained by known synthetic techniques. For example, see the following references for examples of suitable ruthenium-based catalysts:
Organometallics 2002, 21, 671; 1999, 18, 5416; and 1998, 17, 2758; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 6543; 1999, 121, 791; 1999, 121, 2674; 2002, 124, 4954; 1998, 120, 2484; 1997, 119, 3887; 1996, 118, 100; and 1996, 118, 9606 J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 9904; and 1999, 64, 7202; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1998, 37, 2685; 1995, 34, 2038; 2000, 39, 3012 and 2002, 41, 4038; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,811,515; 6,306,987 B1; and 6,608,027 B1
[0110] In another specific embodiment of the present invention the ring-closing reaction is carried out in a solvent at a temperature in the range of from about 200 to about 120° C. Any solvent that is suitable for the ring closing metathesis reaction may be used. Examples of suitable solvents include alkanes, such as n-pentane, n-hexane or n-heptane, aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene or xylene, chlorinated hydrocarbons such as dichloromethane, trichloromethane, tetrachloromethane or dichloroethane, tetrahydrofuran, 2-methyl-tetrahydrofuran, 3-methyl-tetrahydrofuran, cyclopentyl methyl ether, methyl tert-butyl ether, dimethyl ether, methyl alcohol, dioxane, ethyl acetate and tert-butyl acetate.
[0111] In another specific embodiment of the present invention the ring-closing reaction is carried out wherein the molar ratio of the diene compound (1) to the catalyst ranges from 1000:1 to 100:1, preferably from 500:1 to 110:1, in particular from 250:1 to 150
[0112] In another specific embodiment of the present invention the ring-closing reaction is carried out at a ratio of the diene compound (1) to solvent in the range from 1:400 by weight to 1:25 by weight, preferably from 1:200 by weight to 1:50 by weight, in particular from 1:150 by weight to 1:75 by weight.
[0113] In another specific embodiment of the present invention the ring-closing reaction is carried out by portionwise addition of the catalyst in the range from 2 to 6 portions, preferably from 3-5 portions.
[0114] One skilled in the art can readily optimize the cyclization step by selecting and adjusting appropriate conditions suitable for the particular ring-closing catalyst selected. For example, depending upon the catalyst selected it may be preferable to run the cyclization step at high temperature, e.g., higher than 90° C., although lower temperatures may also be possible with the addition of an activator such as copper halide (CuX, where X is halogen) to the reaction mixture.
[0115] In a particular embodiment of this step, the compound of formula (1) is dissolved in a degassed organic solvent (such as toluene or dichloromethane) to a concentration below about 0.02M, then treated with a ruthenium-based catalyst such as Hoveyda's catalyst, at a temperature from about 40° C. to about 110° C. until completion of the reaction. Some or all of the ruthenium metal may be removed from the reaction mixture by treatment with a suitable heavy metal scavenger, such as THP or other agents known to scavenge heavy metals. The reaction mixture is then washed with water and the organic layer separated and washed. The resulting organic solution may be decolorized, such as by the addition of activated charcoal with subsequent filtration.
[0116] In one embodiment, the proline ring oxygen atom in formula (1) has been protected with a protecting group (where R=PG) at any time prior to the cyclization step using conventional techniques. Any suitable oxygen protecting group may be used including, for example, acetate, benzoate, para-nitro benzoate, naphthoates, halogenoacetate, methoxyacetate, phenyl acetate, phenoxy acetate, pivaloate, crotonate, methyl carbonate, methoxymethyl carbonate, ethyl carbonate, halogeno carbonate, para-nitro phenyl carbonate, triisopropyl silyl, triethyl silyl, dimethylisopropyl, diethylisopropyl, dimethylthexylsilyl, t-butyldimethylsilyl, t-butyldiphenylsilyl, tribenzylsilyl, triphenylsilyl, diphenylmethylsilyl, di-t-butylmethylsilyl, tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl, t-butoxymethoxyphenylsilyl, t-butoxydiphenylsilyl, etc. Following the cyclization step, the protecting group PG in compound (2) is removed using conventional de-protection conditions suitable for the particular protecting group, as would be readily understood by one skilled in the art, to obtain compound (3).
[0117] In another embodiment, it may be desirable to purify the solution of diene compound of formula (1) prior to the methathesis cyclication step to remove any impurities from the reaction mixture that might inhibit the cyclization reaction. Conventional purification procedures well known to those skilled in this art may be employed. In one preferred embodiment, the solution of diene compound is purified by treatment with alumina, for example, activated alumina, prior to its use in the cyclization step.
[0118] Step (ii)
[0119] When A is a protected carboxylic acid group in formula (3), e.g. a carboxylic acid ester group, the compound of formula (3) can optionally be subjected to de-protection (hydrolysis) conditions to obtain the corresponding free carboxylic acid compound prior to the next step. Hydrolysis can be carried out using conventional hydrolysis conditions known in the art. In a particular embodiment, for example, an esterified compound of formula (3) is dissolved in an organic solvent such as THF, and a suitable hydrolyzing agent such as lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LiOH.H 2 O) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is added followed by the addition of water. The resultant solution is stirred at a temperature from about 35° C. to about 50° C. At the end of the reaction, the solution is cooled, and the organic layer collected. A suitable solvent such as ethanol is added to the organic layer and the pH is adjusted to from about pH 5 to about pH 6. The mixture is then warmed to a temperature from about 40° C. to about 50° C. at which point water is added and solution is stirred whereupon the compound of formula (3) begins to precipitate. Upon completion of the precipitation, the solution is cooled to ambient temperature and the compound of formula (3) is collected by filtration, washed and dried.
[0120] Step (iii)
[0121] This step is directed to a process for preparing a compound of formula (I), comprising reacting a compound of formula (3) with a compound of formula QUIN to obtain a compound of formula (I):
[0000]
[0000] and when A is a protected carboxylic acid group, optionally subjecting the compound of formula (I) to de-protection conditions to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is a carboxylic acid group;
[0122] and when A is a carboxylic acid group in the resulting compound of formula (I), optionally coupling this compound with a sulfonamide of formula R 11A SO 2 NH 2 in the presence of a suitable coupling agent, such as carbodiimide reagents, TBTU or HATU, to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is —C(O)—NH—SO 2 R 11A .
[0123] R groups on the sulfonyl group in QUIN include, for example, C 1-6 alkyl, C 6 or C 10 aryl or heteroaryl. A preferred R group is phenyl.
[0124] The coupling reaction between the compounds of formulas (3) and QUIN is typically preformed in the presence of a base in a suitable solvent or solvent mixture. Examples of suitable bases for this reaction include t-BuOK, t-BuONa, t-BuOCs, sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide, and KDMO, with t-BuOK and KDMO being preferred bases. Examples of suitable solvents for this reaction include polar aprotic solvents, for example, DMSO, DMF, NMP or other common polar aprotic solvents, as well as THF and other moderately polar ethers, or suitable mixtures of these solvents. A preferred solvent is DMSO.
[0125] The preferred temperature would be between 0° C. and 50° C. (depending upon solvent freezing points), and most preferably between 10° C. and 25° C.
[0126] In yet another preferred embodiment of this step, the following set of reaction conditions may be employed: A flask is charged with the macrocycle (3) and the quinoline QUIN, purged with nitrogen (3 times), then DMSO is added via syringe. The mixture is again purged with nitrogen (3 times), and the temperature adjusted to 20 ° C. To the slurry is then added 50% KDMO/heptane via syringe pump over 1 hour. The resulting mixture is stirred under nitrogen at 20° C. for 2 h. The mixture is then quenched by the dropwise addition of glacial HOAc, and the mixture is stirred. The reaction mixture is then slowly added to water, to cause product precipitation. The slurry is then stirred, filtered, and the cake washed with water, then hexanes, and the solid dried.
[0127] When A is a protected carboxylic acid group in formula (I), e.g. a carboxylic acid ester group, the compound of formula (I) can optionally be subjected to de-protection (hydrolysis) conditions to obtain the corresponding free carboxylic acid compound. Hydrolysis can be carried out using conventional hydrolysis conditions known in the art. Suitable conditions are the same as discussed previously for step (ii). In addition, when A is a carboxylic acid group in the resulting compound of formula (I), this compound may be coupled with a sulfonamide of formula R 11A SO 2 NH 2 in the presence of a suitable coupling agent, such as carbodiimide reagents, TBTU or HATU, to obtain a compound of formula (I) wherein A is —C(O)—NH—SO 2 R 11A .
III. Preparation of Peptidic Diene Starting Material
[0128] The peptidic diene starting material (1) employed in the above schemes may be synthesized from known materials using the procedures as outlined in the Schemes I to III below.
[0000]
[0129] The peptide coupling to give P2-P1-PG, wherein PG is an amino-protecting group, in Scheme I could be performed using any of the conventional peptide coupling reagents and protocols known in the art, and the amino-protecting group PG can be any suitable amino-protecting group that is well known in the art. See, for example, the intermediates and coupling techniques disclosed in WO 00/09543, WO 00/09558 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1. Peptide coupling between compounds of formula P2-PG and P1 could be achieved, for example, under a variety of conditions known in the art using conventional peptide coupling reagents such as DCC, EDC, TBTU, HBTU, HATU, DMTMM, Cyanuric chloride (CC), tosyl chloride (TsCl), mesyl chloride (MsCl), isobutyl chloroformate (IBC), HOBT, or HOAT in aprotic solvents such as dichloromethane, chloroform, THF, DMF, NMP, DMSO.
[0130] The next step of cleaving the nitrogen protecting group in the compound of formula P2-P1-PG can also be accomplished by well known techniques, e.g., as described in 00/09543, WO 00/09558 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1. In particular embodiments, this process involves the acid hydrolysis of the compound of formula P2-P1-PG with an organic or inorganic acid, such as HCl, H 2 SO 4 , TFA, AcOH, MeSO 3 H, in a variety of protic or polar nonprotic solvents such as alcohols, ethers, ACN or DCM.
[0131] The compounds of formula P2-PG used as starting material are either commercially available, e.g., Boc-4(R)-hydroxyproline, or can be prepared from known materials using conventional techniques. In one example, the compounds of formula P2-PG where R is hydrogen and PG is an amino-protecting group may be prepared by amino-protection of 4-hydroxyproline:
[0000]
[0132] In the first step, an appropriate amino-protecting group is introduced onto the ring nitrogen atom of the 4-hydroxyproline compound using conventional procedures. For example, the compound may be dissolved in a suitable solvent and reacted with an appropriate amino-protecting group introducing reagent. For example, and not intending to be limited in its scope, when Boc (tert-butyloxycarbonyl) is the desired protecting group, the compound is reacted with the anhydride Boc 2 O (or Boc-ON) in a solvent mixture such as Acetone/Water, MIBK/Water or THF/Water to which a base such as NaOH, KOH, LiOH, triethylamine, diisopropylethylamine, or N-methyl-pyrrolidine is added, the reaction being carried out at a temperature between 20-60° C.
[0133] The compounds of formula P1 are known from WO 00/09543, WO 00/09558 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1, and may be prepared by techniques as described therein.
[0000]
[0134] The peptide coupling to give P3-P2-Me in Scheme II could be performed using any of the conventional peptide coupling reagents and protocols known in the art. Examples of suitable reagents and conditions are outlined above with respect to peptide coupling step of Scheme I.
[0135] The subsequent hydrolysis to give P3-P2 in Scheme II would be performed with an aqueous basic solution, optionally containing a co-solvent that is miscible with H 2 O such as THF, dioxane, alcohols, or DME or combinations of these co-solvents. The preferred solvent mixture would be aqueous base containing THF as a co-solvent. Any water soluble base could be used such as LiOH, NaOH, KOH, Na 2 CO 3 , K 2 CO 3 , and the like. The preferred base would be LiOH. The amount of base could vary from 1 to 100 equivalents with 1-10 equivalents being preferred. The concentration of base could range from 0.25 M to 12 M, with 1-4 M being preferred. The reaction temperature could vary from −40° C. to 100° C., with −20° C. to 50° C. being preferred.
[0136] A one-pot sequence for the peptide coupling of P3 with P2-Me can be carried out using CC or an alkyl- or aryl-sulfonyl chloride (e.g., TsCl, MSCl) under coupling conditions, to form P3-P2-Me followed by hydrolysis of the product by the addition of an aqueous basic solution to provide the compound P3-P2 of Scheme II which may then be crystallized. In this one-pot sequence, the P3 compound can also be used in the form of its salt with a sterically hindered secondary amine, such as its DCHA salt.
[0137] The substituted acid compound of formula P3 used as a starting material are known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1 and may be obtained from commercially available materials using the techniques as described therein.
[0000]
[0138] The peptide couplings to give compound (1) in Scheme III could be performed using any of the conventional peptide coupling reagents and protocols known in the art. Examples of suitable reagents and conditions are outlined above with respect to peptide coupling step of Scheme I. IBC is a preferred peptide coupling reagent for Scheme III.
IV. Preparation of Sulfonated Ouinoline Starting Material
[0139] The sulfonated quinoline starting material QUIN can be prepared from known materials according to the procedure outlined in Scheme IV below:
[0000]
[0140] These hydroxyl-substituted quinolines II can be converted to sulfonequinolines QUIN by first converting them to a halo-quinoline compound III (where X is halogen) by following well known halogenation procedures using various halogenating reagents such as the commonly used POX 3 and PX 5 , where X═F, Cl, Br or I, wherein these reagents can be used in some cases as solvents or in combination with polar aprotic solvents, such as DMF or Acetonitrile; and then converting halogenated compound III to the target sulfonequinoline QUIN by reaction with a sulfinate salt RSO 2 M wherein M is an alkali metal, such as PhSO 2 Na.
[0141] Alternatively, II can be converted to the sulfonequinoline in a one-pot procedure by first generating an intermediate sulfonate by reaction with an arene sulfonylchloride compound R A SO 2 Cl wherein R A is a neutral or electron rich arene group, such as benzenesulfonyl chloride or tosyl chloride, in the presence of a suitable base in a suitable solvent. Suitable bases for this step include tertiary amine bases such as N-methylpyrrolidine and diisopropylethylamine, and suitable solvents include aprotic solvents such as acetonitrile, THF, toluene and DMF, preferably acetonitrile. The resulting species is then reacted in situ, under acidic conditions (for example in the presence of acetic, trifluoroacetic, hydrochloric acid or the like, preferably acetic acid), with a sulfinate salt RSO 2 M wherein M is an alkali metal, such as PhSO 2 Na, PhSO 2 K or PhSO 2 Cs, at a suitable reaction temperature, for example in the range of 0 to 100° C., preferably 25 to 50° C. The sulfonequinoline product can be isolated from the reaction mixture using conventional techniques well know to those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, the sulfonequinoline can be crystallized out by cooling the solution to room temperature and adding water. The crystallized product can then be filtered, rinsed and washed using conventional techniques.
[0142] The hydroxyl-substituted quinoline compounds of formula (II) can be synthesized from commercially available materials using the techniques described in, e.g. from WO 00/59929, WO 00/09543 and WO 00/09558, U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,180 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1 and U.S. Application Publication No. 2005/0020503 A1.
[0143] An alternative procedure for preparing certain hydroxyl-substituted quinoline compounds of formula (II) and their halogenation to a compound of formula (III) is set forth in Scheme V below (in which compound 7 is an example of a compound (II) and compound 8 is an example of a compound (III):
[0000]
[0144] wherein each Alk is independently a C 1 -C 6 alkyl group, X is a halogen atom, Z is tert-butyl or t-butyl-oxy, and R 6 and Het are as defined for Formula I.
[0145] In the first step, a compound of formula 1 is treated with a base and a brominating agent to obtain compound 2. The general requirements for this step are the use of a base of strength sufficient to form the desired dianion. This could be any alkyllithium, a metalloamide such as Lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), Lithium tetramethylpiperidide, a metallohexamethyldisilazide such as KHMDS, an organozincate, a metal alkoxide in a cation-solvating solvent such as DMSO, and the like. The preferred bases would be n-Butyllithium and LDA. Any organic solvent that does not interfere with the dianion formation could be used, such as THF, alkyl-THF's, dioxane, alkanes, cycloalkanes, dialkylethers such as MTBE, cyclopentylmethylether, dibutylether, and the like. The preferred solvents would be THF, alkyl-THF's and alkanes. The temperature for the dianion formation could be between −100° C. and 25° C., with the preferred range between −30° C. and 25° C. The brominating reagent could be any compound which contains a labile bromine atom such as Br 2 , NBS, bromohydantoins, N-bromophthalimides, bromohaloalkanes such as 1,2-dibromotetrachloroethane and perfluoroalkylbromides, and the like. The preferred brominating reagents would be the bromohaloalkanes. Once the dianion has been generated in a suitable solvent, the brominating reagent could be added neat or in solution, or alternatively the dianion could be added to the brominating reagent either neat or in solution. The preferred mode would be to add the dianion slowly to the brominating reagent in solution. The temperature for the bromination could be between −100° C. and 25° C., with the preferred range between −30° C. and 25° C.
[0146] In the next step, compound 2 is hydrolyzed by treatment with an aqueous acid mixture to obtain 3. Any aqueous acid mixture could be used such as water with [trifluoroacetic acid, a chloroacetic acid such as trichloroacetic acid, a sulfonic acid such as methanesulfonic acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, a strong acid resin such as DOWEX 50], and the like. The preferred acids would be hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid in 2-12 M concentration, preferably at least 6M. Cosolvents that are miscible with water could also be used, such as alcohols like ethanol, isopropanol, or ethers such as DME, diglyme, and the like. The hydrolysis could be carried out between 0° C. and 200° C., with the preferred temperature between 0° C. and 100° C.
[0147] In the next step, compound 3 is treated with an alkylated nitrile (Alk-CN) and a Lewis acid to obtain compound 4. For the conversion of 3 to 4, Lewis acids by themselves or in combination, could be used, such as AlCl 3 , BCl 3 , GaCl 3 , FeCl 3 and mixtures thereof, and the like. The preferred method would be to use BCl 3 with AlCl 3 . Any solvent which will not be easily acylated could be used such as halocarbons, halobenzenes, alkylbenzenes such as toluene, and alkylnitriles such as acetonitrile, with the preferred solvents being 1,2-dichloroethane, chlorobenzene and toluene. The reaction temperature could be between 0° C. and 150° C., preferably between 25° C. and 75° C.
[0148] In the next step, compound 4 is acylated with compound 5 to obtain compound 6. For the conversion of 4 to 6, acylation could be achieved by either first converting carboxylic acid 5 to an activated form such as an acid chloride or by using standard peptide coupling protocols. The preferred method would be to create the acid chloride of compound 5 using oxalyl chloride or thionyl chloride. This activated species would then be coupled with aniline 4 in any organic solvent or in water, with or without an added base. The preferred solvents would be NMP and THF and the preferred base (if used) is triethylamine. The reaction temperature could be between −30° C. and 150° C., preferably between −20° C. and 50° C.
[0149] In the next step, compound 6 is cyclized in the presence of a base to obtain compound 7. Compound 6 can be isolated and purified, or alternatively, crude 6 in an organic solvent such as NMP can simply be subjected to the cyclization conditions to furnish quinolone 7 directly, preforming two steps in a one-pot process. For the conversion of 6 to 7 in Scheme I, any base capable of forming the enolate could be used, such as t-BuOK, KDMO, LDA, and the like, with t-BuOK and KDMO being preferred. Any organic solvent which does not react with the enolate could be used, such as THF's, dioxane, DMSO, NMP, DME, and the like, with NMP, DME and DMSO being preferred. The cyclization could be performed at any temperature between 25° C. and 150° C., with 50° C. to 100° C. being preferred.
[0150] In the final step, hydroxoquinoline compound 7 is treated with a halogenating agent to obtain the compound 8. For the conversion of 7 to 8 in Scheme I, many halogenating reagents could be used, such as methanesulfonyl chloride, SOCl 2 , POCl 3 , PCl 3 , PCl 5 , POBr 3 , HF, and the like, with POCl 3 and SOCl 2 being preferred. The halogenation could be performed neat in the halogenating reagent, or in any organic solvent which does not react with the halogenating reagent, such as DME, diglyme, THF's, halocarbons and the like, with DME and THF's being preferred. The reaction temperature could be between −20° C. and 150° C. with 25° C. to 100° C. being preferred.
V. Preferred Embodiments of The Compound of Formula (I)
[0151] Preferred embodiments of the compounds of formula (I) that might be prepared by the process of the present invention include the embodiments set forth below.
[0152] Preferred embodiments include compounds of formula (I) as described above, wherein the cyclopropyl moiety on the right-hand side is selected from the 2 different diastereoisomers where the 1-carbon center of the cyclopropyl has the R configuration as represented by exemplary structures (i) and (ii):
[0000]
[0153] In one specific embodiment of the compounds of formula (I), the D linker is in the configuration syn to the A group as represented by structure (ii) above;
[0154] W is N;
[0155] L 0 is selected from H, —OH, —OCH 3 , —OC 2 H 5 , —OC 3 H 7 , —OCH(CH 3 ) 2 , —NHCH 3 , —NHC 2 H 5 , —NHC 3 H 7 , —NHCH(CH 3 ) 2 , —N(CH 3 ) 2 , —N(CH 3 )C 2 H 5 , —N(CH 3 )C 3 H 7 and —N(CH 3 )CH(CH 3 ) 2 .
[0156] L 1 and L 2 are each independently selected from hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, —CH 3 , —C 2 H 5 , —C 3 H 7 , —CH(CH 3 ) 2 , —OCH 3 , —OC 2 H 5 , —OC 3 H 7 and —OCH(CH 3 ) 2 ,
[0157] R 2 is H, C 1-6 thioalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, phenyl or Het selected from the following:
[0000]
[0158] wherein R 6 is H, C 1-6 alkyl, NH—R 7 , NH—C(O)—R 7 , NH—C(O)—NH—R 7 ,
[0159] wherein each R 7 is independently: H, C 1-6 alkyl, or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0160] or R 6 is NH—C(O)—OR 8 , wherein R 8 is C 1-6 alkyl;
[0161] R 3 is NH—C(O)—R 10 , NH—C(O)—OR 10 or NH—C(O)—NR 10 , wherein in each case R 10 is C 1-6 alkyl, or C 3-6 cycloalkyl; and
[0162] D is a 6 to 8-atom unsaturated alkylene chain;
[0163] R 4 is H or C 1-6 alkyl;
[0164] and A is a carboxylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof.
[0165] In another specific embodiment of the compounds of formula (I), the D linker is in the configuration syn to the A group as represented by structure (ii) above;
[0166] W is N;
[0167] L 0 is selected from H, —OH, —OCH 3 and —N(CH 3 ) 2 ;
[0168] one of L 1 and L 2 is —CH 3 , —F, —Cl or —Br and the other of L 1 and L 2 is H, or both L 1 and L 2 are H;
[0169] R 2 is
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 6 is NH—R 7 or NH—C(O)—R 7 , wherein R 7 is independently: C 1-6 alkyl, or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0170] R 3 is NH—C(O)—OR 10 , wherein R 10 is C 1-6 alkyl, or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0171] R 4 is H or C 1-6 alkyl;
[0172] D is a 7-atom unsaturated alkylene chain having one double bond; and
[0173] A is a carboxylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof.
[0174] In another specific embodiment, the compounds of formula (I) have the formula (I′) below:
[0000]
[0175] L 0 is —OCH 3 ;
[0176] L 1 is —CH 3 , —F, —Cl or —Br and and L 2 is H, or both L 1 and L 2 are H;
[0177] R 6 is NH—R 7 or NH—C(O)—R 7 , wherein R 7 is independently: C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0178] R 10 is butyl, cyclobutyl or cyclopentyl;
[0179] A is a carboxylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof.
[0180] The following table lists compounds representative of the compounds of formula (I). A compound of the formula below:
[0000]
[0181] wherein L 0 , L 1 , L 2 and R 2 are as defined below:
[0000]
Cpd #
L 2
L 0
L 1
R 2
101
H
-OMe
Me
102
H
-OMe
Me
103
H
-OMe
Me
104
H
-OMe
Me
105
H
-OMe
Br
106
H
-OMe
Br
107
H
-OMe
Cl
108
H
-OMe
Cl
109
Me
-OMe
Me
110
Me
-OMe
Me
111
H
-OMe
F
112
H
-OMe
F
113
H
-OMe
Cl
114
H
-OMe
Br
115
H
-OMe
Br
116
H
-OMe
Br
[0182] The following table list additional compounds representative of the compounds of formula (I). A compound of the formula below:
[0000]
[0183] wherein the bond from position 14 to the cyclopropyl group is syn to the COOH, said 13,14 double bond is cis, R 13 , R 4 and R 2 are defined as follows:
[0000]
Cpd #
R 13 :
R 4 :
R 2 :
201
H
202
H
203
H
204
H
OEt;
205
H
OEt;
206
H
207
H
208
H
209
H
210
H
211
H
212
H
213
H
214
H
215
H
216
H
217
H
218
H
219
H
220
10-(R) Me
OEt;
221
H
222
H
223
H
and 224
H
[0184] Additional specific compounds that are representative of the compounds of formula (I) may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,027 B1.
VI. Preferred Embodiments of The Compound of Formula QUIN
[0185] Preferred embodiments of the compounds of formula QUIN that might be used in the process of the present invention include the embodiments set forth below, i.e., those corresponding to the preferred embodiments of formula (I) compounds described above.
[0186] In one embodiment of the compounds of formula QUIN:
[0187] W is N;
[0188] L 0 is selected from H, —OH, —OCH 3 , —OC 2 H 5 , —OC 3 H 7 , —OCH(CH 3 ) 2 , —NHCH 3 , —NHC 2 H 5 , —NHC 3 H 7 , —NHCH(CH 3 ) 2 , —N(CH 3 ) 2 , —N(CH 3 )C 2 H 5 , —N(CH 3 )C 3 H 7 and —N(CH 3 )CH(CH 3 ) 2 .
[0189] L 1 and L 2 are each independently selected from hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, —CH 3 , —C 2 H 5 , —C 3 H 7 , —CH(CH 3 ) 2 , —OCH 3 , —OC 2 H 5 , —OC 3 H 7 and —OCH(CH 3 ) 2 ,
[0190] R 2 is C 1-6 thioalkyl, C 1-6 alkoxy, or Het selected from the following:
[0000]
[0191] wherein R 6 is H, C 1-6 alkyl, NH—R 7 , NH—C(O)—R 7 , NH—C(O)—NH—R 7 ,
[0192] wherein each R 7 is independently: H, C 1-6 alkyl, or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0193] or R 6 is NH—C(O)—OR 8 , wherein R 8 is C 1-6 alkyl;
[0194] and R is an C 6 or C 10 aryl group.
[0195] In another specific embodiment of the compounds of formula QUIN:
[0196] W is N;
[0197] L 0 o is selected from H, —OH, —OCH 3 and —N(CH 3 ) 2 ;
[0198] one of L 1 and L 2 is —CH 3 , —F, —Cl or —Br and the other of L 1 and L 2 is H, or both L 1 and L 2 are H;
[0199] R 2 is
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 6 is NH—R 7 or NH—C(O)—R 7 , wherein R 7 is independently: C 1-6 alkyl, or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0200] and R is a C 6 or C 10 aryl group.
[0201] In another specific embodiment, the compounds of formula QUIN have the formula below:
[0000]
[0202] L 0 is —OCH 3 ;
[0203] L 1 is —CH 3 , —F, —Cl or —Br and L 2 is H, or both L 1 and L 2 are H;
[0204] R 6 is NH—R 7 or NH—C(O)—R 7 , wherein R 7 is independently: C 1-6 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl;
[0205] and R is a C 6 or C 10 aryl group.
[0206] The following table lists compounds representative of the compounds of formula QUIN. A compound of the formula below:
[0000]
[0207] wherein Ph is phenyl and L 0 , L 1 , L 2 and R 2 are as defined below:
[0000]
Cpd #
L 2
L 0
L 1
R 2
301
H
-OMe
Me
302
H
-OMe
Me
303
H
-OMe
Me
304
H
-OMe
Me
305
H
-OMe
Br
306
H
-OMe
Br
307
H
-OMe
Cl
308
H
-OMe
Cl
309
Me
-OMe
Me
310
Me
-OMe
Me
311
H
-OMe
F
312
H
-OMe
F
313
H
-OMe
Cl
314
H
-OMe
Br
315
H
-OMe
Br
316
H
-OMe
Br
[0208] The following table list additional compounds representative of the compounds of formula QUIN. A compound of the formula below:
[0000]
[0209] wherein Ph is phenyl and R 2 is as defined as follows:
[0000]
Cpd#
R 2
401
402
403
404
OEt;
405
OEt;
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
OEt;
421
422
423
and 424 | Disclosed is a process for preparing a macrocyclic compound of the formula (I) wherein a hydroxyl-substituted macrocyclic compound of formula (3) is reacted with a sulfonyl-substituted compound of formula QUIN:
The compounds of formula (I) are potent active agents for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] There are no related applications other than U.S. Design patent application Ser. No.29/______, filed the same date as the present application on the device shown in FIG. 1.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of cake baking and desert molds. More particularly, the present invention concerns apparatus for baking a domed, semi-spherical or hemispherical cake or molded dessert having nested concentrically shaped components. The present invention thus relates to an apparatus assembly for baking a shaped type of dessert that can be termed a dual domed hemispherical or semi-spherical dome cake and/or combination dessert mold.
[0003] The present invention is thus directed toward an apparatus for molding cake batter, ice creams, gelatins or other desserts into a particular outer hemispherical shape with an inner separate mold having a smaller concentric hemispherical shape while setting or being baked. The invention particularly concerns a dome assembly which molds and/or bakes cakes or desserts in the shape of a hemispherical dome having a second inner composition shaped as a hemispherical dome.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Food molds are well known in the prior art. A common baking pan is a food mold, with one open end, one closed end and a peripheral side wall. The closed end and side wall define a hollow volume that becomes the three-dimensional shape of a food product molded by the baking pan.
[0005] Some food pans, such as a baking pan for making angel food cake, have an annular hollow volume at the open end. The hollow volume is filled with a food composition and then baked. After baking, the pan is inverted to remove the shaped food composition from the open end. Thus, the open end is used to form the bottom of the final food product.
[0006] Some food molds have a centrally located indentation at the closed end. With a mold of this type, a first food composition may be placed and formed in the open end and a second food composition maybe placed in the complementary shaped indentation at the closed end. This provides a accurate fit for the second filler food composition within the first supporting food composition.
[0007] It can thus be seen that a number of devices have been used in the molding and baking of desserts to obtain molded desserts in a variety of configurations and for a variety of shaped configurations as described in the prior art. However dual domed desserts are rare because of the complexity in preparing same. While cakes are commonly referred to in the literature as being domed, in effect this is an occurrence which comes about as the batter expands during baking and does not equate to a hemispherical or semispherical shaped cake.
[0008] Historically, it was known in the prior art to bake bread bowls which were semi-spherical loaves of bread into which a cavity was carved for placement of salads or soups. A conventional bread bowl is typically made by forming raw bread dough on the top of a simple inverted bowl which is then placed into the oven for baking. Bread bowls made in this manner often rise from the inverted bowl so that the same presents an uneven appearance, requiring trimming and waste.
[0009] Hemispherical shaped or dome cakes having dual composition are popular in Italian dessert cooking and are generally known as “Zuccotto”. These cakes are prepared by slicing previously baked sponge cake (Pan di Spagna) into thin, vertical slices, lining the interior of a bowl with plastic wrap and lining the plastic wrap in the bowl with overlapping pieces of the sponge cake slices. The slices of cake are then sprinkled with liquor and the dampened assembly is then covered with a plastic wrap and refrigerated. A center mixture of chocolate or other filling is poured into the cake lined bowl and the bottom or exposed surface of the filling is covered with other slices of cake. The entire cake is allowed to set for a number of hours, preferably overnight, inverted onto a platter and dusted with confectioners sugar. As can be seen, the process for making this cake is quite laborious in time and resources required. It has been found desirable to mold or form desserts or cake into a layered hemispherical or semi-spherical dome shape which can be baked and/or frozen and marketed as a specialized cake shape similar to that of the Italian “Zuccotto” cakes as the same make an elegant presentation. “Batter” as used herein in the application is meant to encompass cake batter, dough, malleable ice cream, gelatin or a malleable dessert which sets up in a rigid or semi-rigid shape.
[0010] Many prior art devices and techniques mold and bake dough of breads, batters of cakes, cookies, and other baked goods into various shapes including containers which may be used to hold other foods. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,323, issued Mar. 14, 1989, discloses a method for molding and baking cookie dough into a cup shape which can then be used to hold ice cream or other fillings in a similar manner to U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,956, issued Jan. 10, 1967, which also discloses a molding and baking apparatus for the baking of bread dough into a cup-like shape. U.S. Pat. No. 1,487,906, issued Mar. 25, 1924, discloses a pan for baking cake batter into a container shape for holding ice cream.
[0011] In U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,400 issued Jul. 21, 1964 a telescoping cake apparatus is disclosed with a center cone assembly which moves upward when the cake batter is baked forming a frustrum conical cake with a conical center cavity. A one piece strip cross link handle is secured to the upper edge of top of the expendable baking section and the cone by staples or the like.
[0012] A baked layered product with an apparatus for making same is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,507, issued Aug. 27, 1974. This baking assembly uses three baking pans to form a cylindrical bunt bowl body and lid which is placed over the body to hold the filling therein.
[0013] Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 1,852,966 issued Apr. 5, 1932 is directed toward a baking pan used for baking a cake with a hollow center so that the same can have a filling placed therein. A tapered tubular outer member has a core mold mounted thereon attached to a cover over the top of the tubular outer member.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,313, issued Sep. 7, 1999 is directed toward a mold assembly for making a baked edible shell. The mold assembly is constructed of an outer mold shell and an associated inner mold shell, the outer mold shell having a curved main portion with a central opening and an outer rim extending in a plane. The inner mold shell has a curved main portion with a central chimney shaped to pass through the outer mold central opening. The outer mold opening comprises a raised circular rim with an inwardly directed flange. The outer edge of the outer mold shell is formed with a rolled-up rim. When the edible material is being cooked, a metal strip with curved ends is mounted over the rolled rim of the outer shell mold as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5C to hold both mold-shells in relative positions to eliminate expansion of the edible material during cooking.
[0015] Another reference, U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,352 issued Jul. 13, 1993 directed toward a baking assembly which has an outer dome shaped member and an inner dome shaped member as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A flange extends outward from the upper edge of the outer dome member to seat the flange extending from the upper edge of the inner dome member. The flanges are held together by a C clamp or other fastening means. The inner dome shaped member is TEFLON* coated on its inside surface and outside surface allowing cake or dough to be baked in the outer dome mold and the inner mold.
[0016] In all baking pans, it is desirable to facilitate the partial escape of moisture from these apparatuses in order to develop a degree of porosity in the final baked product. At the same time, however, the batter must absorb some moisture to prevent excessive dehydration. It therefore becomes necessary to contain the batter at a pressure sufficient to limit the extent to which water is converted to steam, since the batter absorbs steam less easily than water, while allowing for a degree of conversion and escape. The batter must also be contained to prevent the escape of the cake itself due to its expansion during baking.
[0017] The present invention also solves the complex construction problems in assembling a domed cake or dessert through the use of a simple apparatus. In the present invention, it has been found desirable to facilitate the partial escape of moisture by using porosity in the inner dome bowl.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The present invention is directed toward an apparatus for simultaneously producing a dual layered semi-spherical or hemispherical dessert or cake using an outer dome shaped bowl with a ring base and an inner dome shaped bowl which is supported in the outer dome shaped bowl cavity by a support strip or strips which are fastened to the outer rim of the outer bowl. Each support strip is elevated to lie above a plane taken on the outer rim of the outer bowl so that expansion of the batter does not leave a marking or cause uneven expansion. Both of the bowls have a round lip extending outward at the end surface of the open end and extending around the circumference of the open end allowing the same to be easily grasped and handled by the user and snapped onto the support strips which support the inner bowl within the cavity of the outer bowl. The support strip has clamp mechanisms on both ends, with each clamp mechanism having an outside leg which engages and holds the outer rim of the outer bowl while an inside leg engages and holds the outer rim of the inner bowl. The combined cake sections from each of the outer and inner dome shaped bowls are stacked to form a dual semi-spherical or hemispherical configuration.
[0019] Another embodiment of the invention has a solid base in place of the ring base and uses a central ring assembly with four extending legs which engage the rim or lip of the outer bowl and a snap mechanism on the underside of the center ring to engage the rim or lip of the inner bowl.
[0020] It is an object of the invention to prepare two different composition food products into a single hemispherical shaped presentation.
[0021] It is another object of the invention to provide a cooking assembly for baking a cake that produces a uniformly shaped dome shaped cake with an internal composition of a similar but smaller shape that is resistant to tilting and rolling.
[0022] It is still another object of the invention to provide a cooking assembly which delivers heat energy evenly to all areas of the cake batter being baked.
[0023] Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that is easy to use, ruggedized and reliable.
[0024] It is a further object of the invention to mold cake batter or a dessert composition in an enclosure of a desired shape and bake or set the enclosure composition while maintaining heat and pressure at a precise desired level.
[0025] It is a still a further object of the invention to allow for the escape of moisture and gas from the inner bowl during baking through the use of a porous structure while preventing the mixing of the expanding batter.
[0026] It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel way of differentiating the heat applied to the molding and baking apparatus.
[0027] It is yet another object of the invention is to provide an cooking assembly which is easily broken into individual components and is easy to clean.
[0028] Another object of the invention is to provide a cooking assembly for simultaneously baking two hemispherical cakes of different sizes with one cake fitting into a cavity formed during the baking process in the outer cake to produce a uniform cake that is predictable and reproducible without size variance.
[0029] Still another object of the invention is to provide a cooking assembly that has one or more of the characteristics discussed above but which is relatively simple to use and requires a minimum of cooking skills.
[0030] In the accompanying drawings, there is shown illustrative embodiments of the invention from which these and other objectives, novel features and advantages will be readily apparent.
[0031] These and other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent when considered with the teachings contained in the detailed disclosure along with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] [0032]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dual concentric dome bowl apparatus of the present invention;
[0033] [0033]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dual concentric dome bowl apparatus of the present invention with two crossed support strips;
[0034] [0034]FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the outer dome bowl component of FIG. 1;
[0035] [0035]FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the outer dome bowl component of FIG. 3;
[0036] [0036]FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the outer bowl rim taken from the outer bowl component of FIG. 3;
[0037] [0037]FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of the base ring of the outer bowl dome component of FIG. 3 removed from the outer bowl dome;
[0038] [0038]FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the base ring shown in FIG. 6;
[0039] [0039]FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the inner bowl component;
[0040] [0040]FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the inner bowl component of FIG. 8;
[0041] [0041]FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the strip support for the inner bowl component attached to the outer bowl as shown in FIG. 1;
[0042] [0042]FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the strip support shown in FIG. 10;
[0043] [0043]FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the dual concentric dome bowl apparatus;
[0044] [0044]FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 12;
[0045] [0045]FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 12 partially in section; and
[0046] [0046]FIG. 15 is an enlarged partial cross sectional view of the end snap of the support leg of the support mechanism of the apparatus of FIG. 12.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0047] The preferred embodiment and best mode of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 through 11.
[0048] Referring to the Figures, a molding or baking assembly 20 according to the invention is adapted to shape or mold cake batter, other compositions of baking goods or complimentary desserts such as ice cream, gelatins, puddings into a concentric domed layered dessert having a semispherical or hemispherical shape.
[0049] The outer dome pan or bowl 22 is typically symmetrical with a concavo-convex spherical shape. The outer dome mold is constructed with a bowl body 24 having a spherical or curved closed bottom surface 26 and an open end 28 forming an interior chamber or cavity 29 . The open end 28 is formed with a curved or rolled outer lip or rim 30 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The outer lip 30 is curved in a circular configuration and preferably has a diameter of about 0.25 inches. The outer lip 30 can have a plurality of beads or protrusions 31 about 0.80 inches in length which extends upward about 0.03 inches from the outer lip top surface opposite each other which serve as reinforcement and hold support strip 70 . It will be appreciated that the rim 30 will permit a pair of human hands or a tool such as a wooden handle to reach under and grasp the bowl body 24 or the inner dome bowl 50 . A base ring member 32 is secured to the bottom surface 26 of the bowl body 24 to provide a flat base surface during working and/or cooking. The ring member 32 is preferably constructed of 22 gage C1018 cold rolled steel with an inwardly curved bottom planar flange 34 and a vertical side wall 36 having a top edge 37 which has four tabs 38 outwardly extending therefrom bent at an angle ranging from about 120° to 130°, preferably about 124°. The ring member 32 is secured to the base section of the bowl body 24 by welding or braising and has a cross section forming a “L” shape with the leg or flange 34 being about 1 inch wide forming a planar surface for seating the bowl in a stable condition. Each tab 38 is positioned on the ring circumference 90° from the other adjacent tabs located on the circular top edge 37 and has a length of approximately 1 inch. The base ring 32 preferably has a diameter of 4.25 inches and a height of about 1.07 inches when used with a 8.38 inch outer diameter bowl having a depth of 3.98 to 4.0 inches. When ring member 32 is mounted or secured to the bowl body 24 , there is a clearance ranging from about 0.40 to about 0.60 inches, preferably about 0.47 inches from the lowest outer bottom surface of the bowl to the top of the support area upon which the ring member 32 is seated.
[0050] If desired, a bimetallic thermometer can be attached to the ring member 32 which thermometer would turn an appropriate color upon reaching the desired cooking temperature allowing the cook to ascertain that the desired temperature has been reached.
[0051] The bowl body 24 is preferably integrally constructed of sheet steel or stainless steel but can be constructed of copper, aluminum, cast iron, pyrex, glass, porcelain, ceramic or any type of microwaveable material at a uniform desired thickness commonly used for baking pans and containers. If desired, the bowl body can have its external surface coated with a non-corroding material such as tin or chromium. The bowl 24 therefore may be constructed of a single sheet of metal formed into the desired shape. The inside smooth surface 25 of the bowl is preferably coated with one or more nonstick coatings, such as for example TEFLON® (i.e., fluorocarbon polymers), (e.g., tetrafluroethlene and fluorinated ethylene propylene). The interior surface 25 of the bowl 24 , which contacts the batter or dessert composition, is covered with TEFLON® in the preferred embodiment to ease the removal of the baked or chilled product from the bowl. The radial sloping of the inner wall 25 further eases removal of the final dessert composition. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other shapes and geometries of pan assemblies are possible, and that the specifics of material of which it is made can be changed without departing from scope of the invention. For example, the mold may be formed as a cone, or other shape. Additionally, it can be stamped from a solid piece of material or spun from aluminum instead of formed from a sheet.
[0052] The inner bowl of the dessert or cake is obtained using a circular curved bowl 50 as shown in FIGS. 1, 8 and 9 . The inner dome bowl 50 is typically symmetrical with a concavo-convex spherical shape constructed with a bowl body 52 having a spherical or curved closed bottom surface 54 and an open end 60 forming chamber 55 . The open end 60 is provided with a curved or rolled outer lip or rim 62 . The curved outer lip 62 preferably has a diameter of about 0.25 inches. It will be appreciated that the rim 62 will permit a pair of human hands or a tool such as a wooden handle to reach under and grasp the bowl body 52 or the inner dome bowl 50 .
[0053] The bowl 52 is preferably constructed of porous material such as high temperature TEFLON coated high temperature fiberglass ranging from 5 to 10 mils in thickness or a stainless steel wire cloth also TEFLON coated on both sides, both of which are breathable an allow an air flow of 50 CFM which vents moisture during baking without batter coming through. The porous material has a sieve opening for the stainless steel wire cloth ranging from 0.0165+ or −0.0005 and the stainless steel is STME 1187. The inside and outside surfaces of the bowl 52 are preferably coated with one or more nonstick coatings, such as for example TEFLON® (i.e., fluorocarbon polymers), (e.g., tetrafluroethlene and fluorinated ethylene propylene). Alternately the bowl body 52 can be constructed of sheet steel, stainless steel, copper, aluminum, cast iron, pyrex, glass, porcelain, ceramic or any type of microwaveable material at a uniform desired thickness commonly used for baking pans and containers.
[0054] The interior surface 53 of the bowl 50 , which contacts the batter or dessert composition is smooth and is covered with TEFLON® in the preferred embodiment to ease the removal of the baked or chilled product from the bowl. The radial sloping of the inner wall 53 further eases removal of the final dessert composition. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other shapes and geometries of pan assemblies are possible, and that the specifics of material of which it is made can be changed without departing from scope of the invention.
[0055] The inner bowl 24 is mounted on the outer bowl 50 by using one or more support strips 70 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Each strip is constructed with a single base member 72 having a support clamp mechanism 73 mounted on each end of the base member 72 by rivets or welding. Each clamp mechanism 73 is formed with an outer leg 74 which extends downward from the underside 77 of the base member 72 . The leg 74 is provided with a curved end 75 which fits around the outer rim or lip 30 of the bowl body 24 . The curved end 75 extends downward from the underside 77 of the base member 72 about 0.75 inches. The curved end 75 has a flange projection 76 which extends outward at an angle of 30 degrees from a plane taken along the length of the base member 72 to provide easy attachment and detachment to the lip 30 . An integral bridge section 78 of the base member 72 provides an attachment surface for the two clamp mechanisms. An inner leg 80 extends outward from bridge section 78 positioned inside of the outer leg 74 and ends in a curved flange 81 which projects inward to fit under the bottom surface of lower lip or rim 62 of the inner bowl body 52 . The base member 72 preferably has a length of about 8.0 inches. The flange 76 allows the curved end portion 75 of outer leg 74 to be easily placed around the outer lip 30 of the bowl body 24 . The width of the base member 72 is about 0.75 inches.
[0056] In operation cake batter is poured, about ⅔ to ¾ full, in the bowl body 24 and the inner bowl 52 is placed in chamber 29 of the outer dome pan 22 down into the batter in chamber 29 . The inner bowl 52 is secured into place by mounting the same to its end clamp mechanisms 73 which fit over rim 30 holding the two bowls 24 and 52 in a fixed relationship. A second cake batter of a different flavor as for example chocolate is poured in the chamber of bowl 52 about ⅔ to ¾ of the depth of the bowl 52 . It should be noted that the support strip 70 under surface is elevated by the legs of clamp mechanisms 73 over a plane taken across the top rim 30 of the outer bowl 24 and the top rim 62 of the inner bowl 53 so that it will not imprint the baked batter which has expanded during baking allowing the bottom to be easily trimmed.
[0057] After the batter 24 is molded and baked by the application of heat to the bowls, the support strip member 72 is removed and the inner dome mold 50 is taken out of its nesting position in the outer mold bowl 24 . The TEFLON® coating of the interior and exterior surface of the inner mold bowl 52 facilitates removal of the mold without tearing or damaging the final baked product. The baked cake is then removed from the inner mold bowl body 52 , the TEFLON® coating of the interior surface of the inner bowl mold facilitating the dessert removal. The result is a baked goods, which is hemispherically shaped and ready to eat. The TEFLON® coating of the interior surface 25 of the outer dome mold 24 facilitates removal of the baked product without tearing or damaging the final baked product. The interior cake is then placed in the cavity formed by inner mold bowl body 52 and the inner smooth surface 25 of bowl body 24 and the composite assembly is inverted onto a serving area for frosting, icing or other decoration preparatory to being served. The result is a dual domed cake or dessert which is domed shaped as a hemisphere and ready to eat. The baked goods may be filled or coated with ice cream, pudding, icing or other sweet filling for a dessert pastry.
[0058] Another embodiment 80 of the invention as shown in FIGS. 12 - 15 has a solid circular base 82 with a flat base planar surface 84 secured to the bottom of the outer dome mold bowl 24 in place of ring member 32 . The strip support member 70 is also replaced in this embodiment by a center ring support assembly 86 integrally constructed with a center ring member 88 having a width defined by the inside diameter and outside diameter which extends both outside and inside of the outside rim 62 of the inner dome bowl 52 so that it covers the top rim of the inner bowl 52 . A plurality of legs 90 extend outward from the center ring member 88 at approximately 90 degrees around the ring and the bottom surface 92 and as is shown in FIG. 15, an enlargement of circle B of FIG. 14, at the end of each leg is formed with a circular clamp extension 94 which engages the rim 30 of the outer bowl. A plurality of curved clamp members 96 are mounted on the bottom surface 89 of the ring 88 to engage and hold the rim on the inner dome bowl 52 . The inner and outer bowls are constructed of the same materials as the bowls previously described.
[0059] The cooking assembly can be enhanced by providing additional shaped lips for handling. Similarly, although aluminum, sheet steel and/or stainless steel is preferred for the concavo-convex outer bowl body, any suitable structural material could be used in its place, as for example, alloyed steel, copper, brass, cast iron or even glass or ceramic, such as stoneware. The inner bowl body has the same structural body as that of the preferred embodiment.
[0060] The principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. However; the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular embodiments which have been described above. Instead, the embodiments described here should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by others without departing from the scope of the present inventions defined by the following claims. | An apparatus assembly for forming a compound dessert in a predetermined dome shape including a first outer mold having a dome shaped bowl with a closed semi-spherical end and an open end, and a ring shaped planar support base secured to said closed end of bowl body. A second dome shaped bowl of a smaller diameter is mounted in the chamber formed in the first mold bowl. A lip is formed on the open end of both bowls extending outward from the open end of each bowl which holds a retainer strap assembly holding the second inner mold bowl in place within the first outer mold bowl. | 0 |
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to surge control systems and, in particular, to a new and useful method and apparatus for controlling surge in a centrifugal compressor.
The centrifugal compressor is one of the most commonly used means of gas compression. It is used in many fields, such as the petroleum, chemical and synthetic fuel industries.
It is known that the operation of a centrifugal compressor can become unstable due to changes in various operating conditions such as flow rate or pressure. This causes rapid pulsations in flow which is called surge.
When operated into the surge region, the head flow characteristics of a centrifugal compressor actually reverse slope developing a negative resistance characteristic as shown in the characteristic curves of FIG. 1. As flow is reduced, discharge pressure falls, so that flow and pressure are further reduced. When discharge pressure falls below that in the surge line 10, a momentary reversal of flow occurs and line pressure starts to fall. This condition creates demand for more flow causing flow to reverse again. This pulsation continues until either a control action is applied to force the compressor out of the surge region or until compressor linings or other structures are damaged.
In the current state of the art, surge control systems are based upon differential pressure measurement across an orifice plate which is installed in the compressor suction line. See, for example, Compressor Handbook for the Hydrocarbon Industries, Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Tex., (1979). In many installations, however, such as gas recovery-compressors in a fluid catalytic cracking unit, it is not possible to measure the orifice differential pressure in the compressor suction line due to difficulties in installation. (See the compressor Handbook referred to above).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide for the surge control of a centrifugal compressor utilizing a calculation for the orifice differential pressure at the discharge end of the compressor. The orifice differential pressure is calculated using one of suction and discharge pressure alone or these pressures in addition to measured values of suction and discharge temperature. For low compression ratios, the simplifications can be made in the calculation to further simplify the apparatus and method of controlling the centrifugal compressor.
According to the invention, the calculated desired orifice differential pressure is compared with an actual orifice differential pressure and the error amount is used to control a blow-off valve to maintain the operation of the centrifugal compressor above its surge line.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method of compressor surge control which provides accurate control over a full range of variable speed and fixed speed compressors which have small or large compression ratios.
A still further object of the invention is to provide for such a control wherein the flow through a compressor is maintained at or slightly above the surge line even though process demand may be at or below this level.
Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for achieving the foregoing purposes which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the Drawings
FIG. 1 is a characteristic curve showing a surge line of a centrifugal compressor;
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus used in accordance with the invention wherein suction pressure and temperature values as well as discharge temperature and pressure values are utilized to calculate a desired orifice differential pressure at the discharge side;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a still further embodiment of the invention wherein only discharge and suction pressures are utilized;
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 of another embodiment of the invention;
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein, in FIGS. 2 through 5, provides for the surge control of centrifugal compressors using a suction and discharge pressure value with or without suction and discharge temperature values to calculate a desired suction or discharge orifice differential pressure and adjust a valve to regulate an actual differential pressure so that it corresponds to the calculated differential pressure.
Since the gas is compressed adiabatically and isoentropically in a centrifugal compressor: ##EQU1## where; P d =Discharge pressure
P s =Suction pressure
V d =Gas volume at discharge
V s =Gas volume at suction
k=C p /C v
C p =Specific heat of gas at constant pressure
C v =Specific heat of gas at constant volume.
With W representing the power applied to a compressor and F being the mass flow of gas, and since essentially all of the power introduced into a compressor is converted into an increase in enthalpy of gas, regardless of the irreversibility of the operation, it is true that: ##EQU2## where: ΔH=Change in enthalpy of gas due to compression
T d =Discharge temperature of gas
T s =Suction temperature of gas
The power applied to the centrifugal compressor (W) is also related to mass flow of the gas and adiabatic head h a , by the expression:
-W=Fh.sub.a /n.sub.a (3)
where:
h a =adiabatic head, a parameter commonly used by compressor manufacturers
n a =compressor efficiency (adiabatic)
From equations (2) and (3) above, and with F expressed in lbs/min. and head h a in feet, power W is presented in ft-lbs per minute, and from the conversion factor of 778.3 ft-lb/BUT, we have: ##EQU3## or:
h.sub.a =778.3n.sub.a Cp(T.sub.d -T.sub.s) (4a)
Assuming that:
(1) specific heat of gas is constant with temperature,
(2) adiabatic compressor efficiency, n a =1
and
(3) w is the molecular weight of gas, then from equation (4a) and from the relationship:
C.sub.p -C.sub.v =1,987 Btu/lb mol. (5)
and: ##EQU4## and dividing by molecular weight to convert lb mol. units to lbs. we have: ##EQU5##
In the article "Surge Control for Centrifugal Compressors", Chemical Engineering, M. H. White, Dec. 25, 1972, it is observed that surge line appears as a parabola when adiabatic head is plotted against volumetric suction flow, V s , at standard conditions: that is:
h.sub.a =K.sub.1 V.sub.s.sup.2 (8)
where K 1 =a constant.
However, in practice, volumetric suction flow (V s ) is measured as orifice differential since it cannot be easily measured directly. Moreover, suction and discharge flows are equal at standard conditions, that is: ##EQU6## where: K 2 =orifice meter constant
h d =orifice differential measurement in compressor discharge line.
From equations (8) and (9), we have ##EQU7##
From equations (7) and (10), we have: ##EQU8##
On eliminating suction and discharge temperature terms in equation (11) with the assistance of equations (1) and (6), we have ##EQU9##
Equations (11) and (13) can be further simplified in the following manner:
The relationship between h d and (P d /P s ) m will be linear at m equal to one, however, this is far from reality. Consequently, there is substantial departure from linearity for all but lower compression ratios. Departure from linearity increases with increasing compression ratio. Departure from linearity increases from about 9% at compression ratio 3 to about 25% at ratio 50.
For low compression ratios (below 3) the relationship between h d and (P d /P s ) m is linear, and its slope is given by: ##EQU10## at (P d /P s )=1, we have: ##EQU11## Therefor, ##EQU12## Now from equations (11) and (16), we have: ##EQU13## and from equations (13) and (16), we have: ##EQU14##
Equations (11), (11a), (13) and (13a) give the calculated orifice differential pressure in a centrifugal compressor discharge line.
A set point value of a valve controller can be adjusted to hold the orifice differential pressure (h d ) as measured, equal to the calculated value of equations (11), (11a), (13) and (13a).
In many installations, it is not possible to measure the orifice differential pressure in the compressor suction line, hence the orifice differential pressure in the discharge line is used per equation (13).
Referring now to the drawings specifically, the invention, as shown in FIG. 2 provides apparatus for achieving the calculation of equation (11) in the form of a control unit generally designated 12. As with the other embodiments of the invention, control can be achieved using for example the 7,000 ELECTRONIC ANALOG INSTRUMENTATION of Bailey Controls, Division of The Babcock & Wilcox Company. Microprocessors can also be utilized which are known in the art such as the system known as the NETWORK 90 control system which is a trademark of The Babcock & Wilcox Company, a subsidiary of McDermott Incorporated.
Referring to FIG. 2, control unit 12 receives as inputs sensed values for suction and discharge pressures over transmitters 14 and 16, and suction and discharge temperatures over transmitters 18 and 20. A division operation of the values received are conducted by suitably provided value dividers 22, 24 and 26. In divider 26, the discharge pressure value is divided by the constant m. A calculating element 28 raises the divided value of discharge pressure over suction pressure by the constant m from which is subtracted a quantity of 1 in element 30. The multiplication element 32 multiplies the values received from elements 30, 22 and 26 which each other and with the constant K and outputs a calculated desired value for the discharge orifice differential pressure h d over line 34 to controller 36 which compares the calculated value to an actual value received over transmitter 38 to generate an error signal. The error signal is utilized to control a blow-off valve 40 which is connected in a recirculation line 42. Centrifugal compressor 44 having suction line 46 and discharge line 48 is thus controlled to maintain it at or above its surge line.
In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, similar numerals are utilized to designate the same or similar elements. The instrumention of FIG. 3 operates to calculate the discharge orifice differential pressure according to equation (11a).
The embodiment of FIG. 4 shows the implementation of equation (13). It is noted that in this embodiment the suction and discharge temperature value are unnecesary. It is also noted that when the constant m equals 1, the division element 26 can be eliminated to further simplify the system.
In FIG. 5, an implementation of equation (13a) is shown. Here, two additional elements are utilized, element 46 which multiplies the value received from element 24 by the constant factor m and element 48 which adds 1 to the value received from element 46.
The system described above is applicable to compressors which are run at variable speed. One common type of compressor is run at fixed speed where the inlet guide veins are adjusted to change the head flow characteristics. This does not alter the method of approximation for the surge control line, however, since the basic equations presented above do not change.
The apparatus and method according to the invention represents the most accurate full-range surge control which is practical.
The surge control system, according to the invention, is a protective device and, as such, is not adjusted as a plant operation variable.
It is also noted that while a number of variables are taken into account, such as the suction and discharge pressures, in actual practice, additional simplifications take place where one or more of the variables are held constant.
For example, suction temperature T s may be constant to upstream process control. Discharge temperature T d may be constant due to downstream process control. Suction pressure Ps may be constant to upstream pressure control or discharge pressure P d may be constant due to upstream pressure control or because compressor speed is adjusted to hold it constant. In such cases, a constant may be used in the equation, thus reducing the number of transmitters required and also the calculating elements in the control unit.
In general, the device and method for implementation of equations 11a and 13a are more applicable for compressors with low compression ratios and the implementation of equations (11) and (13) are applicable for compressors having higher compression ratios.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated. | A surge control system is disclosed for centrifugal compressors which utilizes an algorithm to calculate a desired orifice differential pressure and compare the calculated result with an actual differential pressure. A controller is provided for operating a blow-off valve to bring the actual differential pressure to the calculated differential pressure. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Not applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not applicable
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
[0003] Not applicable
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0004] This invention relates to improved methods and apparatus for completing wells in unconsolidated subterranean zones, and more particularly, to improved methods and apparatus for completing such wells whereby the migration of fines and sand with the fluids produced therefrom is prevented.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Oil and gas wells are often completed in unconsolidated formations containing loose and incompetent fines and sand which migrate with fluids produced by the wells. The presence of formation fines and sand in the produced fluids is disadvantageous and undesirable in that the particles abrade pumping and other producing equipment and reduce the fluid production capabilities of the producing zones in the wells.
[0006] Heretofore, unconsolidated subterranean zones have been stimulated by creating fractures in the zones and depositing particulate proppant material in the fractures to maintain them in open positions. In addition, the proppant has heretofore been consolidated within the fractures into hard permeable masses to reduce the migration of formation fines and sands through the fractures with produced fluids. Further, gravel packs which include sand screens and the like have commonly been installed in the wellbores penetrating unconsolidated zones. The gravel packs serve as filters and help to assure that fines and sand do not migrate with produced fluids into the wellbores.
[0007] In a typical gravel pack completion, a screen is placed in the wellbore and positioned within the unconsolidated subterranean zone which is to be completed. The screen is typically connected to a tool which includes a production packer and a cross-over, and the tool is in turn connected to a work or production string. A particulate material, which is usually graded sand, often referred to in the art as gravel, is pumped in a slurry down the work or production string and through the cross over whereby it flows into the annulus between the screen and the wellbore. The liquid forming the slurry leaks off into the subterranean zone and/or through the screen which is sized to prevent the sand in the slurry from flowing therethrough. As a result, the sand is deposited in the annulus around the screen whereby it forms a gravel pack. The size of the sand in the gravel pack is selected such that it prevents formation fines and sand from flowing into the wellbore with produced fluids.
[0008] A problem which is often encountered in forming gravel packs, particularly gravel packs in long and/or deviated unconsolidated producing intervals, is the formation of sand bridges in the annulus. That is, non-uniform sand packing of the annulus between the screen and the wellbore often occurs as a result of the loss of carrier liquid from the sand slurry into high permeability portions of the subterranean zone which in turn causes the formation of sand bridges in the annulus before all the sand has been placed. The sand bridges block further flow of the slurry through the annulus which leaves voids in the annulus. When the well is placed on production, the flow of produced fluids is concentrated through the voids in the gravel pack which soon causes the screen to be eroded and the migration of fines and sand with the produced fluids to result.
[0009] Incomplete packing of the interval may be caused by the liquid in the gravel slurry flowing into more permeable strata in the upper end of the formation interval and/or through the openings in the upper portion of the screen before sufficient gravel has been transported to the bottom of the completion interval.
[0010] In attempts to prevent the formation of sand bridges in gravel pack completions, special screens having internal shunt tubes have been developed and used. While such screens have achieved varying degrees of success in avoiding sand bridges, they, along with the gravel packing procedure, are very costly.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,991, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses methods for gravel packing an interval of a wellbore wherein perforated shunts or conduits are provided on the external surface of the screen which are in fluid communication with the gravel slurry as it enters the annulus in the wellbore adjacent the screen. This method does not prevent the formation of such bridges where the liquid from the slurry is lost to the upper part of the gravel pack screen.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,376, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a method, basically comprising the steps of placing a slotted liner or perforated shroud with an internal sand screen disposed therein, in the zone to be completed, isolating the perforated shroud and the wellbore in the zone and injecting particulate material into the annuli between the sand screen and the perforated shroud and the wellbore to thereby form packs of particulate material therein. The system enables the fluid and sand to bypass any bridges that may form by providing multiple flowpaths via the perforated shroud/screen annulus and/or wellbore/screen annulus. See also Lafontaine, et al.: “New Concentric Annular Packing System Limits Bridging in Horizontal Gravel Packs,” paper 56778 presented at the 1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Houston, Tex., October 3-6, which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,476, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a method and apparatus for gravel packing an interval of a wellbore wherein a permeable screen having a means for restricting fluid flow from the screen-wellbore annulus into the upper portions of the screen is positioned adjacent the wellbore interval. The flow-restrictive means may be comprised of a material which remains substantially solid during circulation of the gravel slurry but preferably can be removed, e.g., by melting or dissolving, after the gravel has been placed. However, this method does not provide multiple flow-paths, or prevent the problem of premature liquid loss from the gravel slurry to the upper end of the formation interval.
[0014] Thus, there are needs for improved methods and apparatus for completing wells in unconsolidated subterranean zones whereby the migration of formation fines and sand with produced fluids can be economically and permanently prevented while allowing the efficient production of hydrocarbons from the unconsolidated producing zone.
SUMMARY
[0015] The present invention provides improved methods and apparatus for completing wells, and optionally simultaneously fracture stimulating the wells, in unconsolidated subterranean zones which meet the needs described above and overcome the deficiencies of the prior art.
[0016] The improved methods include the steps of placing a perforated shroud having an internal sand screen disposed therein whereby an annulus is formed between the sand screen and the perforated shroud in an unconsolidated subterranean zone, and injecting particulate material into the annulus between the sand screen and the perforated shroud and into the zone by way of the perforated shroud. Fluid flow from the shroud-screen annulus out through the upper portions of the perforated shroud is restricted during the gravel placement to prevent premature liquid loss to the upper end of the formation interval.
[0017] To improve the performance of the system in reducing the potential of screen-out or forming sand bridges inside the shroud-screen annulus, the number of holes or perforations on the shroud is decreased to an optimized number during the gravel packing operation. However, the number of holes on the shroud is preferably increased during the production phase to accommodate production flow without restriction.
[0018] A method of preparing perforations on a shroud is included wherein a number of perforations on the shroud is selected to be installed with screen or filter medium plate. The screen/filter plate can either be threaded or welded to the shroud so that it covers the perforations. The screen/filter is then coated or plated with a layer of dissolvable, meltable or erodable material to completely shut off the flow. After the placement of gravel in the wellbore, the material is removed from the screen/filter, allowing perforations to open up for more flow paths during production of the well.
[0019] Materials suitable for application in the improved methods include magnesium oxide/magnesium chloride/calcium carbonate mixtures, oil soluble resins, waxes, soluble polymers, etc. In one example, a paste form of a magnesium oxide/magnesium chloride/calcium carbonate mixture is put on the screen/filter plates, and allowed to cure before installation of the perforated shroud system down hole. After the gravel placement, a flush of weak HCl is applied into the wellbore and allowed to soak through the gravel pack. The coated material on the screen/filter plates is thereby removed.
[0020] Other suitable materials employ other mechanisms such as temperature, oil solubility, internal breaker or flow shear stress to remove them from the plates. Other methods such as using ceramic discs to cover the perforations and relying on explosive charges or sonic waves to rupture or break up the discs are also applicable.
[0021] During circulation of the gravel slurry, the flow of liquid from the slurry through the upper portions of the perforated shroud is restricted so that there is little, if any, premature liquid loss through the upper portions of the perforated shroud, thereby reducing the possibility of sand bridges being formed in the annulus. After the gravel has been deposited around the screen, fluid flow is re-established through substantially the full length of the perforated shroud.
[0022] The permeable pack of particulate material formed prevents the migration of formation fines and sand with fluids produced into the wellbore from the unconsolidated zone.
[0023] The unconsolidated formation can be fractured prior to or during the injection of the particulate material into the unconsolidated producing zone, and the particulate material can be deposited in the fractures as well as in the annuli between the sand screen and the slotted liner and between the slotted liner and the wellbore.
[0024] The apparatus of this invention include a perforated shroud having an internal sand screen disposed therein whereby an annulus is formed between the sand screen and the perforated shroud, a cross-over adapted to be connected to a production string attached to the perforated shroud and sand screen and a production packer attached to the cross-over. The perforated shroud has means for restricting fluid movement between the casing/shroud and shroud/screen annulus, including decreasing or increasing the number or size of holes or perforations on the shroud during gravel placement and during the production phase.
[0025] The improved methods and apparatus of this invention avoid the formation of sand bridges in the annulus between the slotted liner and the wellbore thereby producing a very effective sand screen for preventing the migration of fines and sand with produced fluids.
[0026] It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide improved methods of completing wells in unconsolidated subterranean zones.
[0027] Other and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the description of preferred embodiments which follows when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] [0028]FIG. 1 is a side-cross sectional view of a wellbore penetrating an unconsolidated subterranean producing zone having casing cemented therein and having a slotted liner with an internal sand screen, a production packer and a cross-over connected to a production string disposed therein.
[0029] [0029]FIG. 2 is a side cross sectional view of the wellbore of FIG. 1 after particulate material has been packed therein.
[0030] [0030]FIG. 3 is a side cross sectional view of the wellbore of FIG. 1 after the well has been placed on production.
[0031] [0031]FIG. 4 is a side cross sectional view of a horizontal open-hole wellbore penetrating an unconsolidated subterranean producing zone having a slotted liner with an internal sand screen, a production packer and a cross-over connected to a production string disposed therein.
[0032] [0032]FIG. 5 is a side cross sectional view of the horizontal open hole wellbore of FIG. 4 after particulate material has been packed therein.
[0033] [0033]FIG. 6 is a broken-away view, partly in section, showing a sample perforation on a shroud installed with a screen or filter medium plate and a soluble or removable material coated on the screen/filter plate in accordance with the present invention.
[0034] [0034]FIG. 7 is a broken-away view taken from outside the shroud, illustratively showing a sample perforation on the shroud with the blocking material installed and another perforation open to flow.
[0035] [0035]FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 6 but showing the blocking material installed in the perforations on the shroud directly without use of a screen/filter plate.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0036] The present invention provides improved methods and apparatus for completing, and optionally simultaneously fracture stimulating, a subterranean zone penetrated by a wellbore. The methods can be performed in either vertical, deviated or horizontal wellbores which are open-hole and/or underreamed, or have casing cemented therein. If the method is to be carried out in a cased wellbore, the casing is perforated to provide for fluid communication with the zone. Since the present invention is applicable in horizontal and inclined wellbores, the terms “upper” and “lower,”“top” and “bottom,” as used herein are relative terms and are intended to apply to the respective positions within a particular wellbore, while the term “levels” is meant to refer to respective spaced positions along the wellbore. The terms “perforated shroud” and “slotted liner” are used interchangeably throughout this invention.
[0037] Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 - 3 , a vertical wellbore 10 having casing 14 cemented therein is illustrated extending into an unconsolidated subterranean zone 12 . The casing 14 is bonded within the wellbore 10 by a cement sheath 16 . A plurality of spaced perforations 18 produced in the wellbore 10 utilizing conventional perforating gun apparatus extend through the casing 14 and cement sheath 16 into the unconsolidated producing zone 12 .
[0038] In accordance with the methods of the present invention a perforated shroud comprised of slotted liner 20 having an internal sand screen 21 installed therein whereby an annulus 22 is formed between the sand screen 21 and the perforated shroud 20 is placed in the wellbore 10 . The perforated shroud 20 and sand screen 21 have lengths such that they substantially span the length of the producing interval in the wellbore 10 . The perforated shroud is of a diameter such that when it is disposed within the wellbore 10 an annulus 23 is formed between it and the casing 14 . The slots or perforations 24 in the perforated shroud can be circular as illustrated in the drawings, or they can be rectangular or other shape. Generally, when circular slots are utilized they are at least ¼″ in diameter, and when rectangular slots are utilized they are at least {fraction (3/16)}″ wide by ½″ long.
[0039] The term “screen” is used generically herein and is meant to include and cover any and all types of permeable structures commonly used by the industry in gravel pack operations which permit flow of fluids therethrough while blocking the flow of particulates (e.g., commercially-available screens, slotted or perforated liners or pipes, screened pipes, pre-packed screens, expandable-type screens and/or liners, or combinations thereof). Screen 21 can be of one continuous length or it may consist of sections (e.g., 30 foot sections) connected together.
[0040] As shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 , the perforated shroud 20 and sand screen 21 are connected to a cross-over 25 which is in turn connected to a production string 28 . A production packer 26 is attached to the cross-over 25 . The cross-over 25 and production packer 26 are conventional gravel pack forming tools and are well known to those skilled in the art. The cross-over 25 is a sub-assembly which allows fluids to follow a first flow pattern whereby particulate material suspended in a slurry can be packed in the annuli between the sand screen 21 and the perforated shroud 20 and between the perforated shroud 20 and the wellbore 10 . As shown by the arrows in FIG. 2, the particulate material suspension flows from inside the production string 28 to the annulus 22 between the sand screen 21 and perforated shroud 20 by way of two or more ports 29 in the cross-over 25 . Simultaneously, fluid is allowed to flow from inside the sand screen 21 upwardly through the cross-over 25 to the other side of the packer 26 outside of the production string 28 by way of one or more ports 31 in the cross-over 25 . By pipe movement or other procedure, flow through the crossover 25 can be selectively changed to a second flow pattern (shown in FIG. 3) whereby fluid from inside the sand screen 20 flows directly into the production string 28 and the ports 31 are shut off. The production packer 26 is set by pipe movement or other procedure whereby the annulus 23 is sealed.
[0041] After the perforated shroud 20 and sand screen 21 are placed in the wellbore 10 , the annulus 23 between the perforated shroud 20 and the casing 14 is isolated by setting the packer 26 in the casing 14 as shown in FIG. 1. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2, a slurry of particulate material 27 is injected into the annulus 22 between the sand screen 21 and the perforated shroud 20 by way of the ports 29 in the cross-over 25 and into the annulus 23 between the perforated shroud 20 and the casing 14 (or wellbore wall) by way of the slots 24 in the perforated shroud 20 . The slurry can also flow directly into annulus 23 between the perforated shroud 20 and the casing 14 (or wellbore wall) after exiting the cross-over ports 31 .
[0042] The particulate material flows into the perforations 18 and fills the interior of the casing 14 below the packer 26 except for the interior of the sand screen 21 . As shown in FIG. 2, a carrier liquid slurry of the particulate material 27 is pumped from the surface through the production string 28 and through the cross-over 25 into annulus 22 between the sand screen 21 and the perforated shroud 20 . From the annulus 22 , the slurry flows through the slots 24 and through the open end of the perforated shroud 20 into the annulus 23 and into the perforations 18 . The carrier liquid in the slurry leaks off through the perforations 18 into the unconsolidated zone 12 and through the screen 21 from where it flows through cross-over 25 and into the casing 14 above the packer 26 by way of the ports 31 .
[0043] After the particulate material has been packed into the wellbore 10 , the well is returned to production as shown in FIG. 3. The pack of particulate material 27 formed filters out and prevents the migration of formation fines and sand with fluids produced into the wellbore from the unconsolidated subterranean zone 12 .
[0044] Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a horizontal open-hole wellbore 30 is illustrated. The wellbore 30 extends into an unconsolidated subterranean zone 32 from a cased and cemented wellbore 33 which extends to the surface. As described above in connection with the wellbore 10 , a perforated shroud 34 having an internal sand screen 35 disposed therein whereby an annulus 41 is formed therebetween is placed in the wellbore 30 . The perforated shroud 34 and sand screen 35 are connected to a cross-over 42 which is in turn connected to a production string 40 . A production packer 36 is connected to the crossover 42 which is set within the casing 37 in the wellbore 33 .
[0045] In carrying out the methods of the present invention for completing the unconsolidated subterranean zone 32 penetrated by the open-hole wellbore 30 , the perforated shroud 34 with the sand screen 35 therein is placed in the wellbore 30 as shown in FIG. 4. The annulus 39 between the perforated shroud 34 and the wellbore 30 is isolated by setting the packer 36 . Thereafter, a slurry of particulate material is injected into the annulus 41 between the sand screen 35 and the perforated shroud 34 , and by way of the slots 38 into the annulus 39 between the perforated shroud 34 and the wellbore 30 . The slurry can also flow directly into annulus 23 between the perforated shroud 20 and the wellbore wall 30 after existing the cross-over parts 31 .
[0046] The pack of particulate material 40 formed filters out and prevents the migration of formation fines and sand with fluids produced into the wellbore 30 from the subterranean zone 32 .
[0047] In accordance with the present invention, perforated shroud 20 includes a means for restricting fluid movement between the casing/shroud and shroud/screen annuli by decreasing or increasing the number or size of holes or perforations on the shroud during gravel placement and during the production phase. Perforation size and number of perforations in the shroud will affect fluid movement between the casing/shroud and shroud/screen annuli. The casing/shroud and shroud/screen annuli act as one annulus if there is an unlimited number of relatively large perforations in the shroud. A relatively small pressure differential will develop as the number of perforations and/or perforation diameter is reduced. By continuing to reduce the number of perforations and/or perforation diameter, we can control, to some extent, movement of fluid between the annuli. The slurry will continue to flow down the parallel annuli until a sand bridge or other well bore condition causes an abnormal pressure loss in one of the annuli. Once the pressure rises above that required to force flow through the perforations and the friction pressure in the annulus remaining open to flow, the slurry will reapportion itself to the annulus open to flow. As an illustration, by restricting fluid flow through the upper portions of the perforated shroud while allowing substantially unrestricted fluid flow through the lower portions thereof, no substantial amount of liquid from the gravel slurry is lost prematurely through the upper portions of the perforated shroud. This results in the slurry continuing to the bottom of the well before the gravel is separated from the liquid in the slurry. The separated liquid flows through the lower permeable portions of the perforated shroud and/or through perforations 18 thereby depositing gravel at the bottom of the well. As the annulus of wellbore and perforated shroud and the annulus of perforated shroud and screen fills with gravel from the bottom up, the liquid in the slurry will continue to separate from the gravel and flow through the available perforations 18 in the casing and/or downward through the gravel which has already been deposited in the annuli and through the lower permeable portions of the perforated shroud 20 to complete the gravel placement.
[0048] The means for restricting fluid movement between the casing/shroud and shroud/screen annuli 20 may be comprised of any material installed on a selected number of the shroud perforations which blocks or partially blocks fluid flow through the otherwise permeable wall of the perforated shroud. In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7, a selected number of the perforations 52 (only one shown, designated as 52 ′) on perforated shroud 50 are installed with a screen or filter medium plate 54 . The screen/filter plate 54 is threaded or welded to the shroud 50 so that it covers the desired number of perforations 52 . The screen/filter 54 is then coated or plated with a layer of dissolvable, meltable or erodable material 56 to completely shut off the flow. Other materials such as ceramic plate which can be broken up afterward by explosive charges or sonic waves can also apply. After the placement of gravel in the wellbore, the blocking material 56 is completely removed from the screen/filter 54 , allowing the perforations to open up for more flow paths. FIG. 8 shows an alternative method where blocking material 64 is installed in slots 62 of perforated shroud 60 directly without use of a screen/filter plate.
[0049] As an example of materials which can be used, a paste form of a magnesium oxide/magnesium chloride/calcium carbonate mixture can be put on the screen/filter plates, and allowed to cure before installation of the perforated shroud system down hole. After the gravel placement a flush of weak hydrochloric acid is applied into the wellbore and allowed to soak through the gravel pack, removing the coated material on the screen/filter plates. One specific formulation which has been developed is comprised of a mixture of 40 Pbw (Parts by weight) of calcined magnesium oxide (MgO), 67 Pbw of MgCl 2 .6H 2 O (magnesium chloride hexahydrate), 25 Pbw of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), and 30 Pbw of potable tap water (no brines). This material has been found to require a one day cure time at ambient temperature. After use, it rapidly dissolves in inhibited hydrochloric acid; for example, 1-inch “plugs” of the material have completely dissolved in ten minutes at 72° F.
[0050] The methods and apparatus of this invention are particularly suitable and beneficial in forming gravel packs in long-interval horizontal wellbores without the formation of sand bridges. Because elaborate and expensive sand screens including shunts and the like are not required and the pack sand does not require consolidation by a hardenable resin composition, the methods of this invention are very economical as compared to prior art methods.
[0051] The creation of one or more fractures in the unconsolidated subterranean zone to be completed in order to stimulate the production of hydrocarbons therefrom is well known to those skilled in the art. The hydraulic fracturing process generally involves pumping a viscous liquid containing suspended particulate material into the formation or zone at a rate and pressure whereby fractures are created therein. The continued pumping of the fracturing fluid extends the fractures in the zone and carries the particulate material into the fractures. The fractures are prevented from closing by the presence of the particulate material therein.
[0052] The subterranean zone to be completed can be fractured prior to or during the injection of the particulate material into the zone, i.e., the pumping of the carrier liquid containing the particulate material through the perforated shroud into the zone. Upon the creation of one or more fractures, the particulate material can be pumped into the fractures as well as into the perforations in the casing (for cased wells) and into the annuli between the sand screen and perforated shroud and between the perforated shroud and the wellbore.
[0053] Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those which are inherent therein. While numerous changes may be made by those skilled in the art, such changes are included in the spirit of this invention as defined by the appended claims. | Improved methods and apparatus for completing wells and gravel packing an interval of a wellbore are provided. The methods include the steps of placing a perforated shroud having an internal sand screen disposed therein in the zone, and injecting particulate material into the annuli between the sand screen and the perforated shroud and the perforated shroud and the wellbore to thereby form packs of particulate material therein to prevent the migration of fines and sand with produced fluids. The perforated shroud has a flow-controlling means for restricting fluid movement between the casing/shroud and shroud/screen annuli during gravel packing. The flow-controlling means may be comprised of a material installed on a selected number of the shroud perforations which blocks or partially blocks fluid flow through the otherwise permeable wall of the perforated shroud during gravel packing. Preferably, the material is removable after the gravel has been placed, such as by melting or dissolving, to accommodate production flow during the production phase without restriction. Materials suitable for application in the improved methods include magnesium oxide/magnesium chloride/calcium carbonate mixtures, oil soluble resins, waxes, soluble polymers, etc. Other suitable materials employ other mechanisms such as temperature, oil solubility, internal breaker or flow shear stress to remove them. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radar timing circuits, and more particularly to precision swept delay circuits for equivalent time ranging systems. It can be used to generate a swept-delay clock for sampling-type radar, TDR and laser systems.
2. Description of Related Art
High-resolution pulse-echo systems such as wideband pulsed radar, pulsed laser rangefinders, and time domain reflectometers generally sweep a timing circuit across a range of delays. The timing circuit controls a receiver sampling gate such that when an echo signal coincides with the temporal location of the sampling gate, a sampled echo signal is obtained. The echo range is then determined from the timing circuit, so highly accurate timing is needed to obtain accurate range measurements.
One approach to generate swept timing employs open or closed-loop analog techniques: (1) open-loop circuits generally use an analog voltage ramp to drive a comparator, with the comparator reference voltage controlling the delay, and (2) closed-loop timing circuits generally employ a phase-locked loop (PLL), wherein the phase difference between a transmit and a receive clock is measured and controlled with a phase comparator and control loop. Both architectures have their limitations--open-loop circuits are subject to component and temperature variations, and are not very accurate due to the difficulty in generating a precision voltage ramp with sub-nanosecond accuracy; and closed-loop circuits rely on analog component ratios to set the accuracy. Examples of closed-loop architectures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,605, a "Precision Digital Pulse Phase Generator" by McEwan, and in copending application, "Phase-Comparator-Less Delay Locked Loop", Ser. No. 09/084,541, by McEwan. The present invention significantly improves upon the accuracy of analog swept delay circuits by eliminating the accuracy-limiting analog components altogether.
Another approach to generate swept timing employs two oscillators with frequencies F T and F R that are offset by a small amount F T -F R =Δ. In a radar application, a transmit clock at frequency F T triggers transmit RF pulses, and a receiver clock at frequency F R gates the echo RF pulses. If the receive clock is lower in frequency than the transmit clock by a small amount Δ, it will smoothly and linearly slip in phase relative to the transmit clock such that one full cycle is slipped every 1/Δ seconds. Typical figures are: transmit clock F T =1 MHz, receive clock F R =0.9999 MHz, Δ=100 Hz, and slip period=1/Δ=10 milliseconds.
The receive gate samples the radar echoes and produces an output voltage that varies with the phase of the receive clock relative to the transmit clock (and the radar echoes). This variation occurs on a 10 ms scale, and represents events occurring on a 1 μs scale. The corresponding time expansion factor is 10 ms/1 μs=10000. Thanks to this expansion effect, events on a 10-picosecond scale are converted to an easily measurable 100-nanosecond scale. In contrast, a real time counter would need a 100 GHz clock to measure with 10 ps resolution, well beyond present technology.
This two-oscillator technique was used in the 1960's in precision time-interval counters with sub-nanosecond resolution, and appeared in a short-range radar in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,991, "Method and Apparatus Utilizing Time-Expanded Pulse Sequences for Distance Measurement in a Radar," by Wocher et al.
The accuracy of the two-oscillator technique is limited by the accuracy of the clocks, which can be extremely accurate, and by the smoothness and linearity of the phase slip between them. No means or data appears in the prior art to support the accuracy of the phase slip--it is not easy to measure, and it is also easy to assume it is somehow perfect. Unfortunately, there are many influences that can affect the smoothness of the phase slip that are addressed by the present invention. These include digital cross-talk that can produce 100 ps error or more, and offset frequency control circuit aberrations than can introduce even more substantial phase slip nonlinearities.
A significant drawback with the two-oscillator technique is that the phase slips over a full 360 degrees of the transmit clock. Ideally, a radar system will gate over perhaps the first 36 degrees after a transmit pulse. The remaining 324 degrees is dead time to allow for distant echoes to diminish before the next cycle. If this dead time is too short, range ambiguities will result. Thus, the receiver in the two-oscillator systems spends 90% of its time phase slipping over out-of-range, potentially ambiguous echoes. In effect, 90% of the transmitted pulses are wasted. What is needed is a two-oscillator timing system that phase slips over only the first ˜36-degrees, coupled with a system that resolves crosstalk and control errors. In addition, a low cost implementation is essential to the commercial success of the innumerable non-contact ranging applications based on the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention employs a first crystal oscillator in a transmit clock circuit, and a second crystal oscillator in a receive clock circuit. The first crystal oscillator generates a transmit clock at a frequency F T and the second crystal oscillator operates at a small offset frequency Δ from the N th harmonic NF T of the first oscillator, or NF T -Δ. A pulse selector, or turnstile circuit, in the receive clock circuit is first enabled by the transmit clock and then triggered by pulses from the second oscillator to produce a receive clock of the same frequency F R as the transmit clock at F T , but with one digital edge that accurately slips in phase across a limited range, such as 36 degrees.
Since the second oscillator produces more pulses in a given period than the first oscillator, the turnstile circuit assures that only one receive clock pulse occurs for each transmit pulse. Thus, the turnstile circuit lets only one of many pulses through in a contiguous head-to-tail fashion, so a smooth sweep of a receive clock edge is obtained.
A further embodiment of the present invention employs a frequency locked loop (FLL) to accurately control the slip rate Δ, and to phase lock Δ to an external reference frequency Δ REF through an optional phase lock port. The FLL employs a quadrature phase detector to reliably lock to small values of -Δ without a false lock at +Δ. Alternatively, the FLL may employ a control voltage saturation detector to prevent a false lock at +Δ.
The present invention differs greatly from prior art timing systems based on offset oscillators in that: (1) the transmit and receive clocks of the present invention operate at the same frequency F T =F R , rather than at F R =F T -Δ as seen in the prior art, (2) the phase of one digital edge of the receive clock slips over a limited range such as 36 degrees, rather than the entire receive clock waveform (both edges) slipping over a full 360 degrees, (3) the offset oscillator operates at a common harmonic multiple of the transmit oscillator, rather than at the fundamental frequency, and (4) a high performance sampling-type FLL is used.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a high accuracy swept timing circuit for time-of-flight ranging systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a high accuracy swept timing circuit that sweeps over a limited range.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a "plug-and-play" timing system for highly accurate, low-cost ranging systems.
A further object of the present invention is to eliminate errors due to crosstalk and control loop aberrations.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an implementation with a minimum of components to facilitate widespread use in low-cost commercial and consumer rangefinding applications.
The present invention can be used as a clock in equivalent time radar, laser, and TDR ranging systems with picosecond accuracy. Applications include low cost radars for security alarms, home automation and lighting control, industrial and robotic controls, automatic toilet and faucet control, automatic door openers, fluid level sensing radars, imaging radars, vehicle backup and collision warning radars, and universal object/obstacle detection and ranging. One specific embodiment utilizing the present invention is a time domain reflectometer where a pulse is propagated along a conductor or guidewire to reflect from a material for use in a variety of applications, such as an "electronic dipstick" for fluid level sensing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a transmit (TX) and receive (RX) clock system of the present invention.
FIG. 2a indicates the frequency relations between the transmit oscillator frequency F T , its N th harmonic at NF T , and the receive oscillator frequency located at an offset -Δ from NF T , generally for the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 2b depicts the timing relations between the TX clock of frequency F T , the harmonically related receive oscillator at frequency NF T -Δ, and the RX clock.
FIG. 3a is a phase ramp waveform generated by an embodiment of the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3b is the linearity error of the straight-line ramp of FIG. 3a.
FIG. 3c shows a TDR waveform taken at the baseband output of a TDR embodiment of the system as seen in FIG. 8.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the TX and RX clock circuits of the present invention, based on the block diagram of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the present invention further incorporating offset frequency and phase control.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the present invention as depicted in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7a is an RX clock waveform produced by an embodiment of the system of FIG. 6.
FIG. 7b is an error waveform similar to FIG. 3b, except derived from the system of FIG. 6.
FIG. 7c is a transient response waveform for the FLL control amplifier of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the general timing system of the present invention configured to operate with a transmitter and receiver, or with a transceiver.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the present invention with a control voltage saturation detector as a wrong-sideband detector.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A detailed description of the present invention is provided below with reference to the figures. While illustrative component values and circuit parameters are given, other embodiments can be constructed with other component values and circuit parameters. All U.S. Patents and copending U.S. applications cited herein are herein incorporated by reference.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of a timing system 10 of the present invention. A transmit oscillator 12 oscillates at a frequency F T , typically 1 MHz. Oscillator 12 directly provides a squarewave TX clock output. A second oscillator 14 operates at the N th harmonic frequency NF T minus a small offset Δ from a harmonic NF T of oscillator 12, typically 10.00000 MHz-1 kHz. The output of oscillator 14 passes through pulse selector 18 to produce a RX clock signal which has the same frequency as the TX clock signal, i.e. F R =F T , but has a swept leading edge.
FIG. 2a shows the general frequency relation 30 between transmit oscillator 12 at frequency F T , its harmonic at NF T , and receive harmonic oscillator 14 at frequency NF T -Δ. In principle, oscillator 14 may operate at NF T +Δ, but that would time-reverse the phase slip between the two oscillators and make the expanded-time waveforms appear reversed. In many systems, that would not affect performance. Throughout this description, -Δ will be used for simplicity without departing from the scope of the invention.
Another simplifying assumption is that the second oscillator 14 operates at a small offset from a harmonic of the first oscillator 12. In reality, both oscillators may operate at any frequency that produces a beat frequency at (1) their fundamentals, at (2) a fundamental of one and a harmonic of the other (as typically described herein), or at (3) mutually common harmonics. Mutually common harmonics occur when the N th harmonic of the first oscillator 12 coincides with the M th harmonic of the second oscillator 14. For example, oscillator 12 may operate at 3 MHz and oscillator 14 may operate at 11 MHz, both with a common harmonic at 33 MHz. In this case the offset frequency is defined by N×M-Δ. Throughout this description, the N th harmonic of the first oscillator 12 will be beat with the fundamental of the second oscillator.
Referring again to FIG. 2a, ±ε R error bands and ±ε T error bands are indicated about the oscillator frequencies F T , NF T and F R respectively. These error bands represent the maximum error, in PPM, of each oscillator over initial manufacture, temperature, and aging. Crystal oscillators, for example, may be specified (at low cost) with an initial error of 30 PPM, and may have a temperature drift of ±20 PPM. Added to this may be another 50 PPM drift with age for a total error band of 100 PPM. Thus, the minimum difference Δ must be 200 PPM. In reality, there will be considerable tracking with temperature and aging so Δ might be 100 PPM. As will be discussed later with reference to FIG. 5, oscillator frequency errors can be made to be of little consequence. An important point is that one of the two oscillators is offset from the other by an amount Δ to allow for phase slippage. Generally, the first oscillator is set to a precise frequency (or it may be an atomic clock), and the second oscillator is trimmed to the desired offset frequency Δ. In most radar systems, a higher value of Δ will provide faster range sweeps and thus a faster measurement rate, but the receiver bandwidth must be higher and the system S/N will be lower. Thus, the exact value of Δ will be selected in consideration of both the radar system performance and the initial cost of an accurate crystal clock.
The aging rate of quartz crystals can be inferred from color TV receivers in the U.S., each of which has a 3.58 MHz crystal that has to be locked to an atomic clock resident with each network TV broadcaster. If the 3.58 MHz crystal drifts more than 50 PPM with age and temperature, it is unlikely to achieve a lock to the atomic reference and the TV will grossly fail to present the proper tint. The fact that this happens rarely in spite of the harsh conditions inside a TV receiver, indicates that age and temperature drift exceeding 50 PPM is rare. Consequently, a minimum value for Δ of 100 PPM would suffice for the open loop architecture of FIG. 1.
FIG. 2b depicts the timing relationships 40 pertaining to the system of FIG. 1. The upper waveform is the TX clock at frequency F T provided by first oscillator 12. The middle waveform is the oscillation provided by the second oscillator 14 at frequency NF T -Δ, which is slipping in phase to the right relative to the TX clock, as indicated by the arrow 42. The bottom waveform is the RX clock, which is the output of the pulse selector 18 of FIG. 1. The RX clock has the same frequency as the TX clock. The positive-going edge of the RX clock is triggered by a positive-going edge of the middle waveform, but only after the TX clock has gone high. Assuming the radar system operates on positive edges, the receiver gate cannot be triggered before the transmitter is triggered by the TX clock, and cannot be triggered later than one cycle in duration of the middle waveform (typically about 36 degrees). These limits define a sweep (range) window 44 during which the positive going edge of the RX clock can be triggered. The negative going edge of the RX clock is triggered (reset) by the negative going edge of the TX clock.
FIG. 3a is a plot of the phase slippage between the TX clock and the RX clock. The waveform was derived from a phase-to-voltage converter, although a simple EXOR gate and lowpass filter could have been used with lower accuracy. As might be expected, the slip rate is linear and increasing in phase. It also has a sharp sawtooth shape indicating that when one pulse of the second oscillator reaches one full period in phase slippage (relative to enabling the pulse selector), another pulse enters the sweep window 44 of FIG. 2b and restarts the phase ramp.
FIG. 3b is an error plot of the phase slippage waveform of FIG. 3a. It is a deviation in linearity and is seen to be on the order of 0.1%. It is most likely much better, after accounting for measurement instrumentation errors. The spikes 22 are due to measurement artifacts.
FIG. 3c is a waveform plot of a TDR system of FIG. 8 using the open loop timing system of FIG. 1 of the present invention. It shows a transmitted step function 24 and a reflected edge 26 from a short in a 33 cm coaxial cable. An artifact 28 occurs when the phase ramp resets to zero.
Returning to FIG. 1, high phase slip accuracy requires that digital noise from the TX clock be isolated from the second oscillator and RX clock. Dashed line 20 indicates shielding, and isolation element 16 further prevents unwanted coupling. Typically, isolation element 16 is a resistor to limit transient currents. Experiments indicate that CMOS switching transients can couple across multiple gate inputs, e.g., as in pulse selector 18, and can produce an error of more than 100 ps (about 1.5 cm in radar range). Since this coupling is capacitive and transient, a simple resistor limits this current and effectively diminishes transient coupling to less than the noise floor of the overall system.
FIG. 4 is a detailed schematic diagram of an embodiment 50 of the timing system generally depicted in FIG. 1. A transmit crystal oscillator 52 oscillates at a frequency F T =4 MHz, in this example. Its output is coupled through a resistor 54 to series gates 55, 56 to provide a TX clock squarewave output. Resistor 54 combines with gate 55's input capacitance to produce a generally small delay on the order of several nanoseconds to compensate similar delays in the pulse selector 66 and other delays in the overall system, such as in the transmitter 134 or receiver 148 of FIG. 8. Power supply decoupling network 58 (shown connected to gate 56) eliminates error-producing crosstalk coupled from oscillator and selector circuits 64, 66.
A second oscillator 64 operates at the 5 th harmonic of oscillator 52, minus a small offset Δ, or typically 20.00000 MHz-2 kHz. Oscillator 64 is coupled through an RC differentiation network 63 to one input of NAND gate 65 and through NAND gate 65 to one input of a reset-set flip-flop (RS-FF) 67. These three gates (gate 65 and the two gates of RS-FF 67) comprise the pulse selector circuit 66. An enable line 51 is connected from oscillator 52 through isolation resistor 60 and shielding 62 to the selector circuit 66 at the second input of NAND gate 65 and the second input to RS-FF 67. Whenever the enable line goes high and a positive-going edge is provided by oscillator 64, pulse selector 66 flips to a high level at its output on the RX clock line. Thereafter, when the input from oscillator 52 goes low, the output of the pulse selector goes low regardless of the state of the second oscillator 64 since line 51 is connected to the other input of NAND gate 65. Accordingly, the frequency of the RX clock is locked to the frequency of the transmit clock, but the positive-going edge of the RX clock varies in phase depending on the phase of the second oscillator 64. As explained earlier, this positive edge variation slips in phase at an extremely linear rate set by Δ.
FIG. 5 shows a timing circuit 170 of the present invention with a frequency locked loop (FLL) 171 to control the frequency of a voltage-controlled second oscillator 176 relative to the N th harmonic of a first oscillator 172. The operation of the first oscillator 172, the second oscillator 176, isolation element 180, shielding 182, delay element 174, and pulse selector 178 are similar to corresponding elements of FIG. 1 or FIG. 4.
Oscillators 172 and 176 are coupled through isolation elements 184, 186 (generally resistors) to a quadrature harmonic mixer 188, which is further coupled to lowpass filters 190 and 192 to provide in-phase and quadrature beat frequencies Δ I and Δ Q respectively. Harmonic mixer 188 mixes the N th harmonic of oscillator 172 at frequency NF T and, generally, the fundamental frequency of oscillator 176 at a frequency of NF T -Δ. Naturally, other harmonics are mixed but no others have a sufficiently small Δ to get past the lowpass filters 190,192.
The beat frequency Δ I is applied via line 194 to FLL controller 196 which controls the frequency of oscillator 176 via a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) control port 204. The FLL controller 196 converts frequency Δ I to a voltage and compares it to a reference voltage. Any voltage difference drives a control amplifier within the FLL controller 196 to servo oscillator 176 to the correct frequency.
The FLL controller 196 has a phase lock port 202 which accepts an input of frequency Δ REF and locks the offset frequency Δ I to Δ REF using a phase locking mechanism within the FLL controller 196.
A wrong sideband detector 198 generates pulses whenever Δ I is positive rather than negative (or vice-versa, depending on how the system is set up). The pulses are coupled via line 200 to the FLL controller 196 and cause the controller 196 to servo oscillator 176 down in frequency until a lock is achieved with Δ I negative.
FIG. 6 is a detailed schematic diagram of a precision timing circuit 70 of the present invention and is based on the block diagram of FIG. 5. Transmit oscillator 72, delay element 74, buffer gate 76 and power supply decoupling network 78 are similar to elements 52, 54, 56 and 58 of FIG. 4, and generate a b 1 MHz TX clock, for example.
Receive oscillator 106 is a VCO operating at 10 MHz-Δ I , where Δ I is typically 50 Hz. It employs a diode, an inductor and a capacitor network (or port) 104 to voltage-tune the oscillator, which is otherwise of a standard CMOS configuration.
All the logic gates shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 are of the popular 1-micron 74ACxx family, and the op amps are common CMOS types such as Toshiba TS274.
Pulse selector 108 is comprised of a D-input flip-flop and operates as described for corresponding element 66 of FIG. 4. Its enable path from the TX clock is provided by isolation network 85.
Mixers 81, 87, comprised of EX-OR gates, receive oscillations via isolation resistors 80, from oscillators 72, 106 and provide sum and difference frequencies to lowpass filters 82, 88 which are coupled to op-amp connected comparators 84, 90 to produce in-phase Δ I and quadrature Δ Q difference frequency digital pulses respectively. Capacitor 86 provides ˜90 degrees phase shift to mixer 87 for quadrature operation. The Δ I pulses 91 reset the voltage on a capacitor 111 via reset circuit 92. Capacitor 111 then charges via resistor 112 to a voltage determined by the charge duration 1/Δ I , and its voltage is then peak-sampled via gate stage 94 to loop control amplifier 102. If the gated capacitor voltage differs from a reference voltage applied to amplifier 102 at node 101, the amplifier output will servo the VCO 106 via network 104 until the difference frequency Δ I and accordingly the peak sampled voltage on capacitor 111 matches the amplifier's reference voltage at node 101. Hence, frequency control, or lock, is achieved.
The FLL loop control system is of a sampling type, i.e., employs gate 94 and integrating control amplifier 102 to provide an extremely low ripple, steady frequency control voltage to network 104 (VCO control port 204 of FIG. 5). Were the frequency control voltage to vary during one period of Δ I , the instantaneous frequency would vary with a resultant non-uniformity in the phase slippage. An alternative control system might heavily lowpass filter the squarewaves Δ I to a very steady DC voltage and not sample the voltage. The problem with that approach is that too much delay and phase shift would be inserted into the FLL control loop by a low-frequency high- order lowpass filter. The peak-sampled architecture of the present invention is the best approach for fast loop response and minimum components.
An optional phase lock injection port is provided at 110. When a squarewave of frequency Δ REF is applied to port 110 that is within ˜10% of the equilibrium frequency of the FLL, the FLL will phase lock Δ I to Δ REF through an interaction mechanism stemming from the peak sampled voltage across capacitor 111, which is a function of both Δ I and Δ REF .
One great advantage to the use of an FLL (in addition to achieving a reliable low offset frequency Δ) is that the VCO can be made to tune over more than 100 PPM, which is more than the expected tolerance variations between the two oscillators. Thus, low cost crystals can be used and the VCO will always achieve a frequency lock between the two crystal oscilators without any manual tuning during manufacture.
With the FLL locking to an offset frequency at NF T -Δ=9.999950 MHz in this example, it is entirely likely that the loop may tend to lock at NF T +Δ=10.00005 MHz. In reality, once the VCO exceeds 10.0000 MHz, the control loop exhibits positive feedback and latches up. To avoid this likelihood, the squarewave 99 (output Δ Q ) is applied to anti-latchup transistor 98 that acts as a comparison gate between the Δ I pulses and differentiated Δ Q pulses (coupled through differentiation capacitor 97). Whenever the VCO exceeds 10.0000 MHz, transistor 98 begins to pass pulses via isolation diode 100 (transistor configured as diode) to the control amplifier 102 that servos the amplifier down in frequency until the VCO is below 10.0000 MHz, where normal negative feedback takes over and servos the amplifier to proper equilibrium at an offset of -Δ I .
FIG. 7a is an RX clock waveform appearing at the output of pulse selector 108. As can be seen, the positive-going edges are spread across a range of delays in this waveform, which contains thousands of overlaid waveforms (infinite persistence mode). The phase slippage of the positive edge is seen to span 100 ns on a 1 μs period waveform, and corresponds to the 1 MHz and 10 MHz oscillators 72, 106 respectively in FIG. 6.
FIG. 7b is an error plot of the phase ramp generated by the circuit of FIG. 6. Over most of the plot, the error 122 is less than about 10-picoseconds. There are major artifacts 120 due to the phase-to-voltage converter used to obtain this error plot. Most of the error 122 seen in FIG. 7b is believed to be in the test instrumentation and not in the circuit of FIG. 6. In any case, an error of 10 ps corresponds to 1.5 mm range error out of a span of 15-meters. While that is a very accurate figure, the stability of a measurement using the present invention of FIG. 6 is much higher and is mainly limited by the stability of the transmit oscillator 72, which may be an ovenized crystal oscillator or may be substituted with an atomic reference.
FIG. 7c indicates the dynamics of the FLL control amplifier 102 of FIG. 6. It is a plot of the voltage applied to the VCO network (port) 104 in response to a 1 Hz frequency step in Δ REF at phase lock port 110. As can be seen, the transient response 124 is quite rapid. The staircasing seen in transient response 124 is due to the 50 Hz sampled data nature of the loop.
FIG. 8 shows a general pulse-echo application of the timing system 130 of the present invention. The transmit and receive oscillators 132 and 140, isolation element 144, shielding 146, pulse selector 142, and optional FLL control element 138 comprise a timing system of the present invention as previously described herein. The transmit oscillator 132 drives a transmitter element 134 which may be an impulse radar, pulsed RF radar, a pulsed laser, or even a pulsed ultrasonic source. The transmitter is coupled to transducer element 136 for radiation into a propagating medium. The transducer may be an antenna, a laser/lens, or an acoustic transducer.
A receive transducer element 150 is of comparable nature to element 136 and receives echoes generated by transducer 136 and couples them to receiver 148, which is a gated, sampling type receiver, such as that described in co-pending application, "Charge Transfer Wideband Sample-Hold Circuit", Ser. No. 09/084,502, by McEwan. Its gate pulses are derived from oscillator 140 via pulse selector 142.
Receiver 148 outputs individual samples, or a number of integrated samples, to baseband processor 156 which generally contains amplifiers, filters, and other elements common to equivalent time receivers, such as disclosed in copending application, "Precision Short-Range Pulse-Echo Systems With Automatic Pulse Detectors", Ser. No. 09/120,994, by McEwan. The baseband output signal may be an equivalent time analog replica of the RF, optical or acoustic echo, or it may be a digital pulse with a width proportional to range.
Alternatively, the timing system 130 of FIG. 8 may drive a time domain reflectometer (TDR) transceiver 152 which is connected to a cable 154 to determine the location of discontinuities in the cable's impedance through reflections, as illustrated in FIG. 3c. The output 158 of the transceiver 152 connects to baseband processor 156. A common application for the TDR configuration is as an "electronic dipstick" wherein the cable may be a single wire transmission line inserted into a liquid in a tank, such as a gas tank on an automobile.
FIG. 9 depicts timing circuit 270 with a frequency locked loop (FLL) 271 which is similar to timing circuit 170 with FLL 171 of FIG. 5 except that it utilizes a wrong sideband detection scheme that is an alternative to the quadrature detection scheme of FIGS. 5 and 6. A wrong sideband condition causes the voltage on the VCO line 204 to go into saturation, or latchup, in which case the FLL CONTROLLER 196 output swings to a maximum. This condition occurs because operation on the wrong sideband causes the FLL to operate with opposite, or positive, feedback. Thus, wrong sideband detector 298 can be configured to detect this overvoltage (saturation) condition and apply corrective anti-latchup pulses on line 200 whenever there is a wrong sideband condition. The output signals of oscillators 172 and 176 are input to a harmonic mixer 288 which produces a difference frequency output which is coupled through LPF 192 to FLL controller 196. The output of FLL controller 196 is input to wrong sideband (saturation) detector 298 which provides a control signal back to the FLL controller 196. The advantage to this type of wrong-sideband detector is the quadrature mixer 81 and low-pass filter 84 of FIG. 6 can be deleted (although an additional op amp or comparator is needed for latchup detection).
Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims. | Two crystal oscillators are configured as a "plug-and-play" precision transmit-receive clock that requires no calibration during manufacture. A first crystal oscillator generates a transmit clock and a second crystal oscillator operates at a small offset from a harmonic of the first oscillator. A turnstile circuit selects pulses from the second oscillator to trigger a receive clock. Both the transmit and receive clocks operate at the same frequency. One edge of the receive clock is smoothly slipped, or swept, in phase across a limited range such as 0 to 36 degrees relative to the transmit clock with the slip rate set by the harmonic frequency offset. In one embodiment, a quadrature frequency-locked-loop is used to accurately control the slip rate while preventing false frequency locks. This timebase can be used to clock equivalent time radar, laser, and TDR ranging systems with picosecond accuracy. Applications include automotive backup and collision warning radars, precision radar rangefinders for fluid level sensing and robotics, and universal object/obstacle detection and ranging. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an underwater oil field apparatus and more particularly to the latching of and unlatching of the so-called pod control units to a sub-sea mounting base.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For an underwater oil well to become operational it is necessary to install at the well-head an assembly known as a "Christmas Tree" which combines equipment for monitoring and controlling the output flow from the well.
The Christmas Tree fitted to the well-head comprises, in particular, a large number of hydraulically actuated valves, the remote control of which is effected from a general operating station on the surface.
In particular, this operating station can be located on an oil rig which is connected to one or more underwater stations each by an umbilical cord providing the means for conveying electrical and/or hydraulic energy and the transmission of electrical or optical signals for controlling the oil extraction. The operating station may also be shore based.
Each underwater station may comprise one or more well-heads.
The operating station on the surface thus enables the remote control of a very large number of valves.
Each of the hydraulically actuated valves is of the type comprising a hydraulic valve actuator which is connected to a supply of pressurized fluid via a control unit, comprising a control valve for the flow of pressurized fluid and means for connecting the unit to the supply of pressurized fluid and to the network for transmission of control signals of the valve.
According to a known arrangement, the control of the operation of the assembly of hydraulically actuated valves of a Christmas Tree of one well-head is effected by a control unit secured to the well-head and which is connected to the hydraulic valve actuators by flexible pipes.
This control unit, which is known as a Sub-sea Control Module (SCM) or "POD", is a heavy and expensive apparatus which is specific to the configuration of a well-head.
Typically, such a unit is lowered onto the sub-sea installation using special Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Remotely Operated Tooling (ROTs) from floating work barges or service vessels using soft landing guide wires and latching pins located on the sub-sea well installation. The weight of the control unit is typically 1.5 tons or more and requires substantial framing and counterweights on the installation to balance the loads on the well-head Christmas Tree.
The present invention is concerned with the mechanism used to releasably latch the so-called sub-sea control module, or pod to the Christmas Tree.
In a known arrangement this latching mechanism comprises a screw driven bolt-like member having a star-shaped lower end adapted to engage in a complementary shaped aperture in a pod mounting base carried by the Christmas Tree. Such a device is known as a retlock, is relatively expensive to manufacture and requires motive power to drive the rotatable screw in order to move it into and out of the locking or latching condition.
The present invention is concerned with simplifying and reducing the cost of this type of latching mechanism and making it more rapidly acting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention a latching mechanism of the kind described is constructed with energy storing means such that the latch is cocked into an unlatched condition by the action of lifting the sub-sea control module to store energy in the energy storing means and is moved into a latched condition by the action of lowering the sub-sea control module into abutment with the mounting base and releasing the stored energy, without the need for hydraulic or mechanical actuation.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the energy storing means comprises a spring or springs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
How the invention may be carried out will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a Christmas Tree incorporating an SCM;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing only the SCM mounting base of FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the SCM in position on the mounting base;
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but from a different angle, illustrating the SCM and its associated crash or guide bar which is adapted to engage in a complementary guide post arrangement carried by the SCM mounting base;
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of one construction of an SCM latch mechanism according to the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 6, showing the latch mechanism in its cocked position;
FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 but showing the latch mechanism in an intermediate position after initial contact between the control pod and the mounting base; and
FIGS. 10 and 11 are views similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 but showing the latch mechanism in its fully engaged position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1 and 2
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a so-called Christmas Tree 1 which in use is mounted on a sub-sea well-head by four legs 2 in known manner to enable the oil or gas below the seabed to be extracted. It includes a variety of control devices, generally indicated at 3, tailored to the particular requirements of the oil or gas field in which it is being used. The specific arrangement and design of the Christmas Tree and its controls is not relevant to the present invention and will therefore not be described in any more detail.
In order to operate the various controls, a so-called sub-sea control module (SCM) 4 is provided whose design is again tailored to the particular Christmas Tree design. The Christmas Tree would normally remain on the well-head once installed there but the SCM 4 is adapted to be releasably mounted on the Christmas Tree. The present invention is concerned with the latching mechanism for releasably mounting the SCM 4, which is indicated generally at 5 in FIGS. 2 to 5.
FIGS. 3 to 5
FIG. 3 illustrates a base 6, which is carried by the Christmas Tree 1, upon which the SCM 4 can be detachably secured by its latching mechanism 5.
The base 6 has a platform 7 which carries hydraulic and electrical connectors, generally indicated at 8, with which cooperating connectors on the underside of the SCM 4 are adapted to engage in a known manner.
The base 6 also has an upstanding guide assembly 9 which is designed to enable the SCM 4 to be progressively guided into the correct position in relation to the platform 7 and its connectors 8 by crash bars 10 mounted on the SCM 4 (FIG. 5). The crash bars 10 engage the guide assembly 9 as the SCM 4 is lowered onto the base 6 (FIG. 4).
The SCM 4 has a number of tapered spigots 11 which are adapted to fit into cooperating sockets 12 carried by the platform 7 in order to correctly locate the SCM 4 on the base 6.
This latching mechanism will now be described in relation to FIGS. 6 to 11.
FIGS. 6 to 11
The latching mechanism 5 is mounted centrally with respect to the SCM 4 and comprises essentially a plunger 13 loaded by three coil springs 14, 15 and 16 (there could be fewer or more). The plunger 13 and springs 14, 15, and 16 are contained within a tubular housing 17.
The tubular housing 17 is closed at its top end by a threaded cap 18 which is secured to a portion 4a of the SCM 4.
The cap 18 carries ring seals 19 through which the upper end 13a of the plunger 13 is adapted to slide.
An intermediate portion of the plunger 13 carries an annular abutment 13b whose function is to longitudinally contain the springs 14, 15, and 16 between itself and the end cap 18.
The lower end 13c of the plunger 13 is tapered and is slidable within a reduced diameter portion 17a of the tubular housing 17. Two pairs of annular ring seals 20 and 21 are carried by the reduced diameter extension 17a.
The lower end of the tubular housing 17 has a shoulder 22 which is secured by bolts 23 to another portion 4b of the SCM 4.
A tubular cam/latch carrier 24 is threadably mounted on the reduced diameter portion 17a of the tubular housing 17.
Three cams 25, 26 and 27 are each pivotally mounted at 28 to the latch/cam carrier 24.
Each of the three cams 25,26 and 27 is formed with a first latch portion and a second latch portion. The first latch protion 25a and the second latch portion 25b of the cam 25 are illustrated FIGS. 6, 8, and 10.
The lowermost end of the tapered portion 13c of the plunger 13 is formed with an annular recess or groove 29 into which the first latch portions of the three cams 25, 26, and 27 are adapted to engage.
The way in which the latching mechanism operates will now be described.
Firstly consider the position of the latching mechanism in the situation where the SCM 4 is hanging freely, and the weight of the SCM 4 is not resting on the mounting base 6.
In this freely hanging position, the weight of the control pod, shown as W in FIG. 6, will be acting downwardly in the direction indicated and the equivalent tension T in the supporting cable(s) will be acting upwardly as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6.
The effect of these forces will be to cause the springs 14, 15 and 16 to be compressed between the end cap 18 and the flange 13b.
This situation is illustrated in FIG. 6.
In this situation the grooved lower end 29 of the tapered portion 13c of the plunger 13 is in the position shown in FIG. 6 with the result that the three cams 25, 26 and 27 are in pivotal positions such that the second latch portions are withdrawn into their radially innermost positions in relation to the centre line of the plunger 13, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
Now consider the position as the SCM 4 is lowered onto the mounting base 6.
The mounting base 6 is provided with a central aperture 30 which has associated with it an upstanding guide member 31.
As the SCM 4 is lowered, the tubular carrier 24 enters the guide 31 and then the aperture 30 in the mounting base 6, this position also being shown in FIG. 8.
In this position, as indicated earlier, the latch cams 25, 26 and 27 are in their radially withdrawn position, as shown in FIG. 7.
Further lowering of the SCM 4, in relation to the mounting base 6, will bring the portion 4b of the SCM 4 into abutment with the upper edge of the guide 31, as shown in FIG. 8.
As soon as the portion 4b of the SCM 4 abuts the annular guide 31 of the mounting base 6, the weight of the SCM 4 will start to be taken by the mounting base 6.
The effect of this will be to reduce the forces tending to compress the coil springs 14, 15 and 16 so that the energy stored in these compressed springs will then progressively be released as they drive down the plunger 13, in relation to the mounting base 6.
FIG. 8 shows the position shortly before the portion 4b of the SCM 4 has contacted the upper edge of the guide 31 on the mounting base 6, and FIG. 10 illustrates the final downward position of the plunger 13 in relation to the tubular housing 17 and the mounting base 6.
As the plunger 13 is driven down by the compressed coil springs 14, 15 and 16, the lower end surface 13c of the plunger 13 causes each of the first and second latch protion of the three cams 25, 26 and 27 to rotate clockwise about their respective pivots 28, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 10. The first latch portion 25a and the second latch protion 25b of the cam 25 in these positions are illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 10.
The effect of this clockwise rotation of the latch cams is to cause the second latch portions of the three cams to be moved radially outwardly in order to engage the underside of the portion 6a of the mounting base 6. This rotation also has the effect of drawing the SCM 4 of the sub-sea control pod further down onto the mounting base 6.
The fully engaged position for the three cams latches 25, 26 and 27 is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The compressed coil springs 14, 15 and 16 have extended to their maximum possible length within the constraints of the tube 17, the threaded cap 18 and the end stop 32. Thus, the latching of the SCM 4 to the mounting base 6 is achieved automatically by virtue of the stored energy contained within the latching mechanism itself. This contrasts with the prior art arrangements which employ means external to the latching mechanism for providing the motive force for effecting the latching and unlatching operations.
In order to release the latching mechanism from engagement with the mounting base 6 (i.e. the position shown in FIGS. 10 and 11), the SCM 4 is simply raised by pulling on the lifting cable(s) (not shown) which in turn causes the plunger 13 to be lifted upwardly, as illustrated in FIGS. 6, 8 and 10.
This upward movement, in relation to the situation illustrated in FIG. 10, will cause the annular abutment 13b of the plunger 13 to progressively compress the coil springs 14, 15 and 16 and also allow the three latch cams 25, 26 and 27 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction about their respective pivots 28 as the tapered portion 13c moves past the first latch portions of the latch cams 25, 26 and 27. It should be noted that there is no requirement to have these cams spring loaded so that they will rotate in a counterclockwise direction because as the latching arrangement reaches the position shown in FIG. 8 and then in FIG. 6, the annular groove 29 and in particular an end button 13d will, by virtue of engagement with the first latched portions, cause the respective cams 25, 26 and 27 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction about their respective pivots 28 in order to bring the latch cams 25, 26 and 27 into the radially withdrawn position shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
Thus, the essence of the present invention lies in providing the latching mechanism with means for storing energy within the mechanism itself, such energy being derived from the weight of the SCM.
Although the preferred embodiment of the invention employs coil springs, as described above and shown in the drawings, other means for storing such energy could also be employed while still giving the advantage of the present invention which is to eliminate the necessity for having separate motive power for operating the latch mechanism as such.
This in turn results in a significant cost saving in relation to the manufacture of the latch mechanism and makes the latter quicker acting. | A latching mechanism for a sub-sea control module is constructed with energy storing means such that a latch is cooked into an unlatched condition by the action of lifting the sub-sea control module to store energy in the energy storing means and is moved into a latched condition by the action of lowering the sub-sea control module into abutment with the mounting base. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/853,847 filed May 9, 1997, the above application being incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. The Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to systems and methods for transferring data between a transport layer and a link layer in a computer system. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transmitting bulk data partitioned into a plurality of packets between a transport layer and a link layer using a singular command therebetween.
[0004] 2. The Relevant Technology
[0005] Today, computers are becoming a main staple for information exchange in the modern society. Computers, namely personal computers (PC), provide the source and termination points for a majority of information exchange. A user at a PC may input information and quickly transmit such information to another user at a destination computer in a fraction of a second. The logistics of such transfers originated from simple origins such as directly coupled or connected computers. However, today, computers are not directly coupled in a one-to-one corresponding configuration, but frequently exist in a network environment wherein multiple computers are interconnected one with another.
[0006] In computer networks wherein interconnections are not dedicated and isolated, information or data targeted for one computer must be addressed for receipt by a designated computer. Furthermore, information traveling from a source computer to a destination computer, in most networks, travels over a shared network link. To facilitate the transfer and management of significant amounts of data across communication or computer networks, the partitioning of data into useable packets has become necessary to facilitate multiusers on a shared network resource.
[0007] In addition to partitioning data into smaller components or packets, network transfer software facilitating the exchange of data between computers has also been partitioned into identifiable components. Standardized components or structures conforming to the OSI protocol model have been promulgated for many years. Although many systems do not incorporate each and every level of the OSI standardized model, the majority of network systems incorporate fundamental components of the OSI model. For example, the transport layer of the OSI model facilitates the aforementioned partitioning or packetizing of bulk data into useable, convenient packet formats for dispatching throughout the computer network. Some transport layers have become preeminently dominant in the computer networking arena. For example, TCP/IP, although taking on minor and major variations, has become a standard transport protocol for use in implementing the transport layer of the OSI model for computer networking. Additionally, IPX and NetBEUI have also become standard transport protocols in computer networks. Such transport protocols are implemented in an OSI or network protocol stack by programming a transport protocol driver capable of receiving bulk data and transforming such bulk data into packetized and formatted data capable of efficient propagation through a computer network.
[0008] [0008]FIG. 1 represents a prior art configuration of a network protocol stack or configuration 100 capable of transporting bulk data 102 between a computer and network 164 . As described above, transport layer or driver 104 receives bulk data 102 and partitions bulk data 102 into packets properly sized and formatted for propagation in network 164 . In FIG. 1, transport driver 104 partitions bulk data 102 into packets 106 , 108 and 110 and applies formats accordingly. Generally, rather than directly transporting or forwarding data through subsequent layers or levels, pointers to the data packets are generated. Pointer 112 , 114 and 116 , provide accessibility to the packetized data and are individually passed to other layers as opposed to replicating or copying entire data packets upon issuance of a transfer command.
[0009] As described above, a transport driver interfaces with other software components supporting the functionality of other OSI layers. To facilitate the compatibility of various layers, an interface 120 defines a neutral specification for the development of operative layers or drivers. Transport driver 104 incorporates an interface 118 compliant with interface 120 through which packetized information may be exchanged.
[0010] A link layer device driver 124 provides link layer functionality which generally comprises preparing and presenting data in a particular form and location in preparation for transmission and reception by hardware such as physical device 130 interfaced to network 164 . Similar to transport driver 104 , link layer device driver 124 provides a compatible interface 128 for compliant communication therebetween.
[0011] Communication flow of bulk data 102 to network 164 will now be discussed. Transport layer 104 receives bulk data 102 from yet a higher layer in the OSI module, typically an application layer. As discussed above, transmission of bulk data 102 in raw format across network 164 is prohibitive due to several factors such as (i) interference noise present in network 164 which destroys or degrades a portion of bulk data 102 , thus requiring a retransmission of the entire bulk data, (ii) the shared nature of network 164 with other computers requiring time-multiplexing, and (iii) other practicalities of successful transmission of a substantial amount of data in a single transmit session. In a modern system, bulk data 102 is partitioned into, among others, data packet 106 having a pointer 112 . Transport driver 104 dispatches a send packet request 122 comprised of pointer 112 transmitted via interface 120 through send packet request 126 to link layer device driver 124 . Link layer device driver 124 then issues a request 132 to physical device 130 thereby notifying physical device 130 of the presence of data packet 106 for dispatch through network 164 .
[0012] Traditional network protocol stacks typically employ dedicated buffers within system resources such as RAM that are accessible both to a computer microprocessor and physical device 130 . In such configurations, link layer device driver 124 upon receiving pointer 112 may copy data packet 106 into the predefined buffer known and accessible to physical device 130 .
[0013] Physical device 130 , upon receipt of request 132 , performs an autonomous transfer of data packet 106 into network 164 . Physical device 130 generally is comprised of embedded control facilitating the extraction of data packets from common memory resources. Physical device 130 in a response 134 notifies link layer device driver 124 of the completion of the transfer of data packet 106 to network 164 . Response 134 , although depicted as a direct communication with link layer device driver 124 is commonly carried out with physical device 130 initiating an interrupt through the microprocessor of the computer system followed by the servicing of an interrupt service routine directed to link layer device driver 124 . Link layer device driver 124 issues a send packet response 136 to interface 120 which in turn reissues or simply forwards send packet response 138 to transport driver 104 . The transformation of send packet response 136 to send packet response 138 depends upon the level of functionality of interface 120 .
[0014] Upon receipt of send packet response 138 , transport driver 104 then initiates the transfer of packet 108 and packet 110 in sequential order by employing the processes utilized by packet 106 such as initiation of send packet requests 140 and 152 , and receipt of send packet response 150 and 162 . It should be noted that packets individually traverse the network protocol stack before the initiation of a subsequent traversal by a subsequent data packet. Furthermore, the successful transfer of a data packet by physical device 130 to network 164 results in a specific acknowledgement or response for each packet transferred. As discussed earlier, such responses typically take the form of an interrupt to the microprocessor which causes the microprocessor to postpone its present operations in favor of servicing an individual response. It should be evident that as bulk data 102 increases in size and the number of data packets increases, the delivery of sizeable bulk data results in a significant impairment of microprocessor performance. Furthermore, modern communication networks facilitating the transfer of high bandwidth data, such as imaging data, are required to devote a significant amount of microprocessor resources to the manipulation of such data. When undesirable intermittent interruptions become pervasive, performance degrades to undesirable or intolerable levels.
[0015] It would represent an advancement over the prior art to provide a method and system for sending a plurality of data packets from a transport driver to a link layer device driver without transmitting an individual command for each data packet. It would, therefore, represent an advancement in the art to provide the ability to minimize the quantity of interruptions to the microprocessor during the transmission of bulk data to a network. It would also represent an advancement in the art to minimize the amount of handshaking carried out between layers within the OSI stack. It would yet represent an advancement in the art to provide a method and system for receiving a plurality of data packets from a network and forwarding the plurality of data packets to a transport driver without being required to issue individual transfer commands for each packet.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The foregoing problems in the prior state of the art have been successfully overcome by the present invention, which is directed to a system and method for transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer device driver in a computer operating system. The current system and method can be used in virtually any computer network system. The present invention comprises both methods and systems for batching or transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer in a network protocol stack of a computer system.
[0017] In the present invention, a network protocol stack comprised of a transport driver receives bulk data to transfer to a network. The transport driver, in order to facilitate orderly transfer of data through the network, packetizes and formats the bulk data into data packets. The transport driver contains a level of functionality for initiating a multi-packet transfer by generating a request including an array of pointers to the data packets. A pointer to the array of pointers is also included within the multi-packet transfer request. Additionally, a quantity of data packets indicator is included within the request and, alternatively, when a plurality of destination drivers exist, a handle or device descriptor accompanies the multi-packet request.
[0018] The transport layer subsequently issues a multi-packet or send packets request to the abstract interface which in turn evaluates the device driver handle or descriptor as specified by transport driver to determine the capabilities or sophistication of the destination link layer device driver. If the abstract interface determines that the link layer device driver is capable of a single command, multi-packet transfer, then the abstract interface issues the single command and the link layer device driver begins retrieving the plurality of data packets and placing them in data buffers accessible to the target hardware such as a network card or “physical device.” The link layer device driver then starts the physical device transferring the data.
[0019] Upon the completion of the transfer of multiple packets by the physical device, a transfer response is generated to the link layer device driver which in turn issues a send complete response to the abstract interface. The abstract interface sends a send complete response to the transport driver acknowledging the completion and readiness for additional data packets. Such a transfer of a plurality of data packets in a single command minimizes interrupts to the host computer microprocessor. Each interrupt to the host microprocessor suspends the present processing of the microprocessor to attend to the present interrupt.
[0020] Alternative configurations of the present invention provide for the coupling of sophisticated drivers, that is to say drivers having enhanced functionality capable of multi-packet transfers, with less sophisticated drivers where the abstract interface mediates or facilitates the invocation of multi-packet transfer commands by emulating the multi-packet transfer, thus allowing the less sophisticated destination driver to interface with a more sophisticated transport layer driver. For example, the abstract interface upon receiving a multi-packet transfer request, evaluates the sophistication and capability of the designated device driver. If the destination driver is not capable of handling a multi-packet transfer request, individual packet transfer requests can be created by the abstract interface and issued sequentially by the abstract interface to the destination driver. Sophistication or capability information of a driver is loaded into the abstract interface upon loading the driver into the system. Inclusion of sophistication and capability information facilitates the interoperation of older or legacy drivers with more sophisticated or modern drivers as new generations of drivers become available. The present invention also facilitates receiving a plurality of packets from a network and transferring a plurality of packets to a transport layer using a single command.
[0021] The abstract interface describes an interface by which one or more device drivers may communicate with one or more transport drivers and the operating system. The abstract interface enables a transport driver to pass network packets or data packets to any one of a plurality of device drivers for transmission to the network via any one of a plurality of physical devices. The abstract interface also facilitates the reception of network packets by a device driver from any one of several underlying physical devices. In summary, the abstract interface defines a fully abstracted environment for facilitating device driver and transport driver development by including common functions such as registration and interception of hardware interrupts into abstract interface functions that may be invoked by the drivers.
[0022] Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a system and method in a computer operating system for transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer device driver via an abstract interface.
[0023] Another primary object of the invention is to provide a system and method for transferring a plurality of received data packets from a link layer device driver to a transport driver via an abstract interface while minimizing the impact of interruptions to the host system microprocessor that occurs when individual packets are transferred.
[0024] Another important object of the present invention is to provide an abstract interface between drivers in a network protocol stack wherein the standardized development interface facilitates ease of portability and driver development. Additionally, many common functions and resource management details of drivers are incorporated into the abstract interface. The abstract interface is also capable of discerning the level of sophistication of interfacing drivers and emulating multiple transfer capabilities for drivers inherently lacking such capability.
[0025] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and the appended claims, or may be learned by practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] In order that the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and objects of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not, therefore, to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
[0027] [0027]FIG. 1 is a representation of a network protocol stack, in accordance with a prior art configuration;
[0028] [0028]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network protocol stack for transferring bulk data between a transport layer and a network, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] [0029]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network protocol stack for transferring bulk data between a transport layer and a network, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] [0030]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a network protocol stack for receiving a plurality of packets from a network for transfer to a transport layer in a network protocol stack in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] [0031]FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an abstract interface for facilitating transfer of a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and
[0032] [0032]FIG. 6 is a graphical representation of a plurality of data packet buffers for use by a link layer device driver, in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0033] The following description of the present invention is presented by using flow diagrams to describe either the structure or the processing of presently preferred embodiments to implement the systems and methods of the present invention. Using the diagrams in this manner to present the invention should not be construed as limiting of its scope. The present invention contemplates both methods and systems for batching or transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer in a network protocol stack of a computer system. The currently disclosed system, however, can also be used with any special purpose computer or other hardware system and all should be included within its scope.
[0034] Embodiments within the scope of the present invention also include computer readable media having executable instructions. Such computer readable media can be any of available media which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such program storage means can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired executable instructions and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Combinations of the above should also be included in the scope of the program storage means. Executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer or special purpose computer to perform a certain function or a group of functions.
[0035] [0035]FIG. 2 represents a block diagram of a network protocol stack 200 for transferring bulk data 102 to network 164 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A network protocol stack 200 comprised of a transport driver 204 receives bulk data 102 for transfer to a network 164 . Transport driver 204 , in order to facilitate orderly transfer of data through network 164 , must perform packetization and formatting processes on bulk data 102 . Transport driver 204 partitions bulk data 102 into data packets 206 , 208 and 210 . Transport driver 204 is designed to interoperate in an enhanced system wherein an abstract interface 220 mediates or facilitates the transfer of a plurality of packets in a single send packets request 222 . Transport driver 204 generates pointers 212 , 214 and 216 pointing to data packets 206 , 208 and 210 , respectively. Pointers 212 , 214 and 216 are grouped into a pointer array 240 having an array pointer 238 pointing thereto. Transport driver 204 initiates send packets request 222 to abstract interface 220 . Send packets request 222 comprises pointer 238 directed to an array of pointers 240 , and in one embodiment, send packets request 222 further comprises a quantity of packets indicator designating the number of packets represented by array pointer 238 . Send packets request 222 may additionally be comprised of a handle or indicator designating a specific link layer device driver 224 when a plurality of device drivers are present.
[0036] Transport driver 204 adheres to the standardized abstract interface 220 by incorporating an interface 218 as an interface path between transport driver 204 and abstract interface 220 . Interface 218 may be calls to Application Program Interface (API) functions in order to access the functionality of abstract interface 220 . Interface 218 may also be any other mechanism incorporated into transport driver 204 to access or interface with abstract interface 220 . When transport driver 204 issues send packets request 222 to abstract interface 220 , transport driver 204 may yield ownership or control of the packet resources, such as buffers, to the device driver.
[0037] Abstract interface 220 then evaluates the device driver handle or indicator as specified by transport driver 204 to determine the capabilities of link layer device driver 224 . This functionality is described in detail in FIG. 5. If abstract interface 220 determines that link layer device driver 224 facilitates the transfer of multiple packets in a single command, abstract interface 220 issues a send packets request 226 comprising array pointer 238 to packet array 240 and a packet quantity indicator. Send packets request 226 may also be comprised of a device handle or identifier when a plurality of link layer device drivers are present. Upon dispatching send packets request 226 , abstract interface 220 awaits the return of an acknowledgment in the form of a packets transfer complete indicator.
[0038] Link layer device driver 224 through compliant interface 228 receives send packets request 226 and begins retrieving and copying data packets 206 , 208 and 210 as pointed to by packet array 240 into predetermined reserve data buffers accessible to physical device 130 . Such reserve data buffers are further discussed in FIG. 6. Upon the completion and transfer of data packets 206 , 208 and 210 into the buffers of link layer device driver 224 , link layer device driver 224 initiates a transfer request 232 to physical device 130 . Such a request may contain additional information such as the quantity of packets to transfer, or may simply be a request to transfer command wherein physical device 130 determines the number of packets present. Physical device 130 then individually transfers data packets 206 , 208 and 210 to network 164 .
[0039] Upon the completion of the transfer by physical device 130 , physical device 130 generates a transfer response 258 designating the completed transfer of the packets. Although transfer response 258 is illustrated as a direct communication between physical device 130 and device driver 224 , in one embodiment, physical device 130 initiates an interrupt to the microprocessor of the host computer system. The microprocessor then enters an interrupt service routine that performs the requisite processing and notification to link layer device driver 224 . Alternatively, the microprocessor or the host computer system may initiate minimal processing in the interrupt service routine and schedule a deferred processing routine for performing the bulk of the interrupt service responsibility at a later time.
[0040] Link layer device driver 224 , upon receipt of transfer response 258 , issues a send complete response 260 to abstract interface 220 . Abstract interface 220 subsequently issues a send complete response 262 to transport driver 204 notifying transport driver 204 of the completed transfer of the plurality of packets.
[0041] It should be noted that the present embodiment accommodates and facilitates the transfer of a plurality of packets from a transport layer to a link layer and upon the completion of the transfer of the plurality of packets to network 164 , a single interrupt is issued to the microprocessor of the host computer system. This is in contrast to prior art systems which create an interrupt for each packet sent. As noted earlier, each interrupt to the host microprocessor suspends the present processing of the microprocessor to attend to the present interrupt. When a substantial amount of bulk data is to be transferred from the transport layer to the network or vise versa, a continuous series of interrupts to the microprocessor significantly degrades the perceived performance of the overall system. The present invention transcends the need for individual acknowledgements in the form of interrupts to the microprocessor for each packet transferred.
[0042] [0042]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network protocol stack for transferring bulk data between a transport layer and a network, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, processing proceeds within transports driver 204 in accordance with the previous discussion for FIG. 2. That is to say, bulk data 102 is received and packetized into data packets 206 , 208 and 210 with pointers 212 , 214 and 216 pointing thereto. A pointer 238 denotes a pointer array 240 comprising pointers 212 , 214 and 216 . Transport driver 204 issues a send packets request 222 comprised of pointer 238 and of a packets quantity indicator. Additionally, as described earlier, a device handle or indicator may also accompany send packets request 222 when a plurality of device drivers 324 is present.
[0043] Abstract interface 220 , upon receiving send packets request 222 , evaluates the capability of the designated link layer device driver 324 . Capability information of link layer device driver 324 is incorporated into abstract interface 220 upon the loading or configuration of link layer device driver 324 into the present computer system. By incorporating capability information into abstract interface 220 , link layer device drivers and transport drivers having varying capabilities may interoperate due to the mediation capabilities of abstract interface 220 to accommodate or supplement the functionality lacking in less capable or sophisticated drivers. For example, in the present embodiment, transport layer 204 issues send packets request 222 designating link layer device driver 324 as a destination link layer driver and believing it to be capable of transferring multiple packets in response to a single send packets request. However, link layer device driver 324 , when loaded into the present host computer system, registered with abstract interface 220 its ability to transfer only single packets using a single command. In the alternative, instead of registering the ability to transfer only single packets, perhaps driver 324 did not register the capability to transfer multiple packets. In such a situation, abstract interface 220 may interpret the failure to identify a specific capability as the lack of that capability.
[0044] Abstract interface 220 , upon detecting a lower level of capability of link layer device driver 324 , emulates the plurality packet transfer function as requested by transport layer 204 . In so doing, abstract interface 220 issues a send packet request 226 comprised of pointer 212 to link layer device driver 324 . Link layer device driver 324 , in the present embodiment, transfers or copies data packet 206 into a predefined transmit buffer accessible by physical device 130 and initiates a transfer request 332 to physical device 130 . Physical device 130 , upon the completion of the transfer of packet 206 as stored in the predefined buffer to network 164 issues a transfer response 334 designating the completion of the transfer. Although transfer response 334 may take the form of an interrupt to the microprocessor, less processing is required as control reverts locally back to link layer device driver 324 for the initiation of send packet response 236 with no further response passing or traversing up to transport driver 204 .
[0045] Abstract interface 220 upon receiving send packet response 236 dispatches a send packet request 242 comprised of pointer 214 to link layer device driver 324 whereupon link layer device driver 324 transfers data packet 208 into a predefined transmit buffer with transfer request 344 and transfer response 346 proceeding as did transfer request 332 and transfer response 334 . Upon the receipt of send packet response 248 , abstract interface 220 initiates a send packet request 254 comprising pointer 216 . Link layer device driver 324 copies or transfers data packet 210 to a predefined transmit buffer and initiates transfer request 356 to physical device 130 . Physical device 130 upon the completion of the transfer of data packet 210 to network 164 initiates a transfer response 358 to link layer device driver 324 . Link layer device driver 324 initiates a send packet response 260 to abstract interface 220 . Abstract interface 220 then and only then issues a send packets response 262 to transport driver 204 . From the perspective of transport driver 204 , the remainder of the protocol stack exhibits the same capability inherent in transport driver 204 . This is due, however, to the mediation functionality of abstract interface 220 and its ability upon loading and initialization of drivers, including transport driver 204 and link layer device driver 324 , to extract packet transfer capability information of each of the drivers and emulate requested capabilities when destination drivers are less capable. Such emulation capability enables older or legacy drivers to interoperate with more sophisticated or modern drivers as new generations of drivers become available.
[0046] [0046]FIG. 4 represents a block diagram of a network protocol stack capable of receiving a plurality of packets from a network and transferring a plurality of packets to a transport layer by employing a single command, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Physical device 130 monitors network 164 , and when presented with a data packet, copies the data packet into predetermined, mutually accessible transfer buffers reserved during the loading or initialization of link layer device driver 224 . Upon the completion of the transfer of data packets 272 , 274 and 276 into the predetermined transfer buffers, physical device 130 initiates a transfer request 270 which, as discussed above, may take the form of a interrupt to the microprocessor of the host computer. Link layer device driver 224 upon receipt of transfer request 270 generates pointers 278 , 280 and 282 and forms a pointer array 284 having a pointer 286 . Link layer device driver 224 initiates a receive packets request 288 comprising pointer 286 directed to the array of pointers pointing to the received packets and a quantity of packets indicator denoting the number of packets to be transferred.
[0047] Abstract interface 220 , upon receiving receive packets request 288 , evaluates and determines if transport driver 204 maintains the functionality necessary for transferring multiple packets between a link layer and a transport layer by referencing the packet transfer capability indicator of transport driver 204 as registered with abstract interface 220 during loading or initialization of transport driver 204 . When abstract interface 220 identifies transport driver 204 as having multiple packet transfer capability, then abstract interface 220 issues a receive packets request 290 comprising pointer 286 and a quantity of packets indicator, and multiple packets may transfer from a single command. If, however, abstract interface 220 determines transport driver 204 lacks the capability to process a multiple packet transfer command, abstract interface 220 emulates the multiple packet transfer process between abstract interface 220 and transport driver 204 by initiating multiple request/response instructions for each of the packets to be transferred. Such an embodiment is not shown in FIG. 4, however, such performance mirrors the interaction as discussed in FIG. 3 between the abstract interface emulating the capabilities that are not inherently present in link layer device driver 324 .
[0048] Upon the successful completion of the transfer of multiple packets between abstract interface 220 and transport driver 204 , transport driver 204 issues a received packets response 292 to abstract interface 220 . Upon receipt, abstract interface 220 dispatches a received packets response 294 to link layer device driver 224 .
[0049] [0049]FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an abstract interface 220 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As alluded to above, abstract interface 220 describes the interface by which one or more link layer device drivers may communicate with one or more transport drivers and the operating system. Abstract interface 220 comprises a standard driver function support 302 for facilitating the interfacing of transport and link layer drivers. Since standard driver function support 302 receives requests from transport drivers, embodiments may comprise means for receiving send packet requests. By way of example, in FIG. 5 such means is illustrated by receive request block 360 which, in one embodiment, takes the form of a function call to the library of functions within abstract interface 220 . Alternatively, means for receiving send packet requests may take the form of a messaging-based interface providing message evaluation and procedure routing. Since the send plurality of packets request may also be comprised of the location and quantity of data packets requested, means for receiving send packet requests may also include the ability to receive and process pointers and arrays of pointers designating specific locations of the plurality of data packets. Thus, this capability may also be included in receive request block 360 .
[0050] In embodiments which check the capability of drivers in order to interface drivers which support multiple packet transfer with those that do not, standard driver function support 302 further comprises means for mediating requests between two drivers. As an example, in FIG. 5 such means is illustrated by a mediate request block 362 which evaluates and processes send packets requests. Mediate request block 362 is comprised of means for checking driver capability, as for example check driver capability block 364 which queries and receives a packet transfer capability indicator from a driver interconnection/capability information store 304 . The packet transfer capability indicator denotes the extent of inherent support for multiple packet transfers resident within the particular destination driver as described earlier. When multiple packets are to be sent from the transport layer, a device handle may be specified in the request to indicate a link layer device driver, in contrast, when a plurality of packets are to be sent from the link layer device driver to the transport driver, then the device handle will denote a transport driver. When the destination driver possesses multi-packet functionality, then processing passes to a request forwarding means 368 which converts the specified device handle into a call directed to the specified destination driver. However, when the packet transfer capability indicator denotes a lack of support for multi-packet transfer, then a multi-packet emulation means 366 provides emulation of the multi-packet transfers by making iterative calls to the destination device as detailed above in FIG. 3. Standard driver function support 302 further comprises a confirm response a means for confirming responses, as for example block 370 which passes a confirmation or acknowledgment through abstract interface 220 to the request-originating driver upon completion of the transfer of the plurality of data packets.
[0051] Abstract interface 220 further comprises a means for facilitating the reception of network data packets by a link layer device driver from any one of several underlying physical devices which are distinguishable by device handles or descriptors. Such means facilitates the passing or transfer of network data packets up to one or more designated transport drivers. Abstract interface 220 further provides the capability for a driver to query abstract interface 200 for determining specific configurations, statistics, and capabilities of device drivers resident within driver interconnection/capability information block 304 .
[0052] It should be noted that abstract interface 220 may take the form, as in one embodiment, of a function library capable of receiving and processing function calls. Generally, abstract interface 220 defines a fully abstracted environment for facilitating device driver and transport driver development. For example, external functions previously required by transport and device drivers such as registering and interception of hardware interrupts, are off loaded and performed by abstract interface 220 by employing predefined abstract interface functions. Therefore, device drivers may be developed entirely in a platform independent high level language such as C, and then may be easily recompiled to run on any other environment or platform employing abstract interface 220 . Such standard driver functional support is comprised within standard driver function support 302 .
[0053] In one embodiment, abstract interface 220 is implemented as a function library which may be represented as a wrapper surrounding transport and device drivers to facilitate interaction with other operating system components. All interactions between device drivers and transport drivers, device drivers and the operating system, and device driver and physical devices are executed via calls to abstract interface 220 . In one embodiment, the function library is packaged in an export library as a set of abstract functions and is incorporated as in-line macros for maximum performance in the host operating system. When transport and device drivers are installed, they link against the function library.
[0054] As discussed above, abstract interface 220 provides a fully abstracted specification to which device drivers may be written. Such an interface allows device drivers to be easily ported, in many cases with a simple recompilation, to other abstract interface operating environments. Therefore, device and transport drivers need not know detailed information such as entry points of the other's functions. Instead, each driver registers their functionality and function entry points with abstract interface 220 upon loading. One such example of abstract interface 220 is the Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) by Microsoft® incorporated into Windows NT®.
[0055] As introduced above, abstract interface 220 is further comprised of driver interconnection/capability information store 304 which is but one example of a means for receiving capability indicators from drivers when they are loaded or installed into the computer system. Such indicators may be stored in a means implemented as a storage table or other data structures capable of being indexed by a device handle. Furthermore, check driver capability block 364 represents an example of a means for evaluating the capabilities of a specific driver by referencing a storage means within driver interconnection/capability information 304 for determining the inherent capabilities of a specific driver such as the extent of support for multi-packet transfers. Such information is compiled into abstract interface 220 upon loading or initialization of the requested driver and referenced thereafter.
[0056] [0056]FIG. 6 represents a simplified diagram illustrating the dispatch of a plurality of packets upon a network. As discussed above, a device driver and a physical device exchange data packets between each other by placing the data packets in predetermined data buffers accessible by both entities. When a plurality of buffers are employed, they may be figuratively represented as circular buffers 310 . In the present invention, when a plurality of data packets are transferred from a transport layer to a device driver in a single command, they may each populate a buffer within circular buffer 310 . When circular buffer 310 is populated, physical device 130 is notified and begins sequentially extracting data packets for dispatch over network 322 . A timeline 324 represents a sequential train of data packets 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 and 320 . It should be noted that by transferring a plurality of data packets to a device driver, physical device 130 may continuously retrieve and transmit data packets, thus placing them in close proximity with one another over a network. By placing data packets or transmitting data packets in close proximity over a network, the overall throughput of the transfer of bulk data can be improved. That is to say, if data packets are individually transferred from the transport layer to the device driver, the network incurs an inherent latency or spacing of data packets resulting when a device driver notifies a transport layer of the completion and awaits delivery of a subsequent data packet.
[0057] In summary, the present invention provides a system and method for transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer device driver via an abstract interface therebetween. The recipient of destination driver receives a plurality of data packets while an acknowledgment that impacts the performance of the overall system is generated less frequently. In the case of transmitting a plurality of data packets from a transport driver to a link layer device driver, a single acknowledgment suffices for responding to the transfer of several data packets. The present invention also provides a system and method for transferring a plurality of received data packets from a link layer device driver to a transport driver via an abstract interface while minimizing the impact of acknowledgments that occur when individual packets are transferred.
[0058] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrated and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. | A system and method for transferring a plurality of data packets between a link layer and a transport layer is presented. The system and method provide a standardized development interface for development of link layer and transport layer drivers across multiple platforms. The abstract interface provides a standardized functional module through which multiple packet transfer commands are received and passed. The abstract interface discerns the level of sophistication of interfacing drivers and when drivers lack the capability for transferring multiple packets in a single command, the abstract interface emulates multiple transfer capabilities for such drivers. | 7 |
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to a process for preparing an alkoxylated carbonate (i.e. polyether carbonate) product. This process simultaneously transcarbonates and alkoxylates a mixture of compounds with at least one alkylene oxide, in the presence of a mixture of catalysts. The present invention also relates to novel polyether carbonates.
A general review of the chemistry of polymerizing propylene oxide with carbon dioxide in the presence of a suitable catalyst to produce polycarbonate polyols is provided by D. Darensburg and M. W. Holtcamp in the article “Catalysts for the Reactions of Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide”, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 153, 1996, pp. 155-174. Cyclic carbonate and/or polycarbonate synthesis via epoxides and CO 2 is described, as is ring-opening polymerizations of cyclic carbonates.
Various processes have been used to prepare polyether carbonate polyols from alkylene oxides and carbon dioxide, in the presence of a DMC catalyst. One problem resulting from most of the processes is the formation of a high level of propylene carbonate which is an undesirable by-product of these processes. Efforts to overcome this problem include the combined use of a DMC catalyst with a co-catalyst, and the use of a substantially non-crystalline DMC catalyst.
In spite of the advances made recently in this area, there continues to be a need for alkoxylated carbonate products (i.e. polyether carbonates) with low levels of cyclic carbonate by-products, and new processes for preparing these alkoxylated carbonate (i.e. polyether carbonates) products. We have surprisingly found that reacting alkylene oxides with carbonates using a dual catalyst system offers a very efficient method for preparing polyether polycarbonates with very little formation of cyclic carbonate byproducts.
SUMMARY
This invention relates to a process for the preparation of a polyether carbonate (i.e. a polyether alkoxylated carbonate). This process comprises simultaneously:
(A) transcarbonating
and
(B) alkoxylating
(1) a mixture comprising
(a) a compound having a molecular weight of from 90 to 6000
and which is selected from the group consisting of dialkyl carbonates, diaryl carbonates, alkylaryl carbonates and polycarbonates;
and (b) one or more hydroxyl group containing compounds selected from the group consisting of (i) alcohols containing from 1 to 25 carbon atoms, (ii) polyols having a functionality of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000, and (iii) mixtures thereof;
with
(2) at least one alkylene oxide;
in the presence of
(3) a mixture of catalysts comprising
(a) at least one DMC catalyst, and (b) at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst.
The present invention also relates to novel polyether carbonates. These polyether carbonates comprise the reaction product of:
(1) a mixture comprising
(a) a compound having a molecular weight of from 90 to 6000 and which is selected from the group consisting of dialkyl carbonates, diaryl carbonates, alkylaryl carbonates and polycarbonates;
and
(b) one or more hydroxyl group containing compounds selected from the group consisting of (i) alcohols containing from 1 to 25 carbon atoms, (ii) polyols having a functionality of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000, and (iii) mixtures thereof;
with
(2) at least one alkylene oxide;
in the presence of
(3) a mixture of catalysts comprising
(a) at least one DMC catalyst,
and
(b) at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst;
wherein the reaction comprises transcarbonation and alkoxylation simultaneously.
The present invention also relates to polyurethane foams comprising the reaction product of one or more polyisocyanate with a novel polyether carbonate as described above.
This invention also relates to a process for producing a polyurethane foam by reacting one or more polyisocyanate with a novel polyether carbonate as described above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will now be described for purposes of illustration and not limitation. Except in the operating examples, or where otherwise indicated, all numerical parameters are to be understood as being prefaced and modified in all instances by the term “about”, in which the numerical parameters possess the inherent variability characteristic of the underlying measurement techniques used to determine the numerical value of the parameter. Examples of such numerical parameters include, but are not limited to OH numbers, equivalent and/or molecular weights, functionalities, amounts, percentages, etc. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter described in the present description should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques.
Also, any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed within the recited range. For example, a range of “1 to 10” is intended to include all sub-ranges between (and including) the recited minimum value of 1 and the recited maximum value of 10, that is, having a minimum value equal to or greater than 1 and a maximum value equal to or less than 10. All end points of any range are included unless specified otherwise. Any maximum numerical limitation recited in this specification is intended to include all lower numerical limitations subsumed therein and any minimum numerical limitation recited in this specification is intended to include all higher numerical limitations subsumed therein. Accordingly, Applicant reserves the right to amend this specification, including the claims, to expressly recite any sub-range subsumed within the ranges expressly recited herein. All such ranges are inherently described in this specification such that amending to expressly recite any such sub-ranges would comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112 and 35 U.S.C. §132(a).
The grammatical articles “a”, “an”, and “the”, as used herein, are intended to include “at least one” or “one or more”, unless otherwise indicated, even if “at least one” or “one or more” is used in certain instances. By way of example, and without limitation, “a component” means one or more components, and thus, possibly, more than one component is contemplated and may be employed or used in an implementation of the described embodiments. Further, the use of a singular noun includes the plural, and the use of a plural noun includes the singular, unless the context of the usage requires otherwise.
Equivalent weights and molecular weights given herein in Daltons (Da) are number average equivalent weights and number average molecular weights respectively, unless indicated otherwise.
The present invention requires (1) a mixture comprising:
(a) a compound selected from the group consisting of dialkyl carbonates, diaryl carbonates, alkylaryl carbonates, polycarbonates and mixtures thereof, with said compound having a molecular weight of from 90 to 6000;
and
(b) one or more hydroxyl group containing compounds selected from the group consisting of (i) alcohols containing from 1 to 25 carbon atoms, (ii) polyols having a functionality of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000, and (iii) mixtures thereof.
It is to be understood that the amount of (a) and (b) in the mixture (1) can vary at any ratio, but the preferred is for (b) to range from 0.1 mole % to 200 mole %, based on the moles of carbonate in compound (a).
In accordance with the present invention, suitable compounds to be used as (1)(a) are selected from the group consisting of dialkyl carbonates, diaryl carbonates, alkylaryl carbonates, polycarbonates, and mixtures thereof, in which the compounds have molecular weights of from 90 to 6000.
These compounds (1)(a) typically have a molecular weight of at least 90, preferably at least 104, and more preferably at least 118. These compounds also typically have a molecular weight of less than or equal to 6000, preferably less than or equal to 5000, and more preferably less than or equal to 4000. These compounds may have a molecular weight ranging between any combination of these upper and lower values, inclusive, e.g., from 90 to 6000, preferably from 104 to 5000, and more preferably from 118 to 4000. Suitable dialkyl carbonates for component (1)(a) include, for example, compounds such as dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dipropyl carbonate, dibutyl carbonate, dihexyl carbonate, dioctyl carbonate, methyl ethyl carbonate, methyl propyl carbonate, etc. Preferred dialkyl carbonates are diethyl carbonate, and dimethyl carbonate.
Suitable aryl carbonates for component (1)(a) of the invention included diphenyl carbonate, ditolyl carbonate, etc. Preferred aryl carbonates are diphenyl carbonate.
Examples of suitable alkylpolycarbonates and aryl polycarbonates for component (1)(a) include compounds such as a polycarbonate based on aliphatic diols such as ethanediol, propanediol, butanediol, hexanediol, decane diol, bisphenol A, dihydroxybenzene, etc. Suitable aliphatic polycarbonate diols have molecular weights of 1000 to 4000. These polycarbonates may contain hydroxyl groups, but it is not necessary that they contain hydroxyl groups.
Cyclic carbonates are outside the scope of suitable carbonate compounds for the present invention.
Component (1)(b) of the mixture comprises one or more hydroxyl group containing compounds selected from the group consisting of (i) alcohols containing from 1 to 25 carbon atoms, (ii) polyols having a functionality of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000, and (iii) mixtures thereof. Suitable hydroxyl group containing compounds can be aliphatic hydroxyl group containing compounds, aromatic hydroxyl group containing compounds and/or cycloaliphatic hydroxyl group containing compounds.
Examples of suitable alcohols to be used as component (1)(b)(i) include methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, pentanol, hexanol, heptanol, benzyl alcohol, octanol, phenol, etc.; and compounds such as Neodol® 25 which is a blend of C 12 , C 13 , C 14 and C 15 high purity primary alcohols commercially available from Shell Chemical, Neodol® 91 which is a blend of C 9 , C 10 and C 11 high purity primary alcohols commercially available from Shell Chemical, and Neodol® 23 which is a blend of C 12 and C 13 high purity primary alcohols commercially available from Shell Chemical, etc. Preferred alcohols include, for example, are C 9 -C 15 alcohols such as Neodol 21, Neodol 25, and Neodol 91.
Suitable polyols for component (1)(b)(ii) include compounds which have functionalities of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000. In one embodiment, these polyols have functionalities of from 2 to 4 and a molecular weight in the range of from 62 to 1000. Some examples of suitable compounds include, for example, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, 1,3 propanediol, 1,4 butanediol, 1,2 butanediol, 1,3 butanediol, 2,3 butanediol, 1,6 hexanediol, glycerin, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, pentaerythritol, α-methylglucoside, sorbitol, mannitol, hydroxymethylglucoside, hydroxypropylglucoside, sucrose, 1,4-cyclohexanediol, cyclohexanedimethanol, hydroquinone, resorcinol, 2.2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane, and the like. Mixtures of monomeric initiators or their oxyalkylated oligomers may also be utilized. In one embodiment, polyols are the oxyalkylated oligomers of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerin or trimethylolpropane. In one embodiment, polyols for component (1)(b)(ii) include triethylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, etc.
Suitable alkylene oxides for component (2) of the presently claimed process include ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, butylene oxide, styrene oxide, epichlorohydrin, etc. and mixtures thereof. Mixtures of alkylene oxides may also be used herein. Preferred alkylene oxides for the invention include ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide.
In an embodiment of the invention, the resultant polyether carbonates have a minimum of greater than 9 mole % of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group, based on 100 mole % of polyether carbonate. The amount of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group can also be at least about 14 mole %, based on 100 mole % of the polyether carbonate. It is also possible for the amount of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group to be less than or equal to 80 mole %, based on 100 mole % of the polyether carbonate. Thus, the amount of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group in the resultant polyether carbonates can range from 9 to 100 mole %, or it can range from 14 to 80 mole % (based on 100 mole % of the polyether carbonate).
The resultant polyether carbonates are characterized by a number average molecular weight of at least about 134.
The mixture of catalysts (3) comprises (a) at least one DMC catalyst and (b) at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst.
Suitable double metal cyanide (DMC) catalysts (3)(a) include both crystalline catalysts and non-crystalline (i.e. substantially amorphous) catalysts. Crystalline DMC catalysts are known and described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,833 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,533, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.
It is preferred that the DMC catalysts exhibit a substantially non-crystalline character (substantially amorphous) such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,908 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,513, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. These catalysts show significant improvements over the previously studied catalysts because the amounts of by-product cyclic carbonates are low. Thus, there is a clear advantage to using substantially non-crystalline DMC catalysts for the production of these polycarbonates, because of the lower amounts of propylene carbonate produced than the catalysts and processes in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,500,704 and 4,826,953.
The catalysts disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,908 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,513 differ from other DMC catalysts because these catalysts exhibit a substantially non-crystalline morphology. In addition, these catalysts are based on a combination of ligands, such as t-butyl alcohol and a polydentate ligand (polypropylene oxide polyol).
Examples of double metal cyanide compounds that can be used in the invention include, for example, zinc hexacyanocobaltate(III), zinc hexacyanoferrate(III), nickel hexacyanoferrate(II), cobalt hexacyano-cobaltate(III), and the like. Further examples of suitable double metal cyanide complexes are listed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,922, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. Zinc hexacyanocobaltate(III) is preferred.
The solid DMC catalysts of the invention include an organic complexing agent. Generally, the complexing agent must be relatively soluble in water. Suitable complexing agents are those commonly known in the art, as taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,922. The complexing agent is added either during preparation or immediately following precipitation of the catalyst. Usually, an excess amount of the complexing agent is used. Preferred complexing agents are water-soluble heteroatom-containing organic compounds that can complex with the double metal cyanide compound. Suitable complexing agents include, but are not limited to, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, esters, amides, ureas, nitriles, sulfides, and mixtures thereof. Preferred complexing agents are water-soluble aliphatic alcohols selected from the group consisting of ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, sec-butyl alcohol, and tert-butyl alcohol. Tert-butyl alcohol is particularly preferred.
The solid DMC catalysts of the invention include from about 5 to about 80 wt. %, based on amount of catalyst, of a polyether having a number average molecular weight greater than about 500. Preferred catalysts include from about 10 to about 70 wt. %, based on amount of catalyst, of the polyether; most preferred catalysts include from about 15 to about 60 wt. %, based on amount of catalyst, of the polyether. At least about 5 wt. %, based on amount of catalyst, of the polyether is needed to significantly improve the catalyst activity compared with a catalyst made in the absence of the polyether. Catalysts that contain more than about 80 wt. %, based on amount of catalyst, of the polyether generally are no more active, and they are impractical to isolate and use because they are typically sticky pastes rather than powdery solids.
Suitable polyethers include those produced by ring-opening polymerization of cyclic ethers, and include epoxide polymers, oxetane polymers, tetrahydrofuran polymers, and the like. Any method of catalysis can be used to make the polyethers. The polyethers can have any desired end groups, including, for example, hydroxyl, amine, ester, ether, or the like. Preferred polyethers are polyether polyols having average hydroxyl functionalities from about 2 to about 8 and number average molecular weights within the range of about 1000 to about 10,000, more preferably from about 1000 to about 5000. These are usually made by polymerizing epoxides in the presence of active hydrogen-containing initiators and basic, acidic, or organometallic catalysts (including DMC catalysts). Useful polyether polyols include poly(oxypropylene) polyols, EO-capped poly(oxypropylene) polyols, mixed EO-PO polyols, butylene oxide polymers, butylene oxide copolymers with ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide, polytetramethylene ether glycols, and the like. Polyethylene glycols are generally not useful in the invention. In one embodiment, the poly(oxypropylene) polyols, may be specifically diols and/or triols having number average molecular weights within the range of about 2000 to about 4000.
The catalysts of the invention are characterized by any suitable means. The polyether and organic complexing agent are conveniently identified and quantified, for example, using thermogravimetric and mass spectral analyses. Metals are easily quantified by elemental analysis.
The catalysts of the invention can also be characterized using powder X-ray diffraction. The catalysts exhibit broad lines centered at characteristic d-spacings. For example, a zinc hexacyanocobaltate catalyst made using tert-butyl alcohol and a poly(oxypropylene) diol of about 4000 molecular weight has two broad signals centered at d-spacings of about 5.75 and 4.82 angstroms, and a somewhat narrower signal centered at a d-spacing of about 3.76 angstroms. This diffraction pattern is further characterized by the absence of sharp lines corresponding to highly crystalline zinc hexacyanocobaltate at d-spacings of about 5.07, 3.59, 2.54, and 2.28 angstroms.
The invention includes a method for preparing solid DMC catalysts useful for epoxide polymerization. The method comprises preparing a DMC catalyst in the presence of a polyether having a number average molecular weight greater than about 500, wherein the solid DMC catalyst contains from about 5 to about 80 wt. % of the polyether.
The DMC catalyst concentration in the inventive process is chosen to ensure a good control of the polyoxyalkylation reaction under the given reaction conditions. The catalyst concentration is at least 0.001 wt. % or higher, at least about 0.0024 wt. % or higher, or at least about 0.0025 wt. % or higher. The catalyst concentration is also typically less than or equal to about 0.2 wt. %, or less than or equal to about 0.1 wt. %, or less than or equal to about 0.06 wt. %. Thus, the catalyst concentration may range from about 0.001 wt. % to about 0.2 wt. %, or in the range from about 0.0024 wt. % to about 0.1 wt. %, or in the range of from about 0.0025 to about 0.06 wt. %, based on the weight of the polyol produced. The substantially non-crystalline DMC catalyst may be present in an amount ranging between any combination of these values, inclusive of the recited values.
Suitable non-alkaline transesterification catalysts (3)(b) include catalysts such as, for example, acetic acid, phosphoric acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid, tetrabutyl titanate, tetra-2-ethylhexyltitanate, stannous octoate, bis(dibutylchlorotin)oxide, etc. Mixtures of these catalysts can also be used. Preferred non-alkaline tranesterification catalyst for the invention are tetra-2-ethylhexyltitanate and tetrabutyl titanate.
In accordance with the present invention, the necessary starting materials and DMC catalyst are charged to the reactor and stripped for about 30 minutes at ambient temperature at 100° C. to 130° C. with a nitrogen sparge. Vacuum is optional but may be used if desired. The reactor contents are heated to a temperature of about 100° C. to 130° C. and alkylene oxide is added to initiate the catalyst. After initiation of the DMC catalyst, the transesterification catalyst is added and the remaining alkylene oxide is fed to the reactor at temperatures in the range of 130° C. to 240° C. Any residual alkylene oxide is digested after completion of the oxide feed for approximately 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Vacuum stripping is optional, but is typically for 20 to 30 minutes if done.
As will be appreciated by the foregoing description, the present invention is directed, in certain embodiments, to a process for preparing polyether carbonates that comprises simultaneously (A) transcarbonating and (B) alkoxylating ( 1 ) a mixture comprising (a) a compound selected from the group consisting of dialkyl carbonates, diaryl carbonates, alkylaryl carbonates, polycarbonates and mixtures thereof, wherein the compound has a molecular weight of from 90 to 6000, and (b) one or more hydroxyl group containing compounds selected from the group consisting of (i) alcohols which contain from 1 to 25 carbon atoms, (ii) polyols having a functionality of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000, and (iii) mixtures thereof; with (2) at least one alkylene oxide; in the presence of (3) a mixture of catalysts comprising (a) at least one DMC catalyst and (b) at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous paragraph, wherein (1)(a) the compound has a molecular weight of from 104 to 5000.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous two paragraphs, wherein (1)(a) said compound is a selected from the group consisting of diethyl carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diphenyl carbonate, an aliphatic polycarbonate diol having a molecular weight of 1000 to 4000 and mixtures thereof.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous three paragraphs, wherein (1)(b) said hydroxyl group containing compound is selected from the group consisting of (i) an alcohol comprising a blend of C 12 -C 15 high purity primary alcohols, a blend of C 9 -C 11 high purity primary alcohols, a blend of C 12 -C 13 high purity primary alcohols, and mixtures thereof; and (ii) a polyol having a functionality of 2 to 4 and a molecular weight of 62 to 1000.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous four paragraphs, wherein (2) said alkylene oxide comprise ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, or mixtures thereof.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous five paragraphs, wherein the resultant polyether carbonates have greater than 9 mole % of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous six paragraphs, wherein the resultant polyether carbonates have from 14 to 80 mole % of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the process of preparing polyether carbonates of the previous seven paragraphs, wherein (3)(a) said at least one DMC catalyst comprises a substantially non-crystalline DMC catalyst, and (3)(b) said at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst is one or more of tetra-2-ethylhexyltitanate and tetrabutyl titanate.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to polyether carbonates that comprise the reaction product of (1) a mixture comprising (a) a compound having a molecular weight of 90 to 6000 and which is selected from the group consisting of dialkyl carbonates, diaryl carbonates, alkylaryl carbonates, polycarbonates and mixtures thereof, and (b) one or more hydroxyl group containing compounds selected from the group consisting of (i) alcohols which contain from 1 to 25 carbon atoms, (ii) polyols having a functionality of 2 to 6 and a number average molecular weight of less than 3000, and (iii) mixtures thereof; with (2) at least one alkylene oxide; in the presence of (3) a mixture of catalysts comprising (a) at least one DMC catalyst and (b) at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst; wherein the reaction comprises simultaneous transcarbonation and alkoxylation.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous paragraph, wherein (1)(a) the compound has a molecular weight of from 104 to 5000.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous two paragraphs, wherein (1)(a) said compound is a selected from the group consisting of diethyl carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diphenyl carbonate, an aliphatic polycarbonate diol having a molecular weight of 1000 to 4000 and mixtures thereof.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous three paragraphs, wherein (1)(b) said hydroxyl group containing compound is selected from the group consisting of (i) an alcohol comprising a blend of C 12 -C 15 high purity primary alcohols, a blend of C 9 -C 11 high purity primary alcohols, a blend of C 12 -C 13 high purity primary alcohols, and mixtures thereof; and (ii) a polyol having a functionality of 2 to 4 and a molecular weight of 62 to 1000.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous four paragraphs, wherein (2) said alkylene oxide comprise ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, or mixtures thereof.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous five paragraphs, wherein the resultant polyether carbonates have greater than 9 mole % of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous six paragraphs, wherein the resultant polyether carbonates have from 14 to 80 mole % of oxide adjacent to the carbonate group.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to the polyether carbonates of the previous seven paragraphs, wherein (3)(a) said at least one DMC catalyst comprises a substantially non-crystalline DMC catalyst, and (3)(b) said at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst is one or more of tetra-2-ethylhexyltitanate and tetrabutyl titanate.
The following examples further illustrate details for the process of this invention. The invention, which is set forth in the foregoing disclosure, is not to be limited either in spirit or scope by these examples. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that known variations of the conditions of the following procedures can be used. Unless otherwise noted, all temperatures are degrees Celsius and all parts and percentages are parts by weight and percentages by weight, respectively.
EXAMPLES
The following materials were used in the examples.
Carbonate A: diethylcarbonate Carbonate B: a 2000 molecular weight aliphatic polycarbonate diol with a hydroxyl number of about 56 and a viscosity of 2,300 mPa·s at 75° C., commercially available as Desmophen C2200 from Covestro LLC Alcohol A: a blend of C 12 -C 15 high purity primary alcohols, commercially available from Shell Chemical as Neodol® 25 Catalyst A: an amorphous double metal cyanide (DMC) catalyst, similar to Example 2 and Example 3 as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,908 Catalyst B: tetra-2-ethylhexyltitanate, commercially available as Tyzor TOT® from Dorf Ketal Specialty
Example 1
Carbonate A (132 g), Alcohol A (12 g) and 51 mg Catalyst A were added to a 1.5 L stainless steel reactor vessel. The contents were vacuum degassed (20 mmHg) at ambient temperature and then the reactor was closed. The contents were heated to 130° C. and 15 g propylene oxide (PO) was added to activate Catalyst A. After digesting PO to a constant reactor pressure, 5 g of a Catalyst B solution (0.5 wt % dissolved in Carbonate A) was added to the reactor. The reactor temperature was increased to 150° C. and 856 g PO was fed over a 4 hour period. After completion of the PO addition, the reactor contents were heated at 150° C. for 1 hour, cooled and then removed from the reactor. GPC analysis showed complete conversion of Carbonate A, and the NMR analysis was consistent with a product having propylene oxide units inserted into carbonate linkages.
Example 2
Carbonate B (200 g), Alcohol A (25 g) and 20 mg Catalyst A were added to a 1.5 L stainless steel reactor vessel. The contents were nitrogen sparged at 130° C. at ambient pressure for 20 minutes and then the reactor was closed. The contents were maintained at 130° C. and 20 g PO were added to activate Catalyst A. After digesting PO to a constant reactor pressure, 20 g of a Catalyst B solution (10 wt % dissolved in Carbonate B) was added to the reactor. The reactor temperature was increased to 160° C. and 180 g PO were fed over a 3 hour period. After completion of the PO addition, the reactor contents were heated at 160° C. for 0.5 hour, and then vacuum stripped for 20 minutes. GPC analysis showed complete conversion of Carbonate A with a polydispersity of 1.86, and the NMR analysis was consistent with a product having propylene oxide units inserted into carbonate linkages.
Table 1 illustrates the benefit of a dual catalyst system in accordance with the present invention. The general procedure as described set forth above in Example 1 was followed except that in Example 3, only Catalyst A was used, and in Example 4, only Catalyst B was used.
TABLE 1
PO Adjacent to
Example
Catalyst
Polydispersity
Carbonate, %*
3
B
1.64
2
4
A
1.22
9
1
A + B
1.16
14
*as determined by NMR analysis | This invention relates to a process for preparation of polyether alkoxylated carbonates. These products may also be referred to as polyether polycarbonates. This process simultaneously transcarbonates and alkoxylates a mixture of one or more carbonate compounds, and one more hydroxyl group containing compounds, with at least one alkylene oxide in the presence of a mixture of catalysts. The catalyst mixture contains at least one DMC catalyst and at least one non-alkaline transesterification catalyst. This invention also relates to novel polyether polycarbonates, a process for preparing polyurethane foams from these novel polyether polycarbonates and to foams comprising these novel polyether polycarbonates. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to an indexer for magazine shelves of a magazine and wafer-shaped objects contained therein, in particular semiconductor wafers and templates or masks, the magazine and a first handling plane for removing and charging being adjustable vertically relative to one another for the processing of such wafer-shaped objects, with an optoelectronic sensor arrangement for detecting the objects and magazine shelves relative to a reference plane which is in a fixed relationship to the first handling plane Such technical solutions are applicable in the manufacture of integrated circuits, in particular for handling tasks, and are known, e.g., from DE 43 06 957 C1.
b) Description of the Related Art
In the manufacture of integrated circuits, wafer-shaped objects such as semiconductor wafers and masks must be transported between different processing stages to individual processing machines. In increasing measure, such transporting takes place in standardized transport containers, referred to as standard mechanical interface boxes (SMIF boxes), the magazine within whose shelves the wafer-shaped objects are located being fastened in a suitable manner to the base of these transport containers. For the purpose of charging the processing machines, the magazines are unloaded from the transport containers by suitable devices and the wafer-shaped objects are removed by a removing and charging mechanism. After processing, the wafer-shaped objects are returned to the shelves of the magazine and the magazine is returned to the transport container.
A disadvantage in the possible use of impact pressure sensors or reflex couplers which act on the rear side of the wafer-shaped objects to detect the latter consists in that the magazine must be handled in a determined sequence. In so doing, the objects may not be removed from the magazine in an arbitrary manner. Rather the charging magazine must be emptied from the bottom up and the dispensing magazine must be filled from the top down because of the required sensor arrangement and the removing and charging of semiconductor wafers associated therewith. Consequently, the allocation of the object to a determined level is not adhered to. Such technical solutions cannot be applied for the conventional removal of random samples for inspection purposes or for use in the above-mentioned transport containers.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,486 to determine the presence of wafer-shaped objects in a carrier (magazine) and their position relative to a reference plane in the carrier by means of a monitoring device in that a first signal indicating the presence of such an object is combined with a position signal for the object. The first signal is obtained by an optoelectronic sensor which monitors the space in which the objects can be found. The second signal is formed via a position encoder coupled with a drive for moving the carrier up and down To determine the reference plane and possible resting place of the objects, the space in the carrier is divided vertically into segments In addition to a segment serving as a reference plane and segments without wafer-shaped objects, window segments in which objects may be present are defined. An indexing of the carrier is effected in that, after the reference plane in the carrier is detected by measuring techniques, the locations of the window segments are determined and stored by computer based on construction data of the respective carrier being used.
Although the quantity of objects and the locations in which they are deposited relative to a reference plane with in the carrier can be determined by means of the described solution, the carrier or the removing and charging mechanism must be positioned in the grid dimension of the shelves of the carrier in order to remove the objects from the carrier. If divergent carrier geometries and tolerances are not allowed for in so doing, errors cannot be ruled out. Problems arise in particular when an empty carrier is to be charged optionally.
Further, it is possible to monitor the correct position of the object in the carrier by means of an additional optoelectronic sensor when the carrier is being transported upward in the vertical direction. This is done in order to prevent damage to objects protruding from the carrier when returning the latter to the transport containers. If it is detected that an object is protruding from the carrier due to defective or incorrect operation of the handling system, the transport of the magazine is halted and manual intervention on the part of the operator is required to eliminate the error. While the detection of protruding or projecting objects has practical importance, the required manual intervention causes unnecessary delays in continued processing by interfering with the clean room conditions and, in some cases, the climatic conditions of the processing machines within the machine enclosure. This can result in failure of the machine.
The solution described in DE 43 06 957 C1 meets all of the demands mentioned above in that the position of the wafer-shaped objects as well as the position of the magazine shelves relative to a reference plane are detected by means of a bundle of measurement rays emitted by an optoelectronic sensor formed of a transmitter and receiver The reference plane is in a fixed constructional relationship with a handling plane for removing and charging. The magazine is adjustable vertically in a measurable manner relative to a handling plane for removing and charging by means of a magazine receiving device via a magazine elevator.
A disadvantage consists in that magazines must be restricted to those in which two opposite sides are freely accessible. This indexing arrangement is not applicable in magazines which are only open at the side serving for removing and charging. Another disadvantage consists in that it is not possible to differentiate directly between different magazine sizes or formats.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the problem arises of ensuring accurate access in any desired and predeterminable magazine plane, also for magazines which are provided with an opening on only one removing and charging side, by means of an all-purpose indexing, wherein it is possible to differentiate between various standardized magazine and wafer formats. A primary object of the present invention is to overcome this stated problem.
This object is met, according to the invention, by an indexer for magazine shelves of a magazine and wafer-shaped objects contained therein, in particular semiconductor wafers and masks, the magazine and a first handling plane for removing and charging being adjustable vertically relative to one another for the processing of such wafer-shaped objects, with an optoelectronic sensor arrangement for detecting the objects and magazine shelves relative to a reference plane which is in a fixed relationship to the first handling plane, in that at least a part of the optoelectronic sensor arrangement is designed as a distance measuring system.
If the wafer-shaped objects are opaque frontwise from one edge to the other, the entire sensor arrangement can be designed as a distance measuring system which detects radiation scattered at the edges of the objects and magazine shelves.
In this case, the distance measuring system contains a transmitter and a receiver arranged at an open side of the magazine so that a bundle of measurement rays proceeding from the transmitter with its center ray lying in the reference plane detects successively the wafer-shaped objects and shelf-forming projections for the objects by means of the vertical adjustment of the magazine relative to the reference plane, the objects and the projections being distinguishable from one another because of the different distances relative to the transmitter
As a result of the vertical adjustment, an image of the magazine shelves and of the wafer-shaped objects contained therein is generated by an amplitude modulation of the output signal. This is brought about by the change in the distance between the transmitter and the reflecting item in the reference plane vertical to the direction of movement. The received signal, whose value depends on the distance between the transmitter and the point of incidence, is converted into an analog signal by means of an electronic amplifier.
The sensor system, whose bundle of measurement rays lies in a horizontal plane, determines the vertical position and, by determining the coordinates in the horizontal plane, ascertains whether the item in question is a magazine shelf for a wafer-shaped object or the object itself.
In the case of wafer-shaped objects which are transparent frontwise from one edge to the other, the light scattered in the backward direction can only be measured under certain conditions.
Therefore, the optoelectronic sensor arrangement advantageously comprises a distance measuring system, which is arranged at an open side of the magazine in the reference plane and contains a transmitter and a receiver, and an additional receiver which is arranged at the opposite open side of the magazine. A bundle of measurement rays proceeding from the transmitter is directed on the objects and projections so as to be inclined in the reference plane relative to the vertical incident radiation.
Whereas the distance measuring system serves to detect shelf-forming projections, a parallel-plate effect brought about by the presence of an object can be utilized for detecting the object owing to the arrangement of an additional receiver. The additional receiver can be placed either at the location struck by the bundle of measurement rays if no object is located in the magazine shelf or at the location struck by the measurement ray bundle which is offset owing to the presence of an object.
A sensor arrangement formed of a distance measurement system which contains a transmitter and a receiver arranged at an open side of the magazine, an additional transmitter on the same side, and an additional receiver arranged at the opposite open side of the magazine is also suitable for objects which are transparent frontwise from one edge to the other.
In this sensor arrangement, a bundle of measurement rays proceeding from the additional transmitter is directed only on the object so as to be inclined in the reference plane relative to the vertical incident radiation. The distance measuring system serves to detect shelf-forming projections. The additional receiver is used in the manner described above
The receiver and transmitter of the distance measuring system are advantageously combined in a structural unit.
By means of the technical solution according to the invention, the actually occurring ratios in a magazine to be indexed are determined in that the magazine shelves and the wafer-shaped objects contained therein are detected with measuring techniques. Accordingly, the objects may be removed and restored optionally so at to enable any type of re-sorting or rearrangement between magazines with different shelf spacing as well as with respect to a reference plane within the magazine. Empty magazines can also be filled as desired. The technical solution also allows the use of magazines or magazine-like containers which are closed on all sides but that side having the charging and removing opening.
Given a suitable design of the magazine, which is often ensured at the present time owing to the global standard, different magazine formats can be determined by means of the value of the analog signal alone. The position of the wafer-shaped object can also be valuated in every plane parallel to the reference plane using the value of the analog signal determined by the distance and this valuation can be used to distinguish between wafer sizes or to monitor the correctly positioned depositing of the wafer-shaped object following a handling process or prior to the start of the handling process.
If depositing is not effected in the proper location, a returning device is advantageously provided in a second handling plane parallel to the first handling plane for positioning wafer-shaped objects protruding from the magazine. The actuation of the wafer returning device is contingent upon the value of the sensor signal of the distance measuring system in the case of wafer-shaped objects which are opaque frontwise from one edge to the other. In the case of transparency, another sensor system can be used for detecting objects protruding from the magazine. Triggered by the sensor signal, the wafer returning device guides the object back into the magazine shelf without external intervention. Further transport of the magazine in the transport containers is ensured and damage to protruding objects is prevented without manual intervention.
The invention will be explained more fully in the following with reference to the schematic drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 shows part of a handling device partially in section;
FIG. 2 shows a sensor arrangement for a wafer magazine;
FIG. 3 shows a first sensor arrangement for a mask magazine;
FIG. 4 shows a second sensor arrangement for a 5″-mask magazine in a section through a magazine in the plane of a magazine shelf with a mask below shelf-forming projections;
FIG. 5 shows a third sensor arrangement for a 6″-mask magazine in a section through a magazine in the plane of a magazine shelf with a mask below shelf-forming projections;
FIG. 6 shows a wall section from a magazine for objects of a first, smaller format;
FIG. 7 shows a wall section from a magazine for objects of a second, larger format;
FIG. 8 shows the wall portions in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b projected one on top of the other together with associated optoelectronic scan images; and
FIG. 9 shows a top view of the magazine of a wafer returning device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A device for handling wafer-shaped objects, only part of which is shown in FIG. 1, contains in its interior a magazine seat 2 which can be raised and lowered in the z direction (vertically to the supporting surface of the handling device) via a spindle drive 1 . The spindle 1 is driven by a stepper motor 3 which is outfitted with an angle measuring system 4 so that the distance traversed when raising or lowering can be determined via the pitch of the spindle.
Together with a control computer 25 , not shown, the stepper motor 3 along with its control electronics and the angle measuring system 4 form a position regulator of a magazine elevator, the spindle 1 and magazine seat 2 also making up a part of the latter.
A removing and charging device 5 has a handling arm 6 working in a handling plane H—H and is fastened to a shared frame 9 as are the magazine elevator and an optoelectronic sensor containing a transmitter 7 (visible in FIG. 2) and a receiver 8 in a housing. A bundle 10 of measurement rays proceeding from the transmitter 7 extends with its center ray in a reference plane E—E for indexing magazine shelves located in a magazine 11 and wafer-shaped objects 12 contained therein. The distance between plane E—E and the handling plane H—H is selectable within the operating range of the spindle drive 1 .
In FIG. 2, the transmitter 7 and the receiver 8 are arranged adjacent to one another. The measurement ray bundle 10 is directed on shelf-forming projections 13 at walls 14 and 15 and on the front edge of inserted semiconductor wafers 16 as wafer-shaped objects. By means of diffuse reflection of the ray bundle 10 either at one of the projections 13 or at the front edge of an inserted semiconductor wafer 16 , analog signals corresponding to the distances are generated. The values of the analog signals differ from one another such that the projections 13 can be clearly distinguished from semiconductor wafers 16 . The oblique irradiation of the magazine 11 shown in the drawing was chosen in order to create favorable conditions for diffuse reflection.
In the mask magazine shown in FIG. 3, a measurement ray bundle 17 proceeding from a transmitter 18 is directed parallel to walls 19 , 20 onto shelf-forming projections 21 and, if required, simultaneously on masks 22 located in the shelves. The masks lie on supports 23 of the shelves 21 and are prevented from slipping by means of lateral stops 24 .
Owing to the different distance between the transmitter 18 and projection 21 on the one hand and the transmitter 18 and mask 22 on the other hand, analog signals of different values are also obtained at a receiver 25 in a mask magazine. The projection 21 and the mask 22 can be distinguished on the basis of the value of the analog signal.
If the objects to be detected are transparent frontwise from one edge to the other (masks with transparent lateral faces), it is advisable, in accordance with FIGS. 4 and 5 to direct the measurement ray bundle 17 and 29 , respectively, on the mask 22 and the projection 21 in the reference plane so as to be inclined at an acute angle relative to the vertical incident radiation.
The construction according to FIG. 4 provides another receiver 26 at the opposite open side of the magazine which measures in a spatially-sensitive manner. Due to a plane-plate effect, the measurement ray bundle 17 exits so as to be offset relative to its entrance into the mask 22 , depending on the index of refraction, when a mask 22 is located in a magazine shelf.
In the more favorable variant in technical aspects regarding the arrangement, the additional receiver 26 is arranged at the location struck by the measurement ray bundle when there is no mask 22 located in the magazine shelf. If a mask 22 is located in the magazine shelf, the receiver 26 does not receive any signal. Conversely, the additional receiver can naturally also be provided at the location of incidence of the offset measurement ray bundle.
In FIG. 5, an additional transmitter 27 and an additional receiver 28 are provided with a measurement ray bundle 29 which is inclined relative to the vertical incident radiation. The manner of operation corresponds in an analogous manner to that of the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 . In both cases, the distance measuring system serves to detect the shelf-forming projections 21 and the additional receiver 26 and 28 , respectively, serves to detect the mask 22 .
The distances between the magazine shelves and the mask magazines are subject only to slight tolerances due to their process of manufacture. This fact along with the fact that standardized magazines are frequently employed in a device in semiconductor manufacturing offers the possibility of determining the position of the magazine shelves indirectly and accordingly also distinguishing the magazine format for an empty magazine.
FIGS. 6 to 8 serve to illustrate the procedure for determining the different magazine format. FIG. 6 shows a 5″-magazine and FIG. 7 shows a 6″-magazine. The reference numbers correspond to those of FIG. 3 . In FIG. 8, the two magazines are projected on top of one another corresponding to their positions in a processing device.
With a stationary sensor arrangement corresponding to FIG. 3, the measurement ray bundle 17 scans the webs 30 in the 5″-mask magazine shown in solid lines due to the vertical movement of the projections 21 and scans the supports 23 in the 6″-mask magazine shown in dashed lines. The location of support in the 5″-mask magazine can be determined based on the fixed geometric relationship between the support and projection. Typical signal waveforms occurring during scanning are designated by 31 for the 5″-mask magazine and by 32 for the 6″-mask magazine.
Scanning is effected by the measurement ray bundle 17 as a result of the vertical movement of the magazine, wherein the analog value of the sensor signal and the associated value of the vertical position which is determined via the position regulator of the magazine elevator are stored. Threshold values sw1 and sw2 can be set for the analog signal in order to reduce data.
The magazine shelves and masks can be exactly positioned with respect to the handling plane H—H by means of a selectable correction value corresponding to the distance between the web 30 and the support 23 and the linking of the stored vertical position values with the threshold values.
As will be clear from FIG. 9 with reference to a semiconductor magazine, the use of a distance measuring system is also suitable for testing the correctness of the position of wafer-shaped objects which are opaque frontwise from one edge to the other by means of the value of the analog signal determined by the distance in every plane parallel to the reference plane.
If the wafer-shaped objects have not been deposited correctly, a returning device 33 in a second handling plane parallel to the first handling plane E—E serves to push the protruding semiconductor wafers 16 back into the magazine. Accordingly, transport of the magazine 11 can proceed without interference and without manual intervention.
The returning device 33 is formed of a linkage mechanism or lever mechanism 34 which is driven by an electric motor and executes a swiveling movement of 90° during a revolution of its drive (not shown). The reversal point of the lever of the mechanism 22 is so arranged that it pushes the semiconductor wafer 16 into the magazine 11 and then returns to an initial position which is monitored by a limit switch.
When the object is transparent from one edge to the other, another sensor shown in dashed lines can be used, this sensor having a transmitter 35 and a receiver 36 , and its sensor signal determines the actuation of the returning device 33 . A returning device can be used in an analogous manner in mask magazines.
The stepper motor 3 , angle measuring system 4 , transmitters 7 , 18 , 27 and 35 , receivers 8 , 25 , 26 and 36 , another sensor 37 which is rigidly connected with the frame 9 , the lever mechanism 33 , and the limit switch are connected with a control computer for carrying out the invention. Analog-to-digital converters are connected between the sensors and the control computer.
After the magazine seat 2 is positioned relative to the additional sensor 37 , which is at a known distance relative to the handling plane H—H and reference plane E—E, and after the counter of the angle measuring system is reset to zero, the magazine 11 is automatically removed by its base from a dust-proof transport container, not shown, and is taken over by the magazine seat 2 for indexing the magazine shelves and the wafer-shaped objects 12 , 22 located therein. The magazine seat 2 is then lowered, i.e., moved in the negative z direction, until exceeding a threshold value sw2 of threshold values sw1 and sw2 which are advantageously determined for the purpose of data reduction. The distance of the base of the magazine 11 from the reference plane E—E is thus detected.
As the magazine 11 moves through the measurement plane E—E in the direction of its shelves, which are located one above the other, an amplitude-modulated sensor output signal is obtained at the receivers 8 , 25 , 26 and 28 as a function of the path, this sensor output signal representing the imaging of the magazine shelves and objects 12 , 22 or the image is generated from this sensor output signal by taking into account the fixed geometrical relationships. By means of the control computer, the sensor output signal, after being converted from analog to digital, is combined with the measurement signal of the angle measuring system 4 and stored.
In order to remove an object 12 , 22 from the magazine 11 or wafer magazine or to place it in an empty magazine shelf, a value for the distance between the measurement plane E—E and the first handling plane H—H is added to the determined counter reading and the magazine 11 or wafer magazine is moved into the corresponding z position by means of the magazine lift.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. | An indexer for magazine shelves of a magazine and wafer-shaped objects contained therein has the object of ensuring accurate access in any desired and predeterminable magazine plane, also for magazines which are provided with an opening on only one removing and charging side, by means of an all-purpose indexing, wherein it is possible to differentiate between various standardized magazine and wafer formats. The magazine shelves and the wafer-shaped objects are detected by an optoelectronic sensor arrangement, at least a portion of which is designed as a distance measuring system. The indexer is applicable in the manufacture of integrated circuits, in particular, for handling wafer-shaped objects in the form of semiconductors and masks. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cranes, and, more particularly, to heavy duty cranes for lifting heavy loads.
A conventional crane has a lower works, and an upper works which is mounted, through a turntable bearing, for rotation on the lower works. A boom is pivotally connected to one end of the upper works, and a counterweight is secured to the other end of the upper works. In this type of crane, the weight of the load, and the weight of the counterweight, must be transmitted to the lower works (and the ground) through the turntable bearing. Consequently, the load which can be lifted by the crane is limited to a load which can be supported by the upper works without damage to the turntable bearing, and/or without exceeding a safe margin on overturning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many efforts have been made in the past to transfer the load carried by the boom, and/or the weight of the counterweight, around (instead of through) the turntable bearing.
The United States patent to Holt No. 1,159,841 shows an upper works (or swing frame) rotatably mounted on a lower works (or main frame). A boom is mounted at one end of the upper works, and a heavy prime mover (which acts to counterbalance the load) is mounted at the other end of the upper works. A pair of slide blocks is mounted under the prime mover, between the upper works and the lower works to partially support the load imposed on the upper works and transfer that load to the lower works.
The United States patent to Scheuerpflug No. 2,910,189 shows an upper works mounted for rotation on a lower works. A boom is pivotally mounted on an intermediate member which, in turn, is pivotally connected to the upper works. The intermediate member rolls on a way on the lower works to transmit the load of the boom directly to the lower works (and around the upper works).
The Netherlands Pat. No. 6,405,689 shows an upper works mounted on a lower works wherein the boom is mounted on a separate wheeled vehicle for transmission of the load directly to the ground.
The United States patent to Beduhn No. 3,485,383 shows a crane with an upper works mounted for rotation on a lower works. An auxiliary support ring mounted on the ground surrounds the lower works, and supports one end of a carrier which is pivotally connected to the upper works. A boom is mounted on the end of the carrier supported by the ring to transfer the load of the boom through the support ring to the ground. The machine has two counterweights, one permanently mounted on the upper works and one slidably mounted on the upper works but supported by the support ring.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
In the machine of the present invention, a counterbalanced auxiliary frame has been provided to transfer the weight of the load and the counterweight to the ground without transmission through the turntable bearing.
In the machine of the present invention, an upper works is rotatably mounted, through a turntable bearing, on a lower works. The upper works, the turntable bearing, and the lower works may be used as a regular duty crane. In addition, however, when large loads must be lifted, a circular support is mounted on the ground to encircle the lower works. The counterbalanced auxiliary frame is mounted on the circular support for rotation thereon in unison with rotation of the upper works. The counterbalancing forces on the auxiliary frame comprise the boom, pivotally connected to one end, and an auxiliary counterweight mounted at the opposite end. The upper works has a counterweight which is used when the crane is operated as a regular duty crane, but when heavier loads are to be lifted, the upper works counterweight may, in one form of the invention, be transferred to the auxiliary frame to assist the auxiliary counterweight in counterbalancing the weight of the load carried by the boom. The full weight of the counterbalanced auxiliary frame (that is, the weight of the auxiliary frame itself, the weight of the boom and the load carried thereby, and the weight of the auxiliary counterweight and/or the upper works counterweight) is transferred directly to the ground without imposing the load on the turntable bearing.
In the mechanism of the present invention, the auxiliary counterweight need not be mounted directly over the circular support, but can instead be positioned in any desired position (relative to the circular support) opposite the boom to create the desired counterbalance for the boom (and the design load to be carried thereby).
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a crane capable of heavy duty lifting in which the load is carried by a counterbalanced auxiliary frame.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a crane in which the force of the load and the gravitational force of the counterweights is transferred through a counterbalanced auxiliary frame directly to the ground and not through the turntable bearing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a crane in which the gravitational force of all counterweights can be transferred from the upper works turntable bearing to a counterbalanced auxiliary frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of parts of the crane of the present invention assembled for use as a regular duty crane, with parts omitted for clarity.
FIG. 2 is another view in perspective of parts of the crane of the present invention for use as a regular duty crane.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the mechanism for shifting the upper works counterweight off and on the upper works.
FIG. 4 is an end view of the mechanism of FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the crane in the heavy duty mode.
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view (with parts omitted for clarity) of the lower works of the machine surrounded by the load supporting ring.
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view (with parts omitted for clarity) similar to FIG. 6 but with the auxiliary frame added.
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view (with parts omitted for clarity) similar to FIG. 7 but with the portions of upper works added.
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view (with parts omitted for clarity) similar to FIG. 8 but with all the counterweights added.
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view (with parts omitted for clarity) similar to FIG. 9 but with the heavy duty boom, live mast and gantry added.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The heavy duty crane of the present invention is made up of an assembly of parts (to be described hereafter), some of which correspond in function to parts of a conventional, regular duty crane. These parts which correspond in function to parts of a regular duty crane may be assembled as a crane for regular duty, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, parts have been omitted for clarity.
The regular duty crane of FIGS. 1 and 2, identified by the numeral 20, includes a lower works 22 with a central base portion 24 and a pair of side frames 26 connected, respectively, to the sides of the base portion. A pair of sprockets 28 and 30 are rotatably mounted at the ends of the side frame to receive an endless track 32.
A bearing 34 is received in the central base portion 24 to support the upper works 36 of the crane for rotation about a vertical axis A with respect to the lower works. The upper works has brackets 38 at the forward end to receive a boom 39 (see FIG. 2), and has a plate 40 at the rear end to receive counterweights 42 and 44. The plate 40 can be moved up against a rear platform 46 of the upper works by a power lift mechanism 48 mounted on platform 46.
The mechanism 48, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, includes a pair of arms 50, pivotally connected to the upper works at 52, to extend over platform 46. A cross bar 54 extends between the ends of arms 50 and receives thereon a bracket 56. A ram 58 is pivotally connected at one end to upper works platform 46 and has a piston rod pivotally connected at the opposite end to bracket 56. Thus, as the ram expands, the arms 50 swing upwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and as the ram contracts, the arms 50 swing downwardly.
A telescopic strut 61 is connected between the outer end of each arm 50 and the upper works platform 46 to support the arms in a selected position. The lower portion 61a of the strut has a series of holes 62 into one of which a pin 63 is received, passing through a hole in the upper portion 61b of the strut, to lock the arms in a predetermined position.
A foldable leg 64 is connected at the upper end to bracket 56 and at the lower end to plate 40. When the arms 50 are in their uppermost position, the plate 40 (on which counterweights 42 and 44 are mounted) is moved up against the underside of upper works platform 46. Links 65, secured at 66 to the plate 40, are pinned at 67 to the platform 46 to lock the plate 40 to the underside of the platform 46. After the counterweight plate is locked to the upper works, the leg 64 can be folded and the arms 50 lowered until the mechanism 48 is required to shift the upper works counterweights off the upper works for heavy duty loads.
The heavy duty crane 69 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5. For illustrative purposes, all parts of the regular duty crane 20 of FIG. 1 will be incorporated in the heavy duty crane of FIG. 5, and these parts will be identified in the drawing figures of the heavy duty crane by prime numerals corresponding to the numerals by which these parts were identified in the regular duty crane. Parts which are used only in the heavy duty crane will be identified by their own numerals, without any prime.
The heavy duty crane is shown in FIGS. 5 to 10. Many of these figures show only portions of the crane, solely for a better understanding of those portions of the crane which would not be clearly visible if the whole crane were shown in every figure. The particular subassemblies shown in each figure were selected only to show clearly the construction of the crane, and it is not intended that these subassemblies illustrate a preferred method of assembling the crane.
A ring 70 (preferably a box section to resist movement), having a flat upper surface 72, surrounds the lower works 22' of the crane as shown in FIG. 6. The ring is supported from the ground by adjustable standards 74 to lie in a generally horizontal plane. The ring 70 is securely connected to the lower works 22' by means of two trusses 76, 78, each of which is connected between the central base portion 24' of the lower works and bosses 80 extending inwardly from the inner surface of the ring. Each end of each truss is connected at each side to the central base portion 24' of the lower works, and a boss 80, by means of an upper and lower clevis 82, 84, in conjunction with an upper and lower ear 86, 88 and horizontal pins 90. Thus, the ring 70 is held securely against rotation or pivoting movement (or horizontal movement) relative to the lower works 22'.
As shown in FIG. 7, a rectangular, auxiliary frame 92, consists of a forward portion 92a, a central portion 92b, and a rear portion 92c. The frame, as a unit, can be considered as having two parallel side members 93a, 93b, a front member 93c and a rear member 93d. The front and rear portions 92a and 92c are secured to central portion 92b as at 94, by intermeshing ears, on the top and bottom of the frame, and a horizontal pin through the ears to hold the portions together without significant pivotal motion, to form an unarticulated frame.
The auxiliary frame 92 has depending rollers 96, aligned tangentially with ring 70, which ride, at four points, on the upper surface 72 of the ring. At the rear of the auxiliary frame, there are two inwardly extending support arms 98a, 98b, and a support pad 98c (see FIG. 8) connected to cross beam 100. The arms 98a, 98b and pad 98c define a support shelf 98, the purpose of which will be described hereinafter. At the front of the auxiliary frame there is a truss 102, connected between the side members of the frame, with a fitting 104 extending inwardly therefrom. The fitting 104, for reasons which will become clear hereinafter, has four spaced fingers 105 to straddle a portion of truss 102 and also the vertical pin 103. The spacing of the fingers is such as to allow a small vertical movement between the fitting 104 and the truss 102.
As shown best in FIG. 8, the upper works 36' is received in the bearing 34' of the central base portion of the lower works 22 for rotation about the axis A'. Conventional power machinery, not shown, is provided to rotate the upper works with respect to the lower works. The auxiliary frame 92, which surrounds the upper works, is connected to the upper works, at the front and rear of the upper works, for rotation with the upper works. The axis A' of rotation of the upper works passes through the center of the ring 70, and the rollers 96 of the frame 92 are equi-spaced from the axis A', so that the auxiliary frame can rotate on the ring 70 through any angle the upper works is rotated. The frame 92 is connected to the forward end of the upper works through fitting 104, which has extending arms 104a, 104b received between ears 106 for pinning as at 108. The ears 106 are spaced apart sufficiently to allow a small amount of free vertical movement between the fitting 104 and the upper works. The rear end of the upper works 36' is connected to frame 92 by means of plate 110 which is received between the horizontally aligned ears 111 on these members and pinned as at 112. Again, the ears 111 are spaced apart sufficiently to allow a small free vertical movement between the plate 110 and the members to which it is connected. Thus, the upper works 36', and the auxiliary frame 92, rotate about axis A' in unison. Although the fitting 104 and plate 110 serve to connect the upper works 36' to the auxiliary frame 92 for the transmission of torque from the former to the latter without any play in a lateral direction between these members, there is sufficient vertical play at the connection of the fitting 104 and the plate 110 to these members to allow some small free vertical movement between the frame 92 and the upper works 36'.
Although the amount of vertical relative movement between the auxiliary frame 92 and the upper works 36' is small, it is important because it allows all the weight of the frame, and all the weight carried by the frame, to be transmitted directly to the ring 70 (and thence to the ground) without imposing any load on the upper works 36' or the bearing 34'.
As shown best in FIG. 9, four auxiliary counterweight units 114 are mounted on the rear portion 92c of the auxiliary frame 92. The upper works counterweights 42' and 44' are mounted on plate 40' (see plate 40 of FIG. 1) which lies between the shelf 98 (defined by arms 98a, 98b and pad 98c) and the connecting plate 110. When the counterweights 42', 44' and plate 40' are used in the heavy duty mode, the plate 40' is lowered by the mechanism 48' from abutment against the underside of shelf 46' (of the upper works) to a position on shelf 98 (FIG. 8) where the entire weight of plate 40' and the counterweights 42', 44' is borne by the auxiliary frame. Thus, when the crane is used in the heavy duty mode, not only do the auxiliary counterweight units 114 lie directly on auxiliary frame 92, but also the regular counterweights 42', 44' and plate 40 as well.
The superstructure and rigging of the crane of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. The crane, when utilized for regular duty, has a boom 39 pivotally connected to brackets 38 at the front end of the upper works. A live mast 132 is pivotally connected to brackets 134 adjacent the brackets 38 on the upper works. A boom stop 136, to limit the rearward movement of the boom, is mounted on the upper works. Boom pendants 138 are secured at one end to the top of the boom 39 and at the other end to the top of the live mast 132. Boom hoist reeving 140 between the top of the live mast and the top of the upper works, when powered by a winch in the upper works, swings the live mast to raise the boom. A hoist, or load, line 146 has one end connected to a winch 148 in the upper works. The line passes over a sheave 150 at the top of the boom to a sheave block 152 having a load hook 154. The line 146 runs around the sheave in a block 152 and is secured to the top of the boom. A housing 142 for the upper works protects the machinery thereon and provides a cab 144 for the operator.
The superstructure and rigging for the crane when in the heavy duty mode is shown in FIGS. 5 and 10. In this mode of operation, a large boom 156 is pivotally connected to ears 158 on the forward end 92a of the auxiliary frame 92. A gantry 39' (which may be the boom 39 of the machine when used in the regular duty mode) is pivotally connected to ears 160 adjacent ears 158 on the frame 92.
The gantry 39' is held tightly against boom stop 162 (which is pivotally connected to the top of the upper works of the crane) by gantry pendants 164 connected between the top of the gantry and the top of the live mast 165, which is anchored to the auxiliary frame by lines 167. Boom hoist reeving 166 extends between the top of the boom 156 and the top of the gantry 39', and includes sheaves 168 and 170. A boom hoist line 172, which has one end connected to a winch 174 in the upper works, is received over the sheaves 168 and 170 and has the opposite end connected to the sheave 168. Operation of winch 174 permits the boom 156 to be lowered, and enables the boom to be raised to any desired position, including the extreme upper position shown in FIG. 5. A load, or hoist, line 176 has one end connected to winch 178 and has the opposite end secured to the top of boom 156. The line is received over a guide sheave 180 on gantry 39', a sheave 182 on the top of gantry 39', a sheave 184 on the top of boom 156, and a sheave in sheave block 186. A hook 188 is suspended from block 186 to receive the load.
Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent that modification and variation may be made without departing from what is regarded to be the subject matter of the invention. | A crane is operable in either a regular mode or a heavy duty mode. In the regular mode, an upper works is rotatble, through a turntable bearing, on a lower works. A boom is pivotally connected to one end of the upper works and a counterweight is connected to the opposite end thereof. In the heavy duty mode, a support ring surrounds the lower works and is connected thereto. An auxiliary frame is mounted on the support ring, surrounding the upper works, for rotation on the ring in unison with rotation of the upper works. The boom used in the regular mode is pivotally connected to the auxiliary frame for use as a gantry, and a heavier boom is pivotally connected to the auxiliary frame adjacent the gantry. The counterweight of the machine in the regular mode is shifted to the auxiliary frame opposite the boom and gantry, and an auxiliary counterweight is added to the auxiliary frame. | 1 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/179,793 filed May 20, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to oligonucleotide substrates, as well as for their uses, for example, as probes for nucleic acid amplification reactions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Enzymes which metabolize nucleic acids in a manner specified by primary sequence, backbone structure, or a base character (often damaged or modified base) are of utility in biotechnology applications. Several families of such enzymes are used routinely in nucleic acid-based techniques and include restriction endonucleases, polymerases, ligases and exonucleases. Additionally, a variety of single-subunit (non-restriction) endonucleases which rely not on specific sequence strings but on recognising unusual, damaged or missing bases have been described over the years. These enzymes can be loosely divided into 2 groups—the AP endonucleases, of which E. coli endonuclease IV (Nfo) and E. coli exonuclease III are examples, and the DNA glycosylase/lyase family of which E. coli fpg, MUG and Nth are examples.
[0004] The AP endonucleases are characterised by the ability to recognise and cleave the sugar-phosphate backbone at abasic sites (other enzymatic activities may also be present) when found in the context of duplex DNA. Recognition and incision at abasic sites occurs in a biochemical manner that is distinct to the glycosylase/lyase family and not by beta-elimination or beta/delta-elimination. Consequently they attack not only true abasic sites but other substrates including tetrayhydrofuran moieties which lack an oxygen atom on the 1′ carbon of the sugar ring (Takeshita et al., 1987, J Biol Chem. 262(21):10171)(see FIG. 1 for chemical structures).
[0005] In contrast, glycosylase/lyase enzymes including the fpg protein (8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase, fpg in E. coli and OGG1 in mammals) or Nth proteins (endonuclease III in E. coli , Nth1 in humans, etc.) function in a 2-stage catalytic manner in which damaged bases are first recognized and excised via formation of a Schiff base between the protein and the DNA, and secondly the abasic site thus generated is processed by beta-elimination or beta-delta elimination in a manner distinct to the AP endonucleases. In this case tetrahydrofuran (THF) residues are not a substrate for lyase activity as no C1′ oxygen atom is present in this abasic mimic and such sugars lacking oxygen at the 1′ position are resistant to attack (Takeshita et al., 1987)( FIG. 1 ).
[0006] The use of AP endonucleases and glycosylase/lyases in molecular biology techniques has been described. One application is the use of these enzymes to process substrates generated during in vitro DNA amplification reactions, or similar kinds of applications, and in particular when a synthetic ‘probe’ oligonucleotide has been provided containing modified sugars or bases which can become a substrate for the enzymes if the synthetic oligonucleotide hybridizes specifically to molecules in the sample. An example of such an application is given in U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,561 B2 and Piepenburg et al., PlosBiology, 2006 4(7):e204 in which tetrahydrofuran-modified oligonucleotides are used as substrates for the E. coli Nfo (endonuclease IV) protein as a method to measure DNA amplification (Nfo is one of the two AP endonucleases of E. coli ).
[0007] Application of glycosylase/lyases to similar strategies can also be envisioned. The ability of fpg protein to similarly process modified bases such as 8-oxoguanine within a DNA amplification reaction for the purposes of reaction-monitoring has been described (U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,561 B2). Furthermore the fact that glycosylase/lyase enzymes such as fpg and Nth do not leave 3′ extendable ends but rather blocked 3′ ends (due to the differences in catalytic mode) may have particular utility in circumstances in which one wishes to ensure that the processed probe cannot be a ready substrate for polymerases or other activities dependent on a 3′ hydroxyl moiety.
[0008] Despite the potential of these enzymes, they possess certain features that make them unattractive for use in some applications. Notably, unlike the THF residue, true abasic sites required for the backbone-incising activity of DNA lyases are not stable under physiological conditions and are quickly hydrolyzed in aqueous solutions making them impractical for use in most molecular procedures. Instead specific damaged bases can be incorporated and used as the primary substrates for the glycosylase activity to generate the abasic site transiently before backbone hydrolysis by the lyase activity. Unfortunately however, typical damaged base analogs such as 8-oxoguanine (fpg) or thymidine glycol (Nth) tend to be rather expensive to synthesize and also impart sequence requirements on the probe as ideally they must be paired opposite specific bases on the opposing strand. In principle it would be far more convenient to have a stable substrate analogous to the generic THF residue that can be employed for AP endonucleases but retaining reactivity with the lyase activity of glycosylase/lyase enzymes.
[0009] Here we show that the fpg protein, as well as the AP endonuclease IV of E. coli (Nfo), efficiently cleaves DNA backbones containing a variety of substrates that lack a base but contain a 1′-oxygen atom covalently attached to a carbon-based linker [C]n. The linker can itself be used to attach other moieties such as biotin, fluorophores and other coupled groups, particularly useful if an amine-ended linker can be used to couple a variety of agents. Surprisingly, nucleotides having this arrangement and referred to generally as dR-O—[C]n appear to be good substrates of the fpg protein in a number of contexts, and are also substrates for the endonuclease IV protein, but appear relatively poor substrates for E. coli exonuclease III. We anticipate the use of oligonucleotides containing such dR-O—[C]n groups as substrates in a number of circumstances, in particular within in vitro reactions such as part of detection strategies for nucleic acid detection methods. The length of the linker used in this study is 6 carbon atoms, as available on certain commercially available nucleotides, however it is anticipated that a variety of carbon chain lengths might be employed and that it is the carbon-oxygen-carbon structure with little subsequent steric bulking that affords these structures sufficient plasticity to the enzymes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention relates in part to the discovery that AP endonucleases, DNA glycosylases, an DNA glycosylase/lyases, such as fpg and Nfo proteins, can catalyze the breaking of the DNA backbone at sites containing dR-O—[C]n residues in which no base is present at the C1′ position of the sugar, but that retains an oxygen atom at that position. The oxygen atom bridges the sugar to a carbon atom of a carbon linker with n (e.g., 1-8) carbon atoms (i.e., [C]n). Consequently nucleic acid probes can be constructed containing dR-O—[C]n residues by the use of commercially available phosphoramidites and can be substrates for AP endonucleases and DNA glycosylase/lyase enzymes if they form duplexes with complementary nucleic acids. A variety of moieties may be coupled to the linker portion of the dR-O—[C]n including fluorophores and other labels suggesting a number of strategies to detect successful processing of the probe as evidence of presence of a specific target nucleic acid. Applicants show how probes may be constructed using fluorescent molecules and quenchers using dR-O—[C]n as targeting sites for fpg, Nfo or other potential AP endonucleases or lyases. Applicants contemplate other uses of the dR-O—[C]n substrates in other detection schemes. For example, the dR-O—[C]n residue may be conjugated to a detactable label, where the activity of the nuclease frees the label, which can then be detected either immediately or via a subsequent process, via a measurable difference between the conjugated and free state.
[0011] In one aspect, processes are provided herein for cleaving an oligonucleotide containing a dR-O—[C]n residue that forms a duplex with a nucleic acid, by contacting the duplex with a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases. In some embodiments, the nuclease is endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg). In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the linker is conjugated to a detectable label (e.g., biotin, digoxygenin, peptide, fluorophore, quencher, antibody or a quantum dot).
[0012] In some embodiments, the process further comprises the step of contacting the oligonucleotide with the nucleic acid to form the oligonucleotide/nucleic acid duplex. In some embodiments, this comprises hybridizing the oligonucleotide to the nucleic acid. In some embodiments, this comprises (i) contacting the oligonucleotide with a recombinase to form a recombinase/oligonucleotide complex; and (ii) contacting the recombinase/oligonucleotide complex to the nucleic acid to form the oligonucleotide/nucleic acid duplex. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid is the product of a nucleic acid amplification reaction (e.g., a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) process or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)).
[0013] In some embodiments, the process further comprises the step of detecting cleavage of the oligonucleotide. In some embodiments, the detection is monitored in real time. In some embodiments, the detection is monitored at an endpoint for the reaction.
[0014] In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide contains a fluorophore and a quencher, where one of the fluorophore or the quencher is conjugated to the carbon linker. The nuclease activity excises the conjugated fluorophore or quencher from the oligonucleotide and the detection step comprises measuring a difference, if any, in fluorescence between the conjugated and free state.
[0015] In another aspect, processes are provided herein for detecting the presence or absence of a target nucleic acid. The processes comprise the following steps: (a) contacting an oligonucleotide probe containing a dR-O—[C]n residue or nucleotide with the target nucleic acid to form a probe/nucleic acid duplex; (b) contacting the duplex with a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases to excise the linker from the complex and/or specifically cleave the probe at the dR-O—[C]n nucleotide; and (c) detecting whether such excision or cleavage has occurred. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid is the product of a nucleic acid amplification reaction (e.g., a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) process or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)). In some embodiments, the amplification reaction is monitored in real time. In some embodiments, the amplification reaction is monitored at an endpoint for the reaction.
[0016] In some embodiments, the duplex is formed by hybridizing the probe to the nucleic acid. In some embodiments, the duplex is formed by (i) contacting the probe with a recombinase to form a recombinase/probe complex; and (ii) contacting the recombinase/probe complex to the nucleic acid to form the probe/nucleic acid duplex.
[0017] In some embodiments, the nuclease is endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg). In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the linker is conjugated to a detectable label (e.g., biotin, digoxygenin, peptide, fluorophore, quencher, antibody or a quantum dot).
[0018] In some embodiments, the probe contains a fluorophore and a quencher, where one of the fluorophore or the quencher is conjugated to the carbon linker. For example, the fluorophore and the quencher are separated by 4-6 bases in the probe. In some embodiments, the fluorophore or the quencher that is not conjugated to the carbon linker is conjugated to the end (e.g., the 5′-end) of the probe. The nuclease activity excises and frees the conjugated fluorophore or quencher associated with the dR-O—[C]n residue from the probe and the detection step comprises measuring a difference, if any, in fluorescence between the conjugated and free state.
[0019] In another aspect, provided herein are oligonucleotide probes containing a dR-O—[C]n residue. In some embodiments, the probes are 30 to 60 nucleotides in length and contain a fluorophore quencher pair separated by 10 nucleotides or less (e.g., 4-6 nucleotides), where either the flurophore or the quencher is conjugated to the dR-O—[C]n residue. In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the fluorophore or the quencher that is not conjugated to the dR-O—[C]n residue is conjugated to the end (e.g., the 5′-end) of the probe. In some embodiments, the probes are 30 to 40 nucleotides (e.g., 35 nucleotides) in length.
[0020] In yet another aspect, provided herein are kits comprising (i) an oligonucleotide containing a dR-O—[C]n residue, and (ii) a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases. In some embodiments, the nuclease is endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg).
[0021] In yet a further aspect, provided herein are reaction mixtures comprising an oligonucleotide containing a dR-O—[C]n residue and a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases (e.g., endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg)). In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the linker is conjugated to a detectable label (e.g., biotin, digoxygenin, peptide, fluorophore, quencher, antibody or a quantum dot). In some embodiments, the reaction mixture is freeze dried or lyophilized.
[0022] In some embodiments, the reaction mixture further comprises a container. For example, the reaction mixture can be contained in a tube or in a well of a multi-well container. The reaction mixtures may be dried or attached onto a mobile solid support such as a bead or a strip, or a well.
[0023] In some embodiments, the reaction mixture further comprises a target or template nucleic acid that contains a sequence that is complementary to the oligonucleotide.
[0024] Other embodiments, objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying description and claims. It is contemplated that whenever appropriate, any embodiment of the present invention can be combined with one or more other embodiments of the present invention, even though the embodiments are described under different aspects of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0025] FIG. 1 Chemical structures: general structure of a normal abasic site containing a hydroxyl at the 1′ carbon position, of a tetrahydrofuran (THF) residue containing a hydrogen at the 1′ position, of the general dR-O—[C]n group indicating the position of the carbon-oxygen-carbon bridge between the C1′ of the DNA ribose group and the linker to the attached marker moiety, and finally of the dR-biotin nucleotide used in Example 1 and conforming to the dR-O—[C]n structure described.
[0026] FIG. 2 dR-biotin probe design: sequence and schematic representation of the oligonucleotide probe used to assess cleavage activity of Nfo and fpg proteins during RPA reactions in which a target sequence matching the probe sequence is amplified. The sequence of the oligonucleotide is indicated. The primer is labelled at the 5′ end with the FAM fluorophore, contains a dR-biotin within the body of the sequence, and is blocked by virtue of a 2′,3′dideoxycytidine residue.
[0027] FIG. 3 Comparison of amplification reactions lacking nuclease or containing Nfo or fpg enzyme: reveals that both enzymes can process the dR-biotin moiety giving rise to a faster migrating cleavage product and in the case of Nfo a product produced by extension of the cleavage product.
[0028] FIG. 4 Oligonucleotide probe design: example of a probe design, including an oligonucleotide body (here 35 nucleotides in length), a 5′-quencher modification (here a 5′-BHQ1), an internal dR-fluorophore nucleotide analogue in proximity to the quencher (here a dR-FAM at oligonucleotide position 6) and a 3′ polymerase extension block.
[0029] FIG. 5 Sensitivity and specificity: results of real-time fluorescence monitoring of two template titration experiments for the indicated human genomic targets using DNA dR-probes. In both cases the increase of fluorescence signal (relative to the baseline at 0 to 3 minutes) is only observed in reactions containing template and not in the no-template control. The onset time of the signal increase correlates with the amount of starting template (1000, 100 or 10 copies). Reaction time is in minutes (X-axis), fluorescence in arbitrary fluorescence units (Y-axis).
[0030] FIG. 6 Performance of different probes: results of real-time fluorescence monitoring of four sets of RPA reactions (in duplicates) for the indicated human genomic targets using DNA oligonucleotide probes of the design outlined in FIG. 2 . The increase in fluorescence between 6 and 8 minutes results from the fpg-dependent processing of the dR-groups of the probes (here dR-FAM) and indicates ongoing DNA amplification and thus the presence of the target DNA template. Reaction time is in minutes (X-axis), fluorescence in arbitrary fluorescence units (Y-axis).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying description below. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the methods and materials are now described. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description. In the specification, the singular forms also include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In the case of conflict, the present Specification will control.
[0032] The combination of enzymes with synthetic substrates for use in laboratory assays and manipulations is well known in the art. DNA repair endonucleases such as the glycosylases fpg and Nth, as well as AP endonucleases such as E. coli exonuclease III and endonuclease IV, are good examples of this combination—it is easy to generate synthetic substrates for these DNA repair enzymes by the use of modern oligonucleotide synthesis regimes and the wide existing variety of synthetic nucleotides that may be incorporated into DNA primers. These DNA repair enzymes can be readily employed for a variety of purposes, and one which has been recently exploited is their use as agents to assist the monitoring of isothermal Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) reactions.
[0033] RPA is a process in which recombinase-mediated targeting of oligonucleotides to DNA is coupled to DNA synthesis by a polymerase (U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,981 B2; U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,590; U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,561 B2; U.S. Pat. No. 7,485,428 B2; U.S. Pat. No. 7,666,598 B2 and foreign equivalents). RPA depends upon components of the cellular DNA replication and repair machinery, and relies upon establishment of a ‘dynamic’ recombination environment having adequate rates of both recombinase loading and unloading that maintains high levels of recombination activity achieved in the presence of specific crowding agents. RPA has the advantage that it combines the sensitivity, specificity and most other features of PCR but without the need for thermocycling and with extraordinary speed and robustness to off-temperature set-up. RPA has already benefited from the potential employment of a wide variety of nucleic acid processing enzymes such as known repair endonucleases which have been untapped by other processes because of either the need for thermostable equivalents or because they demonstrate poor regulation without accessory proteins such as single-stranded DNA binding proteins, a natural component of RPA reactions.
[0034] Briefly, RPA comprises the following steps: First, a recombinase agent is contacted with a first and a second nucleic acid primer to form a first and a second nucleoprotein primer. Second, the first and second nucleoprotein primers are contacted to a double stranded target sequence to form a first double stranded structure at a first portion of said first strand and form a double stranded structure at a second portion of said second strand so the 3′ ends of said first nucleic acid primer and said second nucleic acid primer are oriented towards each other on a given template DNA molecule. Third, the 3′ end of said first and second nucleoprotein primers are extended by DNA polymerases to generate first and second double stranded nucleic acids, and first and second displaced strands of nucleic acid. Finally, the second and third steps are repeated until a desired degree of amplification is reached.
[0035] Earlier work has demonstrated the extreme utility of the synthetic nucleotide tetrahydrofuran (THF) in the development of probe systems for the RPA method (Piepenburg et al., 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,561 B2). This base analog is oftentimes used to mimic abasic sites and has the natural advantage that it is stable—replacement of the 1′-hydroxyl of a natural abasic site with a hydrogen atom renders the nucleotides stable and unable to undergo spontaneous ring-opening and oligonucleotide fragmentation. This analog is readily available and cheap to incorporate into oligonucleotides. Due to differences in biochemical mechanism, however, while the E. coli AP endonucleases Nfo and ExoIII can cleave at such THF residues in synthetic primers, other DNA glycoslyase/lyases cannot. These latter enzymes normally require a damaged base (glycosylase activity) and/or the presence of a hydroxyl group at the 1′-position of the sugar (lyase activity) and THF is completely inert to their enzymatic activities. This presents something of a nuisance as these glycosylase/lyase enzymes could be useful tools also for in vitro reactions such as those in which a probe is processed in response to target DNA accumulation in RPA, or in other contexts and methods. More natural substrates, for example 8-oxoguanine for fpg, can be inserted into oligonucleotides to generate cleavage sites for these glycosylase/lyases, however these modifications are usually expensive, and furthermore often restrict the base which can be opposed to the modified nucleotide. Cheaper and more general nucleotide modifications which are substrates for these enzymes would be of great utility.
[0036] In an effort to explore the effects of a number of unusual base analogs as substrates for DNA repair enzymes we synthesised oligonucleotides containing nucleotides completely lacking a base, but retaining a carbon-oxygen-carbon linkage at the 1′ position of the sugar. Such nucleotide reagents are readily available and inexpensive, and are commonly used to incorporate labelling groups such as fluorophores or biotin into oligonucleotides within the body of the oligonucleotide. Commonly the carbon atom linked through oxygen to the 1′ carbon of the sugar is the first carbon atom of a linker which often ultimately ends with the labelling group, or alternatively an amine or other chemical moiety (e.g., a thiol) to which reagents may be readily coupled. Such reagents are often described in the literature as dR-X in which the dR refers to deoxyribose, and the X will often be linker-amine, or linker-fluorophore, or linker-biotin, or some other group or label. No-one has previously explored whether or not repair endonucleases would recognise such structures which lack a base but retain a carbon-oxygen-carbon covalent linkage at the 1′ sugar position. The absence of a hydroxyl means that the ring-opening processes of lyases should not operate without prior processing of the linker group and its associated excision. As known glycosylases normally operate on damaged bases rather than unusual carbon linkers there was no precedent to suggest that these dR-O—[C]n groups would be substrates for DNA glycosylase/lyases such as fpg.
[0037] FIG. 1 shows the general structure of a dR-O—[C]n group, as well as specifically the structure of the dR-biotin reagents as incorporated into oligonucleotides used herein and purchased from Eurogentec, Belgium. Such reagents used herein have a common 6 carbon atom linker between the 1′-sugar and a nitrogen atom which is often used to couple other reagents before or after oligonucleotide synthesis. In this study the biotin moiety of the dR-biotin oligonucleotide is linked via this nitrogen atom as an amide bond and then through a further 4 carbon atom linker. Other label reagents used in this study—dR-FAM and dR-Texas Red—are similarly arranged in which a fluorophore is coupled through an amide bond at the end of the 6 carbon atom linker.
[0038] A detectable label is defined as any moiety that may be detected using current methods. These labels include, at least, a fluorophore (also called a fluorescent molecule, fluorochrome), an enzyme, a quencher, an enzyme inhibitor, a radioactive label, a member of a binding pair, a digoxygenin residue, a peptide, and a combination thereof.
[0039] “A member of a binding pair” is meant to be one of a first and a second moiety, wherein said first and said second moiety have a specific binding affinity for each other. Suitable binding pairs for use in the invention include, but are not limited to, antigens/antibodies (for example, digoxigenin/anti-digoxigenin, dinitrophenyl (DNP)/anti-DNP, dansyl-X-anti-dansyl, Fluorescein/anti-fluorescein, lucifer yellow/anti-lucifer yellow, peptide/anti-peptide, ligand/receptor and rhodamine/anti-rhodamine), biotin/avidin (or biotin/streptavidin) and calmodulin binding protein (CBP)/calmodulin. Other suitable binding pairs include polypeptides such as the FLAG-peptide (DYKDDDDK) [Hopp et al., BioTechnology, 6:1204 1210 (1988)]; the KT3 epitope peptide (Martin et al., Science 255:192 194 (1992)); tubulin epitope peptide (Skinner et al., J. Biol. Chem 266:15163 15166 (1991)); and the T7 gene 10 protein peptide tag (Lutz-Freyermuth et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87:6393 6397 (1990)) and the antibodies each thereto. Generally, in a preferred embodiment, the smaller of the binding pair partners serves as the detectable label, as steric considerations may be important.
[0040] In one aspect, processes are provided herein for cleaving an oligonucleotide containing a dR-O—[C]n residue that forms a duplex with a nucleic acid, by contacting the duplex with a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases. In some embodiments, the nuclease is endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg). In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the linker is conjugated to a detectable label (e.g., biotin, digoxygenin, peptide, fluorophore, quencher, antibody or a quantum dot).
[0041] In some embodiments, the process further comprises the step of contacting the oligonucleotide with the nucleic acid to form the oligonucleotide/nucleic acid duplex. In some embodiments, this comprises hybridizing the oligonucleotide to the nucleic acid. In some embodiments, this comprises (i) contacting the oligonucleotide with a recombinase to form a recombinase/oligonucleotide complex; and (ii) contacting the recombinase/oligonucleotide complex to the nucleic acid to form the oligonucleotide/nucleic acid duplex. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid is the product of a nucleic acid amplification reaction (e.g., a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) process or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)).
[0042] In some embodiments, the process further comprises the step of detecting cleavage of the oligonucleotide. In some embodiments, the detection is monitored in real time. In some embodiments, the detection is monitored at an endpoint for the reaction.
[0043] In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide contains a fluorophore and a quencher, where one of the fluorophore or the quencher is conjugated to the carbon linker. The nuclease activity excises the conjugated fluorophore or quencher from the oligonucleotide and the detection step comprises measuring a difference, if any, in fluorescence between the conjugated and free state.
[0044] In another aspect, processes are provided herein for detecting the presence or absence of a target nucleic acid. The processes comprise the following steps: (a) contacting an oligonucleotide probe containing a dR-O—[C]n residue or nucleotide with the target nucleic acid to form a probe/nucleic acid duplex; (b) contacting the duplex with a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases to excise the linker from the complex and/or specifically cleave the probe at the dR-O—[C]n nucleotide; and (c) detecting whether such excision or cleavage has occurred. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid is the product of a nucleic acid amplification reaction (e.g., a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) process or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)). In some embodiments, the amplification reaction is monitored in real time. In some embodiments, the amplification reaction is monitored at an endpoint for the reaction.
[0045] In some embodiments, the duplex is formed by hybridizing the probe to the nucleic acid. In some embodiments, the duplex is formed by (i) contacting the probe with a recombinase to form a recombinase/probe complex; and (ii) contacting the recombinase/probe complex to the nucleic acid to form the probe/nucleic acid duplex.
[0046] In some embodiments, the nuclease is endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg). In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the linker is conjugated to a detectable label (e.g., biotin, digoxygenin, peptide, fluorophore, quencher, antibody or a quantum dot).
[0047] In some embodiments, the probe contains a fluorophore and a quencher, where one of the fluorophore or the quencher is conjugated to the carbon linker. For example, the fluorophore and the quencher are separated by 4-6 bases in the probe. In some embodiments, the fluorophore or the quencher that is not conjugated to the carbon linker is conjugated to the end (e.g., the 5′-end) of the probe. The nuclease activity excises and frees the conjugated fluorophore or quencher associated with the dR-O—[C]n residue from the probe and the detection step comprises measuring a difference, if any, in fluorescence between the conjugated and free state.
[0048] In another aspect, provided herein are oligonucleotide probes containing a dR-O—[C]n residue. In some embodiments, the probes are 30 to 60 nucleotides in length and contain a fluorophore quencher pair separated by 10 nucleotides or less (e.g., 4-6 nucleotides), where either the flurophore or the quencher is conjugated to the dR-O—[C]n residue. In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the fluorophore or the quencher that is not conjugated to the dR-O—[C]n residue is conjugated to the end (e.g., the 5′-end) of the probe. In some embodiments, the probes are 30 to 40 nucleotides (e.g., 35 nucleotides) in length.
[0049] In yet another aspect, provided herein are kits comprising (i) an oligonucleotide containing a dR-O—[C]n residue, and (ii) a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases. In some embodiments, the nuclease is endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg).
[0050] In yet a further aspect, provided herein are reaction mixtures comprising an oligonucleotide containing a dR-O—[C]n residue and a nuclease selected from an AP endonucleases, or DNA glycosylases, or an DNA glycosylase/lyases (e.g., endonuclease IV (Nfo) or 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (fpg)). In some embodiments, the linker is a 3-6 carbon atom linker (e.g., a 6 carbon atom linker). In some embodiments, the oligonucleotide is blocked at its 3′-end to prevent polymerase extension. In some embodiments, the linker is conjugated to a detectable label (e.g., biotin, digoxygenin, peptide, fluorophore, quencher, antibody or a quantum dot). In some embodiments, the reaction mixture is freeze dried or lyophilized.
[0051] In some embodiments, the reaction mixture further comprises a container. For example, the reaction mixture can be contained in a tube or in a well of a multi-well container. The reaction mixtures may be dried or attached onto a mobile solid support such as a bead or a strip, or a well.
[0052] In some embodiments, the reaction mixture further comprises a target or template nucleic acid that contains a sequence that is complementary to the oligonucleotide.
[0053] FIG. 2 indicates both primary sequence and schematically the nature of a dR-biotin probe generated for use in an RPA DNA amplification reaction using as a target a DNA molecule containing the sequence specified in the probe. The probe is blocked (to prevent polymerase extension during the amplification phase) and contains an internal dR-biotin as the test substrate for the enzymes. The probe also contains a 5′-FAM. Thus, in principle, if DNA is amplified in a reaction containing this probe there is the possibility that the probe will bind to and interact specifically with the amplified DNA either by ‘classical’ hybridization to complementary single strands formed during amplification, or by recombinase-mediated processes. The outcome of such an experiment is shown in FIG. 3 and described in Example 1 below.
[0054] A second set of experiments was performed to investigate the generality of this cleavage activity, and in this case using fluorescent reagents in which the dR-O—[C]n nucleotide is coupled to a fluorophore as depicted in FIG. 4 . In this case the dR-fluorophore is positioned close to the 5′ end of the oligonucleotide probe and in close proximity to a quencher which is attached to the very 5′ end. As before the 3′ end of the probe is suitably blocked to prevent aberrant elongation or primer artefacts. As indicated in FIG. 4 , should the probe form hybrids with complementary amplifying material then it might become a substrate for fpg (or Nfo) and if so could cleave the backbone at this position (and potentially release the fluorophore directly into the aqueous medium detached from either oliogonucleotide fragment if the glycosylase activity is present in fpg or other non-AP endonuclease enzymes). If cleavage occurs there will be physical separation of the fluorophore and quencher and hence an increase in detectable fluorescence in a manner akin to that described earlier for THF-based fluorescent probes utilising E. coli Nfo or exoIII proteins. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the outcome of such experiments and describe in Example 2 in which RPA reactions were performed on human genomic targets utilizing primers and probes specifically directed toward known single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) regions.
[0055] These experiments collectively clearly demonstrate that dR-O—[C]n groups are substrates for the Nfo and the fpg nucleases. Furthermore, it is possible to construct probes containing such groups in a way that the activity of the nucleases on the probe occurs only in the circumstance that complementary nucleic acid strands accumulate permitting duplex formation, thereby allowing determination of whether the amplification has occurred by fluorescence or other mechanisms. Therefore, these dR-O—[C]n nucleotide reagents could be broadly applied in combination with fpg, Nfo or glycosylase/lyase and equivalent enzymes for a variety of uses.
[0056] All sequence citations, references, patents, patent applications or other documents cited are hereby incorporated by reference.
EXAMPLES
[0057] The present invention is further defined in the following Examples. It should be understood that these Examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only. From the above discussion and these Examples, one skilled in the art can ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention, and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various uses and conditions.
Example 1
Oligonucleotides Probes Containing an Internal dR-Biotin are Cut by Nfo and Fpg
[0058] In this example it is shown that oligonucleotides probes, depicted schematically in FIG. 2 , containing an internal dR-Biotin can be cut by Nfo and fpg. The reactions (total volume of 150 μL) were mixed from fresh reagents and incubated for 75 minutes at 37° C. Conditions used were 50 mM Tris/Acetate (pH 7.9), 14 mM Mg-Acetate, 100 mM Potassium-Acetate, 2 mM DTT, 200 nM each dNTP, 6% PEG 35,000, 3 mM ATP, 50 mM Phospho-Creatine, 900 ng/μL T4gp32, 120 ng/μL, T4uvsX, 30 ng/μL T4uvsY, 360 ng/μL Bac. subtilis DNA polI. Either 3000 copies of DNA template or water (as a negative control) was included as indicated. Nuclease, 200 ng/μL Nfo or 50 ng/μL fpg, was included as indicated. Primers, K2 and J1, were included at 480 nM each and the probe, FpgProb1, was included at 120 nM, with their sequences provided below. Samples were quenched in one volume of 2% SDS/one volume phenol, mixed and incubated for 20 minutes at 65° C. Subsequently samples were phenol/chloroform extracted and twice ethanol precipitated according to standard molecular biology techniques. Half of each sample was then resuspended in formamide loading buffer resolved on a 16.5% denaturing polyacrylamide gel (Urea) and visualised (using the FAM fluorescence) following standard protocols. Markers were 2 pmol of the probe and 2 pmol of a 32 nt marker oligonucleotide.
[0000]
J1
(SEQ ID NO: 1)
5′-acggcattaacaaacgaactgattcatctgcttgg-3′
K2
(SEQ ID NO: 2)
5′-ccttaatttctccgagaacttcatattcaagcgtc-3′
FpgProbe1
(SEQ ID NO: 3)
5′-6FAM-cagaagtatgaccgtgtctttgaaatg[dR-biotin]
ttgaagaaatggtt[ddC]-3′
[0059] The probe and any derivatives were visualised here by virtue of the FAM moiety which emits visible light when excited by UV radiation. Amplification reactions (RPA) containing a target DNA, two (2) appropriate amplification primers, the dR-biotin probe and either no nuclease, Nfo protein, or fpg protein were cleaned following incubation and separated by size on a denaturing acrylamide gel and then exposed to UV. The probe or any derivatives retaining the 5′-FAM are then visible ( FIG. 3 ). In the absence of an added nuclease, the probe, 42 nucleotides long, mostly migrates at its expected location slightly more slowly than a control labelled primer of 32 nucleotides (indicated). A slightly slower-migrating (longer) fragment is also seen as compared to the neat probe not incubated in RPA (#1). This likely arose because the probe can be unblocked slowly by nucleases that are believed to be present in some of the enzyme preparations (nibbling at the 3′ end), and once unblocked it can be extended following hybridization to amplifying target and hence forming a nested amplicon of sorts. In the presence of Nfo however, this phenomenon is much more prominent as expected and a large proportion of the probe is now elongated. Furthermore, the Nfo protein was indeed attacking the dR-O—[C]n residue rather than just ‘polishing’ the 3′ end because some small amount of faster-migrating probe DNA (#2) is also visible indicating cleavage at the dR-O—[C]n location with no subsequent elongation. Finally, when fpg protein was included in the reaction environment a large proportion of faster-migrating cleaved probe is visible and no elongated material is detected, as fpg leaves a blocked 3′-end after cleavage and hence it is not extended by polymerase enzyme present in the mix.
Example 2
Measurement of DNA Amplification with Oligonucleotides Probes Containing an Internal dR-Fluorophore
[0060] In this Example, RPA experiments using fluorescent reagents in which the dR-O—[C]n nucleotide is coupled to a fluorophore as depicted in FIG. 4 . In this case, the dR-fluorophore is positioned close to the 5′ end of the oligonucleotide probe and in close proximity to a quencher which is attached to the very 5′ end. As in the previous example, the 3′ end of the probe is suitably blocked to prevent aberrant elongation or primer artefacts.
[0061] The reactions (total volume of 50 μL) were performed according to standard RPA protocol for freeze-dried reactions. Briefly, lyophilised reagents were mixed with PEG, Magnesium-Acetate and template, and incubated for 20 minutes at 38° C. in a fluorometer (Twista prototype; ESE GmbH, Germany). Conditions used were 50 mM Tris/Acetate (pH 8.3), 14 mM Mg-Acetate, 100 mM Potassium-Acetate, 5 mM DTT, 240 nM each dNTP, 5% PEG 35,000, 4% Trehalose 2.5 mM ATP, 50 mM Phospho-Creatine, 300 ng/μL rb69gp32, 273 ng/μL uvsX, 120 ng/μL uvsY, 50 ng/μL Staph. aureus DNA polI. For the experiments of FIG. 5 , 1000, 100, 10 or 0 copies of the DNA template was included as indicated in the figure, while 1000 copies of the DNA template was included for the experiments of FIG. 6 . Fpg nuclease, 25 ng/μL, was included. Primers were included at 360 nM each and probe was included at 120 nM, with their sequences provided below. Fluorescence was measured every 20 seconds (excitation 470 nM, emission 520 nM). Samples were removed from the incubator for a brief mix/spin at 4 minutes of incubation time and returned to the incubator/fluorometer. Arbitrary fluorescence units were plotted against time in minutes.
[0062] For human genomic locus rs4824871 the sequences of the primers, F2 and R1, and the probe used were:
[0000]
F2
(SEQ ID NO: 4)
5′-ccatcctcaatactaagctaagtaaaaagattt-3′
R1
(SEQ ID NO: 5)
5′-ccctgtggctaagagctcttgatagtcaaagta-3′
Probe
(SEQ ID NO: 6)
BHQ1-5′-cctt[dR-FAM]tctaaggaaatggacag
aaataggcaagat[ddC]-3′
[0063] For human genomic locus rs1207445 the sequences of the primers, F2 and R2, and the probe used were:
[0000]
F2
(SEQ ID NO: 7)
5′-cccttctgatattctaccaaatgccccctaaat-3′
R2
(SEQ ID NO: 8)
5′-catgtgtataagaaaactacccaagcctaggga-3′
Probe
(SEQ ID NO: 9)
BHQ1-5′-cagtg[dR-FAM]ccaatacacacacac
aagactgggcatgg[ddC]-3′
[0064] For human genomic locus rs1105561 the sequences of the primers, F1 and R1, and the probe used were:
[0000]
F1
(SEQ ID NO: 10)
5′-tatagtggaaaggtgttcatttgtataaacccc-3′
R1
(SEQ ID NO: 11)
5′-cacataaatcagagaatgtgtggggtcatgtat-3′
Probe
(SEQ ID NO: 12)
BHQ1-5′-aactt[dR-FAM]gcaactaacgctaaa
ttataatcacttct[ddC]-3′
[0065] For human genomic locus rs5923931 the sequences of the primers, F1 and R1, and the probe used were:
[0000]
F1
(SEQ ID NO: 13)
5′-catttctcaaaagaagatatgcaaataaaaaca-3′
R1
(SEQ ID NO: 14)
5′-ccattataactggggtgagatgatatctcattg-3′
Probe
(SEQ ID NO: 15)
BHQ1-5′-tctca[dR-FAM]cataactgatcatcag
agaaatgtaaatc[ddC]-3′
[0066] FIGS. 5 and 6 show the outcome of the above experiments in which RPA reactions were performed on human genomic targets utilizing primers and probes specifically directed toward known SNP regions. In FIG. 5 two such genomic regions were amplified using RPA and probes with the general structure depicted in FIG. 4 , along with the inclusion of the fpg protein. Target genomic DNA has been added to give a total target copy number of 1000, 100, 10 or zero target molecules, and in this way the requirement for the specific accumulation of amplicons matching the target is ensured. Note that after between 6 and 12 minutes (depending on the target and copy number) there is a clear rise in fluorescence in those samples containing target, whilst those lacking targets remain with more-or-less stable fluorescence. In FIG. 6 there is similar data shown for four human genomic DNA target/probe sets (two of which were also used in FIG. 5 ) and in each case fluorescence rises at about the expected time of DNA amplification. In addition to these and other successful probes, we have encountered occasional probes that did not seem to work well in RPA amplification/detection systems (maybe 10-20% of those analyzed) however the source of these failures is as yet unclear, potentially reflecting failures in RPA amplification in some cases rather than probe failure, potentially as a result of probe failure in other cases. We speculate that in some cases the position and nature of adjacent bases, or the nature of the base opposing the dR-O—[C]n group could play a part in the effectiveness of the probe.
[0067] Although particular embodiments have been disclosed herein in detail, this has been done by way of example for purposes of illustration only, and is not intended to be limiting with respect to the scope of the appended claims, which follow. In particular, it is contemplated by the inventors that various substitutions, alterations, and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Other aspects, advantages, and modifications considered to be within the scope of the following claims. The claims presented are representative of the inventions disclosed herein. Other, unclaimed inventions are also contemplated. Applicants reserve the right to pursue such inventions in later claims. | A new class of nucleic acid substrates for AP endonucleases and members of the glycosylase/lyase family of enzymes is described. Representatives of each family, the enzymes Nfo and fpg, respectively, cleave nucleic acid backbones at positions in which a base has been replaced by a linker to which a variety of label moieties may be attached. The use of these synthetic substrates embedded within oligonucleotides is of utility in a number of applications. | 2 |
This application is a continuation of application 07/751,187, filed Aug. 29, 1991, which application is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photo-sensing device used as a photo-sensor of a light communication system.
2. Related Background Art
FIGS. 1A and 1B respectively show a structure of a prior art photo-sensing device. FIG. 1A shows a top view and FIG. 1B shows an X--X sectional view. As shown, in the prior art photo-sensing device, an electrode 8 having a center opening through which light is directed is formed on an underside of a semiconductor substrate 1 of a first conductivity type which is transparent to the light to be detected, and an anti-reflection film 9 is formed in the opening. A semiconductive crystal layer 2 of the first conductivity type for absorbing the incident light is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1. The semiconductive crystal layer 2 is a lamination of a buffer layer 2a, a photo-sensing layer 2b and a cap layer 2c in sequence. Impurities are selectively diffused into the semiconductive crystal layer 2 to form a first region 3 of a second conductivity type. This is a pin photo-diode structure where the semiconductor substrate 1 is an n layer (or a p layer), the semiconductive crystal layer 2 is an i layer and the first region 3 is a p layer (or an n layer), and a photo-sensing region 10 is formed in the i layer. An electrode 5 for taking out a photo-current is formed on the first region 3, the surface of the semiconductive crystal layer 2 around the electrode 5 is covered with a protection film (i.e. passivation film) 7.
When a reverse bias is applied to the semiconductor device thus constructed, a depletion layer is created in a pn junction area in the semiconductive crystal layer 2. Thus, an electric field is developed in the depletion layer and electrons and holes generated by a light applied to the photo-sensing region 10 are directed to the semiconductor substrate 1 and the first region 3 of different conductivity types, respectively, and accelerated thereby. In this manner, a photo-current is taken out and a light signal is detected.
A similar structure of a photo-sensing device to that described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,174 (issued on '84,05.11).
In the structure shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, when the light is applied to the photo-sensing region 10, light generating carriers are captured by the depletion layer and a good response characteristic is offered. However, when the light is directed to the outside of the region 10, the generated carriers reach the pn junction while they are diffused by a density gradient and are taken out as a photo-current. As a result, the response characteristic is adversely affected. FIG. 2A shows a response characteristic of the photo-sensing device. Since the movement of the carriers by the diffusion is slow, a response waveform to a light pulse includes a tail at the end as shown in FIG. 2A.
When such a photo-sensing device is used for light communication, a light emitted from an optical fiber is focused so that it is directed to the photo-sensing region 10. However, when a portion of light leaks out of the photo-sensing region 10, it leads to the reduction of the response speed of the photo-sensing device by the reason described above. In a high speed photo-sensing device, the area of the photo-sensing region 10 is reduced for reduction of a junction capacitance. As a result, a ratio of light directed to the outside of the photo-sensing region 10 increases and a diffused component which has a low response speed increases. This leads to the degradation of the response speed.
A rear-entry type structure as shown is suitable for use as a high response speed device because of a small junction area. However, when it is coupled to a single mode fiber (core diameter 10 μm), a portion of an incident light leaks to the outside of the photo-sensing region 10 due to a deviation of an optical axis or an aberration of a lens. The length of diffusion of carriers is in the order of several tens μm (approximately 40 μm in the n-type indium-gallium-arsenide layer with the indium-phosphide cap layer), and the carriers generated at a distant point from the pn junction also contribute to the photo-current by the diffusion. This also leads to the reduction of the response speed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The photo-sensing device of the present invention is a rear-entry type photo-sensing device having a pn junction area, as a photo-sensing region, formed by selectively providing a first region of a second conductivity type in a portion of a semiconductive layer of a first conductivity type. The first region is surrounded by a second region of the second conductivity type formed in the semiconductive layer, and the second region is of the same or larger depth as or than that of the first region.
Accordingly, even if the light to be directed to the photo-sensing region is directed to the outside of the photo-sensing region to generate charges, the charges are collected to the second region and the flow of the charges into the photo-sensing region is prevented. Thus, only the required photo-current is take out to an external circuit.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a rear-entry type photo-sensing device having a pn junction area, as a photo-sensing region, formed by selectively providing a first region of a heavily doped second conductivity type into a portion of a lightly doped semiconductive layer formed on a semiconductor substrate of a heavily doped first conductivity type, in which the first region is surrounded by a second region of the second conductivity type formed on a portion of the semiconductive layer.
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 to be considered as limiting the present invention.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A and 1B show a structure of a prior art photo-sensing device;
FIGS. 2A and 2B respectively show a light pulse response characteristic measured for a prior art structure and the structure of the present invention,
FIGS. 3A and 3B show a structure of a photo-sensing device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention,
FIGS. 4A and 4B show a structure of a photo-sensing device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, and
FIG. 5 shows a band gap energy chart of the pin structure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The embodiments of the present invention are now explained with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 3A and 3B respectively show a basic structure of a photo-sensing device of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a top view and FIG. 3B shows an X--X sectional view. As shown, an n electrode 8 having a center opening through which a light is directed is formed on an underside of substrate 1 of a heavily doped first conductivity type, and the opening is covered by an anti-reflection film 9 to eliminate a reflection loss of the light. A lightly doped first conductivity type photo-sensing layer 2 is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1. A first region 3 of a second conductivity type is formed on the surface of the photo-sensing layer 2 at a position facing the opening, by the selective diffusion using a sealed ampoule method (impurity doping method using a sealed silica tube including a semiconductor wafer and an impurity material), and a second region 4 of a second conductivity type is formed in a similar manner with a spacing of 5 μm from the first region 3 so as to surround the first region 3. The deeper the second region 4 becomes than the first region 3, the higher a capture effect for extra charges is, because the extra charges are generated in the photo-sensing layer outside the photo-sensing region and diffuse into the photo-sensing region 10 by the density gradient. Accordingly, the second region 4 may be deep enough to reach the buffer layer 2a. However, it is not necessary to be so deep. For example, when the first region 3 and the second region 4 are simultaneously formed, they are of the same depth. Even in this case, the same effect as that of the present embodiment is attained. However, when the second region 4 is shallower than the first region 3, the above effect becomes lower.
A p-electrode 5 is formed on the first region 3 on the surface of the photo-sensing layer 2, and an auxiliary electrode 6 to which a reverse voltage is applied is formed on a portion of the second region 4 to take out the charges collected to the second region 4. The surface of the photo-sensing layer 2, excluding the electrode 5 and 6, is covered with a device protection film 7.
In the structure such as the above embodiment in which the semiconductive crystal layer 2 is used as an i layer of a pin photo-diode, generally, the addition of the impurities is not performed in the crystal growth. But the semiconductive crystal layer may become the first conductive type semiconductor layer by a local stoichiometric shift in some kind of material or by mixture of the impurities from a crystal growing apparatus etc. Further, in order to improve the electrical characteristics of a device, the impurities may be added in formation of the semiconductor crystal layer 2. Therefore, in the present application, the meaning of "lightly doped" also includes a case that "the intentional addition of the impurities is not performed".
A second embodiment of the present invention is now explained with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIG. 4A shows a top view and FIG. 4B shows an X--X sectional view. Like in the first embodiment, an n-electrode 8 having a light incidence opening is formed on an underside of an n + -type InP (Indium-phosphide) substrate 1 (n=2×10 18 cm -3 ), and the opening is covered with an anti-reflection film 9. A non-doped InP buffer layer 2a (n=2×10 15 cm -3 thickness 2 μm), a non-doped InGaAs (Indium-gallium-arsenide) photo-sensing layer 2b (n=2×10 15 cm -3 , thickness 3.5 μm) and a lightly doped InP cap layer 2c (n=2×10 16 cm -3 , thickness 1 μm) are sequentially laminated, as a semiconductor crystal layer 2, on the n + -type InP substrate 1. A first region 3 and a second region 4 of p-type are formed by the selective diffusion of Zn using the sealed ampoule method. The diameter of the first region 3 is 100 μm, and the width of the n-type region between the region 3 and the surrounding region 4 is 10 μm. A p electrode 5 is formed on the first region 3 on the semiconductive crystal layer 2, and an auxiliary electrode 6 for taking out the charges collected to the second region 4 is formed on a portion of the second region 4. The periphery thereof is covered with a device protection film 7.
Since the cap layer 2c is formed by the material having a wider band gap than that of the photo-sensing layer 2b, a surface leakage current is minimized. Further, since undesired charges are absorbed by the region 4, only the current required for the detection of the light signal is taken out.
A band gap energy chart of the pin structure is shown in FIG. 5. In the present embodiment, the composition of InGaAs of the photo-sensing layer 2 is In 0 .53 Ga 0 .47 As. This composition provides the smallest band gap energy, that is, can sense the longest wavelength light among the InGaAsP semiconductors which can be lattice-matched with the InP layer.
It is preferable that the thickness of the photo-sensing layer 2 is between 1 μm and 7 μm to attain efficient absorption of the incident light, although it is not limited thereto. It is further preferable that the spacing between the first region 3 and the second region 4 is between 5 μm and 30 μm in order to attain a good response characteristic and electrical characteristic, although it is not limited thereto.
In the photo-sensing device of the above structure, charges generated by the light directed to the outside of the photo-sensing area 10 are collected by the depletion layer created by the second region 4. Accordingly, only the photo-current required for the detection of the light signal is taken out. The response speed of the photo-sensing device was measured. FIGS. 2B shows a light pulse response characteristic measured in the pin photo diode of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. As shown in FIG. 2B, the end of the waveform includes no tail and no degradation of the response speed by the stray light directed to the outside of the photo-sensing region 10 was confirmed.
In the present embodiment, the incident light has a wavelength of 1.3 μm. Since the photo-sensing layer 2 is the In 0 .53 Ga 0 .47 As layer, the same effect is attained for an incident light of a long wavelength such as 1.55 μm.
A structure for absorbing the undesired charges by an impurity layer is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 53-96719/1978. It teaches the provision of the impurity layer in order to prevent interference between a photo-sensing device and a scan circuit in an image sensor. However, no undesired charge absorbing region is formed around the photo-sensing device and the improvement of the response speed is not attained.
The semiconductor materials and the dimensions thereof are examples and they are changed depending on applications and wavelengths. For example, the semiconductor materials may be compound semiconductors such as GaAs (gallium-arsenide), AlGaAs (aluminum-gallium-arsenide), CaTe (cadmium-telluride), HgCdTe (mercury-cadmium-telluride), InSb (indium-antimonide), or Si (silicon) or Ge (germanium). The impurities to be selectively diffused may be Be (beryllium) or Cd (cadmium). The impurity diffusion to form the first and second regions 3 and 4 may be done by an ion implantation method.
In accordance with the present invention, the charges generated by the light directed to the outside of the photo-sensing region are collected by the simple structure of forming the region of the second conductivity type in the rear-entry type photo-sensing device to surround the photo-sensing region, and the degradation of the response speed is prevented.
From the invention thus described, it will be obvious that the invention may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. | A bottom-incidence type photo-sensing device has a pn junction, as a photo-sensing region, formed by selectively providing a first region of a second conductivity type in a portion of a semiconductive layer of a first conductivity type. The first region is surrounded by a second region of the second conductivity type formed in the semiconductive layer, and the second region is of the same or larger depth as or that of the first region. Even when light is directed to outside of the photo-sensing region, extra charges generated therein are absorbed by the second region and the flow of extra charges into the photo-sensing region is prevented. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention pertains generally to systems and methods for connecting an electronic device, such as a computer, with a peripheral card. More particularly, the present invention pertains to systems and methods that provide operational access to peripheral cards. The present invention is particularly, but not exclusively, useful as a system and method for removing, installing or replacing a single peripheral card in a chassis, when a plurality of peripheral cards are installed in one of a plurality of chassis that is mounted in a rack cabinet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In a computer system, there are various components that need to be electrically interconnected with each other in order for the system to accomplish its intended functional purpose. The main component of such a system is a central processor, or central processing unit (CPU). Internally, the CPU includes an arithmetic logic unit and a control unit. A CPU, however, will typically require electrical connections to external, application-specific devices that provide wherewithal for the CPU to accomplish particular functions. These devices are commonly referred to as “peripherals” or “peripheral cards” and, in general, they will each constitute an individual unit, such as an input device, an output device or a backing store.
[0003] As technology has progressed, and computer applications have become more convoluted, computer systems have become larger and much more complex. For one, more components are required. In commercial ventures, it now happens that even relatively unsophisticated computer systems can require many different peripherals. And, in each case, these peripherals need to somehow be properly integrated into a system. Further, the peripherals are preferably connected and supported in a manner that allows them to be easily accessed for replacement and maintenance purposes. Normally, such support is provided by a chassis.
[0004] In general, a chassis is an outer structural framework that is used to support electronic device(s). More specifically, in the context of the present invention, a chassis is typically shaped as a rectangular prism, and the devices it supports are peripheral cards. In most instances, several different peripheral cards (e.g. as many as four) are mounted on the same chassis. Further, large computer systems can require many chassis, with each chassis housing several peripherals. For each system, the actual number of chassis can vary significantly according to system requirements. On the other hand, the size of an individual chassis will depend primarily on the size and number of the peripheral cards it needs to hold.
[0005] Industry wide, variations in the size of chassis have been somewhat standardized. In general, all computer system chassis have a standard width. The height (or depth) of a chassis, however, can vary according to standardized units generally classified as “U's”, wherein one “U” is equal to one and three-quarters of an inch (1U=1.75 in.). Thus, depending on its depth (height), a chassis may be a one, two, three or four “U” chassis. In any event, it is not surprising that as the number of required peripherals increases for a particular computer system, so does the number of chassis. A consequence of this is: it is now common practice to stack many chassis on a same rack cabinet.
[0006] For many reasons, it can happen from time to time that a single peripheral card needs to be installed, removed, or replaced. When the peripheral card of interest is located in a chassis that is one of a large number of chassis on a rack cabinet, access to the particular peripheral card can be problematic. Heretofore, in such cases, it was necessary to remove the entire chassis from the rack cabinet. Then, once removed, it was necessary to remove the top panel from the chassis for access to the peripheral cards inside the chassis. All of this required special tooling, many man-hours and, more importantly, it often required the system be taken off-line while the changes in peripherals were being made.
[0007] In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method that facilitates removing, installing or replacing a peripheral card of a computer system, when the card is operationally mounted on a chassis and the chassis is mounted on a rack cabinet. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for removing, installing or replacing a peripheral card of a computer system that provides an adjustable mechanism for mounting different sized peripheral cards on the same chassis. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that allows for the installation, removal or replacement of a peripheral card without otherwise interfering with or obstructing the operation of the computer system in which the peripheral card is a component. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for removing, installing or replacing a peripheral card of a computer system that is relatively easy to manufacture, is simple to operate and is comparatively cost effective.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In accordance with the present invention, a system and method for installing, removing or replacing a peripheral card in a computer system envisions a platform for holding the peripheral card. Further, the platform is mounted in a chassis, and the chassis is held on a rack cabinet with many other similar chassis. In this environment, the system and method of the present invention facilitate access either directly to the peripheral card or to the location where it is to be mounted in the particular chassis. Importantly, this access can be accomplished without disengaging or removing the chassis from the rack cabinet.
[0009] For purposes of the present invention, a peripheral card is considered to be substantially flat and rectangular in shape. Thus, it has a front edge, a rear edge and a pair of opposed side edges. The electronic components that provide functional capabilities for the peripheral card are then mounted directly on the card.
[0010] Structurally, the system of the present invention includes a chassis that is substantially shaped like a rectangular prism. Accordingly, the chassis has a top panel, a bottom panel, opposed side members and opposed ends that together define a hollow, internal chamber for the chassis. A carrier on a slide rail is mounted on the bottom panel of the chassis, and the above-mentioned platform is mounted on the carrier. Further, a plurality of adapters is mounted on the platform. In this combination, the platform and its adapters can slide on the chassis for movement in the chamber on a path between the top and bottom panels and through an end of the chassis.
[0011] Each adapter on the platform is specifically configured to receive and hold a peripheral card. To do this, a mechanical connector is mounted on a side edge of the peripheral card for direct engagement with the platform. Specifically, this engagement is made at a fixed, predetermined point on the platform. For the other side edge of the peripheral card, the adapter includes a card guide. Unlike the fixed mechanical connector, however, the card guide is affixed to an adjuster that can be selectively positioned on the platform at a distance from the fixed point where the mechanical connector engages with the platform. With this adjuster, the card guide can be positioned on the platform to accommodate the length of the front edge of the peripheral card. Additionally, an electronic connector is mounted on the platform for electrical engagement with the front edge of the peripheral card. Further, thumbscrews mounted on the platform are provided to engage/disengage the platform with the chassis.
[0012] In the operation of the present invention, the platform and its associated peripheral cards are moveable between a first position and a second position. Specifically, in the first position, the peripheral card(s) are located inside the chassis chamber. In the second position, the peripheral card(s) are located outside the chassis chamber. For this movement, the thumbscrews on the platform are first manipulated to disengage the platform from the chassis. The platform and its peripheral cards are then moved from the first position to the second position. Once in the second position, the thumbscrew on the side edge of the adapter is manipulated to disengage the peripheral card from the platform. At this point, the peripheral card can slide along the card guide to release its front end from the electrical connector. The peripheral card can then either be repaired or replaced. While the platform is in its second position, peripheral card(s) can be inserted or installed on the platform, as desired. Thereafter, the platform and its associated peripheral cards can be returned to the first position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, both as to its structure and its operation, will be best understood from the accompanying drawings, taken in conjunction with the accompanying description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of chassis mounted on a rack cabinet for use with a CPU in a computer system;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a chassis with a platform and associated peripheral cards extending outside the chamber of the chassis; and
[0016] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a platform and associated peripheral cards.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Referring initially to FIG. 1 , a system in accordance with the present invention is shown and is generally designated 10 . In FIG. 1 it will be seen that the system 10 can include a plurality of chassis 12 that are collectively mounted on a same rack cabinet 14 . For purposes of this disclosure, however, a single chassis 12 (shown in FIG. 2 ) is considered. Nevertheless, it will be appreciated by skilled artisans that, in accordance with the present invention, other chassis 12 will be substantially similar. With this in mind, FIG. 1 also shows that the system 10 includes a computer processing unit (CPU) 16 that is electronically connected to the rack cabinet 14 via a wire or cable 18 .
[0018] In FIG. 2 , a single chassis 12 is shown to be a rectangular, prism shaped structure having a top panel 20 , a bottom panel 22 , a pair of opposed ends 24 and 26 , and a pair of opposed side members 28 and 30 . The height “h” of the chassis 12 (i.e. the distance between top panel 20 and bottom panel 22 ) is typically measured in units (i.e. U's) that are one and three quarter inches each. The height “h” for the chassis 12 is considered here to be 1U. FIG. 2 also shows the system 10 includes a carrier 32 that is mounted on the chassis 12 . And, it includes a pair of platforms 34 a and 34 b that are respectively mounted on the carrier 32 . Additionally, FIG. 2 shows a peripheral card 36 mounted on the platform 34 a, and peripheral cards 38 and 40 mounted on the platform 34 b. With reference to FIG. 3 , it will be seen that an additional peripheral card 42 can be mounted on the platform 34 a, along with the peripheral card 36 . As intended for the present invention, this arrangement allows as many as four different peripheral cards 36 , 38 40 and 42 to be mounted on a same chassis 12 . Importantly, in the arrangement shown, each peripheral card 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 is equally accessible.
[0019] Still referring to FIG. 2 , the carrier 32 and platforms 34 a and 34 b are shown in a position wherein they are located outside an internal chamber 46 that is formed inside the chassis 12 between the top and bottom panels 20 , 22 . As indicated above, when in the position shown in FIG. 2 , all of the peripheral cards 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 are exposed so they can be equally and easily manipulated or accessed for installation, removal or replacement. It is an important aspect of the present invention that this access is possible, even though the chassis 12 remains mounted on the rack cabinet 14 . Further, it is to be appreciated that when the removal, replacement or installation of a peripheral card 36 , 38 , 40 or 42 has been completed, the carrier 32 , along with platforms 34 a and 34 b, and their respective peripheral cards 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 can be repositioned inside the chamber 46 of the chassis 12 . Thumbscrews 44 a and 44 b can then be engaged with the end 24 of chassis 12 to hold the carrier 32 and the peripheral cards 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 inside the chamber 46 .
[0020] In greater detail, the structural aspects of the present invention will be best appreciated with reference to FIG. 3 . For clarity, the disclosure here focuses on only the interaction of the peripheral card 36 with the platform 34 a. It must be appreciated, however, that the interaction of the other peripheral cards 38 , 40 and 42 with their respective platforms 34 a or 34 b are essentially the same. With this understanding, FIG. 3 shows that the exemplary peripheral card 36 is substantially flat and has a front edge 48 , a rear edge 50 and a pair of opposed side edges 52 and 54 . Further, it is seen that the peripheral card 36 has a mechanical connector 56 that is affixed to its side edge 54 . Though not shown, various electrical components can be mounted on the peripheral card 36 for the purpose of performing specific functions with the CPU 16 . Electrically, these components are connected in contact with leads (also not shown) that are positioned along the portion 58 of front edge 48 .
[0021] Still referring to FIG. 3 , it is seen that an adapter 60 is mounted directly on the platform 34 a. More specifically, the adapter 60 includes an electrical connector 62 , and it includes a card guide 64 that is attached to an adjuster 66 . Also, the adapter 60 includes an extension 68 . Importantly, the adjuster 66 can be selectively positioned on the adapter 60 in order to accommodate the length “I” of the front edge 48 of the peripheral card 36 . For an engagement of the peripheral card 36 with the platform 34 a, these components must interact with each other.
[0022] To engage the peripheral card 36 with the platform 34 a, the adjuster 66 is first positioned on the adapter 60 . Specifically, this is done with consideration given to the length “l” of the front edge 48 of the peripheral card 36 . The mechanical connector 56 can then be engaged with the extension 68 of the adapter 60 . As the mechanical connector 56 is being engaged with the extension 68 , the side edge 52 of peripheral card 36 is able to slide into the card guide 64 . Also, during this engagement, the portion 58 on front edge 48 of the peripheral card 36 makes electrical contact with the electrical connector 62 . With this electrical contact, and with the side edge 52 of peripheral card 36 held in the card guide 64 , the thumbscrew 70 is engaged with the fixed point 72 to firmly hold the peripheral card 36 on the platform 34 a.
[0023] In the operation of the system 10 of the present invention, whenever access to a peripheral card (e.g. peripheral card 36 ) is required, or whenever a new peripheral card 36 needs to be installed in the system 10 , the chassis 12 that is holding the peripheral card 36 is identified on the rack cabinet 14 . The thumbscrews 44 a and 44 b on the chassis 12 are then loosened, and the carrier 32 is pulled from the chamber 46 of chassis 12 , and into the position shown in FIG. 2 . In this position, all of the peripheral cards 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 that are mounted in the chassis 12 on platforms 34 a and 34 b, as well as the carrier 32 , are exposed and accessible. Next, a thumbscrew 70 (see FIG. 3 ) on the mechanical connector 56 is loosened. This disconnects the peripheral card 36 from the platform 34 a, and it (the peripheral card 36 ) can then be removed and repaired or replaced, as necessary.
[0024] The installation of a peripheral card 36 on a chassis 12 essentially includes the steps set forth above for the removal of a peripheral card 36 . Specifically, the carrier 32 needs to be pulled from the chamber 46 of the chassis 12 . Then, once the adjuster 66 and its card guide 64 are properly positioned on the adapter 60 (i.e. to accommodate the length “I” of the front edge 48 of peripheral card 36 ), the side edge 52 of the peripheral card 36 can be positioned in the card guide 64 . The peripheral card 36 is then moved forward toward the platform 34 a and the mechanical connector 56 is engaged with the adapter 60 . This is done by tightening the thumbscrew 70 into a receptacle at the point 72 on adapter 60 . This also causes the portion 58 of front edge 48 of peripheral card 36 to electrically engage with the electrical connector 62 . Note: the distance between card guide 64 and the point 72 , where the mechanical connector 56 engages with the adaptor 60 , is established by the length “I” of the peripheral card 36 . By way of comparison, an adjuster 74 and its associated card guide 76 are shown positioned in FIG. 3 to accommodate the peripheral card 42 . The difference in the sizes of the peripheral cards 36 and 42 is accounted for by the comparative positions of the adjusters 66 and 74 on the adapter 60 . When the peripheral card 36 has been engaged with the platform 34 a, the carrier 32 can be returned to its position in the chamber 46 of chassis 12 , and secured there by tightening the screws 44 a and 44 b. As will be appreciated by the skilled artisan, one or more peripheral cards 36 , 38 , 40 or 42 can be individually or collectively removed, replaced or installed on a chassis 12 without interrupting the operation of any other peripheral card 36 , 38 , 40 or 42 in any chassis 12 in a rack cabinet 14 . Stated differently, power to the rack cabinet 14 or to individual chassis 12 in the rack cabinet 14 can continue while individual peripheral cards 36 , 38 , 40 or 42 are being manipulated.
[0025] While the particular Sliding Card Carrier as herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of obtaining the objects and providing the advantages herein before stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the appended claims. | A system and method is provided for individually changing the peripheral cards of an electronic device, when the cards are operationally held inside a chassis on a rack cabinet. Included is a platform for holding the peripheral cards, and a slide carrier mounted on the chassis for moving the platform with cards into and out of the internal chamber of the chassis. Importantly, this is done while the chassis remains stationary on the rack cabinet. When moved outside the chassis chamber, each peripheral card can be individually handled (i.e. installed or removed) without contact or operational interference with other peripheral cards held on the platform. Adapters on the platform can be adjusted to accommodate the dimensions of each peripheral card. | 7 |
[0001] The present application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/691,951 filed Oct. 23, 2003, which application is incorporated in it's entirely herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates in general to electric powered bicycles, and more particularly to new, improved technology for electric powered bicycles that provides, among other things, steeper and more efficient hill climbing ability, longer range, and a smother ride than the prior art, plus downhill regenerative braking.
[0003] Prior art electric drives for bicycles can be divided into the following four basic types:
[0004] (1) Friction drive on the tire;
[0005] (2) Drives through the pedal shaft to the rear wheel;
[0006] (3) Direct drives to the rear wheel; and
[0007] (4) Wheel hub motors.
[0008] The cheapest and simplest type of electric drive for a bicycle is a friction drive on the front or rear tire. This method is so inefficient that it is almost impractical. However this type will probably continue to be built and sold, because they can be easily installed on an existing bicycle as a kit. U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,557 to von Keyserling, U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,101 to Gannon, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,678 to Hirano contain examples of this type of drive.
[0009] State of the art drives through the pedal shaft to the rear wheel are usually heavy, bulky gearboxes with electric motors attached and a pedal shaft protruding on each side. The advantage of this type of drive is that the rear wheel is driven through the normal pedal chain by the pedals and the motor, or by the pedals alone. Therefore, a normal multi-speed bicycle rear drive can be used to improve hill climbing ability and efficiency. There are a few versions that allow the motor to drive the rear wheel without turning the pedals, but they require additional mechanisms, which increase the cost.
[0010] A disadvantage of this type of drive is that the pedal shaft turns at about one third of the speed of the rear wheel in high gear; therefore, the rotational speed of the motor must be reduced about three times further when driving through the pedal shaft, than when driving the wheel directly. And then, as the power from the motor is transmitted on through the pedal shaft to the rear wheel it has to be sped up again, to about three times the pedal shaft speed. Both the additional reduction and the subsequent up-speed add to the friction losses and cause a significant loss in overall efficiency.
[0011] Electric bicycles must carry a large amount of battery weight to have an effective range, and for safety and maneuverability it is very important to keep that weight low and toward the center of the bicycle. Therefore, another disadvantage of driving through the pedal shaft is that the bulky transmission and motor combination around the pedal shaft causes the battery to be relegated to a higher position, away from the center of the bicycle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,586 to Chang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,683 to Wada, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,021 to Sonobe each disclose a different configuration of a drive through the pedal shaft to the rear wheel.
[0012] Direct drives to the rear wheel take many different forms, but one disadvantage common to all of them is that they require another drive chain and sprocket, or belt and pulley to the rear wheel, in addition to the customary pedal chain and sprocket. Also, in order to pedal the bicycle efficiently when the motor is not in use, another ratcheting device (commonly called a “freewheel”) is required between the extra sprocket or pulley and the rear wheel hub. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,011,366 to Murakami, 5,937,964 to Mayer, and 5,433,284 to Chou are examples of direct drive to the rear wheel.
[0013] Wheel hub motors look similar to the normal bicycle hub having flanges with holes for spokes on each side and an axle through the center. However they are much larger in diameter, about six to ten inches, and much heavier, about ten to fifteen pounds. They are made for either front or rear wheel application, but when applied to the front wheel of a bicycle, they create a gyroscopic force that at high speed makes the bicycle hard to steer and dangerous in some conditions. When applied to either end of the bicycle, wheel hub motors increase the polar moment of inertia significantly in both the vertical and horizontal planes. It is well known by those skilled in the art of designing vehicles that this is a highly undesirable characteristic from a handling and safety point of view. When applied to the front of a bicycle with front suspension, the large increase in un-sprung weight renders the suspension practically ineffective, and the same is true at the rear. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,286,616 to Kutter, 6,093,985 to Chen, and 6,015,021 to Tanaka teach different configurations of wheel hub motors.
[0014] At constant voltage, as the required torque increases, the speed and the efficiency of a direct current electric motor of the type used on electric bicycles decreases. Therefore, a bicycle with a single gear ratio electric drive is very inefficient when climbing a hill, because it must slow down to develop the required torque to overcome the hill. In moderately hilly terrain, this inefficiency can cut the range of the bicycle in half. The steeper the hill, the less efficient the motor becomes. On a long hill, this wasted energy usually heats up the motor enough to open the thermal protection switch and turn off the power before the bicycle reaches the top of the hill.
[0015] Common bicycle multi-speed drives, such as multi-speed hubs or rear derailleurs, drive the rear wheel through a freewheel device, so that the pedals do not turn while coasting. Therefore, any of the prior art bicycles that used this type of devices to increase the hill climbing ability of the motor do not have the ability to recharge the battery through the electrical generation capability of the motor while coasting downhill. In fact, there does not seem to be any evidence that there has ever been a bicycle with more than a single gear ratio electric drive that had the ability to drive the motor while coasting downhill. This ability is important to extending the range of the electric bicycle, because most electric motors have the ability to act as generators when connected to the correct circuitry.
[0016] Accordingly, the need exists for an electric powered bicycle that incorporates the following important features:
[0017] (1) A simple, inexpensive multi-speed rear wheel drive that can be driven efficiently by either the pedals or the motor independently or both in unison, without losing the ability to drive the motor as a generator for charging the batteries while pedaling or coasting downhill.
[0018] (2) A shifting device that can be used to shift the multi-speed drive to greater speed reductions as the bicycle begins to climb steeper hills. (When the hub shifts to larger reductions, the torque required from the motor to climb the hill is reduced and the efficiency increases.)
[0019] (3) A motor/drive unit and large battery container that can be fitted to an existing bicycle design in a position that is low and close to the center of the bicycle.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The simplest, most efficient way of accomplishing the intent of this invention is to use one of the newly developed, highly efficient, gear-less, brush-less, direct current, electric, rear hub motors, but not installed in the wheel as the manufacturer intended. Instead, the axle of the hub motor is mounted to brackets that are, in turn, mounted to the frame of the bicycle, just forward of the rear wheel. Because the motor is designed to turn at the speed of a bicycle wheel, a sprocket of about the same size as the sprocket on the multi-speed hub can be fixedly mounted to the rotatable outer case of the motor, beside the conventional freewheel, and concentric to the motor axle. A conventional bicycle chain can then be operatively connected around the two sprockets to drive the rear wheel. The difference in the size of the two sprockets must be adjusted to obtain the desired top speed of the bicycle, depending on the highest gear ratio of the multi-speed hub chosen.
[0021] Another conventional bicycle chain is operatively connected around the conventional large sprocket on the pedal shaft and the sprocket on the conventional freewheel, screwed onto the outer case of the motor in the conventional location. This arrangement provides the rider with the ability to drive the motor, and, in turn, the rear wheel by pedaling the bicycle. Since this type of motor offers almost no resistance to rotation when the power is turned off, this bicycle can be pedaled with almost the same ease as a non-electric bicycle with the same rear hub. Fitted with the appropriate circuitry, at the command of the rider, the motor can be pedaled forward to recharge the batteries. This adds only minimally to the effort of pedaling, and it is particularly convenient if the bicycle is on at least a slight downhill grade.
[0022] The first preferred embodiment of the invention additionally provides downhill regenerative braking. The two drive chains described above are preferably located on the right side of the bicycle, as conventional, which leaves the left side open for a forward drive from the rear wheel to the motor. This drive arrangement can be accomplished by fixedly connecting a sprocket to the left side of the outer case of the motor, like the one on the right side, screwing a freewheel onto the left side of the rear hub, and connecting a chain around the two sprockets. Thus, when the power to the motor is turned off and the bicycle is coasting downhill, the rear wheel drives the motor in the forward direction. Fitted with the correct circuitry and at the command of the rider, the motor, when driven at or above approximately half of its full speed, can recharge the batteries and provide braking assistance.
[0023] As is well known by those skilled in the art, the drive function performed by the chain and sprocket arrangement can alternatively be performed by other mechanisms, including gears, shafts, cables, belts and pulleys, cog belts and pulleys, and gear belts and pulleys.
[0024] As is well known by those skilled in the art, the conventional freewheel allows free rotation of the chain and sprocket in one direction, and provides a fixed connection to transfer driving force from the chain to the rotating member (in this instance, the outer case of the motor), when the chain travels in the other direction. As is also well known by those skilled in the art, the function performed by the conventional freewheel can alternatively be performed by a number of other unidirectional rotating devices, such as a clutch bearing fitted with a sprocket.
[0025] This first preferred embodiment also has, among others, the following advantages:
[0026] (1) Since the motor is brushless, and gearless, and turns at very low speed, about 260 RPM (the speed of the a 26 ″ bicycle wheel traveling at 20 MPH), there is almost no friction loss when driving the motor forward, so most of the pedaling or braking energy is converted to electrical power.
[0027] (2) The multi-speed rear hub can be operated to keep both the motor and pedaling speed up even when the bicycle is moving slowly, which provides the necessary torque and efficiency when hill climbing.
[0028] (3) These electronically commutated motors are usually of the three phase synchronous type, which makes the circuitry for regenerative pedaling and braking simple, efficient, and inexpensive.
[0029] A second preferred embodiment of this invention is similar to the first preferred embodiment except that a jack-shaft is rotatably mounted, in place of the motor, in the motor mounting brackets. Then a smaller, slightly higher speed, brush-less, gear-less motor of the type used in the first preferred embodiment, or of the type that has a fixed case and a rotating shaft, is mounted beside the jack-shaft, preferably in the same brackets. The jack-shaft can then be driven at about the same speed as the large motor it replaced, through a small reduction drive from the smaller, higher speed motor. A freewheel is not needed between the motor and the jack-shaft because the small reduction drive (under four to one ratio) would not cause appreciable frictional loss and the regenerative pedaling and braking would still be quite effective. Pedaling can be accomplished through a freewheel on the jack-shaft and a sprocket, fixed to the jack-shaft, would be operatively connected to the sprocket on the rear hub through a bicycle chain, thereby allowing the bicycle to be driven by the motor, through the jack-shaft, to the multi-speed rear hub without turning the pedals.
[0030] As is well known by those skilled in the art, a jack-shaft is an intermediate shaft which receives power through belts or gearing and transmits it to other driven rotating members.
[0031] The second preferred embodiment with the jack-shaft can also be fitted with the downhill regenerative braking. This would be accomplished by screwing a freewheel onto the left side of the rear hub, fixedly attaching a sprocket to the jack-shaft, and operatively connecting a bicycle chain around the two sprockets.
[0032] A third preferred embodiment of this invention is the same as the first preferred embodiment except that the rear hub motor is of the type that contains a high-speed brush motor, a reduction gear assembly (with a ratio of about ten to one or above), and a freewheeling device inside the hub. The freewheeling device inside the hub allows freewheel coasting and ease of pedaling when the motor is not running
[0033] A fourth preferred embodiment of this invention is the same as the third preferred embodiment with the jack-shaft, except that the motor is of the small, high speed, either brush or brush-less type. Because of the large amount of reduction required between the motor and the jack-shaft, a freewheel is used in the reduction drive, preferably on the jack-shaft, for freewheel coasting and ease of pedaling when the motor is not running.
[0034] It can be seen from the description of the prior art and the above summary of the present invention, how this unique, new concept of a simple, multi-speed drive, which is rotated at a speed that creates the least amount of friction loss for both the pedal power up-speed and the motor power reduction, overcomes the efficiency limitations of the prior art. For the first time, a practical, efficient regenerative charging system for an electric bicycle can be accomplished due to this new technology. The present invention also has the advantage of being able to be fitted into an existing bicycle design, just above the pedal shaft, where it does not prevent the battery module from being mounted low (close to the ground) on the frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0035] The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:
[0036] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a bicycle, exemplifying a first preferred embodiment of the present invention viewed from the right side.
[0037] FIG. 2 is a view of the drive train of FIG. 1 with the bracket that holds the motor cut away so that the drive mechanism behind it is visible.
[0038] FIG. 3 is a view of a drive train of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, utilizing a derailleur mechanism on the rear hub instead of a multi-speed hub with internal gears, like FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 .
[0039] FIG. 4 is a view of the drive train of either FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 as viewed from the left side of the bicycle, illustrating the regenerative braking mechanism.
[0040] FIG. 5 is an illustration of the drive train of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention with a higher speed motor driving through a jack-shaft to approximate the pedal speed.
[0041] FIG. 6 is a view of the drive train of FIG. 5 from the left side of the bicycle, also illustrating the regenerative braking mechanism.
[0042] FIG. 7 is an illustration of the drive train of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention with a smaller, higher speed motor driving through a jack-shaft for further speed reduction and to approximate the pedal speed with the motor speed.
[0043] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0044] The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.
[0045] Referring to FIG. 1 , an electric powered bicycle 10 of the present invention preferably includes a frame and fork assembly 12 , a front wheel assembly 16 , a rear wheel assembly 14 , a seat assembly 18 , a handle bar assembly 20 , a front and rear brake assembly (not shown), a pedal crank assembly 22 , a multi-speed rear hub assembly 24 , a pedal sprocket 26 , a hub motor assembly 28 , a hub motor axle 39 , a drive chain 30 , a pedal chain 32 , a motor support bracket 34 , and a battery module 36 . The battery module 36 is mounted to the frame 12 in a way that makes it easy to remove in the forward direction and easy to replace in the reverse direction. The battery module 36 fits between sprocket 26 and the left side of pedal crank assembly 22 at a position no lower (closer to the ground) than pedal 22 at its lowest position.
[0046] Motor 28 was designed as a bicycle hub motor and, therefore, the outer case turns while the axle 39 remains fixed. Bracket 34 is mounted to frame 12 and supports the flattened axle 39 of hub motor 28 in slots 38 on both sides of bracket 34 . Motor assembly 28 can be adjusted in slots 38 and tightened into position by axle nuts (not shown) on hub motor axle 39 to adjust the tension on chain 32 .
[0047] FIG. 2 is a view of the drive train in FIG. 1 with the bracket 34 cut away so that a pedal freewheel 40 and the motor sprocket 42 can be seen. Motor sprocket 42 is fixedly and concentrically mounted to the outer case of motor 28 , and chain 30 is engaged to sprocket 42 and the conventional sprocket on the multi-speed hub 24 , so that when the motor turns, it drives wheel 14 . Freewheel 40 is mounted in its conventional position on the case of motor 28 and has the same function in this application as it does when the motor 28 is used as a bicycle wheel motor. When the motor 28 is operating, it does not turn the sprocket on the freewheel 40 or the pedal sprocket 26 , but when the pedals are also operating and the sprocket on the freewheel 40 is rotated as fast as the motor 28 , the pedals can drive the motor, and consequently, the bicycle.
[0048] FIG. 3 is a view of a drive train of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, utilizing a derailleur mechanism on the rear hub instead of a multi-speed hub with internal gears, like FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . The mechanism in FIG. 3 is the same as the mechanism in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 except that chain 31 engages sprocket 42 on motor 28 and one of the sprockets on the freewheel, sprocket cluster 25 , on the rear hub (not shown), depending on the position of the conventional bicycle derailleur 23 . Thereby a multi-speed function similar to the hub in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is provided.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 is a view of the drive train in either FIG. 3 or FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , but from the opposite (left) side of the bicycle, illustrating the drive train mechanism used to provide downhill, regenerative braking capability. Driven sprocket 44 is fixedly mounted to the case of motor 28 in the same manner as sprocket 42 , except on the left side of the motor 28 instead of the right side, and chain 48 is operably engaged with sprocket 44 and the sprocket on freewheel 46 . Freewheel 46 is fixedly and concentrically mounted to the left side of the rear hub of the bicycle in the direction that allows the motor 28 to run and turn the sprocket on the freewheel 46 without engaging the hub and turning the rear wheel 14 . Therefore, when the motor is running or the bicycle is being pedaled, or both, the mechanism on the right side will be driving the rear wheel 14 through the multi-speed device, the most desirable method. However, when the bicycle is coasting (i.e., the motor is not driving the rear wheel) the rear wheel 14 is driving the motor 28 , which, with enough speed and the correct electrical circuits engaged, can recharge the battery. The ratio between the numbers of teeth on the two sprockets, 44 and 46 , must be determined by the ratio of the speed of the motor 28 to the speed of the hub 24 in its highest gear. When the motor is driving the multi-speed device, hub 24 or sprocket cluster 25 , in its highest gear, the sprocket on freewheel 46 should drive sprocket 44 , at preferably the same speed as the motor 28 , or slightly slower; but not any faster, or the drive will malfunction.
[0050] FIG. 5 is an illustration of the drive train of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention with a slightly higher speed motor driving through a belt and pulleys, chain and sprockets, gears, or the like, to a jack-shaft 68 to provide a speed reduction drive mechanism to approximate the pedal speed. In this embodiment of the present invention a rotatable jack-shaft 68 takes the place of motor 28 in FIGS. 1 through 4 . Bearings 70 are rotatably mounted to each end of the jack-shaft 68 , and the outer races of bearings 70 are fixedly mounted to each side of motor bracket 56 , leaving space for multiple sprockets and a jackshaft freewheel 40 a . In FIG. 5 , bracket 56 is cut away so that the jackshaft freewheel 40 a and sprockets 52 , 58 , and 60 can be seen.
[0051] Continuing with FIG. 5 , a drive (or motor) sprocket 52 is fixedly and concentrically mounted to the outer case of motor 50 , and a motor-jackshaft chain 62 is operably engaged with the sprocket 52 and a jackshaft-motor sprocket 58 , which is fixedly and concentrically mounted on shaft 68 . A jackshaft-hub chain 64 is operably engaged with a jackshaft-hub sprocket 60 (which is fixedly and concentrically mounted on shaft 68 ) and a hub sprocket on the hub 24 , so that when the motor turns, it drives wheel 14 through chains 62 and 64 . A pedal-jackshaft chain 66 is operably engaged with a jackshaft-pedal sprocket 41 on a jackshaft freewheel 40 a and the pedal sprocket 26 on the pedal crank 22 . The freewheel 40 a is mounted on shaft 68 in the orientation so that when the motor 50 is operating, it does not turn the jackshaft-pedal sprocket 41 on the freewheel 40 a nor the pedal sprocket 26 . However, when the pedal crank 22 is also operating and freewheel 40 a is rotating as fast as the jackshaft-motor sprocket 58 , which is being driven by the motor 50 , the pedal crank 22 can drive the shaft 68 , and consequently, the motor 50 and the rear wheel of the bicycle.
[0052] FIG. 6 is a view of the drive train of FIG. 5 from the left side of the bicycle, similar to FIG. 4 , illustrating the drive train mechanism used to provide downhill, regenerative braking capability for this embodiment. The mechanism illustrated here is the same as in FIG. 4 , except that sprocket 72 (which has the same function as sprocket 44 ) is concentrically and fixedly mounted to shaft 68 instead of the housing of motor 28 . Since the motor 50 is directly connected to the shaft 68 through chain 62 and sprockets 52 and 58 , this drive train functions the same as the drive train in FIG. 4 and provides the same downhill, regenerative braking capability under the same conditions.
[0053] FIG. 7 is an illustration of the drive train of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention with a smaller, much higher speed motor driving through a belt and pulleys, chain and pulleys, gears, or the like, to a jack-shaft to provide a speed reduction drive mechanism for two purposes: one, for further speed reduction before driving the rear wheel; and two, like the mechanism in FIG. 5 , to approximate the pedal speed with the motor speed. The mechanism illustrated here is the same as in FIG. 5 , except that pedaling the bicycle forward does not turn the motor 80 . The large freewheel sprocket 88 , which replaces sprocket 58 in FIG. 5 , is mounted on jack-shaft 68 in the orientation that allows shaft 68 to turn from pedaling without turning the sprocket on the freewheel 88 , but does not allow the motor 80 to turn sprocket 88 without turning the shaft 68 . This arrangement thereby allows the motor 80 to drive the rear wheel, but not allowing the pedals to turn the motor 80 . There is so much friction in the large speed reduction drive required (about twenty to one) when using a small, high-speed motor in an electric bicycle, that the bicycle would not pedal freely if the motor had to be turned. Therefore, this embodiment does not provide downhill regenerative pedaling or braking, but the cost of a small, high speed motor is much less than the motor in FIG. 2 .
[0054] The present invention encompasses an apparatus and method for a pedal and electric powered vehicle, including a pedal crank and sprocket, an electric motor, a sprocket and a freewheel mounted to the drive portion of the motor, a chain connecting the motor sprocket to a sprocket on the wheel, and a chain connecting the freewheel to the pedal sprocket, so that either the motor or the pedals, independently or in unison, can drive the vehicle.
[0055] The present invention also encompasses an apparatus and method for a pedal and electric powered vehicle having another freewheel mounted to either the wheel hub or the drive portion of the motor, another sprocket mounted to the other of the wheel hub or the drive portion of the motor, and another chain connecting the sprocket to the freewheel so that the wheel can drive the motor for regenerative braking.
[0056] While the present invention has been illustrated by a description of the preferred embodiments and while these embodiments have been described in considerable detail in order to describe the best mode of practicing the invention, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. For example, if mounted in the correct orientations, freewheel 46 and sprocket 44 in FIG. 4 could be interchanged and still provide the same downhill, regenerative braking capability. Also, the motor housing and battery box could be formed as part of the structural members of a specially designed bicycle frame, with the present invention in mind. Additional advantages and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The invention itself should only be defined by the appended claims.
[0057] While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims. | An electrically powered vehicle includes a frame mounted motor connected to pedals and to a rear driven wheel through an intermediate jackshaft. The motor is connected to the jackshaft through a chain or belt. The pedals are connected to the jackshaft through a chain or belt and a jackshaft-pedal freewheel which allows the pedals to drive the jackshaft, but prevents the jackshaft from driving the pedal. The jackshaft is connected to the driven wheel through another chain or belt, and a second freewheel allows the jackshaft to drive the driven wheel but prevents the driven wheel from driving the jackshaft using the same chain or belt. Another chain or belt may additionally connect the driven wheel to the jackshaft through a third freewheel to recharge batteries during braking or while coasting downhill. | 1 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to control of telecommunication features from a remote feature processor data base.
PROBLEM
Modern telecommunications systems offer to their customers a wide variety of features. A telecommunication switch of such a system comprises a stored program for controlling switch operations and implementing features, and a data base which, among other functions, defines the active features for each customer connected to the switch. These features include customer services such as conference, call waiting, call forwarding, and call forwarding on busy.
In recent years, remote data bases have been added for enhancing the capabilities of a telecommunication switch. For example, a data base is used for routing 800 (free phone) calls by providing a destination, a conventional or plain old telephone service (POTS) telephone number that corresponds to each dialed 800 number for a particular region. Such data bases have provided great flexibility for routing telephone traffic in accordance with the needs of private business networks or special types of calls.
The combination of the switches, the data bases for modifying routing and the signaling network interconnecting these data bases is called an intelligent network.
More recently, a need has been found for telephone operating companies to find means for customizing the use of the features and capabilities that are available in their switches through the use of a specialized data base and its associated processor. A feature is a service to which a customer may subscribe. An example is the call waiting service whereby a customer can arrange to get a signal if an incoming call comes while the customer is on another call and the customer can arrange to switch to the waiting call. Such a data base, called a remote feature processor (RFP), may be a switching control point (SCP) or adjunct. (The adjunct uses a higher speed data link to communicate with the switch, thereby making it possible to exchange more data between the switch and the adjunct).
The combination of the switches and the SCP or adjunct plus the signaling network that interconnects the two is called an advanced intelligent network.
More advanced intelligent networks are capable not only of modifying or specifying routing of calls performing calling card checks, etc., but also for customizing the use of telephone features, making available new features through appropriate use of the atomic feature set of the switch. Therefore, in order to implement an advanced intelligent network, it is necessary to provide an interface for specifying the atomic capability set elements to be invoked in a particular call at the interface to the switch and at the interface to the RFP, to provide a description of the atomic capability set currently active for a particular customer and the character of the stimulus such as an incoming call for which a response is to be generated. The features in the switch are implemented through the use of a set of feature primitives or primitives. The remote feature processor has its own data base for storing information about remote features of customers and switch feature information.
A requirement of a more advanced intelligent network is that it must allow for the proper interworking of remote and switch features. In order to meet this requirement, using presently contemplated solutions, the amount of interface bandwidth required to transmit feature information between the remote feature processor and the switch is high; as new switch features are introduced, they must be introduced using a standard communication protocol between the remote feature processor and the switch and must be programmed simultaneously into the remote feature processors as well as the switches; the remote feature processor must store and process a great deal of switch feature information in order to accomplish its task; and the remote feature processor must store a great deal of switch feature information for each customer connected to the switch.
A problem with this arrangement is that the processing which must be carried out by the remote feature processor must take into a account the characteristics both of the switch feature set and the remote feature processor feature set in order to carry out its work. This requires the remote feature processor be constantly updated as new features are added to the switch and requires a complex analysis program to account for all the interactions of features of the remote feature processor and features of the switch processor.
Another problem of the advanced intelligent network is that the switches of different vendors must all interact with a common feature processor. As a result, it is necessary to have a coordinated data interface describing each feature in a common language so that the feature information received by the remote feature processor and transmitted from the remote feature processor is the same for the switches of all different manufacturers.
SOLUTION
In accordance with the principles of this invention, an advance is made over the prior art and the above problems are substantially alleviated by transmitting functional indicators from the switch to the remote feature processor. A functional indicator is an indicator of a basic characteristic of a call which may be associated with a plurality of features, and which may influence execution of other features, wherein the execution of at least some of the features in the two groups can be influenced by the RFP. Execution of a switch based feature that causes that characteristic to occur sets the functional indicator. Then, RFP based features that might be affected by the characteristic read the functional indicator to determine the execution of the RFP based feature.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, execution of an RFP based feature that causes a characteristic to occur, sets a functional indicator The RFP transmits that functional indicator to the switch. The execution of switch based features can then be modified by functional indicators received from the RFP.
Advantageously, these arrangements allow switch and RFP programs to interpret remote commands more readily and substantially reduce the bandwidth required for messages between the remote feature processor and the switch.
An example of a functional indicator is a "do not disturb" indicator which may be set, for example, by features such as cancel call waiting (do not give a call waiting signal because the customer does not wish to have the call interrupted), data security (do not interrupt the call because a data call may be mutilated through the signal for call waiting) and a "do not disturb" feature (the customer does not wish to be disturbed with calls for a certain period).
Other examples of functional indicators are:
1. A multiway controller indicator; this indicator is used to identify the controlling station on conference calls. Many different types of conference features are associated with this functional indicator which is used to identify the controlling customer station for any type of conference call.
2. A facsimile call indicator can be used, for example, to automatically forward facsimile calls from a nonfacsimile terminal to a facsimile terminal for accepting facsimile calls for the nominal terminating number.
3. An emergency service indicator can be used, for example, to insure that all emergency calls are retained, even in the presence of features that would otherwise try to reconfigure or redirect a call.
4. A priority service indicator can be used to trigger a special alerting (ringing) signal, provide barge-in privileges, or modify terminating treatment such as automatic forwarding or the cancellation of forwarding (so that, for example, for a boss/secretary group, the boss would be automatically accessed by the priority call).
5. An operator assistance call indicator; this can be used to instruct features other than operator assistance call features to ignore a switchhook "flash" and thus not interfere with whatever operator feature is active.
Functional indicators allow switch and remote features to have enough knowledge of each other's operation so that they can interact in appropriate ways. Defining only needed functional indicators that can be shared by multiple features saves switch-RFP bandwidth and results in less switch information for the RFP to process than is the case with a feature-specific solution. Sharing of functional indicators by multiple features allows new switch features to be introduced without changing RFP software or the switch-RFP interface (and thus, the software of other switch vendors). In general, it results in a more stable switch-RFP interface and thus, in fewer multi-vendor coordinated software changes than with a feature-specific solution.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of the operation of the invention; and
FIGS. 2-4 are flow diagrams of actions performed by an RFP and a switch.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of applicant's invention. A plurality of switching systems 10, . . . , 11 are connected to a signaling network 20 for accessing a remote feature processor 30. Each of the switching systems and the remote feature processor comprise a program controlled processor and a data base for storing data, such as feature data, related to individual customers. The switching systems are, for example, local end offices such as the 5ESS® switching system described in AT&T Technical Journal, Vol. 64, No. 6, Part 2, July/August 1985, pp. 1305-1564. The signaling network in this exemplary embodiment is a network for transmitting signaling messages using the CCS7 protocol of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The signaling network includes signal transfer points for switching messages transmitted within the signaling network. It is the function of the remote feature processor to process event messages transmitted from a switching system, such as switching system 10, and to reply with event response messages. Responsive to the event response messages, the switching system may alter subsequent processing of a call if the functional indicators received are different from the functional indicators transmitted.
Switching system 10 transmits an event message 40 comprising a transaction identifier 42 to allow the event and event response messages to be correlated, a group of functional indicators (segment 44), a description of the event for which a response is requested (segment 46), and the identifications of the customers associated with that event (segment 48). This message 40 is transmitted from switching system 10 over data link 12 to the signaling network 20, thence over data link 32 to remote feature processor 30. Remote feature processor 30 receives message 40, examines the functional indicators therein, consults its own data base and its own event processing programs and prepares and transmits an event response message 50. This event response message is transmitted from remote feature processor 30 over data link 32 to signaling network 20, thence to data link 12 and switching system 10. The event response message 50 comprises a transaction identifier (segment 52) which, if the response message is in response to message 40 is identical to the original transaction identifier of segment 42, a group of functional indicators (segment 54) prepared in response to the event message in consideration of the program of the remote feature processor 30 for processing event messages including functional indicators and in view of data concerning the customer stored in the data base of the remote feature processor, and segment 56 which specifies the response command to switching system 10.
FIG. 2 is a high level flow chart of the call processing that takes place in the switch. Block 201 indicates that a detectable event is detected in the switch. This event may be something which is actually detected using the peripheral equipment of the switch or it may be a message received from another switch. Test 203 checks whether the remote feature processor is interested in this type of event. If so, then the blocks of FIG. 3, starting with block 301 are executed. If not, test 205 determines whether any switch feature is interested in the detected event. If a switch feature is interested in the event, then the blocks shown on FIG. 4, starting with block 401 are executed. If not, then normal call processing is continued (action block 207).
FIG. 3 describes the actions performed in response to the detection of an event which is of interest to a remote feature processor. The functional indicators in the call processing block are read (action block 301) and an event message is generated including the functional indicator segment (action block 303). This event message is then sent to the remote feature processor 305. In the meantime, while the remote feature processor acts on this message, the switch is in the state whereby it waits for the response message (action block 307). The remote feature processor receives the event message from the switch (action block 309) and reads the functional indicator segment in the event message (action block 311). Test 313 then determines whether there are any functional indicators of interest. If so, an alternative action is selected (action block 315) so that the actions performed are not the same as the default actions (action block 317). When the appropriate action has been selected, the functional indicator segment is prepared for the response message according to the alternative or default action, whichever was selected (action block 319) and the response message containing a response command and the functional indicator segment is sent back to the switch (action block 321). The switch receives the response message from the remote feature processor (action block 323) reads the functional indicator segment in the response message (action block 325) and responsive to the reading of this segment, writes the appropriate functional indicators in the call processing block (action block 327). The response command received from the RFP is then executed (action block 329) and normal call processing is continued (action block 331). Note that any functional indicator set by the RFP can influence the execution of any subsequent switch or RFP feature.
If the RFP was not interested in the event, but a switch feature was interested in the event, the programs shown in FIG. 4 are executed. First, the functional indicators in the call processing block are read (action block 401) and are tested to see if there are any functional indicators of interest (test 403). If so, then an alternative action for responding to the event is selected in accordance with the functional indicators (action block 405). If there are no functional indicators of interest, as determined in test 403, then a default action is selected (action block 407). Functional indicators are written in the call processing block according to the selected action (action block 409), and then that action is executed (action block 411). Subsequently, normal call processing is continued (action block 413).
A specific example will help illustrate the operation of the invention. In this specific example, a new feature is implemented using the remote feature processor. The new feature is one wherein a customer who dials a priority code is given call waiting treatment when the call is completed to another customer who accepts call waiting type calls only for priority calls and not for normal calls. As is known, call waiting treatment of a call allows a special call waiting signal to be delivered to the called customer when the called customer is busy on another call and the called customer can switch back and forth between the two calls by briefly depressing the switchhook of the called customer's telephone. This treatment is normally provided to all incoming calls. However, for this special service, it is provided only to priority incoming calls.
In this particular implementation of the feature, the caller first dials a priority calling code, then receives second dial tone and dials the number of the terminating customer. First, the switch based priority calling feature will be discussed. This feature is used to set a priority calling functional indicator in response to the reception of the priority code. First, the event that activates the switch based priority calling feature is the detection by a digit analysis process that the priority code has been dialed. This event is detected in the switch (action block 201), the test 203 of whether the RFP is interested yields a negative result since this is a switch based feature, but the test 205 of whether any switch feature is interested yields a positive result. The feature indicators in the call processing block are read, and test 403 checks whether there are any functional indicators of interest. In this case, because no features have been previously active for this call, none are set, and therefore the default action 407 is selected and the functional indicator for priority call is set (action block 409). The planned actions for detecting a priority call are then performed (action block 411) and normal call processing is continued (action block 413).
Subsequently, the caller dials the number of the called customer who is busy on another call. Because this is a priority call and the called customer has the RFP based call waiting for priority calls feature, this call will be given call waiting treatment. This is performed as follows: In the switch, following the detection of completion of dialing and the subsequent attempt to route the call to the called customer, the switch detects a busy event (action block 201) and detects that a busy event check of the RFP is required for this customer (positive result of test 203). The switch will therefore read the functional indicators in the call block (action block 301) which in this case will include the priority indicator. The switch then writes the functional indicator segment in the event message (action block 303) and sends the event message to the RFP (action block 305). The switch then waits for the response message (action block 307) while performing work on other calls. In the meantime, the RFP receives the event message from the switch (action block 309) and based on the customer subscription data and event type, selects the feature process for processing this message (action block 310). The RFP then reads the functional indicator segment of the event message (action block 311) and tests whether there are any functional indicators of interest (test 313). The default action associated with action block 317, in this case would be to apply busy tone to the incoming call. However, when the RFP feature process reads the functional indicators (action block 311), it finds a functional indicator of interest, namely the priority indicator in test 313 and selects an alternative action (action block 315). The alternative action is to formulate a response message that directs the switch to apply call waiting tone to the called customer (action block 315). The call waiting for priority calls feature does not affect any of the functional indicator call characteristics so that no further functional indicators need be set in the functional indicator segment of the response action (action block 319). The RFP then sends the response message to the switch including a response command asking the switch to give call waiting treatment to this call (action block 321). This message is received in the switch (action block 323). The switch reads the functional indicator segment in the response message (action block 325) and responsive to seeing no additional functional indicators set or reset, does not change any of the functional indicators in the call block (action block 327). The switch then executes the response command from the RFP by giving this call the call waiting treatment and continues call processing (action block 331).
To further illustrate the flexibility of this approach, consider an additional call waiting feature whereby only calls which dial a preselected password can be given call waiting treatment. In this case, after the completion of dialing and the detection of busy, a condition would be found for the called customer indicating that the RFP is to be consulted. In response, the RFP would send a message with the command to give the calling customer an announcement and accept a two, three or four digit password. After a password has been received, the RFP is again queried, and in response to detecting that the correct password had been entered, the RFP would return a message with a response command to give this call the call waiting treatment, and the priority call functional indicator set. This functional indicator might influence later processing of the call.
Examples of functional indicators, in addition to those discussed in the solution statement, are the following:
1. Test call: a test call is given special treatment; for example, such a call should not be forwarded.
2. Redirected call: a call which has been forwarded or transferred from an original destination.
3. Reverse charge call: billing for such a call should be to the called party.
4. Intra-group call: a call within a business group, which can span multiple switches.
5. Inter-LATA call: a call between different Local Access and Transport Areas (LATAs).
6. International call: a call between different countries.
7. Flash: a call on which some feature is monitoring for a flash signal.
It is to be understood that the above description is only of one preferred embodiment of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is thus limited only as defined in the accompanying claims. | This invention relates to arrangements for controlling processing of telephone calls from feature processors. Feature processors are data bases, usually shared among a plurality of switching systems, and usually comprising data for customers served by these switching systems, for altering the processing of telephone calls from and to these customers in accordance with that data. In order to perform this modification, data messages are exchanged between the switching systems and the feature processor. In a departure from the prior art, these data messages include functional indicators, i.e., indicators of basic characteristics of a call, each of which may be associated with many features and which may influence the execution of other features, wherein the execution of at least some of the features of the two groups can be influenced by the feature processor. Advantageously, the use of functional indicators helps to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted between the switching systems and feature processor. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/337,892, a non-provisional application which claims priority from U.S. provisional application No. 61/857,092, filed Jul. 22, 2013. The entirety of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/337,892 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD/FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] The present disclosure relates to downhole tools for forming a well seal in an annulus between an inner tubular and either an outer tubular or a borehole wall, or forming a plug with the outer tubular or borehole wall.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0003] Swellable packers are isolation devices used in a downhole wellbore to seal the inside of the wellbore or a downhole tubular that rely on elastomers to expand and form an annular seal when immersed in certain wellbore fluids. Typically, elastomers used in swellable packers are either oil- or water-sensitive. Various types of swellable packers have been devised, including packers that are fixed to the OD of a tubular and the elastomer formed by wrapped layers, and designs wherein the swellable packer is slipped over the tubular and locked in place.
SUMMARY
[0004] The present disclosure provides for a temperature compensated element. The temperature compensated element may include a mandrel. The mandrel may be generally tubular and may have a central axis and an exterior cylindrical surface. The temperature compensated element may further include a housing coupled to the mandrel. The housing may define a fluid expansion chamber between an inner wall of the housing and the exterior cylindrical surface of the mandrel. The temperature compensated element may further include a piston positioned about the mandrel. The piston may have a piston head positioned within the fluid expansion chamber and adapted to slide along the mandrel. The piston head may form a seal against the housing and the mandrel to enclose the fluid expansion chamber. The temperature compensated element may further include a thermally expanding fluid positioned within the fluid expansion chamber. The temperature compensated element may further include an end ring positioned about the mandrel. The end ring may be coupled to the piston. The end ring may be adapted to slide along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the piston. The temperature compensated element may further include a degradable ring coupled to the mandrel. The degradable ring may be positioned adjacent to the end ring and adapted to prevent sliding of the end ring before the degradable ring has at least partially dissolved. The temperature compensated element may further include a packer including a packer element coupled to the exterior cylindrical surface of the mandrel. The packer may have a first end and a second end. The first end may be adapted to slide along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the end ring. The second end may be fixedly coupled to the mandrel, so that a sliding of the first end of the packer toward the second end causes the packer element to decrease in length and increase in radius.
[0005] The present disclosure also provides for a method of isolating a section of wellbore. The method may include providing a temperature compensated element. The temperature compensated element may include a mandrel. The mandrel may be generally tubular and may have a central axis and an exterior cylindrical surface. The temperature compensated element may further include a housing coupled to the mandrel. The housing may define a fluid expansion chamber between an inner wall of the housing and the exterior cylindrical surface of the mandrel. The temperature compensated element may further include a piston positioned about the mandrel. The piston may have a piston head positioned within the fluid expansion chamber and adapted to slide along the mandrel. The piston head may form a seal against the housing and the mandrel to enclose the fluid expansion chamber. The temperature compensated element may further include a thermally expanding fluid positioned within the fluid expansion chamber. The temperature compensated element may further include an end ring positioned about the mandrel. The end ring may be coupled to the piston. The end ring may be adapted to slide along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the piston. The temperature compensated element may further include a degradable ring coupled to the mandrel. The degradable ring may be positioned adjacent to the end ring and adapted to prevent sliding of the end ring before the degradable ring has at least partially dissolved. The temperature compensated element may further include a packer including a packer element coupled to the exterior cylindrical surface of the mandrel. The packer may have a first end and a second end. The first end may be adapted to slide along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the end ring. The second end may be fixedly coupled to the mandrel. The method may further include coupling the temperature compensated element to a downhole tubular assembly, running the downhole tubular assembly into a wellbore, and heating the downhole tubular assembly. The method may also include dissolving the degradable ring. The method may further include expanding the thermally expanding fluid, causing the piston, end ring, and first end of the packer to move along mandrel so that the packer element decreases in length and increases in radius, defining an actuated position. The method may further include contacting the wellbore with the outer surface of the packer.
[0006] The present disclosure also provides for a delayed compensation element. The delayed compensation element may include a mandrel. The mandrel may be generally tubular and may have a central axis and an exterior cylindrical surface. The delayed compensation element may further include a housing coupled to the mandrel. The delayed compensation element may further include an end ring positioned about the mandrel. The end ring may be adapted to slide along the mandrel. The delayed compensation element may further include a spring positioned between the housing and the end ring. The spring may be adapted to force the end ring away from the housing. The delayed compensation element may further include a degradable ring coupled to the mandrel. The degradable ring may be positioned adjacent to the end ring and adapted to prevent sliding of the end ring before the degradable ring has at least partially dissolved. The delayed compensation element may further include a packer including a packer element coupled to the exterior cylindrical surface of the mandrel. The packer may have a first end and a second end. The first end may be adapted to slide along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the end ring. The second end may be fixedly coupled to the mandrel, so that a sliding of the first end of the packer toward the second end causes the packer element to decrease in length and increase in radius.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.
[0008] FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a temperature compensated element in a run in configuration consistent with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the temperature compensated element of FIG. 1 in an actuated configuration.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a partial quarter-section view of a piston of a temperature compensated element consistent with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a partial cutaway view of a temperature compensated element consistent with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a cross section of a temperature compensated element consistent with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a cross section of the temperature compensated element of FIG. 5 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.
[0015] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of a temperature compensated element 20 for positioning downhole in a well to seal with either the interior surface of a borehole or an interior surface of a downhole tubular. Temperature compensated element 20 is coupled to mandrel 5 . Mandrel 5 may be included as part of a well tubular string (not shown). One having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that the well tubular string may be a drill string, casing string, tubing string, or any other suitable tubular member for use in a wellbore, and may have multiple components including, without limitation, tubulars, valves, or packers without deviating from the scope of this disclosure.
[0016] In at least one embodiment, temperature compensated element 20 may include housing 22 , end ring 24 , and swellable packer 26 . Swellable packer 26 may include packer element 29 . Swellable packer 26 may include a plurality of slats 28 at either end to, for example, form an extrusion barrier for packer element 29 , couple swellable packer 26 to mandrel 5 and help prevent flow of the swellable packer material when in a swelled state. Swellable packer 26 may also include retainer ring 27 positioned to, for example, couple swellable packer 26 to mandrel 5 and to prevent any movement of swellable packer 26 along mandrel 5 . One having ordinary skill in the art with benefit of this disclosure will understand that although the packer is described as a swellable packer throughout this disclosure, a non-swellable elastomeric packer element may be substituted without deviating from the scope of this disclosure.
[0017] Housing 22 , end ring 24 , and swellable packer 26 may be positioned about mandrel 5 and may be coupled thereto. As depicted in FIG. 4 , housing 22 of temperature compensated element 20 may be coupled to mandrel 5 by set screw 21 . One having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that housing 22 may be coupled to mandrel 5 by any suitable mechanism without deviating from the scope of this invention, including without limitation a set screw, shear wire, adhesive, etc.
[0018] Housing 22 may include a fluid expansion chamber 30 . Fluid expansion chamber 30 may be filled with a thermally expanding fluid which may volumetrically expand in response to an increase in temperature caused by, for example, steam being passed through the interior of mandrel 5 or higher temperature hydrocarbons produced within the well. In some embodiments, the thermally expanding fluid may be selected to remain in a liquid phase throughout the temperatures and pressures to which it may be exposed during operation of temperature compensated element 20 .
[0019] As depicted in FIGS. 3 , 4 , fluid expansion chamber 30 may be an annular space defined by the outer surface of mandrel 5 , the inner surface of housing 22 , and piston 32 . Housing 22 may include at least one seal 23 to fluidly seal fluid expansion chamber 30 against mandrel 5 . Piston 32 may include a piston head 34 , a piston extension 36 , and a piston operating body 38 . Piston 32 may be positioned to slide within fluid expansion chamber 30 along the outer surface of mandrel 5 in response to a volumetric expansion of the fluid within fluid expansion chamber 30 as the fluid is heated. The fluid presses on piston head 34 , causing a sliding displacement of piston 32 along mandrel 5 . Piston head 34 may include one or more seals 40 positioned to prevent the fluid from escaping expansion chamber 30 . As piston 32 moves, piston operating body 38 contacts end ring 24 and causes it to likewise slide along mandrel 5 . The movement of end ring 24 towards swellable packer 26 causes a compression of swellable packer 26 along mandrel 5 , which causes swellable packer 26 to mechanically expand in the wellbore.
[0020] As depicted in FIG. 4 , end ring 24 may, in some embodiments, include a body lock ring 42 positioned within a recess in the interior surface of end ring 24 . Body lock ring 42 may include teeth 44 on its interior positioned to interlock with wickers 46 , here depicted as formed on the outer surface of mandrel. Body lock ring 42 may be positioned so that once piston 32 has moved in response to the thermal expansion of the fluid in the fluid expansion chamber 30 , teeth 44 mesh with wickers 46 and prevent end ring 24 and piston 32 from returning to the run-in position from, for example, elastic reaction forces of swellable packer 26 . One having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that body lock ring 42 may be positioned in other locations, such as piston extension 32 , slats 28 , etc. without deviating from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, one having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that wickers 46 may be formed in a separate member and not directly in the surface of mandrel 5 . One having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that body lock ring 42 may be positioned along mandrel 5 with wickers positioned on end ring 24 , piston extension 32 , or slats 28 .
[0021] Swellable packer 26 may be formed from a material which swells in response to the absorption of a swelling fluid, generally an oil or water-based fluid. The composition of the swelling fluid needed to activate swellable packer 26 may be selected with consideration of the intended use of the packer. For example, a packer designed to pack off an area of a well at once may be either oil or water-based and activated by a fluid pumped downhole. Alternatively, a delayed-use packer may be positioned in a well for long periods of time during, for example, hydrocarbon production. A swellable packer 26 which swells in response to an oil-based fluid would prematurely pack off the annulus. A swellable packer 26 which swells in response to water would therefore be used.
[0022] When swellable packer 26 is activated, the selected swelling fluid comes into contact with swellable packer 26 and may be absorbed by the material. In response to the absorption of swelling fluid, swellable packer 26 increases in volume and eventually contacts the wellbore, or the inner bore of the surrounding tubular. Continued swelling of swellable packer 26 forms a fluid seal between mandrel 5 and the wellbore or surrounding tubular. Pressure may then be applied from one or more ends of swellable packer 26 .
[0023] Swellable packer 26 may likewise expand or contract in response to variations in temperature. For example, during a cycling steam stimulation (CSS) operation or steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAG-D) operation, high-pressure steam may be forced through a tool string. This steam will heat swellable packer 26 and may cause a thermal expansion in addition to any swelling expansion. When steam injection is halted, a conventional swellable packer may thermally contract, thereby potentially compromising the seal created by the swelling expansion of the swellable packer. As illustrated in FIG. 2 and previously described, swellable packer 26 may be mechanically expanded by the movement of end ring 24 as the thermally expanding fluid in fluid expansion chamber 22 is heated. This mechanical expansion may, for example, compensate for any thermal contraction as swellable packer 26 cools.
[0024] In some embodiments, housing 22 may include a pressure relief apparatus to prevent damage to temperature compensated element 20 caused by too much pressure within fluid expansion chamber 22 . The pressure relief apparatus may be positioned to, at a selected threshold pressure, release at least some thermally expanding fluid from fluid expansion chamber 22 into, for example, the surrounding wellbore. In some embodiments, the pressure relief apparatus may include, for example and without limitation, a relief or safety valve, blowoff valve, or a rupture disc such as rupture disc 48 as depicted in FIG. 4 . Rupture disc 48 may be positioned in the wall of fluid expansion chamber 22 . Rupture disc 48 may be calibrated to mechanically fail once the fluid in fluid expansion chamber 22 reaches a selected threshold pressure to, for example, prevent damage to temperature compensated element 20 or swellable packer 26 . When rupture disc 48 fails, fluid from fluid expansion chamber 22 may flow into the surrounding wellbore. Rupture disc 48 may be calibrated by varying, for example, its diameter, thickness, and by placing weakening grooves in its structure.
[0025] In some embodiments, temperature compensated element 20 may include a backup system to, for example and without limitation, prevent or delay the extension of piston 32 while in the wellbore. In some embodiments, as depicted in FIGS. 5 , 6 , temperature compensated element 20 may include at least one backup ring 50 . Backup ring 50 may, in some embodiments, be coupled between end ring 24 and swellable packer 26 . In some embodiments, at least a part of backup ring 50 may include degradable ring 52 . Degradable ring 52 may be formed from a material selected to be initially solid and to degrade when exposed to one or more selected conditions. For example and without limitation, degradable ring 52 may be adapted to dissolve when exposed to, for example and without limitation, high temperature, oil or water based fluids, acidic or basic fluids, or by chemical reaction with a dissolving agent introduced into the wellbore. In some embodiments, degradable ring 52 may be formed from a material which requires a selected amount of time to dissolve when exposed to the selected conditions. For example and without limitation, in some embodiments, degradable ring 52 may be formed from PLA.
[0026] In some embodiments, as depicted in FIG. 5 , degradable ring 52 may be coupled to mandrel 5 . Degradable ring 52 may be positioned to prevent the extension of end ring 24 before degradable ring 52 at least partially dissolves. Once degradable ring 52 sufficiently dissolves, end ring 24 may be extended as discussed herein as depicted in FIG. 6 .
[0027] In some embodiments, as depicted in FIG. 5 , degradable ring 52 may be contained within encapsulation 54 . In some embodiments, encapsulation 54 may surround degradable ring 52 to, for example and without limitation, prevent damage to degradable ring 52 while allowing fluid contact between degradable ring 52 and the wellbore. In some embodiments, encapsulation 54 may be, for example and without limitation, formed as a metal mesh. In some embodiments, encapsulation 54 may be formed from a material selected such that encapsulation 54 does not interfere with the extension of end ring 24 . In some embodiments, encapsulation 54 may be adapted to be crushed between end ring 24 and swellable packer 26 as depicted in FIG. 6 .
[0028] One having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that backup ring 50 may be used in conjunction with any mechanism configured to compress a swellable packer 26 including, for example and without limitation, a spring positioned to extend end ring 32 . In such an embodiment, an end ring is biased to compress a swellable packer as discussed hereinabove, but is prevented from moving by backup ring 50 until degradable ring 52 has sufficiently dissolved.
[0029] In order to understand the operation of a temperature compensated element as described herein, an exemplary operation thereof will now be described. Although this example describes only a cycling steam stimulation operation, one having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure will understand that the example is not intended to limit use of the temperature compensated element in any way to one particular operation, and the temperature compensated element described may be used in other operations without deviating from the scope of this disclosure.
[0030] In a CSS operation, as understood in the art, high-pressure steam may be injected into a formation through a downhole tubular. The steam heats the formation and any hydrocarbons contained therein to, for example, reduce viscosity thereof and thereby allow a higher flow rate. Once the desired heating has been effected, the steam injection is halted, and hydrocarbons may flow through the tubular more rapidly than before the CSS operation. Cycles of heating and production may be repeated multiple times.
[0031] Temperature compensated element 20 as depicted in FIG. 1 may be included as a part of the downhole tubular assembly (not shown). In one embodiment, the downhole tubular assembly may be a string of production casing. Temperature compensated element 20 may be run-into the wellbore (not shown) in the run-in position depicted in FIG. 1 . Once in position in the wellbore, fluids in the wellbore may be absorbed by swellable packer 26 . Swellable packer 26 volumetrically expands as swelling fluids are absorbed, causing swellable packer 26 to form a seal against the surrounding wellbore. Temperature compensated element 20 may be left to expand for a period of time before enhanced recovery operations commence, i.e. during primary and/or secondary recovery operations. During this time, swellable packer 26 may operate as a normal swellable packer in the wellbore to isolate the formation on one side of temperature compensated element 20 from the wellbore on the other side of temperature compensated element 20 .
[0032] At some point it may be decided to run a CSS operation. At this time, steam may be injected through the downhole tubular assembly including through mandrel 5 of temperature compensated element 20 . The hot steam causes the thermally expanding fluid in fluid expansion chamber 30 to expand, forcing piston 32 and end ring 24 along mandrel 5 as previously discussed. Swellable packer 26 may be compressed along mandrel 5 . This deformation causes swellable packer 26 to increase in radius and/or press more firmly against the surrounding wellbore. Once the desired expansion has been achieved, body lock ring 42 engages wickers 46 , thereby locking swellable packer 26 in the actuated position depicted in FIG. 2 . When steam injection is halted, body lock ring 42 maintains the actuated position even as fluid in the fluid expansion chamber cools.
[0033] In some embodiments, temperature compensated element 20 may be heated by fluids within the formation naturally or artificially heated in the formation. For example, in a SAG-D operation as understood in the art, a temperature compensated element 20 located within the production well may be heated by the hydrocarbons heated by the steam injection well. In other embodiments, produced hydrocarbons may naturally exist at a higher temperature than the wellbore when drilled. Therefore, the production of the hydrocarbons themselves may serve to heat the fluid within temperature compensated element 20 .
[0034] In embodiments utilizing a backup ring 50 as depicted in FIG. 5 , although the pressure in fluid expansion chamber 30 has risen, backup ring 50 may prevent unwanted or premature extension of end ring 24 . Only once degradable ring 52 has sufficiently dissolved, by the application of a dissolving agent, fluid, or heat as determined by the composition of degradable ring 52 , may end ring 24 extend.
[0035] In some embodiments, rupture disc 48 may be included in the wall of housing 22 , and may be calibrated such that the pressure necessary to achieve full actuation will cause rupture disc 48 to fail, allowing the pressurized fluid within fluid expansion chamber 30 to flow into the surrounding wellbore, relieving pressure on piston 32 .
[0036] In some embodiments of the invention, the fluid in fluid expansion chamber 30 may be heated to between 200° F. and 900° F. In other embodiments, the fluid in fluid expansion chamber 30 may be heated to between 200° F. and 650° F. In some embodiments, the pressure of fluid in fluid expansion chamber 30 may be increased to between 500 and 4000 psi. In other embodiments, the pressure of fluid in fluid expansion chamber 30 may be increased to between 500 and 2200 psi.
[0037] The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that a person of ordinary skill in the art may better understand the aspects of the present disclosure. Such features may be replaced by any one of numerous equivalent alternatives, only some of which are disclosed herein. One of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. One of ordinary skill in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and that they may make various changes, substitutions, and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. | A temperature actuated element includes a mandrel, a housing coupled to the mandrel, the housing defining a fluid expansion chamber. A piston is positioned within the fluid expansion chamber. A thermally expanding fluid is positioned within the fluid expansion chamber. An end ring coupled to the piston slides along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the piston. A degradable ring is coupled to the mandrel to prevent movement of the end ring before the degradable ring is dissolved. A packer having a first end and a second end, the first end adapted to slide along the mandrel in response to a sliding of the end ring, and the second end fixedly coupled to the mandrel, so that a sliding of the first end of the packer toward the second end causes the packer element to decrease in length and increase in radius. | 4 |
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/731,475 filed May 7, 1985 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,898.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a housing structure generally having a dome-type configuration and to a method for buildling the same.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM
The provision of adequate housing facilities for modern man is and has always been a perplexing and expensive problem. The costs of labor and of material prevent lowincome families from obtaining adequate housing. Consequently, such families are forced to tolerate and to live in the squalor and filth of ghetto districts.
In an effort to solve the absence of satisfactory housing facilities, modern man has razed ghetto buildings whereupon low income families are forced to move on in search of new dwellings and to await the reconstruction of a sterile, impersonal, high-rise apartment complex. Unfortunately, the interim period of wait is long, unnecessary delay requiring many months before the first family can return to its remodeled district.
The bigger the high-rise apartment complex the longer its construction time and the longer a family is deprived of adequate housing. Also, there are attendant labor costs and production hours interspersed with labor difficulties which contribute to the spiraling construction costs.
There has been a long-felt need for economic and commodious housing facilities for low-income families. Such facilities must be commodious and accommodate an averagesized family. The structure and architecture of such facilities must be pleasing and have some esthetic value and inherent beauty. The structure should be sturdy and relatively easy to construct with low-cost but adequate building materials. The time required to construct such facilities should be very short such that the delay of transfering families is minimal. Each family unit should be isolated so that each family has some degree of privacy, of independence and of individuality.
In my invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,367 I have described an answer to these long-felt needs. I have described a novel dome-shaped structure which fulfills these needs and have developed a method of erecting such a structure within a greatly reduced period of time as compared to the time needed to build conventional structures. The design of my structure is flexible and it may be adapted to meet a wide range of floor space requirements and the like depending upon the various circumstances. it has a configuration which is inherently beautiful and pleasing and through inexpensive landscaping techniques it naturally blends in with the surrounding environment without intruding upon the natural beauty of the environment.
The present invention is directed to a simplification of the dome-shaped structure of my previous inventions which is easier and cheaper to produce, as well as to other desirable features.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Generally speaking, the present invention contemplates an improvement in a dome-type structure which may be supported by a plurality of load bearing elements extending upwards from the base meeting at a common vertex. A roof deck extends over and is supported by these structural elements and vertical side panels are all disposed so as to form an enclosure. The improvement generally comprises using components for the structural elements which are generally trapezoidal and retangular in shape. The structure is assembled mostly with the interconnection of the trapezoidal and rectangular-shaped components with or, without the load bearing elements. A water trap is provided at one or more places around the base of the structure, and, in locations where there is a scarcity of water, an underground reservoir is provided beneath the structure. The arrangement provides protection against earthquakes or earth tremors. Also, a complete shell unit can be transported by air lift.
The invention as well as other objects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 presents a perspective view of an embodiment of a housing structure according to the inventive concept;
FIG. 2a is a perspective view of some of the structural rib elements used together with trapezoidal components in forming a dome structure;
FIG. 2b presents an isolated view of an arangement to couple two trapezoidal components;
FIG. 3a shows in a view similar to FIG. 2a elements used to form a dome structure without the use of rib elements;
FIG. 3b presents an isolated view of an arrangement to couple two trapezoidal components without structural ribs;
FIG. 4 shows a partly sectional and partly perspective view of an air actuator and a steel plate anchor assembly on a concrete foot pier;
FIG. 5 illustrates a method of installing a shop built foot pier for the housing structure.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another arrangement to couple the structure to a foot pier;
FIG. 7 illustrates a very simple arrangement as to how to connect a support rib to a concrete pier;
FIG. 8 presents a side view of a wall side panel and its connection;
FIG. 9 explains in a perspective view a simple erection method of the dome assembly using a boat winch and a portable scaffolding;
FIG. 10 illustrates a profile view of a reservoir;
FIG. 10a shows a perspective view of a reservoir water trap;
FIG. 10b is a perspective view of a filter for a reservoir;
FIG. 11a illustrates a profile of a method of transporation for a dome;
FIG. 11b is a perspective view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 11a; and,
FIG. 12 is a longitudinal explanation of a dome shaped structure with suspended floors.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The Dome-Shaped Structure
In accordance with the invention, the housing structure 11 has a base 13, a plurality of support ribs 15, which support trapezoidal and substantially rectangular panels 16, assembled to form a top covering or roof 17 and a plurality of walls or side panels 19.
The base 13 is made of wood or is a concrete slab and has a substantially circular perimeter 14, and rests on the earth as a foundation, supporting the side panels 19. A wooden floor also rests on the base with support from the side panels. Concrete pilings 21 which are set in the earth support the structure. it is also possible to construct a semi-dome in which case the wood or concrete slab would have a semicircular configuration.
According to one aspect of the invention, the cross-sectional configuration of the structural elements or ribs 15 is inverted T-shaped as seen more clearly in the drawings. These structural elements or ribs 15 have a base portion 15a composed of structural steel. Base portions 15a serve to fix the ribs 15 to concrete pilings as hereafter described.
The Dome-Shaped Assembly
The housing structure 11 achieves its dome shape and strength by means of a multiplicity of trapezoidal sections which can be bolted together with out steel Ts or disposed on ribs 15. According to the first concept, T-shaped ribs are used. These ribs 15, are inverted T-shaped in cross section, the bottom of the inverted T-shape being a horizontal beam 22, the vertical portion of the inverted T-shape (steel T) also being a steel beam 22a, are first assembled in three sections, namely a lower section 15b, a center section 15c and an upper section 15d. Each section extends inwardly of the preceeding section and are joined together at joints 15e. At the top of the dome-like structure is a coupling ring 23 with a ring cover 25. Coupling ring 23 has apertures 27, and the ring cover 25 has a lower inner ring 29 which fits inside the coupling ring 23 with corresponding apertures 30. The upper rib section 15d has bolts 31 placed so as to enter the apertures 27, 30 in the coupling ring 23 and the inner ring 29. The ring cover 25, ring and rib upper section 15d are thus bolted together by nuts 33. The coupling of the lower rib section 15b to base 13 will be described later herein.
As herein before explained according to the first concept ribs 15 are of inverted T-shape, and fitted between two adjacent ribs 15, resting on one wing of each inverted T-shaped rib are trapezoidal sections. The top trapezoidal section 35 rests between two adjacent upper rib sections 15d. The second trapezoidal section 37 rests on center rib sections 15c. Resting on the lower rib section 15b is an inverted U-shaped support 39. Each trapezoidal section and support 39 consists of a frame, 41 with several ladder-like rungs 43, side panels 42 and top and bottom thermoplastic covers 45 nailed to the frame. The frames have apertures 47 and the ribs 15 have corresponding apertures 47a allowing the trapezoidal sections and the U-shaped supports to be bolted to the ribs. The inverted U-shaped support 39 has a support top 49 with legs 51. The various trapezoidal sections and the U-shaped supports with the legs are connected using foam strips 53, 53a, T-shaped couplings 55 with nuts and bolts 56. The foam strips 53, 53a are asphalt impregnated that will expand and seal two sections.
According to a second embodiment, it is also possible to assemble the structure without using T-shaped ribs. The trapezoidal sections 45a and the U-shaped supports 39a have solid end walls 43a which are bolted together by nuts and bolts 56a, advantageously using s shim 53a which is asphalt impregnated to seal the two sections.
In this second embodiment, there is also a base 15a attached to the legs 51a, said base 15a having an inverted T-shaped cross-section as shown in FIG. 3a, the bottom horizontal section being used in bolting the legs 51a to a pier.
ANCHORING THE STRUCTURE
The structure contemplated herein can be supported by shop built piers 56. These can be a simple block 57 or a more solid pier 57a. This more solid arrangement uses vertical rods 59 with hook ends 61. The pier is made of concrete 63 poured in a mold reinforced with wire mesh 65 and has a steel eyelet 67 used in coupling. The pier is coupled to the rib base 15a using an air actuator 69 commercially referred to as an airstroke actuator, which has lower concrete anchor rods 71 bolted to a steel plate 73 at the base of this air actuator 69. The steel plate 73 in turn is bolted to the air actutor 69 by bolt means 75. The top of the actuator 69 is in turn bolted to the support rib base 15a by bolts 77. The steel plate 73 extends out over the pier and the outer ends are supported by posts 81.
The wall side panels 19 are much easier to erect since they are bolted to the base 13 by bolts 83. In some situations, a simpler arrangement can be used to couple the rib base 15a to a concrete pier 56. The pier 56, has a central bolt 75a which passes through an aperture 75b in the rib base 15a. The bottom of rib 15 has a vertical space 75c which serves to receive the bolt 75a. A nut 75d and a washer 75e are then used to couple the rib 15 to the concrete pier 56.
THE ERECTION OF THE DOME STRUCTURE
In erecting the dome structure with ribs, the lower rib 15b is coupled to the pier 57. Then, using a boat winch 85, and an erection jig 87, the second rib 15c is put into place. A freme 89 is erected to hold the roof 17 and the coupling ring 27 is removably attached to the top of the frame 89. The last rib 15d is then set in place between the center ribs 15c held by the jig 87 and the winch 85, and the coupling ring 27. In the same way, the other ribs are set in place, then the trapezoidal pieces are fitted between the ribs.
It is important to note however that the structure can be built without steel beams or ribs. With prepunched holes, nuts and bolts the structure can be easily erected by persons without building experience and can be shipped flat long distances.
THE RESERVOIR
The dome construction described lends itself to use in areas where there is a scarcity of water and also in places which are earthquake prone, since a reservoir can be placed underneath the dome-like structure. All the roof and deck rain water are directed to flow to water traps 87 disposed around the base 17 of the structure. The reservoir 89 is round which is stronger than square shape and is disposed under the structure. Small motors 91 pump air into the water and are used to pump the water upwards, advantageously, these motors are powered by solar cells 92 and battery 96. The water flows upwards through a filter 93 to a water tap 95. Also filters are placed on all over flow lines 87a and water traps 87.
THE AIRBORN STRUCTURE
A finished shell structure can be readily transported by air as shown in FIGS. 11a, 11b and 12. At the top of the structure is a chamber 98 into which can be fitted a helicopter 99, by removing a removable part of the roof structure, the rotor hub 101 protrudes from the roof and the main rotor 102 affixed to a drive shaft 105 which protrudes through the opening in the roof. A tail boom 106 can be affixed to the structure. The exhaust pipe 107 exits from another opening. The steering need not be in the cockpit but can be in a lower part of the structure which can have turning power or tail rotor pedals 108, driving means or cycle pitch stick 109 and lifting power, i.e., collective stick 110. The motor is in a motor hanger 111 where a fuel tank with a fuel tank vent 112 is located. The steering compartment is enclosed by a plexiglass cover 113.
It must be taken into consideration that for many years the sales of mobile homes in the United States have broken all records. The structure described makes it possible to make that kind of a move in time. For example, there is a desperate need to fly a sattelite hospital to a disaster site, or to move a field hospital to a battle site. This can now be done with the structure described.
OUTLINE OF THE STRUCTURE
It is to be observed therefore that the present invention contemplates a dome-shaped building structure having a perimeter 14 which is supported by a plurality of load bearing rib assemblies 15 with a bottom plate 15a, said rib assemblies extend from the perimeter 14 up to and are fixedly secured to a locus common to these load bearing assemblies 15. The locus is horizontally within the perimeter and at a substantially vertical height above the ground. A roof deck is fixedly secured to at least a portion of the assemblies, and comprises a plurality of trapezoidal panels 35 to form a closed roof. Also supported by the rib assemblies 15 are a plurality of inverted U-shaped building 39, with side walls 42. Each of these arches 39 have one side wall 42 resting on and supported by one portion of one of the rib assemblies and the other side wall resting on and supported by a portion of another of said rib assemblies 15. At the foot of each rib assembly 15 there is a pier 57 with coupling means 69a for connecting the base of each rib assembly to the pier. The ribs forming these rib assemblies have an inverted T-shape in cross section. The trapezoidal panels and arches are held between two adjacent inverted T-shaped ribs. Each rib assembly has a horizontal base 15a used for connecting the rib assembly to its pier.
The pier and coupling means 69a consists of a concrete pile with vertical rods 59 having hook ends 61, said pile being reinforced with wire mesh, and with a steel eyelet 67 disposed over the pier 57. An air actuator 69 (commercially available and called an airstroke actuator) is interposed over the eyelet between the pier and rib assembly horizontal base 15a. This air actuator serves as a cushion between the structure and the pier to prevent earth tremors from acting on the structure. The main floor can be suspended and hangs from beams.
The various trapezoidal sections and the U-shaped supports with legs are connected using foam strips 53, 53a which are asphalt impregnated and will expand to seal two sections.
Each trapezoidal section and the support 39 consist of a frame 41 with side panels 42 and several ladder-like rungs 43. The top and bottom are made of thermoplastic covers nailed to the frame with nails 45a. These frames have apertures 47 and the ribs 15 have corresponding apertures 47a allowing the trapezoidal sections to be bolted to the ribs. The U-shaped supports 39 are similarly constructed.
The dome construction hereinbefore described can be placed over a reservoir with filters. The water is kept fresh by pumping fresh air into the reservoir with small motors operated by solar cells. Also, the structure can readily be transported by air and deposited in remote locations. | An improved dome-type structure having a plurality of load bearing rib elements extending upwards from a base and meeting at a common vertex, a roof deck extending over and supported by these rib elements and vertical side panels are all disposed so as to form an enclosure. The improvement comprises using components for forming the roof deck which are generally trapezoidal and rectangular in shape. The structure is assembled with the interconnection of the trapezoidal and rectangular-shaped components with and without structural ribs which are of inverted T-shape in cross-section. A water trap is provided at one or more places around the base of the structure, and, in locations where there is a scarcity of water, an underground reservoir is provided beneath the structure. The arrangement provides protection against earthquakes and earth tremors.
The invention also contemplates the transportation of a complete shell unit under its own power by air lift. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a connector having at least one piercing contact for contacting the conductors of a cable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For solderless contacting of the conductors of a cable, connectors are used which produce an electrical contact by means of various connection methods, for example crimping or insulation displacement methods. Connectors are also known which allow contacting of a cable by penetration methods. These connectors comprise one or more pointed piercing contacts in the form of lances or spikes, which, upon connection of the connector to a cable, penetrate the insulation and sheath of the conductor(s) and contact the conductor(s), so avoiding prior removal of the insulation from the conductor(s). Contacting may also be effected at any desired point of a cable, without cutting the cable open at the contact point, such that a plurality of connectors equipped with piercing contacts may be fitted to a cable.
An important prerequisite for connection of a cable via piercing contacts, however, is the precise position of a conductor relative to a piercing contact. Since a connector constitutes a component of predetermined form, it is consequently only suitable for connection to a corresponding standard cable. For this reason, to contact different cables which have the same number of conductors but different conductor spacing, different connectors have to be used. It is also disadvantageous that individual conductors of a multi-core cable cannot be selectively contacted with a connector.
An object of the present invention is to provide a more flexible connector, which in particular allows contacting of different cables.
This and other objects of the invention are achieved with a connector according to claim 1 . Advantageous further developments are indicated in the dependent claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The connector according to the invention comprises a receptacle for receiving a cable and a contacting device having at least one piercing contact, wherein the contacting device may be positioned on the receptacle in such a way that the piercing contact comes to lie in a variable position in the receptacle. This makes it possible to contact conductors of differently shaped cables with just one connector. Individual conductors of a multi-core cable may also be electrically connected selectively using a piercing contact.
In a particularly advantageous development of the connector, provision is made for the contacting device to comprise a plurality of piercing contacts arranged in a line with constant spacing, which contacts allow contacting of a corresponding number of equally spaced conductors of a ribbon cable. The line of piercing contacts may be so oriented relative to the receptacle and thus to the cable that the distance between the piercing contacts perpendicular to the cable matches exactly the distance between the conductors of the cable. This makes it possible to contact ribbon cables with different spacing patterns with just one connector.
In another preferred embodiment, the contacting device is in two parts and comprises a holder, which may be positioned on the receptacle in a predetermined position, and a rotary unit mounted rotatably in the holder and provided with piercing contacts arranged in a line with constant spacing. In this embodiment, contacting of a cable is effected very simply and quickly, since the rotary unit is oriented in a desired position in the holder and the latter is then positioned on the receptacle.
Furthermore, it is preferable for the contacting device to have markings which identify particular positions of the rotary unit relative to the holder and thus particular conductor spacings of a ribbon cable, so making possible quick contacting of the cable without prior adjustment of the rotary unit to a conductor spacing.
The contacting device preferably also comprises a latching means, which fixes the rotary unit in particular positions in the holder. In this way, the risk is prevented of imprecise positioning of the rotary unit or slippage of the rotary unit out of a particular position during the contacting process and of associated miscontacting.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the Figures, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a line of constantly spaced piercing contacts, which each contact one conductor of a multi-core ribbon cable,
FIG. 2 is a further schematic plan view of the line of piercing contacts, which, rotated by an angle, contact the conductors of a ribbon cable with smaller conductor spacing,
FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded representation of the components of an embodiment of a connector according to the invention,
FIG. 4 is a side view of the assembled connector according to the invention, which contacts a ribbon cable,
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the connector according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 4 ,
FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view, corresponding to FIG. 2 , of the piercing contacts rotated by an angle and arranged over the narrower ribbon cable, wherein the axis of rotation is oriented with lateral offset relative to the piercing contacts and
FIG. 7 is a side view of a further embodiment of a connector according to the invention, the piercing contacts of which are arranged offset laterally relative to the axis of rotation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation, in plan view, of a line of four piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d arranged next to one another with constant spacing and which each contact a conductor 8 a to 8 d of a four-core ribbon cable 6 . To establish a reference system which also applies to the subsequent Figures, the longitudinal axis of the ribbon cable 6 is designated 11 while a transverse axis perpendicular thereto is designated 12 .
The individual conductors 8 a to 8 d of the ribbon cable 6 exhibit a spacing A. Since this spacing A corresponds to the mutual spacing of the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d , the line of piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d is oriented perpendicularly to the cable 6 on the transverse axis 12 .
FIG. 2 is a further schematic representation, in plan view, of a line of piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d which contact the conductors 9 a to 9 d of a ribbon cable 7 exhibiting a smaller conductor spacing B than the spacing A of the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d . So that each of the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d comes to lie over one of conductors 9 a to 9 d , the line of piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d is rotated by an angle a relative to the transverse axis 12 of the ribbon cable 7 . The axis of rotation 10 , about which the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d are rotated, is fixed, in the Figure illustrated, by the point of intersection of longitudinal and transverse axes 11 and 12 of the ribbon cable 7 and extends centrally between the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d perpendicularly to the plane common to the two axes 11 and 12 . It is possible, of course, to orient an axis of rotation to the side of the piercing contacts, as shown in FIG. 6 , for example.
By rotating a line of constantly spaced piercing contacts, it is possible to make the spacing of the piercing contacts perpendicular to a ribbon cable match the spacing between the conductors of the cable. The spacing of the piercing contacts across the ribbon cable is dependent on the selected angle of rotation α. With an angle of rotation of 90°, the line of piercing contacts is arranged in the direction of the longitudinal axis, such that, provided that the axis of rotation is arranged over a conductor, only said conductor may be contacted.
FIG. 3 is a perspective representation of the components of an embodiment of a connector 1 according to the invention. The connector 1 has a contacting device 4 constructed in two parts, with a rotary unit 2 and a holder 3 . The rotary unit 2 is provided with four piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d , which take the form of pointed spikes. Such piercing contacts are particularly suitable for contacting the commonly used stranded conductors, whose wires are pushed apart by the piercing contacts upon penetration of a conductor so as to achieve contacting. Furthermore, connectors are of course feasible which have more or fewer than the four piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d illustrated.
The piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d are in turn connected with plug contacts 26 a to 26 d of a plug 25 on the top of the rotary unit 2 . An electrical connection may be produced at this point by means of a cable with corresponding socket contacts of a socket.
The rotary unit 2 also has a circular bearing surface 22 , by means of which the rotary unit 2 is rotatably mounted in a corresponding recess 31 in the holder 3 . To seal the holder 3 relative to the rotary unit 2 , the recess 31 in the holder 3 is provided with an additional annular depression 34 , into which a correspondingly shaped sealing ring 35 may be inserted against the penetration of dirt and water. Corresponding protection of the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d is provided by cylindrical seals 27 a to 27 d surrounding them.
Resiliently fitted clips 32 a , 32 b , 32 c are arranged at the edge of the holder 3 and lock the bearing surface 22 of the rotary unit 2 , once inserted, in such a way that the rotary unit 2 can only be rotated relative to the holder 3 . Furthermore, a latching means is provided for user-friendly and secure adjustment of the contacting device 4 to particular conductor spacings, corresponding to particular positions of the rotary unit 2 in the holder 3 . To this end, the edge of the bearing surface 22 of the rotary unit 2 is provided with an annular raised portion 23 , which is interrupted at defined positions by recesses 24 a to 24 d . Latching in place of the rotary unit 2 is achieved by means of the clip 32 a , which may engage in the recesses 24 a to 24 d and fix the rotary unit 2 . To identify the clip 32 a , it is provided with an arrow-type marking 33 . The recesses 24 a to 24 d also have additional markings identifying the contactable ribbon cable conductor spacings to which they may be adjusted. For a detailed representation of the latching means, reference may also be made to FIG. 5 .
The holder 3 of the contacting device 4 may be placed in a predetermined position on a receptacle 5 , which receives the cable to be contacted. The receptacle 5 has two latching elements 51 a and 51 b in the form of hooks, which may be latched into corresponding recesses in the holder 3 . Latching of the hooks secures the receptacle 5 against unintentional detachment.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the assembled connector 1 according to the invention, which contacts a ribbon cable 7 . For contacting, the rotary unit 2 is turned to a desired latched position, which corresponds to a defined conductor spacing of a cable inserted in the receptacle, and then placed on the receptacle 5 , wherein the piercing contacts penetrate the individual conductors of the ribbon cable and produce an electrical contact.
The position shown in the Figure of the rotary unit 2 and thus of the piercing contacts, and the contacted ribbon cable 7 correspond to the schematic representation in FIG. 2 . Since the axis of rotation 10 extends centrally between the piercing contacts, centred orientation of the cable 7 relative to this axis 10 is also necessary, in order to avoid mis- or noncontacting of the conductors 9 a to 9 d . Centred orientation could be achieved, for example, by lateral guide clamps in the receptacle, which fix an inserted cable in the required position. Inserts of different widths which may be inserted in the receptacle are also feasible, as are different receptacles for different width cables.
FIG. 5 is a view from above of the connector 1 according to the invention, corresponding to FIG. 4 . This representation clearly shows the latching means of the contacting device 4 consisting of the annular raised portion 23 , provided with recesses 24 a to 24 d , on the bearing surface 22 of the rotary unit 2 and the clip 32 a comprising an arrow-type marking 33 .
When the rotary unit 2 is in the starting position, corresponding to an angle of rotation of zero, the connector 1 is suitable for contacting a cable with conductor spacing of four millimeters, which matches the mutual spacing of the piercing contacts.
In the illustrated latched position of the rotary unit 2 , with an angle of rotation α of approximately 40°, the ribbon cable 7 with a conductor spacing B of three millimeters is contacted. Latching positions appropriate for still smaller conductor spacings of two and one millimeters are provided.
FIG. 6 shows a further schematic representation from above, corresponding to FIG. 2 , of the line of piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d rotated by an angle α, said piercing contacts contacting the conductors 9 a to 9 d of the ribbon cable 7 at the conductor spacing B. In contrast to FIG. 2 , the axis of rotation 10 is offset laterally relative to the piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d , on the axis defined by the line of piercing contacts 21 a to 21 d.
FIG. 7 is a side view of a further embodiment of a connector 1 ′ according to the invention, which contacts the ribbon cable 7 . In contrast to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5 , the piercing contacts are here offset laterally relative to the axis of rotation 10 . The position shown in the Figure of the rotary unit 2 ′ and thus of the piercing contacts corresponds to the schematic arrangement illustrated in FIG. 6 .
The connector 1 ′ has the advantage that a cable inserted into the receptacle 5 ′ does not have to be centred, since the cable has merely to be positioned against the side wall, located in the area of the axis of rotation 10 , of the receptacle 5 ′. For additional security, the receptacle 5 ′ may optionally be equipped with a lateral guide clamp exerting pressure in the direction of the axis of rotation 10 . | The present invention provides a connector for contacting the conductors of a cable. The connector includes a receptacle for receiving the cable and a contacting device which may be placed on the receptacle and which comprises at least one piercing contact for contacting a conductor of the cable. The contacting device is adapted to be placed on the receptacle such that the piercing contact comes to lie in a freely selectable position in the receptacle, in order to contact the conductor of the cable received in the receptacle. | 7 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a compressor and a turbo chiller which is provided with the compressor.
[0002] This application claims the right of priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-288891 filed with the Japan Patent Office on Dec. 28, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] A turbo chiller is a large-capacity heat source device which is widely used in applications such as air conditioning of a large-scaled factory having a clean room, such as an electrical and electronic related factory, or district heating and cooling. As the turbo chiller, a turbo chiller unitized by disposing configuration devices such as a compressor, a condenser, and a vaporizer near each other and integrating the configuration devices is known (refer to, for example, PTL 1).
[0004] As the turbo chiller, a type in which a two-stage centrifugal compressor is used as a compressor and an intercooler is joined to the downstream of a first compression stage is known. Specifically, a gas refrigerant cooled in the intercooler is introduced to the downstream of the first compression stage through an intermediate suction chamber which surrounds an inlet portion of a second impeller configuring a second compression stage, and a slit formed between the intermediate suction chamber and a suction flow path provided around the inlet portion of the second impeller.
[0005] Further, in the turbo chiller having such a centrifugal compressor, in order to control an operating range of the chiller, movable vanes in which an angle is changed according to the operation conditions are respectively provided in impellers configuring the first compression stage and the second compression stage. The movable vane is driven by a driving device integrally provided in the centrifugal compressor. However, a portion (referred to as a drive mechanism) of the driving device is installed in the intermediate suction chamber.
[0006] Usually, the drive mechanism which is installed in the intermediate suction chamber is installed at the position of 180° in a circumferential direction from a suction nozzle for introducing a gas refrigerant into the intermediate suction chamber, that is, the farthest position with respect to the suction nozzle, in order to reduce the distribution in a circumferential direction of a flow at the joining position between an outlet of the intermediate suction chamber and a main flow path.
[0007] Further, PTL 2 discloses a centrifugal compressor having a shape which leads a large quantity of fluid to one side in a circumferential direction in order to make the centrifugal compressor compact, in a suction flow path for introducing the fluid into an impeller of the centrifugal compressor.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
[0000]
[PTL 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-327700
[PTL 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-165996
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
[0010] Incidentally, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , a unitized turbo chiller 101 of the related art is disposed compactly to some extent, because major devices are intensively disposed. The turbo chiller 101 of the related art has, as main components, a centrifugal compressor 2 which compresses a gas refrigerant, a condenser 3 which condenses and liquefies the gas refrigerant compressed in the centrifugal compressor 2 , an intercooler 4 (an economizer) which temporarily stores a liquid refrigerant condensed in the condenser 3 and performs intermediate cooling, and a vaporizer 5 which vaporizes the liquid refrigerant which is led from the intercooler 4 .
[0011] The respective devices are connected by pipes. For example, a discharge pipe 7 for leading the refrigerant after compression to the condenser 3 , and a suction pipe 8 which sucks in the gas refrigerant from the vaporizer 5 are connected to the centrifugal compressor 2 . Further, the intercooler 4 and the centrifugal compressor 2 are connected by a gas refrigerant pipe for an intercooler 9 which leads the gas refrigerant from a gas phase section of the intercooler 4 to an intermediate stage of the centrifugal compressor 2 . The driving device 37 described above is integrally provided in the centrifugal compressor 2 .
[0012] However, the turbo chiller 101 of the related art does not have a fully satisfactory layout when considering that a plurality of turbo chillers are adjacently disposed or staked at the time of storage or transportation.
[0013] In order to realize the compacting of a device, it is conceivable to optimize the arrangement of a compressor by changing the position of, for example, the above-described drive mechanism, or the like. However, in this case, there is a possibility that the drive mechanism may make flow distribution in a circumferential direction in an intermediate suction chamber non-uniform.
[0014] Further, in the centrifugal compressor described in PTL 2, a drive mechanism is not provided, and in addition, a fluid is guided to one side in the circumferential direction according to the circumstances of the shape of the suction flow path, and the uniformity of flow distribution after guidance is not taken into account.
[0015] The present invention provides a compressor in which it is possible to make the overall layout compact, and a turbo chiller which is provided with the compressor.
Solution to Problem
[0016] (1) According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a compressor including: a rotary shaft which rotates around an axis line; a plurality of impellers mounted on the rotary shaft; a main flow path which guides a fluid from the impeller of a preceding stage to the impeller of a subsequent stage; a chamber which has a ring shape centered on the axis line and communicates with the main flow path; a suction nozzle which introduces the fluid into the chamber toward an inner periphery side from an outer periphery side; a plurality of movable vanes which are provided in the main flow path at intervals in a circumferential direction with respect to the axis line and are movable, thereby adjusting a flow rate of the fluid flowing through the main flow path; and a drive mechanism which is provided on one side in the circumferential direction of the suction nozzle in the chamber and changes angles of the plurality of movable vanes, wherein the suction nozzle is inclined toward the other side out of one side and the other side in the circumferential direction in the chamber such that the flow rate of the fluid to the other side increases.
[0017] According to the above configuration, the drive mechanism is provided on one side in the circumferential direction of the suction nozzle, whereby the arrangement of the compressor is optimized, and thus it is possible to make the overall layout of a turbo chiller compact. Further, the suction nozzle is inclined, whereby a flow rate flowing to the side opposite to the drive mechanism increases, and thus flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the chamber becomes more uniform.
[0018] (2) In the compressor according to the above (1), it is preferable that a guide blade which guides the fluid such that the flow rate of the fluid to the other side out of one side and the other side in the circumferential direction in the chamber increases is provided on an outlet side of the suction nozzle.
[0019] According to the above configuration, the fluid is guided by the guide blade, whereby it is possible to further improve the uniformity of the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the chamber.
[0020] (3) In the compressor according to the above (2), it is preferable that the guide blade is formed such that a length thereof becomes longer toward the other side in the circumferential direction.
[0021] According to the above configuration, the flow rate of the fluid further flows into the side opposite to the drive mechanism, and thus it is possible to improve the uniformity of the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the chamber.
[0022] (4) In the compressor according to any one of (1) to (3), it is preferable that a flow path guide formed so as to make a flow path of the chamber narrower as it goes toward the drive mechanism is provided in the chamber.
[0023] According to the above configuration, since the fluid is guided to the vicinity of the drive mechanism by the flow path guide, it is possible to further improve the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the chamber.
[0024] (5) In the compressor according to any one of (1) to (4), it is preferable that the drive mechanism is provided at a position spaced apart by 90° in the circumferential direction with respect to the suction nozzle.
[0025] (6) Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a turbo chiller including: the compressor according to any one of (1) to (5).
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0026] According to the compressor related to each of the above aspects of the present invention, the drive mechanism is provided on one side in the circumferential direction of the suction nozzle, whereby the arrangement of the compressor is optimized, and thus it is possible to make the overall layout of a turbo chiller compact. Further, the suction nozzle is inclined, whereby a flow rate flowing to the side opposite to the drive mechanism increases, and thus the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the chamber becomes more uniform.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0027] FIG. 1 is a front view showing the configuration of the periphery of a centrifugal compressor of a turbo chiller according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a centrifugal compressor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a partial configuration of the centrifugal compressor shown in FIG. 2 .
[0030] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 .
[0031] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 , of a centrifugal compressor according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0032] FIG. 6 is a side view of a turbo chiller of the related art.
[0033] FIG. 7 is a front view of the turbo chiller of the related art.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
First Embodiment
[0034] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A turbo chiller of this embodiment has, as main components, a centrifugal compressor, a condenser which condenses and liquefies a gas refrigerant compressed in the centrifugal compressor, an intercooler which temporarily stores a liquid refrigerant condensed in the condenser and performs intermediate cooling, and a vaporizer which vaporizes the liquid refrigerant which is led from the intercooler, basically similar to the turbo chiller of the related art. Then, configuration devices such as the compressor, the condenser, and the vaporizer are disposed near each other and integrated with each other, thereby being unitized.
[0035] As shown in FIG. 1 , a suction pipe 8 which sucks in a gas refrigerant from the vaporizer is connected to a centrifugal compressor 2 of the turbo chiller of this embodiment, and an intercooler 4 and the centrifugal compressor 2 are connected by a gas refrigerant pipe for an intercooler 9 which leads the gas refrigerant from a gas phase section of the intercooler to an intermediate stage of the centrifugal compressor 2 . The gas refrigerant which is supplied from the gas refrigerant pipe for an intercooler 9 is introduced into an intermediate suction chamber 31 of the centrifugal compressor 2 through a suction nozzle 32 .
[0036] In addition, a condenser 3 , the intercooler 4 , and a vaporizer 5 shown in FIG. 1 are schematically shown and the accurate arrangement thereof in the turbo chiller of this embodiment is not reflected.
[0037] A driving device 37 which drives a second movable vane 36 (refer to FIGS. 2 and 3 ), which will be described later, is integrally provided in the centrifugal compressor 2 . A drive mechanism 42 such as a bracket 41 (refer to FIG. 4 ) and a drive shaft 39 (refer to FIG. 4 ), of the driving device 37 , is installed in the intermediate suction chamber 31 .
[0038] Then, in the turbo chiller of this embodiment, in order to make the overall layout of the chiller compact (in order to reduce an installation area), the drive mechanism 42 which is a portion of the driving device 37 is disposed at the position of 90° in a circumferential direction with respect to the suction nozzle 32 .
[0039] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the centrifugal compressor 2 has a casing 11 which forms an outline, a rotary shaft 12 rotatably supported in the casing 11 , a motor 13 which rotationally drives the rotary shaft 12 , and a first impeller 15 and a second impeller 16 disposed to be spaced apart from each other in an axis line direction at the rotary shaft 12 .
[0040] The rotary shaft 12 is rotatably supported on the casing 11 through a pair of bearings 14 . The driving force of the motor 13 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 12 through a gear mechanism 17 , and the first impeller 15 and the second impeller 16 also rotate according to the rotation of the rotary shaft 12 . A suction port 19 is provided on one side in the axis line direction of the casing 11 and a discharge port 20 is provided on the other side in the axis line direction. Further, an internal space 21 which makes the suction port 19 and the discharge port 20 communicate with each other is formed in the casing 11 .
[0041] The first impeller 15 and the second impeller 16 are disposed in the internal space 21 , and the first impeller configures a first compression stage and the second impeller 16 configures a second compression stage. The internal space 21 is provided with a return flow path 23 connected to a flow path outlet 22 of the first impeller 15 , and a suction flow path 24 which connects the return flow path 23 and the second impeller 16 . The suction flow path 24 is an annular passage provided around an inlet portion of the second impeller 16 .
[0042] The return flow path 23 makes the gas refrigerant flow toward a flow path inlet on the inside in a radial direction of the second impeller 16 from the flow path outlet 22 on the outside in the radial direction of the first impeller 15 . The return flow path 23 has a diffuser portion 26 , a bend portion 27 , and a return portion 28 . The diffuser portion 26 guides the gas refrigerant compressed by the first impeller 15 and discharged radially outward from the flow path outlet 22 of the first impeller 15 , to the outside in the radial direction. The outside in the radial direction of the diffuser portion 26 communicates with the return portion 28 through the bend portion 27 .
[0043] Further, the gas refrigerant compressed in the second impeller 16 is discharged from the discharge port 20 of the casing 11 to a discharge flow path 7 (refer to FIG. 7 ) by way of a discharge passage 25 provided around the second impeller 16 .
[0044] A return vane 29 is disposed radially over the entire circumstances on the downstream side of the bend portion 27 .
[0045] Further, in the centrifugal compressor 2 , the intermediate suction chamber 31 which causes the gas refrigerant that is generated in the intercooler 4 to join a discharge flow of the first impeller 15 and be then supplied to the second impeller 16 is provided. The intermediate suction chamber 31 is formed as an annular space surrounding the inlet portion of the second impeller 16 . The gas refrigerant from the intercooler 4 is supplied to the intermediate suction chamber 31 through the suction nozzle 32 . The suction nozzle 32 is connected to the gas refrigerant pipe for an intercooler 9 (refer to FIG. 1 ).
[0046] In an inner peripheral portion of the intermediate suction chamber 31 , a slit 33 is provided over the entire circumference, and thus the inside of the intermediate suction chamber 31 and the suction flow path 24 of the second impeller 16 are connected.
[0047] Further, a first movable vane 35 in which an angle can be changed according to the operation conditions is provided at an inlet of the first impeller 15 of the first compression stage in the suction port 19 of the centrifugal compressor 2 . In addition, the second movable vane 36 in which an angle can be changed according to the operation conditions is provided at an inlet of the second impeller 16 of the second compression stage in the suction flow path 24 of the return flow path 23 .
[0048] As shown in FIG. 4 , the driving device 37 for driving the second movable vane 36 is provided in the centrifugal compressor 2 . The driving device 37 has a drive motor 38 provided outside the casing 11 , the drive shaft 39 which moves over a predetermined range in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the axis line direction by the rotation of the drive motor 38 , a drive ring 40 which rotates over a predetermined angle according to the movement of the drive shaft 39 , and the bracket 41 which connects the drive ring 40 and the drive shaft 39 . The second movable vane 36 is connected to the drive ring 40 by a predetermined link mechanism.
[0049] Hereinafter, an operation of the driving device 37 will be described. First, if the drive motor 38 is driven, the driving force of the drive motor 38 is transmitted to the drive shaft 39 through a predetermined gear. The drive shaft 39 moves in a longitudinal direction by the driving force, thereby operating the bracket 41 .
[0050] Subsequently, the bracket 41 operates the drive ring 40 , whereby the drive ring 40 rotates in the circumferential direction. In this way, the angle of the second movable vane 36 connected to the drive ring 40 through a predetermined link mechanism is changed.
[0051] The drive ring 40 , the bracket 41 , and a portion of the drive shaft 39 of the driving device 37 are disposed in the intermediate suction chamber 31 . The bracket 41 and a portion of the drive shaft 39 disposed in the intermediate suction chamber 31 are hereinafter referred to as the drive mechanism 42 .
[0052] Further, a plurality of guide blades 43 are provided close to an opening of the suction nozzle 32 in the intermediate suction chamber 31 . The guide blade 43 is a plate-shaped guide provided so as to connect an inner wall on one side in the axis line direction of the intermediate suction chamber 31 and an inner wall on the other side in the axis line direction and has a shape diffusing the gas refrigerant which is introduced from the suction nozzle 32 to both sides in the circumferential direction of the intermediate suction chamber 31 .
[0053] As described above, in the turbo chiller of this embodiment, in order to make the overall layout of the chiller compact (in order to reduce an installation area), the drive mechanism 42 which is a portion of the driving device 37 is disposed at the position of 90° in the circumferential direction with respect to the suction nozzle 32 . That is, the drive mechanism 42 is provided on one side in the circumferential direction of the suction nozzle 32 in the intermediate suction chamber 31 .
[0054] Here, the suction nozzle 32 of the intermediate suction chamber 31 is inclined such that the flow rate of the gas refrigerant to the side opposite to the side on which the drive mechanism 42 is provided increases. That is, the suction nozzle 32 is formed such that the flow rate of the gas refrigerant to the other side in the circumferential direction in the intermediate suction chamber 31 increases.
[0055] Specifically, a flow path area orthogonal to a gas introduction direction G of the suction nozzle 32 is formed such that the side opposite to the drive mechanism 42 is larger.
[0056] Further, also with regard to the guide blades 43 , the guide blades 43 are formed such that the flow rate of the gas refrigerant becomes larger on the other side in the circumferential direction, that is, such that the length of the guide blade 43 on the side opposite to the drive mechanism 42 becomes longer.
[0057] Specifically, the plurality of guide blades 43 are formed so as to become longer as the distance from the drive mechanism 42 increases. For example, a guide blade 43 s most distant from the drive mechanism 42 is made longer than (for example, double) a guide blade 43 b closest to the drive mechanism 42 .
[0058] Further, the plurality of guide blades 43 are disposed such that the distance between the guide blades 43 adjacent to each other becomes wider as the distance from the drive mechanism 42 increases. For example, a distance C 1 between downstream-side end portions of the guide blade 43 a which is at the position most distant from the drive mechanism 42 and the guide blade 43 disposed next to the guide blade 43 a is disposed so as to be wider than a distance C 2 between the guide blade 43 b closest to the drive mechanism and the guide blade disposed next to the guide blade 43 b.
[0059] Next, an operation of the turbo chiller of this embodiment will be described.
[0060] In the turbo chiller of this embodiment, the vaporizer 5 , the centrifugal compressor 2 , the condenser 3 , and the intercooler 4 are connected by the pipes, thereby configuring a closed system which circulates a refrigerant. The gas refrigerant introduced from the gas phase section of the intercooler 4 of these devices is introduced into the intermediate suction chamber 31 of the centrifugal compressor 2 by the suction nozzle 32 .
[0061] The gas refrigerant having flowed into the intermediate suction chamber 31 flows into a suction passage of the second impeller 16 through the slit 33 and is sucked into the second impeller 16 along with refrigerant vapor discharged from the first impeller 15 .
[0062] Further, the intercooler 4 and the centrifugal compressor 2 are connected by the gas refrigerant pipe for an intercooler 9 which leads the gas refrigerant from the gas phase section of the intercooler 4 to the intermediate stage of the centrifugal compressor 2 .
[0063] According to the above-described embodiment, the arrangement of the centrifugal compressor 2 is optimized by providing the drive mechanism 42 at the position spaced apart by 90° in the circumferential direction on one side in the circumferential direction of the suction nozzle 32 , and thus it is possible to make the overall layout of the turbo chiller compact.
[0064] Further, the suction nozzle 32 is inclined, whereby the flow rate flowing to the side opposite to the drive mechanism 42 increases, and thus the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the intermediate suction chamber 31 becomes more uniform.
[0065] Further, the length of the guide blade 43 is formed so as to become longer as the distance from the drive mechanism 42 increases, and the distance between the guide blades 43 is disposed so as to become wider as the distance from the drive mechanism 42 increases, whereby the gas refrigerant further flows into the side opposite to the drive mechanism 42 , and thus the uniformity of the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the intermediate suction chamber 31 is improved.
[0066] In this way, a bias in the circumferential direction of the flow in the outlet of the intermediate suction chamber 31 is suppressed, and therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the performance of the second impeller 16 which is located downstream.
Second Embodiment
[0067] Next, a turbo chiller according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, in this embodiment, description is made focusing on the differences from the first embodiment described above and description of the same portions is omitted.
[0068] As shown in FIG. 5 , the centrifugal compressor 2 of the turbo chiller of this embodiment is characterized in that a flow path guide 44 making a flow path width become narrower as it approaches the drive mechanism 42 is provided in the intermediate suction chamber 31 .
[0069] The flow path guide 44 is a plate-shaped guide provided so as to connect the inner wall on one side in the axis line direction of the intermediate suction chamber 31 and the inner wall on the other side in the axis line direction, similar to the guide blade 43 . Specifically, the flow path guide 44 is a guide having a curved shape narrowing a flow path width further toward the drive mechanism 42 side than the suction nozzle 32 at the position spaced apart by 180° in the circumferential direction with respect to the suction nozzle 32 (on the side opposite to the suction nozzle 32 ).
[0070] According to the above-described embodiment, the flow path area in the circumferential direction of the inside of the intermediate suction chamber 31 is gradually narrowed by the flow path guide 44 , whereby the gas refrigerant is led to the vicinity of the drive mechanism with increased velocity. In this way, the flow distribution in the circumferential direction in the intermediate suction chamber 31 is improved.
[0071] In addition, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to each of the embodiments described above and includes forms in which various changes are applied to the above-described embodiments within a scope which does not depart from the gist of the present invention. That is, the configurations and the like mentioned in the above-described embodiments are an example, and changes can be appropriately made.
[0072] For example, in this embodiment, a configuration in which the suction nozzle 32 and the drive mechanism 42 are spaced apart from each other by 90° in the circumferential direction is shown. However, there is no limitation thereto, and a configuration of making the entire device more compact by further narrowing the distance is also acceptable.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0073] The above-described compressor and turbo chiller are suitable for a turbo chiller unitized by disposing configuration devices such as a compressor, a condenser, and a vaporizer near each other and integrating the configuration devices.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0000]
1 : turbo chiller
2 : centrifugal compressor
3 : condenser
4 : intercooler
5 : vaporizer
12 : rotary shaft
15 : first impeller
16 : second impeller
21 : internal space
23 : return flow path
31 : intermediate suction chamber (chamber)
32 : suction nozzle
33 : slit
36 : second movable vane
37 : driving device
39 : drive shaft
40 : drive ring
41 : bracket
42 : drive mechanism
43 : guide blade
44 : flow path guide | A compressor ( 2 ) characterized by being equipped with: a rotary shaft ( 12 ); multiple impellers attached to the rotary shaft; a main flow path that guides a fluid from the prior-stage impeller to the latter-stage impeller; a chamber ( 31 ) that forms a circle centered around the axial line and connects to the main flow path; a suction nozzle ( 32 ) that guides the fluid from the outer circumferential side toward the inner circumferential side in the chamber; multiple movable vanes provided in the main flow path at intervals in the circumferential direction of the axial line and capable of moving and thereby adjusting the flow volume of the fluid passing through the main flow path; and a drive mechanism ( 42 ) that is provided at one side in the circumferential direction of the suction nozzle ( 32 ) within the chamber ( 31 ), and that changes the angle of the multiple movable vanes. In addition, of the one side and the other side in the circumferential direction within the chamber ( 31 ), the suction nozzle ( 32 ) is inclined toward the other side so as to increase the flow volume of the fluid toward the other side. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a weaving method using a number of different types of yarn that imparts a pattern using a 1/f fluctuation.
The conventional weaving method using different types of pre-dyed yarn produces either a constant pattern or a totally random pattern of warp yarns and weft yarns.
Conventional weaving methods produce woven goods in which the warp yarns and weft yarns are of a uniform pattern or of a completely random pattern, and therefore do not have a natural, irregular feel. The goods instead have an artificial texture with very little natural feel and is not particularly comfortable for the wearer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes this problem and provides yarns of one type of warp yarn, for example white yarn, that are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through reed dents so as to alternate with yarns of another type of warp yarn, for example, black yarn, then the warp yarn are separated into two sets to form a shed between two sets, and weft yarns are passed through the shed, thereby weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns such that a striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the warp yarns.
The present inventor, Toshimitsu Musha, was the first in the world to discover that a 1/f fluctuation would impart a particularly comfortable feel to humans. The results were published in "The World of Fluctuations", released by Kodanasha Publishers in 1980; and were also announced in a paper entitled "Bioinformation and 1/f Fluctuation", Applied Physics, 1984, pp 429-435, and another paper titled "Biocontrol and 1/f Fluctuation", Journal of Japan. Soc. of Precision Machinery, 1984, vol 50, No. 6, as well as in a recent publication called "the Concept of Fluctuations", published by NHK in 1994. The abstract of these publications read,
the 1/f fluctuation provides a comfortable feeling to humans; the reason being that the variations in the basic rhythm of the human body have a 1/f spectrum. From another perspective, the human body eventually tires of a constant stimulation from the same source, but conversely, the body feels uncomfortable if the stimulations were to change too suddenly; therefore a 1/f fluctuation is a fluctuation of the right proportion between these two extremes.
An excerpt from "The World of Fluctuations", published by Kodansha Publishers, reads
For example, the rhythms exhibited by the human body such as heart beats, and hand-clapping to music, impulse- release period of neurons, and a-rhythms observed in the brain, are all basically 1/f fluctuations, and it has been shown experimentally that if a body is stimulated by a fluctuation like these biorhythmic 1/f fluctuations, it would feel comfortable.
Fluctuations (variations) exist in various forms throughout nature, but the murmur of a brook, a breath of wind, and other phenomena that impart a comfortable feeling to humans have a 1/f fluctuation, while typhoons and other strong winds that impart uneasiness do not have a 1/f fluctuation.
The present invention is designed to take advanatge of the benefits of 1/f fluctuations. The objectives of the present invention are as follows:
1. An objective of this invention is to make woven goods available that provide a natural, comfortable feeling to human beings.
2. Another objective of this invention is to provide a weaving method which causes the pattern of woven goods made from a number of different types of yarn to have a correlation, specifically, a 1/f fluctuation.
3. Another objective of this invention is to provide a method to produce woven goods with a natural, irregular feel on an industrial scale.
In this invention, "1/f fluctuation" is defined as a power spectrum, with a frequency component f, and proportional to 1/f k , where k is approximately 1, and similar spectra thereof. Yarn types is defined as yarns that vary by color such as pre-dyed yarns; by type of fiber such as cotton, linen, silk, wool or other natural fibers, rayon or other regenerated fibers, acetate or other semi-synthetic fibers, and polyester, polyamide or other synthetic fibers; by thickness; by twist count, or by twist direction; or by any combination of these types thereof.
This invention provides a weaving method for weaving woven goods from weft yarns and a number of different types of warp yarns; wherein, yarns of a first type of warp yarn are grouped in numbers corresponding to values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through reed dents so as to alternate with yarns of a second type of warp yarn, then the weft yarns are passed through the shed, thereby weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the warp yarn pattern. Alternatively, the yarns of the second type are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation.
This invention also provides a weaving method for weaving woven goods from warp yarns and a number of different types of weft yarns; wherein warp yarns are passed through reed dents, the warp yarns are separated into two sets to form a shed between the two sets, and in passing the weft yarn through the shed, yarns of a first type of weft yarn are selected in groups in number corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation, and the groups are alternated with yarns of a second type of selected weft yarn, thereby weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns such that a 1/f fluctuation, is imparted to the weft yarn pattern. Alternatively, the yarns of the second type of weft yarns are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation.
Another embodiment of this invention provides a weaving method for weaving woven goods from a number of different types of weft yarns and a number of different types of warp yarns; wherein, yarns of a first type of warp yarn are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through the reed dents so as to alternate with yarns of a second type of warp yarn, then the warp yarns are separated into two sets to form a shed between the two sets, and in passing the weft yarn through the shed, yarns of a first type of weft yarn are selected in groups in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation, and the groups are alternated with yarns of a second type of selected weft yarn, thereby weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the weft yarn pattern. Alternatively, the second type of warp yarn, the second type of weft yarn, or one type of warp yarn and one type of weft yarn are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation.
This invention is effective in that:
1. The pattern of the woven fabric does not change randomly; rather it has a correlation, and because this correlation has a 1/f fluctuation, it imparts a special feeling of comfort and aesthetic beauty to the wearer.
2. Woven goods with a hand-woven natural irregular feel can be manufactured at low cost on an industrial scale.
3. Incorporating a melody or tone having a 1/f fluctuation into woven goods can evoke a feeling of comfort in the wearer.
BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES
The above and other objects and the attendant advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is an overview diagram of the principal components of a weaving machine;
FIG. 2 illustrates a striped colored pattern with a 1/f fluctuation; and
FIG. 3 illustrates a checkered colored pattern with a 1/f fluctuation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Working examples of this invention will be explained below.
1. Overview of a weaving machine Weaving machine 1 weaves spun yarn into woven goods 2 through the primary movements of opening the shed, inserting the weft yarn, and beating the weft, and the secondary movements of letting off warp yarns 21 and taking up woven goods 2. It is constructed, for example, as shown in FIG. 1. The action of opening the shed divides all the warp yarns into two sets, forming an opening through which weft yarn 22 passes, and causing warp yarns 21 and weft yarns 22 to cross over each other. For this purpose, warp yarns 21 are drawn-in through two sets of healds 4 in a prescribed order, and the up and down action of these healds 4 separates the warp yarns 21 vertically.
In one method of weft insertion, the weft yarn is fixed in the end of a rapier 6 which carries the weft yarn through the shed formed by the warp yarns. In addition to a rapier, other methods of weft insertion use air, water, shuttles grippers, or other means. A number of different types of weft yarn, for example, pre-dyed yarns of different color, can be selected to weave a colored pattern among the weft yarns.
Weft beating is the procedure in which the reed presses and forces the weft yarn 22, which has passed through the inside of the shed formed by the warp yarns, up to a prescribed position, thereby causing warp yarn 21 and weft yarn 22 to cross each other. The let-off device 3 gradually feeds the warp yarns 21, while the take-up device 7 rolls up the woven goods 2.
2. Obtaining 1/f fluctuation signals 1/f fluctuation signals may be derived from a numerical sequence y1, y2, y3, . . . formed by multiplying n coefficients, a1, a2, a3, . . . a n , on a random sequence of numbers, x1, x2, x3, . . . Generally, y j can be expressed by Equation 1. Here, the sequence of numerical values forming y1, y2, y3, . . . has a 1/f spectrum. (For further details, refer to `Biological Signaling`, Chapter 10, in "Biological Rhythms and Fluctuations", published by Corona Publishers, Ltd.) ##EQU1##
The sequence of numerical values having a 1/f fluctuati,on may be obtained in two steps. In step 1, a computer, for example, generates a sequence of random numbers, x. In step 2, a certain number, n, of coefficients, a, stored in a storage device, are successively multiplied on the random numbers, and then a sequence of numerical values, y, is obtained by a linear transformation. This numerical sequence, y, has a 1/f spectrum, and can be used as a sequence of numerical values having a 1/f fluctuation. Examples of numerical sequences with a 1/f fluctuation so obtained are shown below. Other numerical sequences with a 1/f fluctuation can be derived, for example, from a sound, melody, or a breath of wind, the strengths of which varies with a 1/f fluctuation.
Numerical sequence 1=32, 18, 24, 14, 10, 20,16,16, 12,4, 14, 16, 16, 8, 24, 4, 10, 28, 28, 12, 10, 2, 2, . . .
Numerical sequence 2=4, 8, 10, 40, 24, 4, 12, 16, 20, 16, 24, 8, 8, 14, 14, 22, 26, 4, 8, 14, 14, 26, 28, . . .
Numerical sequence 3=20, 20, 26, 10, 10, 24, 18, 24, 12, 6, 12, 16, 16, 10, 24, 6, 12, 32, 12, 12, . . .
Numerical sequence 4=6, 6, 10, 40, 22, 4, 10, 12, 12, 12, 24, 6, 6, 12, 12, 20, 28, 8, 12, 60, . . .
Numerical sequence 5=8, 8, 20, 20, 8, 4, 18, 6, 9, 9, 8, 3, 9, 11, 10, 15, 8, 10, . . .
Numerical sequence 6=43, 8, 5, 2, 16, 12, 8, 8, 5, 5, 18, 9, 9, 8, 6, 2, 15, 25, 5, 5, 4, . . .
3. Weaving patterned warp yarns
Weaving using a number of different types of warp yarn will produce woven goods in which the warp yarns are patterned as a function of the type of yarn. Warp yarn types can vary by color such as pre-dyed yarns; by type of fiber such as cotton, linen, silk, wool or other natural fibers, rayon or other regenerated fibers, acetate or other semi-synthetic fibers, and polyester, polyamide or other synthetic fibers; by thickness; by twist count, or by twist direction; or by any combination of these types thereof.
For example, to produce a colored striped pattern in the warp yarns, white and black dyed yarns for example, can be prepared for use as the warp yarns, and the white yarn can be prepared for use as the weft yarns. Then, for example, starting at one end of the weaving machine, white warp yarns can be grouped in accordance with numerical sequence 1 described above. That is, 32 white yarns are arranged contiguously, then 18 yarns, then 24, then 14 yarns, and so forth. Similarly, the black warp yarns are grouped but in accordance with numerical sequence 2; that is, 4 yarns are arranged contiguously, then 8 yarns, then 10, then 40 yarns, and so forth. These white and black groups of yarns are arranged in alternate groups of reed dents. That is, starting at one end, reed dents having a total of 32 white yarns (numerical sequence 1), reed dents having a total of 4 black yarns (numerical sequence 2), reed dents having a total of 18 white yarns (numerical sequence 1) reed dents having a total of 8 black yarns (numerical sequence 2), reed dents having a total of 24 white yarns (numerical sequence 1), reed dents having a total of 10 black yarns (numerical sequence 2) and so forth are inserted in order in contiguous groups of reed dents.
As a more detailed example using a conventional practice of two yarns being passed through each reed dent, the above explicit example would be as follows. That is, starting at one end of the reed, 16 reed dents are occupied by 32 white yarns conventionally reeded in pairs to form the first number in numerical sequence 1. This group of yarns is followed by a second yarn group consisting of four black yarns which are reeded into two dents and which define the first number in numerical sequence 2. 18 white yarns are then reeded in the same manner to form the second number defining numerical sequence 1, followed by 8 black yarns (second number in sequence 2), 24 white yarns (third number in sequence 1), 10 black yarns (third number in sequence 2), and so forth.
Weaving white weft yarns into warp yarns arranged in this manner will produce a black-and-white striped pattern as shown in FIG. 2. This pattern of stripes is not random, but has a correlation of a 1/f fluctuation.
In another example, to obtain a different striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation, white warp yarns can be grouped in accordance with a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation, while a constant number of black yarns, for example, 5 yarns, are grouped. The groups are then alternated as described above. In this case, the variation in the width of the white stripes has a 1/f fluctuation.
Alternatively, white yarn and black yarn can each be grouped in accordance with a common numerical sequence. For example, white yarns and black yarns can be allocated in accordance with alternate values of numerical sequence 1; that is 32 white yarns, 18 black yarns, 24 white yarns, and so forth are arranged in order in contiguous reed dents to obtain a pattern with a 1/f fluctuation. Or, three or more colors can be arranged alternately in a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation.
4. Weaving of patterned weft yarns
Like warp yarns, a number of different types of weft yarn can be woven to produce woven goods in which the weft yarns are patterned. For example, to obtain a colored striped pattern in the weft yarns, two pre-dyed yarns of different color are prepared for the weft yarns and pre-dyed yarn of a single color is prepared for the warp yarns.
Then any generally known weaving machine such as a rapier loom fitted with a selection device which can be programmed to select different weft yarns, can be used for the weaving process. For example, the selection device is mounted on the loom and controlled so that white yarns will be selected in accordance with numerical sequence 1, while black yarns will be selected in accordance with numerical sequence 2. That is, 32 white yarns (numerical sequence 1) are selected as one group, then four black yarns (numerical sequence 2) are selected as a group, followed in order by 18 white yarns (numerical sequence 1), 8 black yarns (numerical sequence 2), 24 white yarns (numerical sequence 1), 10 black yarns (numerical sequence 2) and so forth in alternate groups of white and black order.
Weaving in this manner will produce a fabric with a striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation as shown in FIG. 2, except that the warp yarns and weave yarns are reversed. And like the warp yarns, other different types of weft yarns can be used to produce different patterns, all with a 1/f fluctuation.
5. Weaving of patterned warp yarns and weft yarns
Patterns can also be produced in both the warp yarns and the weft yarns. For example, the weaving method to impart a colored striped pattern in the warp yarns and the weaving method to impart a colored striped pattern in the weft yarns as described above can be combined to produce a checkered pattern as shown in FIG. 3. In this case, the black stripes in the warp yarns are much darker than the black stripes in the weft yarns. This arises because the density of the warp yarns is greater than that of the weft yarns. If the yarn density of the warp yarns are the same, then the color density will be uniform.
To produce the woven fabric of FIG. 3, white and black pre-dyed yarns are prepared for both the warp yarns and weft yarns. Then for example, white yarns and black yarns are grouped in accordance with numerical sequence 3 and numerical sequence 4 respectively for use as the warp yarns, and a white group and black group are arranged in alternate groups of reed dents. Similarly, white yarns and black yarns are grouped in accordance with numerical sequence 5 and numerical sequence 6 respectively for use as the weft yarns, and a white group and a black group are selected alternately. That is, for the warp yarns, 20 white yarns (numerical sequence 3), 6 black yarns (numerical sequence 4), 20 white yarns (numerical sequence 3), 6 black yarns (numerical sequence 4), and so forth are arranged in order in alternate dents. For the weft yarns, 43 black yarns (numerical sequence 6), 8 white yarns (numerical sequence 5), 8 black yarns (numerical sequence 6), 8 white yarns (numerical sequence 5), 5 black yarns (numerical sequence 6) and so forth are selected in alternate order.
Weaving in this manner produces a pattern with a 1/f fluctuation in both the warp yarns and weft yarns for an overall checkered pattern with a 1/f fluctuation. Other patterns can be produced similarly.
6. Weaving of patterned weft yarns where the weft yarns and warp yarns are of a different type
In this example, cotton weft yarns and polyester warp yarns are woven with a shuttle weaving machine equipped with 6 healds. White polyester yarn is used for the warp yarns, and a selection device is mounted and controlled such that white yarns are selected in accordance with numerical sequence 1 and black yarns are selected in accordance with numerical sequence 2. By using very elastic warp yarn and weft yarn of much lower elasticity, a woven fabric and be produced with a striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation in which the warp yarns are finely crinkled.
It is readily apparent that the above-described has the advantage of wide commercial utility. It should be understood that the specific form of the invention hereinabove described is intended to be representative only, as certain modifications within the scope of these teachings will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims in determining the full scope of the invention. | A weaving method that imparts a 1/f fluctuation to the weave pattern. Adjacent and different numbered groups of different yarns, for example black yarn and white yarns, are alternately arranged in contiguous reed dents. The sequential number which is associated with each group manifests a series of numbers which effect the 1/f fluctuation. Following separation of the warp yarns into two sets by raising and lowering of healds to form a shed and passage of weft yarns therethrough, a woven fabric with a stripped 1/f fluctuation in the warp direction is created. | 3 |
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. FIS920140071US1), entitled “WAFER BACKSIDE PARTICLE MITIGATION”, filed even date herewith.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present exemplary embodiments relate to mitigating particle contamination on the backside of a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly, relate to mitigating particle contamination by providing a coating on the backside of the semiconductor wafer to encapsulate the contaminating particles and fill any scratches.
[0003] Particulate matter may be generated from wafer handling devices (such as pics, pins and pads) as the semiconductor wafers travel through a multitude of tools in the line. Some particulate matter, and especially scratches and dents, are inevitable, regardless of any sort of preemptive cleaning or wiping methods.
[0004] The semiconductor wafers are typically handled with a so-called wafer chuck, one example of a wafer chuck being an electrostatic wafer chuck, which secures the semiconductor wafer during processing. However, conventional electrostatic chucks maintain a high percent point of contact with the backside of the semiconductor wafer. This large area of contact is highly susceptible to semiconductor wafer backside particulate manner and scratches, which can create wafer topography during lithography exposure and lead to “hot spots”. A hot spot in the present context is a lithography term for a localized pattern distortion (i.e., defocus) of which one cause is wafer topography.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] The various advantages and purposes of the exemplary embodiments as described above and hereafter are achieved by providing, according to a first aspect of the exemplary embodiments, a method of particle mitigation which includes obtaining a semiconductor wafer having a nonfunctional backside and a functional frontside on which semiconductor devices are formed by one or more lithography processes; coating the backside with a mitigating layer comprising silicon or amorphous carbon; planarizing the coated backside by a planarizing process; placing the semiconductor wafer onto a wafer chuck such that the wafer chuck makes direct contact with the coated backside; and while maintaining the coated backside in direct contact with the wafer chuck, performing a first lithographic process on the frontside.
[0006] According to a second aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there is provided a method of particle mitigation which includes obtaining a semiconductor wafer having a nonfunctional backside and a functional frontside on which semiconductor devices are formed by one or more lithography processes; coating the backside with a mitigating layer comprising silicon or amorphous carbon; planarizing the coated backside by a planarizing process; placing the semiconductor wafer onto an electrostatic wafer chuck such that the electrostatic wafer chuck makes direct contact with the coated backside; and while maintaining the coated backside in direct contact with the electrostatic wafer chuck, performing an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithographic process on the frontside.
[0007] According to a third aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there is provided a method of particle mitigation which includes obtaining a semiconductor wafer having a nonfunctional backside and a functional frontside on which semiconductor devices are formed by one or more lithography processes; coating the backside with a mitigating layer comprising silicon or a carbon-like material; planarizing the coated backside by a planarizing process; coating the mitigating layer with a stop layer that is compositionally different than the mitigating layer; coating the stop layer with another mitigating layer comprising silicon or carbon-like material; planarizing the coated backside by a planarizing process; repeating, a predetermined number of times, coating the mitigating layer with the stop layer that is compositionally different than the mitigating layer, coating the stop layer with another mitigating layer comprising silicon or amorphous carbon, and planarizing the coated backside by the planarizing process; placing the semiconductor wafer onto a wafer chuck such that the wafer chuck makes direct contact with the coated backside; and while maintaining the coated backside in direct contact with the wafer chuck, performing a lithographic process on the frontside.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The features of the exemplary embodiments believed to be novel and the elements characteristic of the exemplary embodiments are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The Figures are for illustration purposes only and are not drawn to scale. The exemplary embodiments, both as to organization and method of operation, may best be understood by reference to the detailed description which follows taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a semiconductor wafer according to the exemplary embodiments having a coating on the backside of the semiconductor wafer.
[0010] FIGS. 2 to 4 illustrate a first exemplary process of particle mitigation in which:
[0011] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of FIG. 1 showing a backside coating on the semiconductor wafer;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 2 in which the backside coating is planarized; and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view illustrating the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 3 being placed on an electrostatic chuck and a lithography process being performed on the frontside of the semiconductor wafer.
[0014] FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate a second exemplary process of particle mitigation in which:
[0015] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view illustrating a protective coating formed on the frontside of the semiconductor wafer;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view illustrating a backside coating on the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 5 ; and
[0017] FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view illustrating the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 6 in which the backside coating is planarized.
[0018] FIG. 8 illustrates a third exemplary embodiment of particle mitigation in which the backside of the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 7 is coated with a plurality of layers.
[0019] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a process for forming the exemplary embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] Semiconductor technology is well known. Through semiconductor fabrication processes, semiconductor devices are formed on a semiconductor wafer. A typical semiconductor wafer has a back, nonfunctional side (hereafter “backside”) and a front, functional side (hereafter “frontside”). The semiconductor fabrication processes such as front end of the line processes to form transistors and back end of the line processes to form interconnects occur on the frontside of the semiconductor wafer. Lithography may be used in many of these semiconductor fabrication processes to pattern the frontside. Optical lithography, immersion lithography, ultraviolet (UV) lithography and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography being examples of types of lithographic processes that may be utilized.
[0021] During these semiconductor fabrication processes, the semiconductor wafer may be supported by a wafer chuck such as an electrostatic wafer chuck. Electrostatic wafer chucks employ a platen with integral electrodes which are biased with high voltage to establish an electrostatic holding force between the platen and wafer, thereby “chucking” the wafer. The semiconductor wafer is typically placed backside down on the wafer chuck since the backside has no semiconductor devices and is thus nonfunctional.
[0022] As noted previously, particulate matter and scratches on the backside can cause problems such as lithographic “hotspots” and so it is desirable to mitigate the harmful effect of such particulate matter and scratches.
[0023] Referring to the Figures in more detail, and particularly referring to FIG. 1 , there is illustrated a semiconductor wafer 10 having a coating 12 on the backside of the semiconductor wafer. The coating 12 may also be referred to as a mitigating layer.
[0024] It may be desirable to have the semiconductor 10 undergo a cleaning process prior to applying the coating 12 in order to remove as many particulate matter as possible. This cleaning process may be a conventional cleaning process such as a wet cleaning process or a dry cleaning process where the wafer may be wiped to remove the particulate matter. It is believed that in many cases, encapsulation by applying the coating 12 may be desirable since there may be incomplete removal of the particulate matter during any cleaning process and in any case, scratches may not be removed by cleaning. In one exemplary embodiment, the particulate matter and scratches may be characterized before applying the coating 12 to determine if the coating 12 is desirable.
[0025] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of FIG. 1 in the direction of arrows 2 - 2 shown in FIG. 1 . Semiconductor wafer 10 may have particulate matter 14 and/or scratches 16 on the backside 18 of the semiconductor wafer 10 . The frontside of the semiconductor wafer is indicated by reference number 20 .
[0026] A coating 12 has been applied to the backside 18 so as to encapsulate the particulate matter 14 and fill scratches 16 that may be present on the backside 18 . Coating 12 may have a thickness that may be selected to be on the order of at least about two times the size of the maximum targeted particle size. For example, typical particle sizes range from 0-10 um so the layer thickness may be on the order of 20 um. The coating 12 may be deposited or applied by a spin on film process. In one exemplary embodiment the coating 12 may be silicon, such as amorphous silicon. In an alternative embodiment, the coating 12 may be an amorphous carbon film. Both of the silicon and amorphous carbon films may be planarized and may also be removed selectively using a wet process or a dry process such as a reactive ion etching process or some combination thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate) for the silicon film or acetylene, ethylene or propylene for the amorphous carbon film may be applied by a spin on process at a temperature that is compatible with any frontside films, for example, 250 to 600° C. to turn the spin on film into silicon or amorphous carbon. For backside deposition, the processing should be performed in a single wafer chamber. It is noted that the surface 22 of the coating 12 may be uneven due to the presence of particulate matter 14 and scratch 16 . Accordingly, the coating 12 may undergo a planarizing process to planarize the surface 22 of the coating 12 . For purposes of illustration and not limitation, the planarizing process may be a chemical-mechanical planarizing process (CMP). The coating 12 after planarization is shown in FIG. 3 .
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 4 , the semiconductor wafer 10 is flipped over so as to be supported on a wafer chuck 24 , such as an electrostatic chuck. Frontside surface 20 (now facing up) of the semiconductor wafer 10 may then undergo a lithographic process such as by lithographic tool 28 . Most preferably, the lithographic process is an EUV process in which extreme ultraviolet light (around 13.5 nanometers in wavelength) is used for exposing a photoresist. Surface 22 of coating 12 is now in direct contact with surface 26 of wafer chuck 24 . It is noted that since the particulate matter 14 and scratch 16 are fully encapsulated by coating 12 , and there is even topography due to the planarizing described with respect to FIG. 3 , the semiconductor wafer 10 may be processed without fear of hotspots.
[0028] Later in the process flow, the coating 12 may be removed by conventional means such as by reactive ion etching, wet etching or chemical-mechanical polishing, depending on the specific film chosen.
[0029] Referring now to FIGS. 5 to 7 , another exemplary embodiment will be described. In this exemplary embodiment, a protective coating 30 may be applied to the frontside 20 of the semiconductor wafer 10 to avoid any possible harm to the frontside 20 when the backside coating 12 is applied. In a preferred exemplary embodiment, a protective coating may not be required, but if it is required (for instance when the exposed frontside cannot be mechanically contacted to the wafer chuck without damaging the frontside film stack), then the protective coating 30 may need to be applied, and the material for such protective coating may need to be chosen with special consideration with respect to the choice of backside pattern material as chosen above, so as to allow selective removal in subsequent processes. The protective coating 30 may also be silicon or amorphous carbon. The protective coating 30 may be the same or different than the backside coating 12 .
[0030] As shown in FIG. 5 , protective coating 30 has been applied to the frontside 20 of the semiconductor wafer 10 . The backside 18 may contain particulate matter 14 and/or scratch 16 which may need to be encapsulated.
[0031] Coating 12 may be applied as described previously to the backside 18 to encapsulate the particulate matter 14 and fill scratch 16 , as shown in FIG. 6 , followed by planarizing to result in the structure shown in FIG. 7 .
[0032] Another exemplary embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 8 . In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 , multiple layers of coating 12 may be applied to the backside 18 . The coating 12 may be applied and planarized, as described previously, to encapsulate the particulate matter 14 and fill scratch 16 . Thereafter, a stop layer 32 such as an oxide may be applied to the coating 12 and planarized. Stop layer 32 may have a thickness of about 20 to 100 nm. The stop layer 32 provides a method of removing the exposed coated layer selective to another coated layer deeper in the stack. The stop layer 32 stops the removal of one coated layer selective to the stop layer. Any material that is compatible with being deposited alternately with the coating 12 as well as providing a selective stop against the coating 12 may be used as the stop layer 32 . For example, if the coating 12 is silicon, then the stop layer 32 may be an oxide or nitride if the removal process of the silicon is reactive ion etching. If using a wet etching process, hot ammonia will etch silicon selective to oxide, for example. Then the stop layer 32 may be removed by a process selective to the underlying coating 12 . For example, if the coating 12 is silicon and the stop layer 32 is oxide, then the oxide stop layer 32 may be removed, for example, by a fluorine-based reactive ion etching process or dilute HF.
[0033] Then another coating 12 ′ may be applied to the stop layer 32 and planarized. This process sequence may be repeated until subsequent stop layer 32 ′ and coating 12 ″ have been formed as shown in FIG. 8 . Additional stop layers and coatings may be applied until the desired number of stop layers and coatings have been added. All of the stop layers 32 , 32 ′ may comprise the same material or different materials. Similarly, all of the coatings 12 , 12 ′, 12 ″ may comprise the same material or different materials.
[0034] The method of alternating coated layers separated by stop layers provides a stack of “pre-built” films that may be iteratively removed as needed, without the need to go through as many iterative deposition steps. That is, the last coating 12 , 12 ′ or 12 ″ may be removed followed by removal of the last stop layer 32 ′ or 32 so that the next coating 12 or 12 ′ is a clean and flat backside layer for the next lithographic process, such as an EUV process. There may be cases where one is prohibited from depositing such a coated layer prior to EUV exposure due to exposed films, etc. where having several “pre-built” layers can serve the needed purpose of having a clean and flat backside layer before each lithographic process.
[0035] The frontside protective coating 30 , while shown in FIG. 8 , is optional and may be dispensed with if desired.
[0036] Referring now to FIG. 9 , there is illustrated a process flow for the various exemplary embodiments. The process begins by obtaining a semiconductor wafer, box 40 .
[0037] In an optional process, the backside of the semiconductor wafer may be cleaned to remove as many particulate matter as possible, box 42 . Optionally also, the backside of the semiconductor wafer may be characterized to determine if an encapsulating coating is desirable.
[0038] In another optional process, the frontside of the semiconductor wafer may receive a protective coating to protect the frontside during subsequent application of the backside coating, box 44 . The frontside protective coating would have to be removed prior to performing any lithographic process on the frontside.
[0039] The backside of the semiconductor wafer may be coated, box 46 , by any of the processes and materials described previously.
[0040] The backside coating may then be planarized, box 48 .
[0041] It is then determined if more backside layers are to be applied, box 50 . The additional backside layers may be those described with respect to FIG. 8 . If more layers are to be applied, a stop layer may be applied such as stop layer 32 in FIG. 8 , box 60 , then the process returns to box 46 to apply additional coating layers. If no more layers are to be applied, the process proceeds to place the coated semiconductor wafer on the wafer chuck, box 52 . It is preferred that the wafer chuck be an electrostatic wafer chuck. The backside coating is placed in direct contact on the wafer chuck.
[0042] If the semiconductor wafer has a frontside protective coating, the frontside coating may be removed, box 54 , before or after the semiconductor wafer is placed on the wafer chuck. In any event, the frontside protective coating must be removed before a lithographic process is performed.
[0043] A lithographic process is next performed on the frontside, box 56 . It is most preferred that the backside coating be present when the semiconductor wafer undergoes an EUV process as this process most likely leads to hotspots.
[0044] When lithographic processing is completed, or at least when EUV lithographic processing is completed, the backside coating may be removed, box 58 .
[0045] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having regard to this disclosure that other modifications of the exemplary embodiments beyond those embodiments specifically described here may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications are considered within the scope of the invention as limited solely by the appended claims. | A method of particle mitigation which includes obtaining a semiconductor wafer having a nonfunctional backside and a functional frontside on which semiconductor devices are formed by one or more lithography processes; coating the backside with a layer comprising silicon or amorphous carbon; planarizing the coated backside by a planarizing process; placing the semiconductor wafer onto a wafer chuck such that the wafer chuck makes direct contact with the coated backside; and while maintaining the coated backside in direct contact with the wafer chuck, performing a first lithographic process on the frontside. | 7 |
This is a division of application Ser. No. 875,273, filed Feb. 6, 1978.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is generally accepted that it is most difficult to treat molten iron with magnesium so that it can be desulfurized or nodularized. This difficulty arises from a variety of physical characteristics which include (a) the typical treatment temperature for molten iron is usually at about 2600°-2800° F. and magnesium is in vapor form at that temperature level; (b) the solubility of magnesium into molten iron is extremely low; magnesium is a very light material and due to its low density tends to float on the molten metal and become oxidized; (d) magnesium oxidizes extremely rapidly when it comes into contact with air; and (e) magnesium is extremely reactive with molten iron and produces considerable pyrotechnic display which may consist of bursts of iron particles resulting from such reactivity.
The prior art has attempted to carry out the magnesium reaction according to principally four methods: the sandwich method, the injection method, and plunging process, and the Fisher or Kubeto processes requiring a pressure type reaction chamber. The sandwich method involves diluting the magnesium by alloying with nickel or silicon so that when the diluted material is brought into contact with the molten iron, which is preferably laid on the bottom of the molten vessel, a reduced magnesium vapor pressure will result and thus retard the tendency to send off magnesium vapors with extreme reactivity. Examples of magnesium alloys include Mg--Ni and Mg--Fe--Si. Unfortunately, these alloys are either expensive or insufficiently heavy so that additional steel cover of particles is necessary to prevent them from floating upwardly in the reaction ladle. The principal difficulty with the sandwich method is that the recovery of magnesium is low at about 30-50% of the magnesium that is added to the process. (Recovery shall mean herein the ratio between the units of a material added to a process and the units of the material appearing in the final metal product plus that combined with impurities).
Although not commercially used, the injection of magnesium powder takes place by the use of an inert vehicle such as nitrogen gas. It is typical for such magnesium powder to carry an oxide coating thereon by the mere nature of the production of the magnesium particles. The recovery of magnesium in the final metal is low (30% recoveries are typical), due to the floating of the powder inhibiting proper reaction and to dilution resulting from the formed oxides.
The plunging process uses a block of pure magnesium coated with layers of suitable refractory or employs a coke body impregnated with pure or high magnesium, each of which are plunged (carried mechanically) into the molten bath of iron. If carried out in a conventional way with the plunging tool introduced from the top of the open ladle and carried close to the bottom of the vessel, the recovery of magnesium will be 30-40%. The plunging process and Fisher or Kuboto processes are disadvantageous because a large mass of magnesium is allowed to react uncontrollably and special apparatus is required to obtain or contain access to the molten metal.
What is needed is a method which permits simple predetermined adjustment of the magnesium additive to achieve a more controlled reaction with molten metal without the need for special or expensive apparatus. The method should employ hydrostatic pressure of the molten metal to contain any magnesium vapor rendering a higher efficiency in graphitizing or desulfurizing of the metal. It is also important to carry out such reaction without diluting the magnesium which affects efficiency of magnesium recovery.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of this invention is to provide an improved method for treating molten iron in an open ladle to achieve more convenient and efficient desulfurization and/or nodularization.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a method of treating molten iron for desulfurization and/or nodularization in the ladle without the necessity for independent or special apparatus and which allows simple adjustment of the proportion of magnesium employed to match varying process conditions for increasing recovery.
A specific object is to provide a material for treating molten iron which inhibits floatation of the treating agent and promotes a more controlled dissolution of the magnesium.
Specific features pursuant to the above objects comprise (a) the use of iron shot controlled as to size and coated with a system consisting of a moderately thin pure magnesium inner shell and an outer wash coat of refractory material; (b) controlling the weight ratio between the mass of magnesium contained in the shell coating and the core of solid iron, whereby the core will act as a chill for the magnesium during the transient period of dissolution promoting better dissolution control and act as a sufficient weight to insure the magnesium shell will be at or near the deep bottom zone of the molten metal during dissolution; and (c) it is preferable to add the shot to an open ladle prior to the filling with molten metal so that the refractory coating need be maintained as thin as possible; however, it is operable to utilize the shot of this invention by addition to the stream of metal being poured into the ladle or to the molten bath within the ladle previously poured.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The treating agent of this invention useful for desulfurization and/or nodularization of molten iron in an open ladle, can be prepared preferably by the following steps:
(a) Iron shot is formed by conventional techniques having a particle diameter equal to or less than 1/16th of an inch (corresponding to size 660-780 shot). The shot composition is preferably low carbon steel or alternatively grey iron. Steel shot (SAE 1010 or 1020) will have less carbon content compared to cast iron, which carbon content along with surface cleanliness affects the tendency of magnesium to coat the shot. In addition, steel desirably denses by about 10% compared to cast iron.
The weight ratio of the iron shot to the magnesium coating, to be applied thereover, can be proportioned by design for the metal treatment desired. For example, if the shot is to be used for an iron melt which is to be only desulfurized, the thin controlled shell of magnesium should have a weight calculated to react with all of the intended sulfur within the molten iron with little or no residual magnesium contained in the iron upon solidification. To increase the volume and therefore the weight of the magnesium in the coating, the shot can be reduced in size thereby increasing the total surface area of the composite collection of shot particles. This increased surface area, within a given charge volume of shot, is the control factor that can be varied to regulate the weight ratio between the magnesium and iron core. If the iron shot is to be employed for both desulfurization and nodularization as preferred herein, then the content of magnesium must not only be sufficient to react with substantially all of the sulfur in the molten metal but must provide for at least 0.03% residual magnesium content in the solid iron.
Shot diameter size must be in the range of 0.04-0.20 inches. It is preferable that the shot be sized as uniform spheroids to facilitate pouring and fluid handling of the shot charge during transfer of the shot to the molten metal. It is also important that the shot have a clean surface which may be obtained by dipping in an aqueous hydrocloric acid solution for a period of time, such as a few seconds. (b) The cleaned and sized shot is then immersed in a tank filled with molten magnesium held typically at the temperature of about 1200°-1300° F. The shot is dredged through such molten metal and placed onto a controlled atmosphere heated hearth which provides a controlled temperature bed for allowing the coated shot to be separated along a planner surface prior to solidification of the molten magnesium. A rake is employed to separate the shot; the hearth temperature is progressively reduced to allow solidification of the coating. When the shot particles have sufficiently solidified, the shot is collected for transfer. The magnesium coating is a thin shell controlled to a thickness of 0.018-0.022 inches.
(c) The magnesium coated shot is transferred to an immersed in a ceramic slurry, for a period of time usually only a few seconds, so that the surface of such coated shot will receive only a wash of the refractory material (about 0.004-0.010 inches thick). This prepared product will have a predetermined uniform magnesium distribution about a given weight of iron and therefore the quantity of shot employed can be precisely selected for any given treatment requirement.
Utilizing this prepared shot, a preferred method of carrying out metal desulfurization and/or nodularization is as follows:
(a) An open ladle is employed which is first provided with a predetermined charge of the prepared shot, the shot being poured into the empty ladle so that it can reside in a small mound at the bottom thereof.
(b) Molten iron metal of a composition typically containing sulfur in the range of 0.04-0.120%, carbon in the range of 3.05-4.10%, and the usual amounts of residual elements. The molten iron is transferred into the molten ladle at a temperature of about 2550°-2650° F. The pouring of the molten metal is controlled so that the shot is not significantly displaced by pouring pressure. The molten metal is filled to a level within the ladle providing a hydrostatic head of no greater than 2-3 feet. Upon initial contact of the coated shot by the molten metal, the refractory wash will act as a temperature barrier for a temporary period of time (about 2-5 seconds) sufficient to allow the molten metal to be fully poured. This prohibits the violent reaction of pure magnesium with the molten metal upon instantaneous engagement thereby preventing the turbulent disruption of the molten metal accompanied by pyrotechnics and splashing.
With the wash coat of the refractory dissipated by the temperature of the molten metal, the pure magnesium coating will have been heated preferably to obtain only a degree of melting of the magnesium to a liquid at the temperature level of about 1200° F. It is typical with prior art methods, for the magnesium to go immediately to a vapor by flashing (typically at a temperature level of about 1600°-1800° F.; this results from the rapid heating of the magnesium upon contact with the molten metal. This does not necessarily take place in conjunction with this invention, because the core of each of the shot elements acts as a chill element controlling the rate at which the magnesium is heated. The magnesium is allowed to go through a temporary stage at which it can become liquid without necessarily flashing to a vapor immediately. Liquid magnesium will dissolve into the molten metal much more readily than magnesium vapor and this leads to an increase in both the recovery of the magnesium as well as efficiency of the process. | A method of treating molten iron is disclosed. Iron shot controlled in particle size (0.04-0.20 inches) is coated with substantially pure magnesium (0.018-0.022 inches thick) and a wash coating of refractory (0.004-0.010 inches thick) is applied as an outer shell. The shot core serves to inhibit floatation of the magnesium treating agent and acts as a chill element controlling dissolution of the magnesium to improve efficiency and recovery. The weight ratio between the core and coatings can be conveniently varied to meet critical requirements for varying the metallurgical treatment. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977,029 filed Oct. 29, 2004, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/269,669 filed Oct. 11, 2002, which is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/661,693, filed Sep. 14, 2000, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/327,814 filed Jun. 8, 1999, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/277,424, filed Mar. 26, 1999, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/079,652 filed on Mar. 27, 1998, the benefit of which is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 120 and the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions, and more particularly to pharmaceutical compositions for oral administration of a medicament, which contain an effervescent agent for enhancing oral drug absorption across the buccal, sublingual, and gingival mucosa.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
[0003] Effervescents have been shown to be useful and advantageous for oral administration. See Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms: Tablets Volume I, Second Edition. A. Lieberman. ed. 1989, Marcel Dekker, Inc. As discussed in this text, and as commonly employed, an effervescent tablet is dissolved in water to provide a carbonated or sparkling liquid drink. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,665 and 5,468,504 to Schaeffer, herein incorporated by reference. In such a drink, the effervescent helps to mask the taste of medicaments.
[0004] Effervescent compositions have also been employed for use as taste masking agents in dosage forms which are not dissolved in water prior to administration. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,368 describes a chewing gum containing a medicament capable of absorption through the buccal cavity and containing a taste masking amount of an effervescent.
[0005] More recently effervescents have been employed to obtain rapid dissolution and/or dispersion of the medicament in the oral cavity. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,178,878 and 5,223,264. The effervescent tends to stimulate saliva production thereby providing additional water to aid in further effervescent to a faster onset of action and/or improved bioavailability action. These dosage forms give an agreeable presentation of the drug, particularly for patients who have difficulty in swallowing tablets or capsules. PCT application WO 97/06786 describes pre-gastric absorption of certain drugs using rapidly-disbursing dosage forms.
[0006] Various proposals have been advanced for oral mucosal administration of various drugs. When drugs are absorbed from the oral mucosa, they bypass the gastrointestinal and hepatic metabolism process. This can lead of a drug. However, many compounds do not rapidly penetrate the oral mucosa. See, e.g., Christina Graffner, Clinical Experience with Novel Buccal and Sublingual Administration; NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY AND ITS THERAPEUTIC APPLICATION, edited by L. F. Prescott and W. S. Nimmo (1989); David Harris & Joseph R. Robinson, Drug Delivery via the Mucous Membranes of the Oral Cavity; JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Vol. 81 (Jan. 1992); Oral Mucosal Delivery, edited by M. J. Rathbone, which are herein incorporated by reference. The compounds which may be well absorbed per-orally (through the gastrointestinal tract) may not be well absorbed through the mucosa of the mouth because the oral mucosa is less permeable than the intestinal mucosa and it does not offer as big a surface area as the small intestine.
[0007] Despite these and other efforts toward increasing the permeation of medicaments across the oral mucosa, there have been unmet needs for improved methods of administrating medicaments across the oral mucosa.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention comprise an orally administrable medicament in combination with an effervescent agent used as penetration enhancer to influence the permeability of the medicament across the buccal, sublingual, and gingival mucosa.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0009] One aspect of this invention is to use effervescent as penetration enhancers for influencing oral drug absorption. Effervescent agents can be used alone or in combination with other penetration enhancers, which leads to an increase in the rate and extent of absorption of an active drug. It is believed that such increase can rise from one or all of the following mechanisms:
1. reducing the mucosal layer thickness and/or viscosity; 2. tight junction alteration; 3. inducing a change in the cell membrane structure; and 4. increasing the hydrophobic environment within the cellular membrane.
[0014] The present dosage forms should include an amount of an effervescent agent effective to aid in penetration of the drug across the oral mucosa. Preferably, the effervescent is provided in an amount of between about 5% and about 95% by weight, based on the weight of the finished tablet, and more preferably in an amount of between about 30% and about 80% by weight. It is particularly preferred that sufficient effervescent material be provided such that the evolved gas is more than about 5 cm 3 but less than about 30 cm 3 , upon exposure of the tablet to an aqueous environment. However, the amount of effervescent agent must be optimized for each specific drug.
[0015] The term “effervescent agent” includes compounds which evolve gas. The preferred effervescent agents evolve gas by means of a chemical reaction which takes place upon exposure of the effervescent agent (an effervescent couple) to water and/or to saliva in the mouth. This reaction is most often the result of the reaction of a soluble acid source and a source of carbon dioxide such as an alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate. The reaction of these two general compounds produces carbon dioxide gas upon contact with water or saliva. Such water-activated materials must be kept in a generally anhydrous state and with little or no absorbed moisture or in a stable hydrated form, since exposure to water will prematurely disintegrate the tablet. The acid sources may be any which are safe for human consumption and may generally include food acids, acid and hydrite antacids such as, for example: citric, tartaric, amalic, fumeric, adipic, and succinics. Carbonate sources include dry solid carbonate and bicarbonate salt such as, preferably, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate and potassium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and the like. Reactants which evolve oxygen or other gasses and which are safe for human consumption are also included.
[0016] The effervescent agent(s) of the present invention is not always based upon a reaction which forms carbon dioxide. Reactants which evolve oxygen or other gasses which are safe for human consumption are also considered within the scope. Where the effervescent agent includes two mutually reactive components, such as an acid source and a carbonate source, it is preferred that both components react completely. Therefore, an equivalent ratio of components which provides for equal equivalents is preferred. For example, if the acid used is diprotic, then either twice the amount of a mono-reactive carbonate base, or an equal amount of a di-reactive base should be used for complete neutralization to be realized. However, in other embodiments of the present invention, the amount of either acid or carbonate source may exceed the amount of the other component. This may be useful to enhance taste and/or performance of a tablet containing an overage of either component. In this case, it is acceptable that the additional amount of either component may remain unreacted.
[0017] The present dosage forms may also include in amounts additional to that required for effervescence a pH adjusting substance. For drugs that are weakly acidic or weakly basic, the pH of the aqueous environment can influence the relative concentrations of the ionized and unionized forms of the drug present in solution according to the Henderson-Hasselbach equation. The pH solutions in which an effervescent couple has dissolved is slightly acidic due to the evolution of carbon dioxide. The pH of the local environment, e.g., saliva in immediate contact with the tablet and any drug that may have dissolved from it, may be adjusted by incorporating in the tablet a pH adjusting substances which permit the relative portions of the ionized and unionized forms of the drug to be controlled. In this way, the present dosage forms can be optimized for each specific drug. If the unionized drug is known or suspected to be absorbed through the cell membrane (transcellular absorption) it would be preferable to alter the pH of the local environment (within the limits tolerable to the subject) to a level that favors the unionized form of the drug. Conversely, if the ionized form is more readily dissolved the local environment should favor ionization.
[0018] The aqueous solubility of the drug should preferably not be compromised by the effervescent and pH adjusting substance, such that the dosage forms permit a sufficient concentration of the drug to be present in the unionized form. The percentage of the pH adjusting substance and/or effervescent should therefore be adjusted depending on the drug.
[0019] Suitable pH adjusting substance for use in the present invention include any weak acid or weak base in amounts additional to that required for the effervescence or, preferably, any buffer system that is not harmful to the oral mucosa. Suitable pH adjusting substance for use in the present invention include, but are not limited to, any of the acids or bases previously mentioned as effervescent compounds, disodium hydrogen phosphate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate and the equivalent potassium salt.
[0020] The active ingredient suitable for use in the present dosage forms can include systematically distributable pharmaceutical ingredients, vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements, as well as non-systematically distributable drugs. Preferably, the active ingredient is a systemically active pharmaceutical ingredient which is absorbable by the body through the oral mucosa. Although the dosage forms can be employed with a wide range of drugs, as discussed below, it is especially suitable for drugs and other pharmaceutical ingredients which suffer significant loss of activity in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract or in the tissues of the gastrointestinal tract during absorption process or upon passage through the liver after absorption in the intestinal tract. Absorption through the oral mucosa allows the drug to enter the systemic circulation without first passing through the liver, and thus alleviates the loss of activity upon passage through the liver.
[0021] Pharmaceutical ingredients may include, without limitation, analgesics, anti-inflammatories, antipyretics, antibiotics, antimicrobials, laxatives, anorexics, antihistamines, antiasthmatics, antidiuretics, antiflatulents, antimigraine agents, antispasmodics, sedatives, antihyperactives, antihypertensives, tranquilizers, decongestants, beta blockers; peptides, proteins, oligonucleotides and other substances of biological origin, and combinations thereof. Also encompassed by the terms “active ingredient(s)”, “pharmaceutical ingredient(s)” and “active agents” are the drugs and pharmaceutically active ingredients described in Mantelle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,957, in columns 18 through 21. That text of Mantelle is hereby incorporated by reference. Alternatively or additionally, the active ingredient can include drugs and other pharmaceutical ingredients, vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements as the same are defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,878, the disclosure of which is also incorporated by reference herein.
[0022] The dosage form preferably includes an effervescent couple, in combination with the other ingredients to enhance the absorption of the pharmaceutical ingredient across the oral mucosa and to improve the disintegration profile and the organoleptic properties of the dosage form. For example, the area of contact between the dosage form and the oral mucosa, and the residence time of the dosage form in the oral cavity can be improved by including a bioadhesive polymer in this drug delivery system. See, e.g., Mechanistic Studies on Effervescent-Induced Permeability Enhancement by Jonathan Eichman (1997), which is incorporated by reference herein. Effervescence, due to its mucus stripping properties, would also enhance the residence time of the bioadhesive, thereby increasing the residence time for the drug absorption. Non-limiting examples of bioadhesives used in the present invention include, for example, Carbopol 934 P, Na CMC, Methocel, Polycarbophil (Noveon AA-1), HPMC, Na alginate, Na Hyaluronate and other natural or synthetic bioadhesives.
[0023] In addition to the effervescence-producing agents, a dosage form according to the present invention may also include suitable non-effervescent disintegration agents. Non-limiting examples of non-effervescent disintegration agents include: microcrystalline, cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone, starches, corn starch, potato starch and modified starches thereof, sweeteners, clays, such as bentonite, alginates, gums such as agar, guar, locust bean, karaya, pecitin and tragacanth. Disintegrants may comprise up to about 20 weight percent and preferably between about 2 and about 10% of the total weight of the composition.
[0024] In addition to the particles in accordance with the present invention, the dosage forms may also include glidants, lubricants, binders, sweeteners, flavoring and coloring components. Any conventional sweetener or flavoring component may be used. Combinations of sweeteners, flavoring components, or sweeteners and flavoring components may likewise be used.
[0025] Examples of binders which can be used include acacia, tragacanth, gelatin, starch, cellulose materials such as methyl cellulose and sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, alginic acids and salts thereof, magnesium aluminum silicate, polyethylene glycol, guar gum, polysaccharide acids, bentonites, sugars, invert sugars and the like. Binders may be used in an amount of up to 60 weight percent and preferably about 10 to about 40 weight percent of the total composition.
[0026] Coloring agents may include titanium dioxide, and dyes suitable for food such as those known as F.D.&C. dyes and natural coloring agents such as grape skin extract, beet red powder, beta-carotene, annato, carmine, turmeric, paprika, etc. The amount of coloring used may range from about 0.1 to about 3.5 weight percent of the total composition.
[0027] Flavors incorporated in the composition may be chosen from synthetic flavor oils and flavoring aromatics and/or natural oils, extracts from plants, leaves, flowers, fruits and so forth and combinations thereof. These may include cinnamon oil, oil of wintergreen, peppermint oils, clove oil, bay oil, anise oil, eucalyptus, thyme oil, cedar leave oil, oil of nutmeg, oil of sage, oil of bitter almonds and cassia oil. Also useful as flavors are vanilla, citrus oil, including lemon, orange, grape, lime and grapefruit, and fruit essences, including apple, pear, peach, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, pineapple, apricot and so forth. Flavors which have been found to be particularly useful include commercially available orange, grape, cherry and bubble gum flavors and mixtures thereof. The amount of flavoring may depend on a number of factors, including the organoleptic effect desired. Flavors may be present in an amount ranging from about 0.05 to about 3 percent by weight based upon the weight of the composition. Particularly preferred flavors are the grape and cherry flavors and citrus flavors such as orange.
[0028] One aspect of the invention provides a solid, oral tablet dosage form suitable for sublingual, buccal, and gingival administration. Excipient fillers can be used to facilitate tableting. The filler desirably will also assist in the rapid dissolution of the dosage form in the mouth. Non-limiting examples of suitable fillers include: mannitol, dextrose, lactose, sucrose, and calcium carbonate.
METHOD OF MANUFACTURE
[0029] Tablets can either be manufactured by direct compression, wet granulation or any other tablet manufacturing technique. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,178,878 and 5,223,264, which are incorporated by reference herein. The tablet may be a layered tablet consisting of a layer of the active ingredient sandwiched between a bioadhesive layer and an effervescence layer. Other layered forms which include the ingredients set forth above in layers of diverse compositions.
[0030] Effervescence Level: Between 5% - 95%
[0031] Tablet size: Between 3/16″-⅝″
[0032] Tablet hardness: Between 5N and 80N
[0033] Route of administration: Sublingual, Buccal, Gingival
[0034] The dosage form may be administered to a human or other mammalian subject by placing the dosage form in the subject's mouth and holding it in the mouth, either adjacent a cheek (for buccal administration), beneath the tongue (for sublingual administration) and between the upper lip and gum (for gingival administration). The dosage form spontaneously begins to disintegrate due to the moisture in the mouth. The disintegration, and particularly the effervescence, stimulates additional salivation which further enhances disintegration.
EXAMPLE 1
[0035] The dosage form should include Fentanyl, an effervescent and pH adjusting substance so that the pH is adjusted to neutral (or slightly higher) since the pKa of fentanyl is 7.3. At this pH, the aqueous solubility of this poorly water-soluble drug would not be compromised unduly, and would permit a sufficient concentration of the drug to be present in the unionized form.
[0036] Two fentanyl formulations, each containing 36% effervescence, were produced. These tablets were compressed using half-inch shallow concave punches.
FORMULATION COMPONENT QUANTITY (MG) SHORT Fentanyl, citrate, USP 1.57 DISINTEGRATION Lactose monohydrate 119.47 TIME Microcrystalline 119.47 Cellulose, Silicified Sodium carbonate, 46.99 anhydrous Sodium bicarbonate 105 Citric acid, anhydrous 75 Polyvinylphrrolidone, 25 cross-linked Magnesium stearate 5 Colloidal silicon dioxide 2.5 Total tablet mass 500 LONG Fentanyl citrate, USP 1.57 DISINTEGRATION Lactose monohydrate 270.93 TIME Sodium carbonate, 40.00 anhydrous Sodium bicarbonate 105 Citric acid, anhydrous 75 Magnesium stearate 5 Colloidal silicon dioxide 2.5 Total tablet mass 500
EXAMPLE 2
[0037] The dosage form included prochlorperazine (pKa=8.1), an effervescent and pH adjusting substance so that a slightly higher pH is produced to facilitate the permeation enhancement.
[0038] With respect to prochlorperazine, an anti-emetic drug, two formulations, buccal and sublingual, were developed. The buccal tablets were compressed as quarter inch diameter biconvex tablets, whereas the sublingual tablets were three-eighths inch diameter biconvex tablets. These dimensions were chosen to give a comfortable fit in the respective part of the oral cavity for which they were designed. The formulae for these tablets are as follows:
FORMULATION COMPONENT NAME QUANTITY (MG) BUCCAL Prochlorperazine 5.00 Sodium Bicarbonate 15.52 Citric Acid, Anhydrous 11.08 Sodium Bicarbonate 45.78 HPMC K4M Prem 5.00 Dicalcium phosphate 5.00 dihydrate Mannitol 11.67 Magnesium Stearate 0.95 Total 100.00 SUBLINGUAL Prochlorperazine 5.00 Sodium Bicarbonate 61.25 Citric Acid, Anhydrous 43.75 Sodium Bicarbonate 95 Sodium carbonate 91.25 HPMC Methocel K4M Prem 40 Mannitol 60 Magnesium Stearate 3.75 Total 400 | A pharmaceutical dosage form adapted to supply a medicament to the oral cavity for buccal, sublingual or gingival absorption of the medicament which contains an orally administrable medicament in combination with an effervescent for use in promoting absorption of the medicament in the oral cavity. The use of an additional pH adjusting substance in combination with the effervescent for promoting the absorption drugs is also disclosed. | 0 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to the curing of epoxy resins. More particularly, it relates to blends of amines useful as accelerators in the curing stage of epoxy resins that are cured using polyoxyalkylenepolyamines.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
[0002] N-aminoethylpiperazine (“AEP”) is widely used in conjunction with polyoxyalkylene polyamines, e.g. JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine and JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine, to serve as an accelerator for increasing the polymerization rate of epoxy resins cured with such hardeners. AEP reacts with most epoxy resins much more quickly than other amine curing agents, especially at moderate ambient temperatures (e.g. “room temperature”). Among the reasons believed for this is the presence of a tertiary amine in the AEP molecule and the relatively low amine hydrogen equivalent weight (AHEW) of the compound. Having a relatively low AHEW means that the concentration of reactive groups in a given formulation will be increased relative to a higher AHEW amine hardener or amine hardener blend.
[0003] Shortages of AEP have created a need for a substitute material that can serve to accelerate the curing reaction of slower amine curatives (e.g. JEFFAMINE® brand amines). Although other accelerators of amine cured epoxy blends exist, they each have particular drawbacks that can make them unsuitable for certain applications. For instance, phenolic accelerators are often solids and contribute undesired color or ultraviolet light sensitivity to the final formulation. Widely used liquid accelerators, e.g. nonyl phenol, mono-nonyl phenol (MNP) etc., also serve as plasticizers, significantly and undesirably lower the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of resin systems into which they are incorporated at levels high enough to provide significant acceleration. Additionally, the accelerating effect diminishes as increasing levels of MNP are used since the reactant group concentrations are diminishing. Tertiary amines containing high levels of hydroxyl groups, such as triethanolamine, methyldiethanolamine, dimethylethanolamine, etc., have been effectively used as accelerators but since they remain as small molecules that do not react into the polymer network, they too are known to cause significant decreases in Tg.
[0004] In practice, many customers use AEP at less than about twenty weight percent to shorten the gel time of epoxy formulations that contain JEFFAMINE® brand amines as hardeners. AEP is a somewhat unusual amine in that it contains a primary, a secondary, and a tertiary amine. It has provided some of the highest exotherm temperatures seen when used to cure epoxy resins. Providing high exotherm temperatures can be advantageous to promote increased curing but can lead to polymer degradation if unchecked. If used as the sole hardener to cure diglycidylether of bisphenol A (“DGEBA”)—type epoxy resins, AEP provides a Tg higher than that obtained by curing the resin with JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine. Thus, the use of AEP as an accelerator will not decrease the glass transition temperatures when used at a 1:1 stoichiometry in the formulation.
[0005] The formation of epoxy polymers from polyepoxies and polyamines is well-known in the art. These crosslinked polymer networks are formed from the reaction between a polyepoxy such as:
[0006] a polyamine, which may be a diamine:
H 2 N—R—NH 2
[0007] such crosslinked polymers with segments similar to:
[0008] are well-known in the art, and are the reaction products of various epoxy containing compounds and various polyamines and polymers produced from the combination thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] One aspect of the present invention concerns blends comprising 4-(3-aminopropyl)morpholine (“APM”):
[0010] and 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol (“AEEA”):
[0011] as being useful as an accelerator in the curing of epoxy resins. It is preferred in such a blend that the AEEA is present in an amount of 62.60% by weight based upon the total weight of the blend, and the APM is present in an amount of 37.40% by weight based upon the total weight of the blend. The invention also concerns a process for producing a cured epoxy polymer comprising the step of combining a polyepoxy with a polyamine, wherein the improvement comprises combining the polyepoxy and the polyamine with one another in the presence of an accelerator blend that comprises 4-(3-aminopropyl)morpholine and 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The invention is concerned with providing an accelerator material for the curing of epoxy resins that can be substituted for AEP on an equal weight basis 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol (“AEEA”) and 4-(3-aminopropyl)morpholine (“APM”) were combined at a ratio that gave the same AHEW as AEP, namely, 43.07 g/amine hydrogen equivalent. Although the concentration of reactive amine groups is the same in an epoxy formulation, since the AHEWs are equal, the new mixture was surprisingly found to be more efficient than AEP in accelerating epoxy polymerization, as indicated by measuring the viscosity increase over time, isothermally at forty degrees C. In one instance, for the AEEA+APM blend, the time to reach a viscosity of one million centipoise at 40° C. was reduced by 10% at the same use level as AEP.
[0013] Because the AHEW of AEP (43.07 g/amine H eq.) differs from that of most other amines such as JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine (60 g/amine H eq.), a calculation must be performed to maintain stoichiometry each time a change in the AEP level is made to adjust reactivity. A method of simplifying this process has been devised wherein blends of certain reactive amine mixtures, are prepared which yield an AHEW equal to that of the main epoxy hardener, as in the following examples:
Example 1
[0014] 29.90% AEP+70.10% APM (4-(3-aminopropyl)morpholine)). Since the AHEW of such a blend (60 g/amine hydrogen eq.) is equal to that of the JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine, direct substitution of the blend may be made for JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine without affecting the desired stoichiometric ratio of amine hydrogen to epoxide groups in the curable formulation. Even though the APM serves as a chain extender rather than as a crosslinker, Tg may not be significantly affected at typical use levels, since it replaces the higher molecular weight, more flexible JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine.
Example 2
[0015] A related co-hardener that can serve as an accelerator for JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine is a mixture of 73.74% JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine+26.26% AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine) which also has an AHEW of 60 g/amine hydrogen equivalent. This mixture could be used either alone as a curing agent, or as an accelerator. It could also be used in various proportions with the mixture of example 1 above in order to provide a wider range of acceleration to JEFFAMINE®D-230 amine when used to cure epoxy resins.
[0016] The concept illustrated in examples 1 and 2 above may also be extended to other amine systems for epoxy resin polymerization. If JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine (AHEW=81) were chosen as the primary hardener, careful selection of more reactive amines and their weight ratios could be used to create accelerators that could be substituted on an equal weight basis for JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine, in order to decrease the gelation and/or cure time with epoxy resins.
Example 3
[0017] 36.6% “polyamide 125” (AHEW=103)+63.4% APM (aminopropylmorpholine (AHEW=72.11)). Since the AHEW of such a blend (81 g/amine H eq.) is equal to that of the JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine, direct substitution of the blend may be made for JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine without affecting the desired stoichiometric ratio of amine hydrogen to epoxide groups in the curable formulation.
Example 4
[0018] A related co-hardener that can serve as an accelerator for JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine is a mixture of 85.38% “polyamide 125” (AHEW=103)+14.62% AEEA (aminoethylethanolamine) which also has an AHEW of 81 g/amine H equivalent.
[0019] Similar strategies may be used which incorporate non-reactive, but accelerating materials to shift the AHEW of the mixture to the desired value. For instance a mixture of 42.86% AEEA +57.14% of either TEA (triethanolamine) or MNP (monononylphenol) has an AHEW of 81 and is thus useful for accelerating JEFFAMINE®T-403 amine at any substitution ratio. Of course when making such substitutions one must ascertain that other shifts in thermal or mechanical properties remain within the desired ranges for the product.
[0020] According to one form of the invention, the currently most preferred combination of amines useful as accelerators is that produced by combining 4-(3-aminopropyl)morpholine (“APM”):
[0021] with 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol (“AEEA”):
[0022] in which the AEEA is present in an amount of 62.60% by weight based upon the total weight of the blend, and in which APM is present in an amount of 37.40% by weight based upon the total weight of the blend. Such a blend has an amine hydrogen equivalent weight of 43.07, which is exactly that level necessary to render such a blend to be an equivalent substitute, on an equal weight basis, for N-aminoethylpiperazine when used as an accelerator in an epoxy system.
[0023] In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a process for producing a cured epoxy polymer comprising the step of combining a polyepoxy with a polyamine, wherein the improvement comprises combining the polyepoxy and the polyamine with one another in the presence of an accelerator blend that comprises 4-(3-aminopropyl)morpholine and 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol, in which the polyamine comprises a polyoxyalkylene polyalkylpolyamine capable of forming a cured epoxy by its reaction with a polyepoxy, wherein the polyoxyalkylene polyalkylpolyamine is of the formula:
[0024] in which R 1 and R 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of: hydrogen; an alkyl group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms, whether straight-chain or branched; or a radical of the formula:
[0025] in which R 3 in each occurrence may be an alkyl group having any number of carbon atoms selected from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, straight-chain or branched; R 4 in each occurrence is a straight-chain or branched alkyl bridging group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms; Z is a hydroxy group or alkyl group containing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms, straight-chain or branched; q is any integer between 0 and 400; and wherein X is any of:
[0026] i) a hydroxy group or an alkyl group having any number of carbon atoms selected from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6; or
[0027] ii) a group
[0028] in which R 5 and R 6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of: hydrogen; an alkyl group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms, whether straight-chain or branched; or
[0029] as defined above in which Z is a hydroxy group or an alkoxy group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms, and in which R 7 is a straight-chain or branched alkylene bridging group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms; or
[0030] iii) a moiety of the formula:
[0031] in which R 10 , R 11 , R 14 , and R 15 are each independently selected from the group of hydrogen; an alkyl group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms, straight-chain or branched; the moiety
[0032] as defined above in which Z is a hydroxy or alkoxy group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms; R 8 and R 12 are each independently alkyl groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms, straight-chain or branched; R 9 , R 13 , and R 21 are each independently selected from a straight-chain or branched alkyl bridging linkage having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms; R 16 , R 17 , R 18 , R 19 , R 20 are each independently selected from hydrogen or an alkyl group having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 carbon atoms; d is 0 or 1; a is any integer between 0 and 100, with the proviso that when X is a moiety of the formula given in iii) above, b and c may each independently be any integer in the range of 0 to 390, and the sum of a+b+c is any number between 2 and 400.
[0033] Consideration must be given to the fact that although this invention has been described and disclosed in relation to certain preferred embodiments, obvious equivalent modifications and alterations thereof will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in this art upon reading and understanding this specification and the claims appended hereto. Accordingly, the presently disclosed invention is intended to cover all such modifications and alterations, and is limited only by the scope of the claims which follow. | Provided herein are amine blends which may be used in place of N-aminoethyl piperazine as accelerator in the curing reaction of epoxy resins. | 2 |
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 680,545, filed Dec. 11, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,223.
The present invention relates to concrete structures. An object of the invention is to provide a concrete structure suitable for constituting a ballastable base for an offshore platform.
Another object of the invention is to provide a concrete structure suitable for constituting a weight-carrying three-dimensional lattice.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ballastable concrete bases for offshore platforms are known which are constituted by solid concrete walls. These bases may be suitable for use in cold seas since they are strong enough to resist the pressure of ice, which may be very high, but they suffer from the drawback of being very heavy. Attempts have been made to lighten them by using lightweight concrete, but this solution is expensive and not entirely satisfactory.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a base which may be made from normal concrete, which has high strength, and which is nevertheless of reasonable weight.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The base of the present invention is essentially constituted by a volume forced from a rigid three-dimensional lattice of concrete bars which are assembled in concrete nodes, some of the nodes being interconnected by cables which pass outside the bars and which may pass intermediate nodes, said cables providing three-dimensional prestressing for the lattice assembly as a whole, the base including means for making waterproof the sides and the bottom of the lattice.
The concept of a three-dimensional concrete lattice is known, but up to the present, such a lattice has not been used for the specific application outlined above in combination with prestressing cables for the lattice as a whole and in combination with waterproof sides and bottom.
Further, up to the present, there has not been a known industrial technique enabling a concrete lattice to be made under acceptable conditions, and one aim of the invention if also to provide such a technique and to apply it not only to the fabrication of a platform base, but also to any other structure.
In accordance with the invention, the lattice is constituted from an assembly of blocks which are prefabricated by molding, each block comprising a node and a plurality of arms radiating from the node, each arm having at least one longitudinal socket open at the free end of the arm, with arms being assembled in aligned pairs to constitute the bars of the lattice, the sockets of an assembled pair of arms being aligned and receiving a common metal reinforcing member, the junction zone between the assembled arms being surrounded by a sealing sleeve, the said sockets being filled with hardened mortar, and the said lattice being clamped by prestress cables which pass outside the bars of the lattice and which are fixed to same nodes of the lattice.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the invention are described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a vertical half-section through a platform base in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a set of horizontal sections through the base on planes at different levels;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a component block for the base lattice;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how two portions of a bar are assembled to build up a bar of the lattice.
FIG. 5 is a diagram of a bottom pyramid of the base;
FIG. 6 is a diagram of a portion of the lateral facade of the base;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a prefabricated block and of a portion of a base built up from such blocks;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a prefabricated block in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of the base in accordance with a variant of the invention and on which a portion of the facade has been shown; and
FIG. 10 is a diagram of prestress cables of the base.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The platform base shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a hexagonal base having a side of 72 meters (m). The base is constituted by a lattice which is provided with means for making watertight the lateral sides and the bottom of the lattice. In accordance with the invention, the lattice is constituted by concrete bars which are assembled at concrete nodes. The sides and the bottom of the lattice are provided with walls for making them watertight.
In a preferred embodiment, the lattice is an assembly of regular tetrahedra, with the nodes being constituted by the vertices of the tetrahedra and the bars being disposed along the sides of the tetrahedra.
In this assembly of tetrahedra, there are inclined planes in which the bars form a mosaic of equilateral triangles and inclined planes in which the bars form a mosaic of squares or rectangles. There are also horizontal planes in which the bars form a mosaic of equilateral triangles.
In the embodiment shown, the bars of the lattice form squares in planes inclined at 50° to 60°, they form equilateral triangles in planes inclined at 65° to 75°, and they form equilateral triangles in horizontal planes.
Preferably, the lateral sides of the lattice comprise planes in which the bars form equilateral or isoscele triangles alternating with planes in which the bars for squares or rectangles.
The plane of the section in FIG. 1 is a vertical plane and the figure shows one half of the section plane.
FIG. 2 shows a plurality of horizontal section planes. FIG. 2 is thus divided into six portions each representing a fraction of a horizontal section at a different level. For example, reference numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 represent sections at levels which are approximately at 0 m, 5 m, 10 m, 15 m, 20 m, and 25 m respectively. In the fraction of the figure representing the 0 m level section plane, it can be seen that the bottom plane of the lattice is constituted by a mosaic of equilateral triangles A, B, C whose sides are constituted by bars of the lattice and whose vertices are constituted by nodes of the lattice.
A part of the fraction of the figure relating to the level of about +5 m, is shaded to show the portion of the lateral facade which extends below the plane of the section. Similar shading is to be found on the fractions representing sections at about +10 m and at about +25 m.
The section of FIG. 1 is taken on a plane marked A--A in FIG. 2.
The lattice may be made by any suitable method, but is preferably made by the following method.
In this technique in accordance with the invention, blocks are injection molded in closed molds, which blocks comprise a central node and arms which radiate from the node. The node is intended to become one of the nodes of the lattice, and each arm is intended to constitute a portion of a lattice bar.
The arms are assembled in pairs with an arm from one block being disposed end-to-end with an arm from another block thereby constituting one bar of the lattice. The lattice is built up piece-by-piece in this manner. In a preferred embodiment, a portion of the bottom level of the lattice is made first, then the next level portion, and so on up to the top level portion, with block positioning devices running on the ground just ahead of where assembly is being performed. Each level is thus built up piece-by-piece.
It may be observed that the blocks may be prefabricated in a workshop, which is particularly advantageous for ballastable offshore platforms which usually have to be built in dry dock.
The invention enables a large portion of the work to be performed away from the dry dock, since only the actual assembly of the blocks needs to be done in the dry dock.
Any suitable means may be used to assemble two arms, and preferably the arms are prefabricated with respective sockets with openings in their end faces which coincide when the arms are placed end-to-end. Each socket is additionally provided with a passage enabling mortar to be inserted therein or enabling air to be evacuated therefrom. For assembly, a common reinforcing member is placed in the two sockets, a sealing sleeve is placed around the junction between the two arms and mortar is inserted into the sockets and is allowed to set therein.
The sleeve is preferably made of heatshrink material.
It may be observed that the mortar which fills the sockets may constitute a pad of greater or lesser thickness between the end faces of the arms. The position of each new node to be added to the structure can thus be accurately adjusted by injecting mortar to move the end faces of the arms apart, jacklike. The mortar then sets leaving a pad J of just the wanted thickness. It is thus easy to ensure that each node is correctly positioned during assembly, and this constitutes an important advantage of the method of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the technique of assembling two arms, as described above. In this diagram the arms are referenced 14 and 14', the corresponding nodes 15 and 15', the corresponding sockets 16 and 16', their passages 17 and 17', the sleeve is referenced 18 and the reinforcing member 19.
In a typical example, the arms are rods having a right cross section that can be inscribed in a circle of 20 cm to 100 cm diameter, and the bars are 2 m to 10 m long. The rods are preferably of circular section with a diameter in the range 30 cm to 80 cm, and the bars are preferably assembled using a mortar capable of withstanding high compression at pressures of up to 600 to 1000 bars.
Each arm preferably constitutes one half of a bar.
This preferred choice is not essential, and the arms could constitute fractions other one half of a bar in variant embodiments, however, the choice of one half makes for highly rationalized construction.
Further, two arms could be interconnected by an intermediate member rather than being directly interconnected. For example, if each arm constitutes one third of a bar, two arms would be interconnected by means of an intermediate member constituting the middle third of the bar.
The overall lattice is clamped by cables which provide three-dimensional prestressing. The cables are fixed at their ends to nodes of the lattice.
In a typical example, a given cable will repeatedly pass lattice bars which it crosses substantially in the middle and orthogonally, interspersed by lattice nodes which it also passes.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a single block given by way of example and constituting a node 1 from which 12 arms (2-13) radiate, with each arm being intended to constitute one half of a lattice bar.
Thus, in the lattice of FIGS. 1 and 2, there are eight-arm blocks, nine-arm blocks and twelve-arm blocks.
Naturally, it will readily be understood that the blocks situated in the outside planes of the lattice ,ie. in the planes which constitute the bottom, the sides and the top of the lattice, have fewer arms.
The base is additionally provided with a watertight bottom and with a watertight facade.
The watertight bottom is preferably constituted by a mosaic of pyramids thus enabling the bottom to penetrate as far as required into the adjacent subsoil beneath the final position of the platform.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pyramid component in one of the lattice tetrahedra.
The pyramid and the tetrahedron have a common base DEF, but the vertex G of the tetrahedron is above the vertex H of the pyramid. To construct the pyramid, it is convenient to have a portion of each face of the pyramid molded integrally with the corresponding node of the lattice. For example, one half of the face DHE should be molded with the node D, while the other half should be molded with the node E.
The two halves are then assembled by any suitable technique, eg. by a technique similar to that used to assemble two arms end-to-end to form a bar.
Thus the pyramids at the bottom of the base are installed at the same time as the nodes which constitute the bottom level of the lattice.
The facade of the base is preferably a corrugated concrete facade. To make the facade (see FIG. 6), is it convenient to prefabricate elongate concrete troughs each comprising two plane walls P1 and P2 at an angle to each other, and then to fix the troughs to the outside bars of the lattice to build up the facade. It is thus advantageous for the outside bars of the lattice to constitute rectangles extending upwards along the outside face of the lattice with the plane walls P1 and P2 being fixed in watertight manner to the bars b situated along the long sides of the rectangles and so forth from trough to trough.
FIGS. 7 to 10 show variant embodiments of the invention.
In FIG. 7, the molded block is constituted by a central spherical node 15 with cylindrical arms 14 radiating therefrom. To the left of the block there is a portion of assembled lattice built up from similar blocks, and sleeves 18 can be seen on the arms of the blocks in end-to-end pairs to constitute the bars of the lattice.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another variant of a lattice block.
FIG. 9 is perspective view of a portion of a lattice. The bars of the lattice in the planes underlying the facade are disposed along the sides of squares Q and along the sides of triangles T, which may outline trapeziums. These dispositions are not limiting and are given merely by way of example. FIG. 9 also shows a portion of the lateral facade. In this example, the lateral facade is built up from portions of facade that correspond in size to and that are fixed to one of the tetrahedra of the lattice, and the different portions of the facade are successively joined together by mortar or by added on concrete.
FIG. 10 is a simplified view showing schematically two prestress cables 20,21. Prestress cable 20 is rectilinear and its ends are fixed to two nodes 22,23 of the lattice.
The cable crosses several bars of the lattice such as bars 24 and 25 but remains outside the bars. Prestress cable 21 also is attached at both ends at nodes 26 and 27 of the lattice but the cable is not rectilinear and is deviated by some nodes of the lattice, such as nodes 28 and 29. Node 28 is provided with a groove 30 and node 29 is provided with an internal channel 31 for deviating cable 21. Only a part of the arms of the nodes is shown on the drawing.
The invention is not limited to a specific geometric pattern of the bars but preferably the bars of the lateral faces of the lattice are disposed along the sides of equilateral or isosceles triangles and/or along the sides of rectangles or squares. The lateral faces are planes inclined with respect to the vertical, as in the shown embodiment; in other embodiments, the lateral faces are vertical.
The sides and the bottom of the lattice are made watertight by any means but, preferably, the watertightness is obtained by a plurality of concrete walls which are sealingly fixed to or integral with the bars of the lattice which are present in the side faces and in the bottom face of the lattice and preferably the concrete walls which make watertight a side of the lattice are disposed according to a corrugated pattern, which reduces the effect of difference of temperature between the part of the side which is in water and the part of the side which is above water. Such difference of temperature, which in iced seas may be 50° C. or more, might provoke dilatation stresses detrimental to the side walls if the walls were plane. | A concrete structure including a rigid three-dimensional lattice of concrete bars which are interconnected at nodes. The lattice is constituted by an assembly of prefabricated cast blocks, in which each block comprises a node and a plurality of arms (14) radiating from the node. Each arm has at least one longitudinal socket with an opening in the free end of the arm, and the arms of two blocks are assembled in aligned end-to end pairs to constitute the bars of the lattice. The sockets of assembled arms are in alignment and contain a common metal reinforcing member, and the junction zone of the arms is surrounded by a clamping sleeve, with the sockets being filled with hardened mortar. The lattice is prestressed by prestress cavles passing outside the bars of the lattice and fixed to some nodes of the lattice. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority based on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/777,019, entitled STOCHASTIC CACHING ALGORITHM FOR INTERACTIVE SPATIO-TEMPORAL STREAMING DATA, filed on Mar. 12, 2013, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Methods and systems disclosed herein relate generally to caching data. More specifically, the methods and systems disclosed herein related to a method by which spatially and temporally interactive streaming visual data of high density, such as, for example, but not limited to, video data, may be effectively cached in order to mitigate strain on network and I/O bandwidth.
[0003] Current methods for exploitation of spatially and temporally interactive streaming visual data typically involve three main components: The originating data set, which houses the partial or complete collection of the data to be accessed; the client application, which allows a user to view and navigate the available data via interactive query; and the retrieval algorithm, which processes the user's query in order to retrieve data from the originating data set. An interactive query is one which is constructed through a user's interaction with the client's spatial and temporal interface via actions such as continuous playing, seeking in time, panning, and zooming through some defined range of space and time. Each query will then specifically be composed of some bounded spatial range at a single point in time.
[0004] As data density increases, so does the bandwidth required to fulfill each query. Moreover, as the frequency of requests to the originating data increases, so does the aggregate latency by which the user receives the data. In the common case of the originating data set being housed remotely from the client, and in situations where multiple clients are viewing the same data, these bandwidth and latency requirements can quickly exacerbate network traffic and lag, which makes the interactive streaming data unreasonably difficult to view.
[0005] Client applications typically implement naïve caches that will keep recently retrieved data in memory or on disk to exploit temporal locality (the phenomenon that if a datum has been referenced, it is likely that it will again be referenced in the near future). In instances where the same query is made multiple times within a short time, the retrieval algorithm will bypass the originating data set for the local cache in order to fulfill the query. These caches may implement a Least Recently Used (LRU) policy in order to evict data when the cache gets filled. Slightly more effective caches may exploit spatial locality (the phenomenon that if a datum has been referenced recently, it is likely that nearby data may be referenced) to some degree for eviction policies.
[0006] Most retrieval algorithms will retrieve corresponding data to satisfy the user's query each time one is made, only occasionally having the opportunity of bypassing the originating data set with references to the simple cache described above. A more effective retrieval algorithm may prefetch data into the client's cache, guessing at future queries in order to minimize the aggregate latency. In the current state of the art, prefetching may be done using a Region-of-Interest (ROI) detector. However, implementations of these detectors are either crowd sourced, requiring many users to examine a relatively small range of the data, or employ a significant amount of preprocessing overhead to detect ROIs within the interactive streaming data's context. Though these detectors work well in certain situations, they are not considered as a general purpose solution due to their dependence on a smaller search space and customized detection algorithms.
[0007] What is needed is a method for effectively caching large amounts of data to mitigate the strain on network and I/O bandwidth.
SUMMARY
[0008] The system and method of the present embodiment provide a probabilistic order of tiles relative to a current section of a video that a user is viewing. A cache implementation uses this ordering to decide what tiles to evict from the cache, i.e. which tiles will probably not be accessed within a particular timeframe, but not when to evict (this is up to the cache implementation). A cache implementation can also use the prioritized list of the present embodiment to pre-fetch tiles.
[0009] The most common form of interactive streaming data is high-spatial-resolution video. For simplified terminology, the remainder of this disclosure will assume that the originating dataset is this type of video, and terms relating to video will be used. There are many modes of operation applicable to the present embodiment. The present embodiment provides a probabilistic ordering of tiles relative to the current viewport. A cache implementation can use this ordering to decide what tiles to evict, and the cache implementation decides when to evict the tiles.
[0010] The present embodiment relies on a conventional video model that is consistent with many current implementations. S. Heymann et al., Representation, coding, and interactive rendering of high-resolution panoramic images and video using mpeg-4, The 2 nd Panoramic Photogrammetry Workshop, 2005. In the present embodiment, a tile is defined as a fixed-size image of a manageable resolution for the display; for example, but not limited to, 512×512 pixels. The tile is the lowest level of granularity for image retrieval, meaning that the retrieval method can request these fixed tiles even though much of the tile may not be of the user's interest. Normally, the client application trims out unrequested parts of the tile prior to display. Because the resolution of a high-spatial-resolution video is typically much higher than that of conventional displays, each frame of the video is processed into an L-level Gaussian pyramid where level lε[1,L] is composed by a mesh of 2 l−1 rows and 2 l−1 columns of tiles that constitute a full frame. This pyramid also helps manage bandwidth by eliminating retrieval of details that will not be viewable by the user due to the resolution of the display and the zoom level.
[0011] The method of the present embodiment can prioritize tiles for prefetching, or buffering, spatial and temporal data based on a stochastic human-behavioral model, adaptively without crowd-sourcing trajectories or exploiting video context to detect regions of interest. The advantages of prefetching the data according to the present embodiment that immense data sets such as high-spatial-resolution video can be managed efficiently and accurately with little or no overhead. The method can scale to large cache sizes and high network bandwidths.
[0012] These and other aspects and features of the present teachings will become apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments, read in conjunction with, and with reference to, the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements, aspects of the exemplary embodiments will be described in connection with the drawing set.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a defined set of action functions;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a computer listing of exemplary pseudo-code defining sets of actions;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a set of tables recording the results of comparison tests of the system of the present embodiment;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of the system of the present teachings; and
[0018] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the method of the present embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The problems set forth above as well as further and other problems are solved by the present teachings. These solutions and other advantages are achieved by the various embodiments of the teachings described herein below.
[0020] In the present embodiment, a video tile matrix (VTM) is the matrix representation of an entire video containing U frames. For example, the VTM can be a four-dimensional matrix each of whose elements A x,y,z,u ∀x,yε[1, 2 L−1 ]; zε[1, L]; Uε[1, U] map to a single tile in the video. Though every tile will be paired with at least one element of the matrix, multiple elements of the matrix may map to a single tile. This is due to the fact that x and y in level l map to the tile in column
[0000]
⌈
x
/
(
2
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-
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2
l
-
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[0000]
⌈
y
/
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2
L
-
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l
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[0000] respectively.
[0021] The current section of the video that a user is viewing is referred to herein as the viewport. The tiles needed to fill the viewport at any point in can be referenced by a contiguous set in an “x-y slice” of the VTM where the pyramid level z and frame u are constant. The level of the pyramid can be selected to be that of fewest tiles needed to fulfill the user's requested viewport while producing a non-obfuscated image. The full video resolution pixels which span the current viewport are referred to herein as the viewport pixels.
[0022] Referring now to FIG. 1 , the method of the present embodiment includes a stochastic process that describes the user's navigation through a video. A defined set of action functions can be used to describe an action a that takes place at time t: pan 11 , play 13 , seek 15 , and zoom 17 . A ratio of viewport pixels to full-frame pixels is referred to herein as a view ratio. The following is a set of exemplary action functions:
play( ): Progress the video forwards in time by one frame; seek(Δ u ): Progress the video Δ u ≠1 frames; pan(Δ x , Δ y ): Shift the viewport by Δ x pixels horizontally and Δ y pixels vertically; and zoom(Δ z ): Zoom the viewport in by a view-ratio difference of Δ z .
[0027] These four functions and the video model can describe a user's trajectory through the video. A Markov chain can describe the stochastic user-interaction model (Li, V. O. K., et al., Performance model of interactive video-on-demand systems, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications , vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 1099, 1109, August, 1996, doi: 10.1109/49.508281), which can impact the way in which the tiles are prioritized by the method of the present embodiment. Probabilities p 19 , s 21 , and z 23 describe the transitions from one action to another. Steady state probabilities are calculated to be the following:
[0000]
P
[
play
]
=
1
1
+
p
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z
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1
-
s
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[
pan
]
=
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-
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play
]
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[
zoom
]
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-
z
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play
]
P
[
seek
]
=
s
1
-
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play
]
[0000] Upon visiting a state in the Markov chain, a viewport is progressed through the VTM according to the corresponding action functions. The method of the present embodiment can generate a prioritized list of tiles in order from highest to lowest calculated probability of retrieval. This list can be used by both a retrieval algorithm to prefetch tiles into the cache and a cache eviction policy to decide which tiles to evict. The method can maintain a state set that can represent possible trial outcomes. The state set can be used to gather information from each state in the list to generate the output prioritized list. Each state in the state list is a data structure that contains a set of tiles that corresponds to some viewport and the set of possible actions for the state. Each listed action can have a corresponding probability.
[0028] Referring now to FIG. 2 , pseudo code 50 is an example of a state. Italicized variables 27 in the code represent numerical values. Probabilities p_play 29 , p_pan 31 , p_zoom 33 , and p_seek 35 are calculated upon creation of the state using the steady state probabilities of the Markov chain in the user-interaction model and a chosen action function from a previous state. The VTM references are calculated upon creation of the state using the tile set and the chosen action function from a previous state.
[0029] The method of the present embodiment includes a step of initializing by setting the state list to one initial state. This initial state's tile set is set to the VTM references of all the tiles in the current viewport. The probabilities in the state's action list are set to those steady-state probabilities calculated from the user interaction model (i.e. p_play=P[play], and so on). Each action set of every state in the state set is traversed to find the highest probability overall each time the method is executed. The state containing the highest probability is referred to herein as the active state. When the highest probability is found, the corresponding action is removed from the active state's action set and a new state is added to the state list. The new state's tile set and action set are calculated stochastically depending on the video model, the user-interaction model, and operating modes described later. Operating in the mode Gaussian, non-adaptive, non-temporal, non-spatial, the new state's tile set and action set are calculated as follows, with parameters and functions defined herein:
μ p x , μ p y , μ z , μ s : The mean of the Gaussian function corresponding to Δ x , Δ y , Δ z , and Δ s respectively; σ p x , σ p y , σ z , σ s : The standard deviation of the Gaussian function corresponding to Δ x , Δ y , Δ z , and Δ s respectively; q( ): A function that takes as input the current viewport and the pixels panned in the horizontal or vertical direction and returns a VTM offset reference; and r( ): A function that takes as input the current viewport and the view ratio zoomed and returns a VTM offset reference.
The q and r functions are needed because pixels and view ratios do not immediately map to the VTM. The q and r functions can be created deterministically for any given viewport. Upon the corresponding actions on a tile referenced by A x,y,z,u , tiles can be marked as follows:
play: A x,y,z,u+1 pan: A x+q(μ p x )+i,y+q(μ p y )+j,z,u ∀iε[−q(σ p x ),q(σ p x )],∀jε[−q(σ p y ),q(σ p y )] zoom: A x,y,z+r(μ z )+i,u ∀iε[−r(σ z ),r(σ z )] seek: A x,y,z,u+μ s +i ∀iε[−σ s ,σ s ]
The method of the present embodiment can iterate through every tile in the active state's tile list, and can mark tiles as above. The marked tiles can be the tile set for a newly created state. Upon completion, the method of the present embodiment can either terminate because the aggregate number of tiles, excluding duplicates, in the states' tile sets are sufficient, or the method can repeat execution, calculating the highest probability action across all states in the state list and repeating the subsequent steps in order to further mark tiles. With respect to the pan and zoom actions, the values for μ and σ may not be large enough to have an impact in the tile marking process. In such cases where spatial thresholds are not met, the method may retain the aggregate in a variable to count for the next pan or zoom action. Once the threshold is met, the variable may be reset.
[0039] To refine the method to attain more accurate results, actions can be filtered to bypass those difficult to predict. For example, if the human-interaction model's value for σ s is set unreasonably high, the method may choose to replace all seek operations with play operations during tile marking.
[0040] Four stochastic-mode parameters that the method uses to calculate probabilities and simulate actions in order to prefetch tiles—probability mass function, adaptivity, temporality, and spatiality—are summarized in the table below by order of complexity of implementation.
[0000] Complexity Probability Mass Spatiality Temporality Adaptivity Function Non- Non- Non- Gaussian spatial temporal adaptive Spatial Temporal Adaptive Histogram
The probability mass function can be used to calculate tile probabilities in the tile marking process. It may be defined as, for example, but not limited to, either a Gaussian function or a histogram. During the tile-marking process, the mean and standard deviation can be used to find a highly probable range of action. The Gaussian function can be used, for example, if the user's behavior resembles a normal distribution. The histogram of past and/or estimated trajectory statistics can be used otherwise. Each bin of the histogram is analyzed in order of magnitude. The following steps describe a general implementation of a histogram in the interaction model:
Define some histogram m with I bins. A separate histogram is defined for each of the action parameters (i.e. m x , m y for the pan action, m z for the zooming action, and m u for the seek action) such that the value m i is the aggregate observed outcomes corresponding to bin i. Define the probability of some bin i as P i =m i /Σm I Choose the n highest P i -valued bins in m where n is the maximum number s.t. n*r≦σ where r is the bin size and σ is the standard deviation of m. Put the values for these bins in a set K. When marking tiles, choose which to mark according to the following formulas (note functions q and r used previously):
a. play: A x,y,z,u+1 b. pan: A q(k)∀kεK x ,q(k)∀kεK y ,z,u c. zoom: A x,y,r(k)∀kεK z ,u d. seek: A x,y,z,k∀K u
Using these steps, the most commonly used values of the action parameters can be considered when prioritizing tiles with no underlying implications of the distribution.
[0048] The parameters of the interaction model can either remain static (referred to herein as non-adaptive) during viewing of a video, or change to suit the behavior of a single user or group of users, referred to herein as adaptive. The non-adaptive case can allow for a minimum of computation during viewing. In the adaptive case, the method may need to be run multiple times during execution to produce updated results. Using an adaptive mode can potentially boost performance since the user-interaction model may better reflect current trajectories through the video.
[0049] If the user-interaction model's parameterization changes depending on the frame of the current viewport in the video, the user-interaction model's parameterization is referred to herein as temporal as opposed to non-temporal. When operating in the temporal mode, the probability mass function parameterization changes according to some partition of the frames in the video. Similarly, if the user-interaction model's parameterization changes depending on the spatial position (dealing with Δ x , Δ y , Δ z ), then the user-interaction model's parameterization is referred to herein as spatial mode as opposed to non-spatial mode. The spatial and temporal modes, especially in the adaptive case, inherently allow for Region of Interest detection and exploitation. The advantage in using the operating mode Gaussian function, non-adaptive, non-temporal, non-spatial lies in relatively low computational overhead. Because the output VTM references do not change relative to the position of a single tile in the viewport, the output will only have to be generated once for any video. This is done by generating a VTM offset list instead of the absolute VTM references described above. During viewing of the video, these offsets and the tiles in the current viewport are used to generate a prioritized list from any selected viewport, possibly yielding lower computation overhead. To accommodate for tiles computed out of range or duplicate tile references, the cache size can be overcompensated for in the single execution of the method.
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 3 , the method of the present embodiment was compared to the two prior art techniques. The prior art techniques for caching high-spatial-resolution video either prioritize tiles by nearest neighbor in the VTM or forwards in time. Prioritizing tiles forwards in time mimics the way in which non-interactive video is buffered. Properties of the video and parameterization of the method of the present embodiment are shown in the table 200 . The values for user-interaction model 201 have been set, for example, but not limited to, after observation of several users' trajectories. Table 300 shows some statistics and results for various human-generated trajectories 315 of an aerial persistent-surveillance video. Row 301 shows the number of actions; rows 303 show the distribution of these actions. Rows 305 show values of the mean (m) and standard deviation (s) of the action-function parameters. Experiments were used to compare the method of the present embodiment (stoc 311 ) to conventional techniques cony 307 and near 309 . Cony 307 prioritizes tiles only forwards in time from the current viewport. Near 309 prioritizes tiles by the nearest neighbor in the VTM. Experiments were conducted for several values of T, the period at which the cache is instantly refreshed to the tiles referenced by the output of the different techniques, and size, the cache size in tiles. The results are shown in cache hit ratios 313 , which are the ratios of cache hits to total tile requests. In the majority of results, the method of the present embodiment stoc 311 outperforms cony 307 and near 309 by an average of 8% across all cache hit ratios 313 and reaching 50% better performance in the best case.
[0051] Referring now to FIG. 4 , system 100 for prioritizing image tiles can include, but is not limited to including, discreet image processor 101 automatically creating a discretized representation of an image, the image including tiles 113 , each tile 113 being mapped to at least one element of the discretized representation. System 100 can also include action function processor 103 automatically defining a set of action functions 119 describing each action of navigation of the image, and trajectory processor 105 automatically describing trajectory 121 through the image based action functions 119 . System 100 can still further include probability processor 107 automatically computing probabilities 139 of transition from one of the actions to another of the actions in the trajectory 121 , and priority processor 109 automatically generating prioritized list 125 of image tiles 113 based on probabilities 139 . System 100 can optionally include cache processor 141 prefetching tiles 113 into cache 137 based on add list 117 , and evicting tiles 113 from cache 137 based on evict list 115 . Cache processor 141 can create evict list 115 and add list 117 based on prioritized list 125 .
[0052] Continuing to refer to FIG. 4 , system 100 can further optionally include state processor 108 including computer code (a) setting a list of states to an initial state, the initial state including a tile set having references to the discretized representation of the image of the tiles in the viewport, (b) setting the probabilities of the list of possible actions for the state equal to the steady state probabilities, (c) traversing each of the list of possible actions of each of the states in the state set to locate an active state, the active state having the highest of the probabilities, (d) removing an action from the list of possible actions, the action corresponding to the highest of the probabilities, (e) adding a new state to the list of states, and (f) calculating a new state tile set and new state action set stochastically based on a video model, a user-interaction model, and an operating mode. Calculating a new state tile set can include, but is not limited to including, (g) computing the mean and the standard deviation of a probability mass function, (h) computing a first discretized representation of the image offset reference based on the discretized representation of the image, a viewport, and a set of panned pixels, (i) computing a second discretized representation of the image offset reference based on the discretized representation of the image, the viewport, and a view ratio zoomed, (j) marking each of the tiles in the tile list in the active states based on the actions corresponding to the tiles, the corresponding actions being based on the first discretized representation of the image offset reference, the second discretized representation of the image offset reference, the mean, and the standard deviation, (k) creating a new state based on the marked tiles, and (j) repeating steps (a)-(j) until the number of the marked tiles meets a pre-selected threshold.
[0053] Referring now to FIG. 5 , method 150 for prioritizing image tiles can include, but is not limited to including, automatically creating 151 a discretized representation of an image. The image can include tiles, and each of the tiles can be mapped to at least one element of the discretized representation. Method 150 can also include automatically defining 153 a set of action functions describing each action of navigation of the image, and automatically describing 155 a trajectory through the image based on the set of action functions. Method 150 can still further include automatically computing 157 probabilities of transition from one of the actions to another of the actions in the trajectory, and automatically generating 159 a prioritized list of the tiles based on the probabilities. The image can optionally include motion imagery.
[0054] Method 150 can optionally include prefetching the tiles into a cache based on the prioritized list, and evicting the tiles from a cache based on the prioritized list. Method 150 can still further optionally include maintaining a state set including a list of states, each of the states containing a set of the tiles corresponding to a viewport and a set of possible of the actions for the state, and preparing the prioritized list based on the state set. Method 150 can even further optionally include creating the state based on steady state probabilities and one of the actions from a previous of the states, the previous of the states based on the trajectory, and calculating references to the discretized representation of the image based on the state, the set of tiles, and the action from the previous state. Method 150 can also include (a) setting the list of states to an initial state, the initial state including a tile set having references to the discretized representation of the image of the tiles in the viewport, (b) setting the probabilities of the list of possible actions for the state equal to the steady state probabilities, (c) traversing each of the list of possible actions of each of the states in the state set to locate an active state, the active state having the highest of the probabilities, (d) removing an action from the list of possible actions, the action corresponding to the highest of the probabilities, (e) adding a new state to the list of states, (f) calculating a new state tile set and new state action set stochastically based on a video model, a user-interaction model, and an operating mode. Calculating a new state tile set can include, but is not limited to including, (g) computing the mean and the standard deviation of a probability mass function, (h) computing a first discretized representation of the image offset reference based on the discretized representation of the image, a viewport, and a set of panned pixels, (i) computing a second discretized representation of the image offset reference based on the discretized representation of the image, the viewport, and a view ratio zoomed, (j) marking each of the tiles in the tile list in the active states based on the actions corresponding to the tiles, the corresponding actions being based on the first discretized representation of the image offset reference, the second discretized representation of the image offset reference, the mean, and the standard deviation, (k) creating a new state based on the marked tiles, and (j) repeating steps (a)-(j) until the number of the marked tiles meets a pre-selected threshold. The number of marked tiles can be used in a future count. Actions can be filtered based pre-selected prediction values. The probability mass function can either be, for example, but not limited to, Gaussian or histogram. One of the histograms can be defined for each action parameter, and each of the histograms can have bins. The bin probability can be defined for each of the bins based on each of the histograms. A pre-selected number of the bins can be chosen based on the highest values of the bin probabilities, and the tiles can be marked based on the chosen bins, the first discretized reference of an image offset reference, and the second first discretized reference of an image offset reference. The user-interaction model can either be, for example, but not limited to, adaptive and non-adaptive. A discretized representation of the image offset list can be generated based on the discretized representation of the image offset references, and the priorities list can be generated based on the discretized representation of the image offset list and the current viewport.
[0055] Raw data and results from the computations of the systems and methods present embodiments can be stored for future retrieval and processing, printed, displayed, transferred to another computer, and/or transferred elsewhere. Electronic communications 133 ( FIG. 4 ) can be wired or wireless, for example, using cellular communication systems, military communications systems, and satellite communications systems. Any software required to implement the system can be written in a variety of conventional programming languages. System 100 ( FIG. 4 ), including any possible software, firmware, and hardware, can operate on a computer having a variable number of CPUs. Other alternative computer platforms can be used. The operating system can be, for example, but is not limited to, WINDOWS® or LINUX®.
[0056] Embodiments of the present teachings are directed to computer systems for accomplishing the methods discussed in the description herein, and to computer readable media containing programs for accomplishing these methods. The raw data and results can be stored for future retrieval and processing, printed, displayed, transferred to another computer, and/or transferred elsewhere. Communications links can be wired or wireless, for example, using cellular communication systems, military communications systems, and satellite communications systems. In an exemplary embodiment, the software for the system is written in a high-level programming language. Alternative computer platforms can be used. The operating system can be, for example, but is not limited to, WINDOWS® or LINUX®.
[0057] The present embodiment is also directed to software for accomplishing the methods discussed herein, and computer readable media storing software for accomplishing these methods. The various modules described herein can be accomplished on the same CPU, or can be accomplished on a different computer. In compliance with the statute, the present embodiment has been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. It is to be understood, however, that the present embodiment is not limited to the specific features shown and described, since the means herein disclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the present embodiment into effect.
[0058] Referring again to FIGS. 4 and 5 , method 150 ( FIG. 5 ) can be, in whole or in part, implemented electronically. Signals representing actions taken by elements of system 100 ( FIG. 4 ) and other disclosed embodiments can travel over at least one live communications network 133 ( FIG. 4 ). Control and data information can be electronically executed and stored on at least one computer-readable medium such as, for example, image data 131 ( FIG. 4 ). System 100 ( FIG. 4 ) can be implemented to execute on at least one computer node 114 ( FIG. 4 ) in at least one live communications network 133 ( FIG. 4 ). Common forms of at least one computer-readable medium can include, for example, but not be limited to, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a compact disk read only memory or any other optical medium, punched cards, paper tape, or any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a random access memory, a programmable read only memory, and erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), a Flash EPROM, or any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. Further, the at least one computer readable medium can contain graphs in any form including, but not limited to, Graphic Interchange Format (GIF), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).
[0059] Although the present teachings have been described with respect to various embodiments, it should be realized these teachings are also capable of a wide variety of further and other embodiments. | System and method for providing a probabilistic order of tiles relative to a current section of a video that a user is viewing. A cache implementation uses this ordering to decide what tiles to evict from the cache, i.e. which tiles will probably not be accessed within a particular timeframe, but not when to evict (this is up to the cache implementation). A cache implementation can also use the prioritized list of the present embodiment to pre-fetch tiles. | 6 |
PRIORITY
[0001] This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/620,275 of the same title filed Sep. 14, 2012, which is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 12/640,681 of the same title filed Dec. 17, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,468,372, issued on Jun. 18, 2013, which is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/586,282, filed on Oct. 25, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,669,064, issued on Feb. 23, 2010, which is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/675,917, filed on Sep. 29, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,552,364, issued on Jun. 23, 2009, which is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 09/911,884, filed on Jul. 23, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,342, issued on Jan. 20, 2004, which is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 08/942,402, filed on Oct. 1, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,150, issued on Jan. 8, 2002, which in turn claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/046,397 entitled “Remote Access and Control of Environmental Management System”, filed May 13, 1997; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/047,016 entitled “Hardware and Software Architecture for InterConnecting an Environmental Management System with a Remote Interface”, filed May 13, 1997; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/046,416 entitled “Self Management Protocol for a Fly-By-Wire Service Processor”, filed May 13, 1997; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/046,398 entitled “Computer System Hardware Infrastructure for Hot Plugging Single and Multi-Function PC Cards Without Embedded Bridges”, filed May 13, 1997; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/046,312 entitled “Computer System Hardware Infrastructure for Hot Plugging Multi-Function PCI Cards with Embedded Bridges”, filed May 13, 1997, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[0000]
Title
Appl. No.
Filing Date
“Remote Access and Control of
601046,397
May 13, 1997
Environmental Management System”
“Hardware and Software Architecture for
601047,016
May 13, 1997
Inter-Connecting an Environmental
Management System with a Remote
Interface”
“Self Management Protocol for a
601046,416
May 13, 1997
Fly-By-Wire Service Processor”
“Computer System Hardware
601046,398
May 13, 1997
Infrastructure for Hot Plugging Single and
Multi-Function PC Cards Without
Embedded Bridges”
“Computer System Hardware
601046,312
May 13, 1997
Infrastructure for Hot Plugging
Multi-Function PCI Cards with Embedded
Bridges”
[0002] This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,885, entitled, “METHOD FOR MANAGING A DISTRIBUTED PROCESSOR SYSTEM”, Attorney Docket No. MTIPAT119A; U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,758, entitled “SYSTEM FOR MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES TO MEMORY FOR PROGRAM ACCESS”, Attorney Docket No. MTIPAT120A; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,173, entitled “METHOD FOR MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES TO MEMORY FOR PROGRAM ACCESS”, Attorney Docket No. MTIPAT.121A, and each contains related subject matter and are each incorporated by reference in their entirety.
APPENDICES
[0003] Appendix A, which forms a part of this disclosure, is a list of commonly owned copending U.S. patent applications. Each one of the applications listed in Appendix A is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
[0004] Appendix B, which forms part of this disclosure, is a copy of the U.S. provisional patent application filed May 13, 1997, entitled “SELF MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL FOR A FLY-BY-WIRE SERVICE PROCESSOR” and assigned Application No. 60/046,416. Page 1, line 7 of the provisional application has been changed from the original to positively recite that the entire provisional application, including the attached documents, forms part of this disclosure.
[0005] Appendix C, which forms part of this disclosure, is a copy of the U.S. provisional patent application filed May 13, 1997, entitled “HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE FOR INTER-CONNECTING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH. A REMOTE INTERFACE” and assigned Application No. 60/047,016. In view of common pages between the foregoing two applications, a copy of only the first three pages of U.S. provisional patent Application No. 60/047,016 are attached hereto. Page 1, line 7 of the provisional application has been changed from the original to positively recite that the entire provisional application, including the attached documents, forms part of this disclosure.
COPYRIGHT RIGHTS
[0006] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0007] 1. Field of the Invention
[0008] The invention relates to the field of fault tolerant computer systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a managing and diagnostic system for evaluating and controlling the environmental conditions of a fault tolerant computer system.
[0009] 2. Description of the Related Technology
[0010] As enterprise-class servers become more powerful and more capable, they are also becoming ever more sophisticated and complex. For many companies, these changes lead to concerns over server reliability and manageability, particularly in light of the increasingly critical role of server-based applications. While in the past many systems administrators were comfortable with all of the various components that made up a standards-based network server, today's generation of servers can appear as an incomprehensible, unmanageable black box. Without visibility into the underlying behavior of the system, the administrator must “fly blind.” Too often, the only indicators the network manager has on the relative health of a particular server is whether or not it IS running.
[0011] It is well-acknowledged that there is a lack of reliability and availability of most standards-based servers. Server downtime, resulting either from hardware or software faults or from regular maintenance, continues to be a significant problem. By one estimate, the cost of downtime in mission critical environments has risen to an annual total of $4.0 billion for U.S. businesses, with the average downtime event resulting in a $140 thousand loss in the retail industry and a $450 thousand loss in the securities industry. It has been reported that companies lose as much as $250 thousand in employee productivity for every 1% of computer downtime. With emerging Internet, intranet and collaborative applications taking on more essential business roles every day, the cost of network server downtime will continue to spiral upward. Another major cost is of system downtime administrators to diagnose and fix the system.
[0012] Corporations are looking for systems which do not require real time service upon a system component failure.
[0013] While hardware fault tolerance is an important element of an overall high availability architecture, it is only one piece of the puzzle. Studies show that a significant percentage of network server downtime is caused by transient faults in the I/O subsystem. Transient failures are those which make a server unusable, but which disappear when the server is restarted, leaving no information which points to a failing component. These faults may be due, for example, to the device driver, the adapter card firmware, or hardware which does not properly handle concurrent errors, and often causes servers to crash or hang. The result is hours of downtime per failure, while a system administrator discovers the failure, takes some action and manually reboots the server. In many cases, data volumes on hard disk drives become corrupt and must be repaired when the volume is mounted. A dismount-and-mount cycle may result from the lack of hot pluggability in current standards-based servers. Diagnosing intermittent errors can be a frustrating and time-consuming process. For a system to deliver consistently high availability, it should be resilient to these types of faults.
[0014] Modern fault tolerant systems have the functionality monitor the ambient temperature of a storage device enclosure and the operational status of other components such the cooling fans and power supply. However, a limitation of these server systems is that they do not contain self-managing processes to correct malfunctions. Thus, if a malfunction occurs in a typical server, the one corrective measure taken by the server is to give notification of the error causing event via a computer monitor to the system administrator. If the system error caused the system to stop running, the system administrator might never know the source of the error. Traditional systems are lacking in detail and sophistication when notifying system administrators of system malfunctions. System administrators are in need of a graphical user interface for monitoring the health of a network of servers. Administrators need a simple point-and-click interface to evaluate the health of each server in the network. In addition, existing fault tolerant servers rely upon operating system maintained logs for error recording. These systems are not capable of maintaining information when the operating system is inoperable due to a system malfunction.
[0015] Existing systems also do not have an interface to control the changing or addition of an adapter. Since any user on a network could be using a particular device on the server, system administrators need a software application that will control the flow of communications to a device before, during, and after a hot plug operation on an adapter.
[0016] Also, in the typical fault tolerant computer system, the control logic for the diagnostic system is associated with a particular processor. Thus, if the environmental control processor malfunctioned, then all diagnostic activity on the computer would cease. In traditional systems, there is no monitoring of fans, and no means to make up cooling capacity lost when a fan fails. Some systems provide a processor located on a plug-in PCI card which can monitor some internal systems, and control turning power on and off. If this card fails, obtaining information about the system, and controlling it remotely, is no longer possible. Further, these systems are not able to affect fan speed or cooling capacity.
[0017] Therefore, a need exists for improvements in server management which will result in greater reliability and dependability of operation. Server users are in need of a management system by which the users can accurately gauge the health of their system. Users need a high availability system that should not only be resilient to faults, but should allow for maintenance, modification, and growth—without downtime. System users should be able to replace failed components, and add new functionality, such as new network interfaces, disk interface cards and storage, without impacting existing users. As system demands grow, organizations must frequently expand, or scale, their computing infrastructure, adding new processing power, memory, storage and I/O capacity. With demand for 24-hour access to critical, server-based information resources, planned system downtime for system service or expansion has become unacceptable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Embodiments of the inventive monitoring and management system provide system administrators with new levels of client/server system availability and management. It gives system administrators and network managers a comprehensive view into the underlying health of the server—in real time, whether on-site or off-site. In the event of a failure, the invention enables the administrator to learn why the system failed, why the system was unable to boot, and to control certain functions of the server.
[0019] One embodiment of the invention is a computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising: a computer; a plurality of sensors capable of sensing conditions of the computer; and a microcontroller network, comprising a plurality of interconnected microcontrollers, connected to the sensors and the computer, wherein the microcontroller network processes requests for conditions from the computer and responsively provides sensed conditions to the computer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is one embodiment of a top-level block diagram showing a fault tolerant computer system of the invention, including mass storage and network connections.
[0021] FIG. 2 is one embodiment of a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a multiple bus configuration connecting I/O adapters and a network of microcontrollers to the clustered CPUs of the fault tolerant computer system shown in FIG. 1 .
[0022] FIG. 3 is one embodiment of a block diagram showing a second embodiment of a multiple bus configuration connecting canisters containing I/O adapters and a network of microcontrollers to the clustered CPUs of the fault tolerant system shown in FIG. 1 .
[0023] FIG. 4 is one embodiment of a top-level block diagram illustrating the microcontroller network shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 .
[0024] FIGS. 5A , 5 B, and 5 C are detailed block diagrams showing one embodiment of the microcontroller network shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the signals and values monitored by each microcontroller, and the control signals generated by the microcontrollers.
[0025] FIG. 6 is one embodiment of a flowchart showing the process by which a remote user can access diagnostic and managing services of the microcontroller network shown in FIGS. 5A , 5 B, and 5 C.
[0026] FIG. 7 is one embodiment of a block diagram showing the connection of an industry standard architecture (ISA) bus to the microcontroller network shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 58 , and 5 C.
[0027] FIG. 8 is one embodiment of a flowchart showing the master to slave communications of the microcontrollers shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 5 B, and 5 C.
[0028] FIG. 9 is one embodiment of a flowchart showing the slave to master communications of the microcontrollers shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 5 B, and 5 C.
[0029] FIGS. 10A and 108 are flowcharts showing one process by which the System Interface, shown in FIG. 4 , SA, 58 , and SC, gets commands and relays commands from the ISA bus to the network of microcontrollers.
[0030] FIGS. 11A and 118 are flowcharts showing one process by which a Chassis microcontroller, shown in FIGS. 4 , SA, 58 , and SC, manages and diagnoses the power supply to the computer system.
[0031] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing one process by which the Chassis controller, shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 55 , and 5 C, monitors the addition and removal of a power supply from the fault tolerant computer system.
[0032] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing one process by which the Chassis controller, shown in FIGS. 4 , SA, 58 , and SC, monitors temperature.
[0033] FIGS. 14A and 148 are flowcharts showing one embodiment of the activities undertaken by CPU A controller, shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 5 B, and 5 C.
[0034] FIG. 15 is a detailed flowchart showing one process by which the CPU A controller, show in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 58 , and 5 C, monitors the fan speed for the system board of the computer.
[0035] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing one process by which activities of the CPU B controller, shown in FIGS. 4 , SA, 58 , and 5 C, scans for system faults.
[0036] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing one process by which activities of a Canister controller, shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 58 , and 5 C, monitors the speed of the canister fan of the fault tolerant computer system.
[0037] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing one process by which activities of the System Recorder, shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 A, 58 , and 5 C, resets the NVRAM located on the backplane of the fault tolerant computer system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0038] The following detailed description presents a description of certain specific embodiments of the invention. However, the invention can be embodied in a multitude of different ways as defined and covered by the claims. In this description, reference is made to the drawings wherein like parts are designated with like numerals throughout.
[0039] FIG. 1 is one embodiment of a block diagram showing a fault tolerant computer system of the invention. Typically the computer system is one server in a network of servers and communicating with client computers. Such a configuration of computers is often referred to as a client-server architecture. A fault tolerant server is useful for mission critical applications such as the securities business where any computer down time can result in catastrophic financial consequences. A fault tolerant computer will allow for a fault to be isolated and not propagate through the system thus providing complete or minimal disruption to continuing operation. Fault tolerant systems also provide redundant components such as adapters so service can continue even when one component fails.
[0040] The system includes a fault tolerant computer system 100 connecting to external peripheral devices through high speed 110 channels 102 and 104 . The peripheral devices communicate and are connected to the high speed 110 channels 102 and 104 by mass storage buses 106 and 107 . In different embodiments of the invention, the bus system 106 , 107 could be Peripheral Component Interconnect (PC I), Microchannel, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA) and Extended ISA (EISA) architectures. In one embodiment of the invention, the buses 106 , 107 are PCI. Various kinds of peripheral controllers 108 , 112 , 116 , and 128 , may be connected to the buses 106 and 107 including mass storage controllers, network adapters and communications adapters. Mass storage controllers attach to data storage devices such as magnetic disk, tape, optical disk, CD-ROM. These data storage devices connect to the mass storage controllers using one of a number of industry standard interconnects, such as small computer storage interface (SCSI), IDE, EIDE, SMD. Peripheral controllers and 110 devices are generally off-the-shelf products. For instance, sample vendors for a magnetic disk controller 108 and magnetic disks 110 include Qlogic, and Quantum (respectively). Each magnetic disk may hold multiple Gigabytes of data.
[0041] A client server computer system typically includes one or more network interface controllers (N ICs) 112 and 128 . The network interface controllers 112 and 128 allow digital communication between the fault tolerant computer system 100 and other computers (not shown) such as a network of servers via a connection 130 . For LAN embodiments of the network adapter, the network media used may be, for example, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), Token Ring (IEEE 802.5), Fiber Distributed Datalink Interface (FDDI) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
[0042] In the computer system 100 , the high speed I/O channels, buses and controllers ( 102 - 128 ) may, for instance, be provided in pairs. In this example, if one of these should fail, another independent channel, bus or controller is available for use until the failed one is repaired.
[0043] In one embodiment of the invention, a remote computer 130 is connected to the fault tolerant computer system 100 . The remote computer 130 provides some control over the fault tolerant computer system 100 , such as requesting system status.
[0044] FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the bus structure of the fault tolerant computer system 100 . A number ‘n’ of central processing units (CPUs) 200 are connected through a host bus 202 to a memory controller 204 , which allows for access to semiconductor memory by the other system components. In one embodiment of the invention, there are four CPUs 200 , each being an Intel Pentium® Pro microprocessor. A number of bridges 206 , 208 and 209 connect the host bus to three additional bus systems 212 , 214 , and 216 . These bridges correspond to high speed I/O channels 102 and 104 shown in FIG. 1 . The buses 212 , 214 and 216 correspond to the buses 106 and 107 shown in FIG. 1 . The bus systems 212 , 214 and 216 , referred to as PC buses, may be any standards-based bus system such as PCI, ISA, EISA and Microchannel. In one embodiment of the invention, the bus systems 212 , 214 , 216 are PCI. In another embodiment of the invention a proprietary bus is used.
[0045] An ISA Bridge 218 is connected to the bus system 212 to support legacy devices such as a keyboard, one or more floppy disk drives and a mouse. A network of microcontrollers 225 is also interfaced to the ISA bus 226 to monitor and diagnose the environmental health of the fault tolerant system. Further discussion of the network will be provided below.
[0046] A bridge 230 and a bridge 232 connects PC buses 214 and 216 with PC buses 234 and 236 to provide expansion slots for peripheral devices or adapters. Separating the devices 238 and 240 on PC buses 234 and 236 reduces the potential that a device or other transient I/O error will bring the entire system down or stop the system administrator from communicating with the system.
[0047] FIG. 3 shows an alternative bus structure embodiment of the fault tolerant computer system 100 . The two PC buses 214 and 216 contain bridges 242 , 244 , 246 and 248 to PC bus systems 250 , 252 , 254 , and 256 . As with the PC buses 214 and 216 , the PC buses 250 , 252 , 254 and 256 can be designed according to any type of bus architecture including PCI, ISA, EISA, and Microchannel. The PC buses 250 , 252 , 254 , and 256 are connected, respectively, to a canister 258 , 260 , 262 and 264 . The canisters 258 , 260 , 262 , and 264 are casings for a detachable bus system and provide multiple slots for adapters. In the illustrated canister, there are four adapter slots.
[0048] Referring now to FIG. 4 , the present invention for monitoring and diagnosing environmental conditions may be implemented by using a network of microcontrollers located on the fault tolerant computer system 100 . In one embodiment some of the microcontrollers are placed on a system board or motherboard 302 while other microcontrollers are placed on a backplane 304 . Furthermore, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 , some of the microcontrollers such as Canister controller A 324 may reside on a removable canister.
[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates that the network of microcontrollers is connected to one of the CPUs 200 by an ISA bus 226 . The ISA bus 226 interfaces the network of microcontrollers which are connected on the microcontroller bus 310 through a System Interface 312 . In one embodiment of the invention, the microcontrollers communicate through an I 2 C serial bus, also referred to as a microcontroller bus 310 . The document “The I 2 C Bus and How to Use It” (Philips Semiconductor, 1992) is hereby incorporated by reference. The I 2 C bus is a bi-directional two-wire bus and operates at a 400 kbps rate in the present embodiment. However, other bus structures and protocols could be employed in connection with this invention. In other embodiments, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), IEEE 422, IEEE 488 (GPIB), RS-185, Apple ADB, Universal Serial Bus (USB), or Controller Area Network (CAN) could be utilized as the microcontroller bus. Control on the microcontroller bus is distributed. Each microcontroller can be a sender (a master) or a receiver (a slave) and each is interconnected by this bus. A microcontroller directly controls its own resources, and indirectly controls resources of other microcontrollers on the bus.
[0050] Here are some of the features of the I′C-bus:
Only two bus line are required: a serial data line (SDA) and a serial clock line (SCI). Each device connected to the bus is software addressable by a unique address and simple master/slave relationships exist at all times; masters can operate as master-transmitters or as master-receivers, The bus is a true multi-master bus including collision detection and arbitration to prevent data corruption if two or more masters simultaneously initiate data transfer. Serial, 8-bit oriented, bi-directional data transfers can be made at up to 400 Kbit/second in the fast mode.
[0055] Two wires, serial data (SDA) and serial clock (SCI), carry information between the devices connected to the I′c bus. Each device is recognized by a unique address and can operate as either a transmitter or receiver, depending on the function of the device. Further, each device can operate from time to time as both a transmitter and a receiver. For example, a memory device connected to the 12 C bus could both receive and transmit data. In addition to transmitters and receivers, devices can also be considered as masters or slaves when performing data transfers (see Table 1). A master is the device which initiates a data transfer on the bus and generates the clock signals to permit that transfer. At that time, any device addressed is considered a slave.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Definition of I′C-bus terminology
Term
Description
Transmitter
The device which sends the data to the bus
Receiver
The device which receives the data from the bus
Master
The device which initiates a transfer, generates clock
signals and terminates a transfer
Slave
The device addressed by a master
Multi-master
More than one master can attempt to control the bus at
the same time without corrupting the message. Each
device at separate times may act as a master.
Arbitration
Procedure to ensure that, if more than one master
simultaneously tries to control the bus, only one is
allowed to do so and the message is not corrupted
Synchronization
Procedure to synchronize the clock signal of two or
more devices
[0056] The 12C-bus is a multi-master bus. This means that more than one device capable of controlling the bus can be connected to it. As masters are usually microcontrollers, consider the case of a data transfer between two microcontrollers connected to the 12C-bus. This highlights the master-slave and receiver-transmitter relationships to be found on the 12C-bus. It should be noted that these relationships are not permanent, but only depend on the direction of data transfer at that time. The transfer of data between microcontrollers is further described in FIG. 8 .
[0057] The possibility of connecting more than one microcontroller to the 12C-bus means that more than one master could try to initiate a data transfer at the same time. To avoid the conflict that might ensue from such an event, an arbitration procedure has been developed. This procedure relies on the wired-AND connection of all 12C interfaces to the 12C-bus.
[0058] If two or more masters try to put information onto the bus, as long as they put the same information onto the bus, there is no problem. Each monitors the state of the SOL. If a microcontroller expects to find that the SOL is high, but finds that it is low, the microcontroller assumes it lost the arbitration and stops sending data. The clock signals during arbitration are a synchronized combination of the clocks generated by the masters using the wired-AND connection to the SCL line.
[0059] Generation of clock signal on the I2C-bus is always the responsibility of master devices. Each master microcontroller generates its own clock signals when transferring data on the bus.
[0060] In one embodiment, the command, diagnostic, monitoring and history functions of the microcontroller network 102 are accessed using a global network memory and a protocol has been defined so that applications can access system resources without intimate knowledge of the underlying network of microcontrollers. That is, any function may be queried simply by generating a network “read” request targeted at the function's known global network address. In the same fashion, a function may be exercised simply by “writing” to its global network address. Any microcontroller may initiate read/write activity by sending a message on the I′C bus to the microcontroller responsible for the function (which can be determined from the known global address of the function). The network memory model includes typing information as part of the memory addressing information.
[0061] Referring to FIG. 4 , in one embodiment of the invention, the network of microcontrollers 310 includes ten processors. One of the purposes of the microcontroller network 225 is to transfer messages to the other components of the server system 100 . The processors or microcontrollers include: a System Interface 312 , a CPU A controller 314 , a CPU B controller 316 , a System Recorder 320 , a Chassis controller 318 , a Canister A controller 324 , a Canister B controller 326 , a Canister C controller 328 , a Canister D controller 330 and a Remote Interface controller 332 . The System Interface controller 312 , the CPU A controller 314 and the CPU B controller 316 are located on a system board 302 in the fault tolerant computer system 100 . Also located on the system board are one or more central processing units (CPUs) or microprocessors 164 and the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus 296 that connects to the System Interface Controller 312 . The CPUs 200 may be any conventional general purpose single-chip or multi-chip microprocessor such as a Pentium?, Pentium® Pro or Pentium® II processor available from Intel Corporation, A MIPS® processor available from Silicon Graphics, Inc., a SPARC processor from Sun-Microsystems, Inc., a Power PC® processor available from Motorola, or an ALPHA® processor available from Digital Equipment Corporation. In addition, the CPUs 200 may be any conventional special purpose microprocessor such as a digital signal processor or a graphics processor.
[0062] The System Recorder 320 and Chassis controller 318 , along with a data string such as a random access non-volatile access memory (NVRAM) 322 that connects to the System Recorder 320 , are located on a backplane 304 of the fault tolerant computer system 100 . The data storage 322 may be independently powered and may retain its contents when power is unavailable. The data storage 322 is used to log system status, so that when a failure of the computer 100 occurs, maintenance personnel can access the storage 322 and search for information about what component failed. An NVRAM is used for the data storage 322 in one embodiment but other embodiments may use other types and sizes of storage devices.
[0063] The System Recorder 320 and Chassis controller 318 are the first microcontrollers to power up when server power is applied. The System Recorder 320 , the Chassis controller 318 and the Remote Interface microcontroller 332 are the three microcontrollers that have an independent bias 5 Volt power supplied to them if main server power is off. This independent bias 5 Volt power is provided by a Remote Interface Board (not shown). The Canister controllers 324 - 330 are not considered to be part of the backplane 304 because each is mounted on a card attached to the canister.
[0064] FIGS. 5A , 5 B, and 5 C are one embodiment of a block diagram that illustrates some of the signal lines that are used by the different microcontrollers. Some of the signal lines connect to actuators and other signal lines connect to sensors. In one embodiment of the invention the microcontrollers in the network are commercially available microcontrollers. Examples of off-the-shelf microcontrollers are the PIC16c65 and the PIC16c74 available from Microchip Technology Inc, the 8051 from Intel Corporation, the 8751 available from Atmel, and a P80CL580 microprocessor available from Philips, could be utilized.
[0065] The Chassis controller 318 is connected to a set of temperature detectors 502 , 504 , and 506 which read the temperature on the backplane 304 and the system board 302 . FIG. 5 also illustrates the signal lines that connect the System Recorder 320 to the NVRAM 322 and a timer chip 520 . In one embodiment of the invention, the System Recorder 320 is the only microcontroller that can access the NVRAM 322 . The Canister controller 324 is connected to a Fan Tachometer Signal Mux 508 which is used to detect the speed of the fans. The CPU A controller 314 also is connected to a fan mux 508 which gathers the fan speed of system fans. The CPU A controller 314 displays errors to a user by writing to an LCD display 512 . Any microcontroller can request the CPU A controller 314 to write a message to the LCD display 512 . The System Interface 312 is connected to a response buffer 514 which queues outgoing response signals in the order that they are received. Similarly, a request signal buffer 516 is connected to the System Interface 312 and stores, or queues request signals in the order that they are received.
[0066] Software applications can access the network of microcontrollers 225 by using the software program header file that is listed at the end of the specification in the section titled “Header File for Global Memory Addresses”. This header file provides a global memory address for each function of the microcontroller network 225 . By using the definitions provided by this header file, applications can request and send information to the microcontroller network 225 without needing to know where a particular sensor or activator resides in the microcontroller network.
[0067] FIG. 6 is one embodiment of a flowchart illustrating the process by which under one implementation of the present invention, a remote application connected, say, through the connection of FIG. 1 , can access the network of microcontrollers 225 . Starting at state 600 , a remote software application, such as a generic system management application like Hewlett-Packard Open View, or an application specific to this computer system, retrieves a management information block (MIB) object by reading and interpreting a MIB file, or by an application's implicit knowledge of the MIB object's structure. This retrieval could be the result of an operator using a graphical user interface (GUI), or as the result of some automatic system management process. The MIB is a description of objects, which have a standard structure, and contain information specific to the MIB object 10 associated with a particular MIB object. At a block 602 , the remote application builds a request for information by creating a request which references a particular MIB object by its object. 10 , sends the request to the target computer using a protocol called SNMP (simple network management protocol). SNMP is a type of TCP/IP protocol. Moving to state 604 , the remote software sends the SNMP packet to a local agent Microsoft WinSNMP, for example, which is running on the fault tolerant computer system 100 , which includes the network of microcontrollers 225 ( FIG. 4 ). The agent is a specialized program which can interpret MIS object Ids and objects. The local agent software runs on one of the CPUs 200 of FIGS. 2 and 3 .
[0068] The local agent examines the SNMP request packet (state 606 ). If the local agent does not recognize the request, the local agent passes the SNMP packet to an extension: SNMP agent. Proceeding to state 608 , the extension SNMP agent dissects the object 10 . The extension SNMP agent is coded to recognize from the object 10 , which memory mapped resources managed by the network of microcontrollers need to be accessed (state 608 ). The agent then builds the required requests for the memory mapped information In the command protocol format understood by the network of microcontrollers 225 . The agent then forwards the request to a microcontroller network device driver (state 610 ).
[0069] The device driver then sends the information to the network of microcontrollers 225 at state 612 . The network of microcontrollers 225 provides a result to the device driver in state 614 . The result is returned to the extension agent, which uses the information to build the MIB object, and return it to the extension SNMP agent (state 616 ). The local SNMP agent forwards the MIB object via SNMP to the remote agent (state 616 ). Finally, in state 620 , the remote agent forwards the result to the remote application software.
[0070] For example, if a remote application needs to know the speed of a fan, the remote application reads a file to find the object 10 for fan speed. The object 10 for the fan speed request may be “837.2.3.6.2”. Each set of numbers in the object 10 represent hierarchical groups of data. For example the number “3” of the object 10 represents the cooling system. The “3.6” portion of the object 10 represents the fans in the cooling. All three numbers “3.6.2” indicate speed for a particular fan in a particular cooling group.
[0071] In this example, the remote application creates a SNMP packet containing the object 10 to get the fan speed on the computer 100 . The remote application then sends the SNMP packet to the local agent. Since the local agent does not recognize the fan speed object 10 , the local agent forwards the SNMP packet to the extension agent. The extension agent parses the object 10 to identify which specific memory mapped resources of the network of microcontrollers 225 are needed to build the MIB object whose object 10 was just parsed. The extension agent then relates a message in the command protocol required by the network of microcontrollers 225 . A device driver which knows how to communicate requests to the network of microcontrollers 225 takes this message and relays the command to the network of microcontrollers 225 . Once the network of microcontrollers 225 finds the fan speed, it relays the results to the device driver. The device driver passes the information to the extension agent. The agent takes the information supplied by the microcontroller network device driver and creates a new SNMP packet. The local agent forwards this packet to the remote agent, which then relays the fan speed which is contained in the packet to the remote application program.
[0072] FIG. 7 is one embodiment of a block diagram of the interface between the network of microcontrollers 225 and the ISA bus 308 of FIGS. 2 and 3 . The interface to the network of microcontrollers 225 includes a System Interface processor 312 which receives event and request signals, processes these signals, and transmits command, status and response signals to the operating system of the CPUs 200 . In one embodiment, the System Interface processor 312 is a PIC16C65 controller chip, available from Microchip, Technology Inc., which includes an event memory (not shown) organized as a bit vector, having at least sixteen bits. Each bit in the bit vector represents a particular type of event. Writing an event to the System Interface processor 312 sets a bit in the bit vector that represents the event. Upon receiving an event signal from another microcontroller, the System Interface 312 interrupts CPUs 200 . Upon receiving the interrupt, the CPUs 200 will check the status of the System Interface 312 to ascertain that an event is pending. Alternatively, the CPUs 200 may periodically poll the status of the System Interface 312 to ascertain whether an event is pending. The CPUs 200 may then read the bit vector in the System Interface 312 to ascertain the type of event that occurred and thereafter notify a system operator of the event by displaying an event message on a monitor connected to the fault tolerant computer 100 or another computer in the server network. After the system operator has been notified of the event, as described above, she may then obtain further information about the system failure which generated the event signal by accessing the NVRAM 322 .
[0073] The System Interface 312 communicates with the CPUs 200 by receiving request signals from the CPUs 200 and sending response signals back to the CPUs 200 . Furthermore, the System Interface 312 can send and receive status and command signals to and from the CPUs 200 . For example, a request signal may be sent from a software application inquiring as to whether the System Interface 312 has received any event signals, or inquiring as to the status of a particular processor, subsystem, operating parameter, The following discussion explains how in further detail at the state 612 , the device driver sends the request to the network on microcontrollers, and then, how the network on microcontrollers returns the result (state 614 ). A request signal buffer 516 is connected to the System Interface 312 and stores, or queues, request signals in the order that they are received, first in-first out (FIFO). Similarly, a response buffer 514 is connected to the System Interface 312 and queues outgoing response signals in the order that they are received (FIFO). These queues are one byte wide, (messages on the I′C bus are sequences of 8-bit bytes, transmitted bit serially on the SOL).
[0074] A message data register (MOR) 707 is connected to the request and response buffers 516 and 514 and controls the arbitration of messages to and from the System Interface 312 via the request and response buffers 516 and 514 . In one embodiment, the MDR 707 is eight bits wide and has a fixed address which may be accessed by the server's operating system via the ISA bus 226 connected to the MDR 707 . As shown in FIG. 7 , the MOR 707 has an 110 address of OCCOh. When software application running on one of the CPUs 200 desires to send a request signal to the System Interface 312 , it does so by writing a message one byte at a time to the MOR 707 . The application then indicates to the system interface processor 312 that the command has been completely written, and may be processed.
[0075] The system interface processor 312 writes the response one byte at a time to the response queue, then indicates to the CPU (via an interrupt or a bit in the status register) that the response is complete, and ready to be read. The CPU 200 then reads the response queue one byte at a time by reading the MDR 707 until all bytes of the response are read.
[0076] The following is one embodiment of the command protocol used to communicate with the network of microcontrollers 225 .
[0000]
TABLE 2
Command Protocol Format
EQUEST FORMAT
REQUEST FORMAT
Offset
Offset
Byte 0
Slave Add
0
Byte 0
Slave Add
0
(7 bits)
LSBit
(7 bits)
LSBit
Byte 1
MSBit (1)
Type
Byte 1
MSBit (0)
Type
Byte 2
Command ID (LSB)
Byte 2
Command ID (LSB)
Byte 3
Command ID (MSB)
Byte 3
Command ID
(MSB)
Byte 4
Read Request Length (
Byte 4
Write Request
Length (
Byte 5
Check Sum
Byte 5
Data Byte 1
.
.
.
.
.
.
Byte N + 4
Data Byte N
Byte N + 5
Check Sum
READ RESPONSE FORMAT
WRITE RESPONSE FORMAT
Offset
Offset
Byte 0
Slave Add
1
Byte 0
Slave Add
1
(7 bits)
LSBit
(7 bits)
LSBit
Byte 1
Read Response Lengt
Byte 1
Write
(N)
Respons
Length (0)
Byte 2
Data Byte 1
Byte 2
Status
.
.
Byte 3
Check Sum
.
.
Byte 4
Inverted Slave Addr
.
.
Byte N + 1
Data Byte N
Byte N + 2
Status
Byte N + 3
Check Sum
Byte N + 4
Inverted Slave Addr
indicates data missing or illegible when filed
[0077] The following is a description of each of the fields in the command protocol.
[0000]
TABLE 3
Description of Command Protocol Fields
FIELD
DESCRIPTION
Slave Addr
Specifies the processor identification code. This field is 7 bits
wide. Bit [7 . . . 1].
LSBit
Specifies what type of activity is taking place. If LSBit is clear
(0), the master is writing to a slave. if LSBit is set (1), the
master is reading from a slave.
MSBit
Specifies the type of command. It is bit 7 of byte 1 of a
request. If this bit is clear (0), this is a write command. If it is
set (1), this is a read command.
Type
Specifies the data type of this command, such as bit or string.
Command ID (LSB)
Specifies the least significant byte of the address of the
processor.
Command ID (MSB)
Specifies the most significant byte of the address of the
processor.
Length (N)
Read Request
Specifies the length of the data that the master expects to get
back from a read response. The length, which is in bytes,
does not include the Status, Check Sum, and Inverted Slave
Addr fields.
Read Response
Specifies the length of the data immediately following this byte,
that is byte 2 through byte N + 1. The length, which is in bytes,
does not include the Status, Check Sum, and Inverted Slave
Addr fields.
Write Request
Specifies the length of the data immediately following this byte,
that is byte 2 through byte N + 1. The length, which is in bytes,
does not include the Status, Check Sum, and Inverted Slave
Addr fields.
Write Response
Always specified as 0.
Data Byte 1
Specifies the data in a read request and response, and a write
request.
Data Byte N
Status
Specifies whether or not this command executes successfully.
A non-zero entry indicates a failure.
Check Sum
Specifies a direction control byte to ensure the integrity of a
message on the wire.
Inverted Slave Addr
Specifies the Slave Addr, which is inverted.
[0078] The System Interface 312 further includes a command and status register (CSR) 709 which initiates operations and reports on status. The operation and functionality of CSR 709 is described in further detail below. Both synchronous and asynchronous I/O modes are provided by the System Interface 312 . During a synchronous mode of operation, the device driver waits for a request to be completed. During an asynchronous mode of operation the device driver sends the request, and asks to be interrupted when the request completes. To support asynchronous operations, an interrupt line 711 is connected between the System Interface 312 and the ISA bus 226 and provides the ability to request an interrupt when asynchronous I/O is complete, or when an event occurs while the interrupt is enabled. As shown in FIG. 7 , in one embodiment, the address of the interrupt line 711 is fixed and indicated as IRQ 15 which is an interrupt address number used specifically for the ISA bus 226 .
[0079] The MDR 707 and the request and response buffers 516 and 514 , respectively, transfer messages between a software application running on the CPUs 200 and the failure reporting system of the invention. The buffers 516 and 514 have two functions: (1) they store data in situations where one bus is running faster than the other, i.e., the different clock rates, between the ISA bus 226 and the microcontroller bus 310 ; and (2) they serve as interim buffers for the transfer of messages—this relieves the System Interface 312 of having to provide this buffer.
[0080] When the MDR 707 is written to by the ISA bus 226 , it loads a byte into the request buffer 516 . When the MDR 707 is read from the ISA bus 516 , it unloads a byte from the response buffer 514 . The System Interface 312 reads and executes messages from buffer 516 when a message command is received in the CSR 709 . A response message is written to the response buffer 514 when the System Interface 312 completes executing the command. The system operator receives a completed message over the microcontroller bus 310 . A software application can read and write message data to and from the buffers 516 and 514 by executing read and write instructions through the MDR 707 .
[0081] The CSR 709 has two functions. The first is to initiate commands, and the second is to report status. The System Interface commands are usually executed synchronously. That is, after issuing a command, the microcontroller network device driver should continue to poll the CSR 709 status to confirm command completion. In addition to synchronous I/O mode, the microcontroller network device driver can also request an asynchronous I/O mode for each command by setting a “Asyn Req” bit in the command. In this mode, an interrupt is generated and sent to the ISA bus 226 , via the interrupt line 711 , after the command has completed executing.
[0082] In the described embodiment, the interrupt is asserted through IR015 of the ISA programmable interrupt controller (PIC). The ISA PIC interrupts the CPU 200 s when a signal transitioning from high to low, or from low to high, is detected at the proper input pin (edge triggered). Alternatively, the interrupt line 711 may utilize connect to a level-triggered input. A level-triggered interrupt request is recognized by keeping the signal at the same level, or changing the level of a signal, to send an interrupt. The microcontroller network device driver can either enable or disable interrupts by sending “Enable Ints” and “Disable Ints” commands to the CSR 701 . If the interrupt 711 line is enabled, the System Interface 312 asserts the interrupt signal IR015 of the PIC to the ISA bus 226 , either when an asynchronous I/O is complete or when an event has been detected.
[0083] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , the System Interface 312 may be a single-threaded interface. Since messages are first stored in the queue, then retrieved from the queue by the other side of the interface, a device driver should write one message, containing a sequence of bytes, at a time. Thus, only one message should be in progress at a time using the System Interface 312 . Therefore, a program or application must allocate the System Interface 312 for its use before using it, and then de-allocate the interface 514 when its operation is complete. The CSR 709 indicates which operator is allocated access to the System Interface 312 .
[0084] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7 , an example of how messages are communicated between the System Interface 312 and CPUs 200 in one embodiment of the invention is as follows (all byte values are provided in hexadecimal numbering). A system management program (not shown) sends a command to the network of microcontrollers 225 to check temperature and fan speed. To read the temperature from CPU A controller 314 the program builds a message for the device driver to forward to the network of microcontrollers 225 . First, the device driver on CPUs 200 allocates the interface by writing the byte “01” to the CSR 709 . If another request was received, the requester would have to wait until the previous request was completed. To read the temperature from Chassis controller 318 the device driver would write into the request queue 516 through the MDR 707 the bytes “02 83 03 00 FF”. The first byte “02” would signify to the System Interface 312 that a command is intended for the Chassis controller 318 . The first bits of the second byte “83” indicates that a master is writing to a slave. The last or least significant three bits of the byte “83” indicate the data type of the request. The third and fourth bytes “03 00” indicate that the read request temperature function of the Chassis controller 318 is being requested. The final byte “FF” is the checksum.
[0085] After writing the bytes to the MDR 707 , a “13” (message command) is written by the device driver to the CSR 709 , indicating the command is ready to be executed. The System Interface processor 312 passes the message bytes to the microcontroller bus 310 , receives a response, and puts the bytes into the response FIFO 514 . Since there is only one system interface processor 312 , there is no chance that message bytes will get intermingled.
[0086] After all bytes are written to the response FIFO, the System Interface processor 312 sets a bit in the CSR 709 indicating message completion. If directed to do so by the device driver, the system interface 312 asserts an interrupt on IRQ 15 upon completion of the task.
[0087] The CPUs 200 would then read from the response buffer 516 through the MDR 707 the bytes “02 0527 3C 27 26 27 00”. The first byte in the string is the slave address shown as Byte 0 in the Read Response Format. The first byte 02 indicates that the CPU A Chassis controller 318 was the originator of the message. The second byte “05” indicates the number of temperature readings that follow. The second Byte “05” maps to Byte 1 of the Read Response Format. In this example, the Chassis controller 318 returned five temperatures. The second reading, byte “3C” (60 decimal) is above normal operational values. The last byte “00” is a check sum which is used to ensure the integrity of a message.
[0088] The CPUs 200 agent and device driver requests the fan speed by writing the bytes “03 83 04 00 FF” to the network of microcontroller 225 . Each byte follows the read request format specified in Table 2. The first byte “03” indicates that the command is for the CPU A Controller 314 . The second byte “83” indicates that the command is a read request of a string data type.
[0089] A response of “030641 4341 4241 4000” would be read from MDR 707 by the device driver. The first byte “03” indicates to the device driver that the command is from the CPU A controller 314 . The speed bytes “41 4341 4241 40” indicate the revolutions per second of a fan in hexadecimal. The last byte read from the MDR 707 “00” is the checksum.
[0090] Since one of the temperatures is higher than the warning threshold, 550C, and fan speed is within normal (low) range, a system administrator or system management software may set the fan speed to high with the command bytes “03 01 01 0001 01 FF”. The command byte “03” indicates that the command is for the CPU A 314 . The first byte indicates that a write command is requested. The third and fourth bytes, which correspond to byte 2 and 3 of the write request format, indicate a request to increase the fan speed. The fifth byte, which corresponds to byte 4 of the write request format indicates to the System Interface 312 that one byte is being sent. The sixth byte contains the data that is being sent. The last byte “FF” is the checksum.
[0091] FIG. 8 is one embodiment of a flowchart describing the process by which a master microcontroller communicates with a slave microcontroller. Messages between microcontrollers can be initiated by any microcontroller on the microcontroller bus 310 ( FIG. 4 ). A master microcontroller starts out in state 800 .
[0092] In state 802 , the microcontroller arbitrates for the start bit if a microcontroller sees a start bit on the microcontroller bus 310 , it cannot gain control of the microcontroller bus 310 . The master microcontroller proceeds to state 804 . In the state 804 , the microcontroller increments a counter every millisecond. The microcontroller then returns to state 800 to arbitrate again for the start bit If at state 806 the count reaches 50 ms, the master has failed to gain the bus (states 808 and 810 ). The microcontroller then returns to the state 800 to retry the arbitration process. If in the state 802 , no start bit is seen on the microcontroller bus 310 , the microcontroller bus 310 is assumed to be free (i.e., the microcontroller has successfully arbitrated won arbitration for the microcontroller bus 310 ). The microcontroller sends a byte at a time on the microcontroller bus 310 (state 812 ). After the microcontroller has sent each byte, the microcontroller queries the microcontroller bus 310 to insure that the microcontroller bus 310 is still functional. If the SDA and SCL lines of the microcontroller bus 310 are not low, the microcontroller is sure that the microcontroller bus 310 is functional and proceeds to state 816 . If the SDA and SCL lines are not drawn high, then the microcontroller starts to poll the microcontroller bus 310 to see if it is functional. Moving to state 819 , the microcontroller increments a counter Y and waits every 22 microseconds. If the counter Y is less than five milliseconds (state 820 ), the state 814 is reentered and the microcontroller bus 310 is checked again. If the SDA and SCL lines are low for 5 milliseconds (indicated when, at state 820 , the counter Y exceeds 5 milliseconds), the microcontroller enters state 822 and assumes there is a microcontroller bus error. The microcontroller then terminates its control of the microcontroller bus 310 (state 824 ).
[0093] If in the state 814 , the SDAISCL lines do not stay low (state 816 ), the master microcontroller waits for a response from a slave microcontroller (state 816 ). If the master microcontroller has not received a response, the microcontroller enters state 826 . The microcontroller starts a counter which is incremented every one millisecond. Moving to state 828 , if the counter reaches fifty milliseconds, the microcontroller enters state 830 indicating a microcontroller bus error. The microcontroller then resets the microcontroller bus 310 (state 832 ).
[0094] Returning to state 816 , if the master microcontroller does receive a response in state 816 , the microcontroller enters state 818 and receives the data from the slave microcontroller. At state 820 , the master microcontroller is finished communicating with the slave microcontroller.
[0095] FIG. 9 is one embodiment of a block diagram illustrating the process by which a slave microcontroller communicates with a master microcontroller. Starting in state 900 , the slave microcontroller receives a byte from a master microcontroller. The first byte of an incoming message always contains the slave address. This slave address is checked by all of the microcontrollers on the microcontroller bus 310 . Whichever microcontroller matches the slave address to its own address handles the request.
[0096] At a decision state 902 , an interrupt is generated on the slave microcontroller. The microcontroller checks if the byte received is the first received from the master microcontroller (state 904 ). If the current byte received is the first byte received, the slave microcontroller sets a bus time-out flag (state 906 ). Otherwise, the slave microcontroller proceeds to check if the message is complete (state 908 ). If the message is incomplete, the microcontroller proceeds to the state 900 to receive the remainder of bytes from the master microcontroller. If at state 908 , the slave microcontroller determines that the complete message has been received, the microcontroller proceeds to state 909 .
[0097] Once the microcontroller has received the first byte, the microcontroller will continue to check if there is an interrupt on the microcontroller bus 310 . If no interrupt is posted on the microcontroller bus 310 , the slave microcontroller will check to see if the bus time-out flag is set. The bus time-out flag is set once a byte has been received from a master microcontroller. If in the decision state 910 the microcontroller determines that the bus time-out flag is set, the slave microcontroller will proceed to check for an interrupt every 10 milliseconds up to 500 milliseconds. For this purpose, the slave microcontroller increments the counter every 10 milliseconds (state 912 ). In state 914 , the microcontroller checks to see if the microcontroller bus 310 has timed out. If the slave microcontroller has not received additional bytes from the master microcontroller, the slave microcontroller assumes that the microcontroller bus 310 is hung and resets the microcontroller bus 310 (state 916 ). Next, the slave microcontroller aborts the request and awaits further requests from other master microcontrollers (state 918 ).
[0098] Referring to the state 909 , the bus timeout bit is cleared, and the request is processed and the response is formulated. Moving to state 920 , the response is sent a byte at a time. At state 922 , the same bus check is made as was described for the state 814 . States 922 , 923 and 928 form the same bus check and timeout as states 814 , 819 and 820 . If in state 928 this check times out, a bus error exists, and this transaction is aborted (states 930 and 932 ).
[0099] FIGS. 10A and 10B are How diagrams showing one process by which the System Interface 312 handles requests from other microcontrollers in the microcontroller network and the ISA bus 226 ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). The System Interface 312 relays messages from the ISA bus 226 to other microcontrollers in the network of microcontrollers 225 . The System Interface 312 also relays messages from the network of microcontrollers to the ISA bus 226 .
[0100] Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B , the System Interface 312 initializes all variables and the stack pointer (state 1000 ). Moving to state 1002 , the System Interface 312 starts its main loop in which it performs various functions. The System Interface 312 next checks the bus timeout bit to see if the microcontroller bus 310 has timed-out (decision state 1004 ). If the microcontroller bus 310 has timed-out, the System Interface 312 resets the microcontroller bus 310 in state 1006 .
[0101] Proceeding to a decision state 1008 , the System Interface 312 checks to see if any event messages have been received. An event occurs when the System Interface 312 receives information from another microcontroller regarding a change to the state of the system. At state 1010 , the System Interface 312 sets the event bit in the CSR 709 to one. The System Interface 312 also sends an interrupt to the operating system if the CSR 709 has requested interrupt notification.
[0102] Proceeding to a decision state 1012 , the System Interface 312 checks to see if a device driver for the operating system has input a command to the CSR. If the System Interface 312 does not find a command, the System Interface 312 returns to state 1002 . If the System Interface does find a command from the operating system, the System Interface parses the command. For the “allocate command”, the System Interface 312 resets the queue to the ISA bus 226 resets the done bit in the CSR 709 (state 1016 ) and sets the CSR Interface Owner 10 (state 1016 ). The Owner 10 bits identify which device driver owns control of the System Interface 312 .
[0103] For the “de-allocate command”, the System Interface 312 resets the queue to the ISA bus 226 , resets the done bit in the CSR 709 , and clears the Owner 10 bits (state 1018 ).
[0104] For the “clear done bit command” the System Interface 312 clears the done bit in the CSR 709 (state 1020 ). For the “enable interrupt command” the System Interface 312 sets the interrupt enable bit in the CSR 709 (state 1022 ). For the “disable interrupt command”, the System Interface 312 sets the interrupt enable bit in the CSR 709 (state 1024 ). For the “clear interrupt request command”, the System Interface 312 clears the interrupt enable bit in the CSR 709 (state 1026 ).
[0105] If the request from the operating system was not meant for the System Interface 312 , the command is intended for another microcontroller in the network 225 . The only valid command remaining is the “message command”. Proceeding to state 1028 , the System Interface 312 reads message bytes from the request buffer 516 . From the state 1028 , the System Interface 312 proceeds to a decision state 1030 in which the System Interface 312 checks whether the command was for itself If the command was for the System Interface 312 , moving to state 1032 , the System Interface 312 processes the command. If the ID did not match an internal command address, the System Interface 312 relays the command the appropriate microcontroller (state 1034 ) by sending the message bytes out over the microcontroller bus 310 .
[0106] FIGS. 11A and 11 B are flowcharts showing an embodiment of the functions performed by the Chassis controller 318 . Starting in the state 1100 , the Chassis controller 318 initializes its variables and stack pointer.
[0107] Proceeding to state 1102 , the Chassis controller 318 reads the serial numbers of the microcontrollers contained on the system board 302 and the backplane 304 . The Chassis controller 318 also reads the serial numbers for the Canister controllers 324 , 326 , 328 and 330 . The Chassis controller 318 stores all of these serial numbers in the NVRAM 322 .
[0108] Next, the Chassis controller 318 start its main loop in which it performs various diagnostics (state 1104 ). The Chassis controller 318 checks to see if the microcontroller bus 310 has timed-out (state 1106 ). If the bus has timed-out, the Chassis controller 318 resets the microcontroller bus 310 (state 1008 ). If the microcontroller bus 310 has not timed out the Chassis controller proceeds to a decision state 1110 in which the Chassis controller 318 checks to see if a user has pressed a power switch.
[0109] If the Chassis controller 318 determines a user has pressed a power switch, the Chassis controller changes the state of the power to either on or off (state 1112 ). Additionally, the Chassis controller logs the new power state into the NVRAM 322 .
[0110] The Chassis controller 318 proceeds to handle any power requests from the Remote Interface 332 (state 1114 ). As shown in FIG. 9 , a power request message to this microcontroller is received when the arriving message interrupts the microcontroller. The message is processed and a bit is set indicating request has been made to toggle power. At state 1114 , the Chassis controller 318 checks this bit. If the bit is set, the Chassis controller 318 toggles the system, i.e., off to-on or on-to-off, power and logs a message into the NVRAM 322 that the system power has changed state (state 1116 ).
[0111] Proceeding to state 1118 , the Chassis controller 318 checks the operating system watch dog counter for a time out. If the Chassis controller 318 finds that the operating system has failed to update the timer, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to log a message with the NVRAM 322 (state 1120 ). Additionally, the Chassis controller 318 sends an event to the System Interface 312 and the Remote Interface 332 .
[0112] Since it takes some time for the power supplies to settle and produce stable DC power, the Chassis controller delays before proceeding to check DC (state 1122 ).
[0113] The Chassis controller 318 then checks for changes in the canisters 258 - 264 (state 1124 ), such as a canister being inserted or removed. If a change is detected, the Chassis controller 318 logs a message to the NVRAM 322 (state 1126 ). Additionally, the Chassis controller 318 sends an event to the System Interface 312 and the Remote Interface 332 .
[0114] The Chassis controller 318 proceeds to check the power supply for a change in status (state 1128 ). The process by which the Chassis controller 318 checks the power supply is described in further detail in the discussion for FIG. 12 .
[0115] The Chassis controller then checks the temperature of the system (state 1132 ). The process by which the Chassis controller 318 checks the temperature is described in further detail in the discussion for FIG. 13 .
[0116] At state 1136 , the Chassis controller 318 reads all of the voltage level signals. The Chassis controller 318 saves these voltage levels values in an internal register for reference by other microcontrollers.
[0117] Next, the Chassis controller 318 checks the power supply signals for ACIDC changes (state 1138 ). If the Chassis controller 318 detects a change in the Chassis controller 318 , the Chassis controller 318 logs a message to the NVRAM 322 (state 1140 ). Additionally, the Chassis controller 318 sends an event to the System Interface 312 and the Remote Interface 332 that a ACIDC signal has changed. The Chassis controller 318 then returns to state 1104 to repeat the monitoring process.
[0118] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing one process by which the Chassis controller 318 checks the state of the redundant power supplies termed number 1 and 2. These power supplies are monitored and controlled by the chassis controller 318 through the signal lines shown in Figure SA. When a power supply fails or requires maintenance, the other supply maintains power to the computer 100 . To determine whether a power supply is operating properly or not, its status of inserted or removed (by maintenance personnel) should be ascertained. Furthermore, a change in status should be recorded in the NVRAM 322 . FIG. 12 describes in greater detail the state 1128 shown in FIG. 11 B.
[0119] Starting in state 1202 , the Chassis controller 318 checks the power supply bit. If the power supply bit indicates that a power supply should be present, the Chassis controller checks whether power supply “number 1” has been removed (state 1204 ). If power supply number 1 has been removed, the chassis microcontroller 318 checks whether its internal state indicates power supply number one should be present. If the internal state was determined to be present, then the slot is checked to see whether power supply number 1 is still physically present (state 1204 ). If power supply number 1 has been removed, the PS_PRESENT#1 bit is changed to not present (state 1208 ). The Chassis controller 318 then logs a message in the NVRAM 322 .
[0120] Referring to state 1206 , if the PS_PRESENT#1 bit indicates that power supply number 1 is not present, the Chassis controller 318 checks whether power supply number 1 has been inserted (i.e., checks to see if it is now physically present) (state 1206 ). If it has been inserted, the Chassis controller 318 then logs a message into the NVRAM 322 that the power supply number 1 has been inserted (state 1210 ) and changes the value of PS_PRESENT#1 to present.
[0121] After completion, states 1204 , 1206 , 1208 , and 1210 proceed to state 1212 to monitor power supply number 2. The Chassis controller 318 checks whether the PS_PRESENT#2 bit is set to present. If the PS_PRESENT#2 bit indicates that power supply “number 2” should be there, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1224 . Otherwise, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1226 . At state 1224 , the Chassis controller 318 checks if power supply number 2 is still present. If power supply number 2 has been removed, the Chassis controller 318 logs in the NVRAM 322 that power supply number 2 has been removed (state 1228 ). The chassis controller also changes the value of PS_PRESENT#2 bit to not present.
[0122] Referring to decision state 1226 , if the PS_PRESENT#2 bit indicates that no power supply number 2 is present, the Chassis controller 318 checks if power supply number 2 has been inserted. If so, the Chassis controller 318 then logs a message into the NVRAM 322 that power supply number 2 has been inserted and changes the value of PS_PRESENT#2 to present (state 1230 ). After completion of states 1224 , 1226 , 1228 , and 1230 , the chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1232 to monitor the ACIDC power supply changed signal.
[0123] If in decision state 1234 the Chassis controller 318 finds that the ACIDC power supply changed signal from the power supplies is asserted, the change in status is recorded in state 1236 , The Chassis controller 318 continues the monitoring process by proceeding to the state 1132 in FIG. 11 B.
[0124] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing one process by which the Chassis controller 318 monitors the temperature of the system. As shown in Figure SA, the Chassis controller 318 receives temperature detector signal lines from five temperature detectors located on the backplane and the motherboard. If either component indicates it is overheating, preventative action may be taken manually, by a technician, or automatically by the network of microcontrollers 225 . FIG. 13 describes in greater detail the state 1132 shown in FIG. 11 B.
[0125] To read the temperature of the Chassis, the Chassis controller 318 reads the temperature detectors 502 , 504 , and 506 (state 1300 ). In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 13 there are five temperature detectors (two temperature detectors not shown). Another embodiment includes three temperature detectors as shown.
[0126] The Chassis controller 318 checks the temperature detector 502 to see if the temperature is less than −2S 0 C or if the temperature is greater than or equal to 550C (state 1308 ). Temperatures in this range are considered normal operating temperatures. Of course, other embodiments may use other temperature ranges. If the temperature is operating inside normal operating boundaries, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1310 . If the temperature is outside normal operating boundaries, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1312 . At state 1312 , the Chassis controller 318 evaluates the temperature a second time to check if the temperature is greater than or equal to IODC or less than or equal to −25DC. If the temperature falls below or above outside of these threshold values, the Chassis controller proceeds to state 1316 . Temperatures in this range are considered so far out of normal operating temperatures, that the computer 100 should be shutdown. Of course, other temperature ranges may be used in other embodiments.
[0127] Referring to state 1316 , if the temperature level reading is critical, the Chassis controller 318 logs a message in the NVRAM 322 that the system was shut down due to excessive temperature. The Chassis controller 318 then proceeds to turn off power to the system in state 1320 , but may continue to operate from a bias or power supply.
[0128] Otherwise, if the temperature IS outside normal operating temperatures, but only slightly deviant, the Chassis controller 318 sets a bit in the temperature warning status register (state 1314 ). Additionally, the Chassis controller 318 logs a message in the NVRAM 322 that the temperature is reaching dangerous levels (state 1318 ).
[0129] The Chassis controller 318 follows the aforementioned process for each temperature detector on the system. Referring back to state 1310 , which was entered after determining a normal temperature from one of the temperature detectors, the Chassis controller 318 checks a looping variable “N” to see if all the sensors were read. If all sensors were not read, the Chassis controller 318 returns to state 1300 to read another temperature detector. Otherwise, if all temperature detectors were read, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1322 . At state 1322 , the Chassis controller 318 checks a warning status register (not shown). If no bit is set in the temperature warning status register, the Chassis controller 318 returns to the state 1136 in FIG. 11 B. If the Chassis controller 318 determines that a bit in the warning status register was set for one of the sensors, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to recheck all of the sensors (state 1324 ). If the temperature of the sensors are still at a dangerous level, the Chassis Controller 318 maintains the warning bits in the warning status register. The Chassis controller 318 then proceeds to the state 1136 ( FIG. 11 B). At state 1324 , if the temperatures of the sensors are now at normal operating values, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to clear all of the bits in the warning status register (state 1326 ). After clearing the register, the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to state 1328 to log a message in the NVRAM 322 that the temperature has returned to normal operational values, and the Chassis controller 318 proceeds to the state 11136 ( FIG. 11 B).
[0130] FIGS. 14A and 14B are flowcharts showing the functions performed by one embodiment of the CPU A controller 314 . The CPU A controller 314 is located on the system board 302 and conducts diagnostic checks for: a microcontroller bus timeout, a manual system board reset, a low system fan speed, a software reset command, general faults, a request to write to flash memory, checks system flag status, and a system fault.
[0131] The CPU A controller 314 , starting in state 1400 , initializes its variables and stack pointer. Next, in state 1402 the CPU A controller 314 starts its main loop in which it performs various diagnostics which are described below. At state 1404 , the CPU A controller 314 checks the microcontroller bus 310 for a time out If the microcontroller bus 310 has timed out, the CPU A controller 314 resets the microcontroller bus 310 (state 1406 ). From either state 1404 or 1406 , the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to check whether the manual reset switch (not shown) is pressed on the system board 302 (decision state 1408 ). If the CPU A controller 314 determines that the manual reset switch is pressed, the CPU A controller resets system board by asserting a reset signal (state 1410 ).
[0132] From either state 1408 or 1410 , the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to check the fan speed (decision state 1412 ). If any of a number of fans speed is low (see FIG. 15 and discussion below), the CPU A controller 314 logs a message to NVRAM 322 (state 1414 ). Additionally, the CPU A controller 314 sends an event to the Remote Interface 334 and the System Interface 312 . The CPU A controller 314 next proceeds to check whether a software reset command was issued by either the computer 100 or the remote computer 132 (state 1416 ). If such a command was sent, the CPU A controller 314 logs a message in NVRAM 322 that system software requested the reset command (state 1418 ). Additionally, the CPU A controller 314 also resets the system bus 202 .
[0133] From either state 1416 or 1418 , the CPU A controller 314 checks the flags bits (not shown) to determine if a user defined system fault occurred (state 1420 ). If the CPU A controller 314 determines that a user defined system fault occurred, the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to display the fault on an LCD display 512 ( FIG. 5B ) (state 1422 ).
[0134] From either state 1420 or 1422 the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to a state 1424 (if flash bit was not enabled) to check the flash enable bit maintained in memory on the CPU B controller 316 . If the flash enable bit is set, the CPU A controller 314 displays a code for flash enabled on the LCD display 512 . The purpose of the flash enable bit is further described in the description for the CPU B controller 316 ( FIG. 16 ).
[0135] From either state 1424 or 1426 (if the flash bit was not enabled), the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to state 1428 and checks for system faults. If the CPU A controller 314 determines that a fault occurred, the CPU A controller 314 displays the fault on the LCD display 512 (state 1430 ). From state 1428 if no fault occurred, or from state 1430 , the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to the checks the system status flag located in the CPU A controller's memory (decision state 1432 ). If the status flag indicates an error, the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to state 1434 and displays error information on the LCD display 512 .
[0136] From either state 1432 or 1434 , the CPU controller proceeds to state 1402 to repeat the monitoring process.
[0137] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing one process by which the CPU A controller 314 monitors the fan speed. FIG. 15 is a more detailed description of the function of state 1412 in FIG. 14A Starting in state 1502 , the CPU A controller 314 reads the speed of each of the fans 1506 , 1508 , and 1510 . The fan speed is processed by a Fan Tachometer Signal Mux 508 (also shown in FIG. 5B ) which updates the CPU A controller 314 . The CPU A controller 314 then checks to see if a fan speed is above a specified threshold (state 1512 ). If the fan speed is above the threshold, the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to state 1514 . Otherwise, if the fan speed is operating below a specified low speed limit, the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to state 1522 . On the other hand, when the fan is operating above the low speed limit at state 1514 , the CPU A controller 314 checks the hot_swap_fan register (not shown) if the particular fan was hot swapped, If the fan was hot swapped, the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to clear the fan's bit in both the fan_fault register (not shown) and the hot_swap_fan register (state 1516 ). After clearing these bits, the CPU A controller 314 checks the fan fault register (state 1518 ). If the fan fault register is all clear, the CPU A controller 314 proceeds to set the fan to low speed (state 1520 ) and logs a message to the NVRAM 322 . The CPU A controller 314 then proceeds to state 1536 to check for a temperature warning.
[0138] Now, referring back to state 1522 , if a fan speed is below a specified threshold limit, the CPU A controller 314 checks to see if the fan's speed is zero. If the fan's speed is zero, the CPU A controller 314 sets the bit in the hot_swap_fan register in state 1524 to indicate that the fan has a fault and should be replaced. If the fan's speed is not zero, the CPU A controller 314 will proceed to set a bit in the fan_fault register (state 1526 ). Moving to state 1528 , the speed of any fans still operating is increased to high, and a message is written to the NVRAM 322 .
[0139] In one alternative embodiment, the system self-manages temperature as follows: from either state 1520 or 1528 , the CPU A controller 314 moves to state 1536 and checks whether a message was received from the Chassis controller 318 indicating temperature warning. If a temperature warning is indicated, and if there are no fan faults involving fans in the cooling group associated with the warning, the speed of fans in that cooling group is increased to provide more cooling capacity (state 1538 ).
[0140] Proceeding to state 1530 from either state 1536 or 1538 , the CPU A controller 314 increments a fan counter stored inside of microcontroller memory. If at state 1531 , there are more fans to check, the CPU A controller 314 returns to state 1502 to monitor the speed of the other fans. Otherwise, the CPU controller 314 returns to state 1416 ( FIG. 14 ).
[0141] FIG. 16 is one embodiment of a flow diagram showing the functions performed by the CPU B controller 316 . The CPU B controller 316 scans for system faults, scans the microcontroller bus 310 , and provides flash enable. The CPU B controller 316 , starting at state 1600 , initializes its variables and stack painter.
[0142] After initializing its internal state, the CPU B controller 316 enters a diagnostic loop at state 1602 . The CPU B controller 316 then checks the microcontroller bus 310 for a time out (decision state 1604 ). If the microcontroller bus 310 has timed out, the CPU B controller 316 resets the microcontroller bus 310 in state 1606 . If the microcontroller bus 310 has not timed out (state 1604 ) or after state 1606 , the CPU B controller 316 proceeds to check the system fault register (not shown) (decision state 1608 ).
[0143] If the CPU B controller 316 finds a system fault, the CPU B controller 316 proceeds to log a message into the NVRAM 322 stating that a system fault occurred (state 1610 ). The CPU B controller 316 then sends an event to the System Interface 312 and the Remote Interface 332 . Additionally, the CPU B controller 316 turns on one of a number of LED indicators 518 ( FIG. 5B ).
[0144] If no system fault occurred, or from state 1610 , the CPU 8 controller 316 scans the microcontroller bus 310 (decision state 1612 ). If the microcontroller bus 310 is hung then the CPU 8 controller 316 proceeds to flash an LED display 512 that the microcontroller bus 310 is hung (state 1614 ). Otherwise, if the bus is not hung the CPU 8 controller 316 then proceeds to state 1624 .
[0145] The CPU 8 controller 316 proceeds to check for a bus stop bit time out (decision state 1624 ). If the stop bit has timed out, the CPU 8 controller 316 generates a stop bit on the microcontroller bus for error recovery in case the stop bit is inadvertently being held low by another microcontroller (state 1626 ).
[0146] From either state 1624 or 1626 , the CPU 8 controller 316 proceeds to check the flash enable bit to determine if the flash enable bit (not shown) is set (state 1628 ). If the CPU 8 controller 316 determines that the flash enable bit is set (by previously having received a message requesting it), the CPU 8 controller 316 proceeds to log a message to the NVRAM 322 (state 1630 ). A flash update is performed by the 810 S if the system boot disk includes code to update a flash memory (not shown). The 810 S writes new code into the flash memory only if the flash memory is enabled for writing. A software application running on the CPUs 200 can send messages requesting that 810 S flash be enabled. At state 1630 , the 12 Volts needed to write the flash memory is turned on or left turned on. If the flash enable bit is not on, control passes to state 1629 , where the 12 Volts is turned off, disabling writing of the flash memory.
[0147] From either state 1629 or 1630 , the CPU 8 controller 316 proceeds to repeat the aforementioned process of monitoring for system faults (state 1602 ).
[0148] FIG. 17 is one embodiment of a flowchart showing the functions performed by the Canister controllers 324 , 326 , 328 and 330 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 . The Canister controllers 324 , 326 , 328 and 330 examine canister fan speeds, control power to the canister, and determine which canister slots contain cards. The Canister controllers 324 - 330 , starting in state 1700 , initialize their variables and stack painters.
[0149] Next, in state 1702 the Canister controllers 324 - 330 start their main loop in which they performs various diagnostics, which are further described below. The Canister controllers 324 - 330 check the microcontroller bus 310 for a time out (state— 38 - 1704 ). If the microcontroller bus 310 has timed out, the Canister controllers 324 - 330 reset the microcontroller bus 310 in state 1706 . After the Canister controller 324 - 330 reset the microcontroller bus 310 , or if the microcontroller bus 310 has not timed out, the Canister controllers 324 - 330 proceed to examine the speed of the fans (decision state 1708 ). As determined by tachometer signal lines connected through a fan multiplexer 508 ( FIG. 5 ), if either of two canister fans is below the lower threshold, the event is logged, an event is sent to the System Interface 312 and, speed, in a selfmanagement embodiment, the fan speed is set to high. The Canister controllers 324 - 330 check the fan speed again, and if they are still low the canister controlling 324 - 330 signal a fan fault and register an error message in the NVRAM 322 (state 1710 ).
[0150] If the Canister controller received a request message to turn on or off canister power, a bit would have been previously set. If the Canister controllers 324 - 330 find this bit set (state 1712 ), they turn the power to the canister on, and light the canister's LED. If the bit is cleared, power to the canister is turned off, as is the LED (state 1714 ).
[0151] Next, the Canister controllers 324 - 330 read a signal for each slot which indicates whether the slot contains an adapter (state 1716 ). The Canister controllers 324 - 330 then returns to the state 1702 , to repeat the aforementioned monitoring process.
[0152] FIG. 18 is one embodiment of a flowchart showing the functions performed by the System Recorder controller 320 . The System Recorder controller 320 maintains a system log in the NVRAM 322 . The System Recorder 320 starting in state 1800 initializes its variables and stack painter.
[0153] Next, at state 1802 the System Recorder 320 starts its main loop in which the System Recorder 320 performs various functions, which are further described below. First, the System Recorder 320 checks the microcontroller bus 310 for a time out (state 1804 ). If the microcontroller bus 310 has timed out, the System Recorder 320 resets the microcontroller bus 310 in state 1806 . After the System Recorder 320 resets the bus, or if the microcontroller bus 310 has not timed out, the System Recorder 320 checks to see if another microcontroller had requested the System Recorder 320 to reset the NVRAM 322 (state 1808 ). If requested, the System Recorder 320 proceeds to reset all the memory in the NVRAM 322 to zero (decision state 1810 ). After resetting the NVRAM 322 , or if no microcontroller had requested such a reset, the System Recorder 320 proceeds to a get the real time clock every second from a timer chip 520 ( FIG. 5A ) (decision state 1812 ).
[0154] From time to time, the System Recorder 320 will be interrupted by the receipt of messages. When these messages are for storing data in the NVRAM 322 , they are carried out as they are received and the messages are stored in the NVRAM 322 . Thus, there is no state in the flow of FIG. 18 to explicitly store messages. The System Recorder then returns to the state 1802 to repeat the aforementioned monitoring process.
[0155] While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the system illustrated by be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the intent of the invention. | A network of microcontrollers for monitoring and diagnosing the environmental conditions of a computer is disclosed. The network of microcontrollers provides a management system by which computer users can accurately gauge the health of their computer. The network of microcontrollers provides users the ability to detect system fan speeds, internal temperatures and voltage levels. The invention is designed to not only be resilient to faults, but also allows for the system maintenance, modification, and growth—without downtime. Additionally, the present invention allows users to replace failed components, and add new functionality, such as new network interfaces, disk interface cards and storage, without impacting existing users. One of the primary roles of the present invention is to manage the environment without outside involvement. This self-management allows the system to continue to operate even though components have failed. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to irons and, more specifically, to a portable iron that does not require the use of an ironing board. A dual iron device includes two hingedly attached members where at least one member provides heat to iron fabric. The members are hard flat surfaces to replace the need for an ironing board. Additionally the members pivot about the hinge so that they are in the same plane wherein the device can be used to steam fabric.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other heating device designed for ironing. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,511 issued to Pezza on Jun. 5, 1956.
Another patent was issued to Vance, et al. on Sep. 18, 1956 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,075. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 2,849,736 was issued to Kohle on Sep. 2, 1958 and still yet another was issued on Jan. 28, 1969 to Mitchell as U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,966.
Another patent was issued to Osrow on Sep. 12, 1972 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,024. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,042 was issued to Smith on Nov. 21, 1972 Another was issued to Anderson on Dec. 19, 1972 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,146 and still yet another was issued on Jul. 3, 1973 to Plasko as U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,629.
Another patent was issued to Hagen on Feb. 5, 1974 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,043. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,753 was issued to Engelbart on Feb. 26, 1974. Another was issued to Vieceli, et al. on May 21, 1974 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,208 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 14, 1976 to Osrow, et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,759.
Another patent was issued to Osrow, et al. on Jun. 3, 1980 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,340. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,483 was issued to Fathi on Feb. 18, 1986. Another was issued to Schawbel, et al. on Mar. 28, 1989 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,441 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 4, 1989 to Frank as U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,309.
Another patent was issued to Tabraham on Jun. 23, 1992 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,266. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,541 was issued to Sham on Aug. 30, 1994. Another was issued to Walker on May 30, 1995 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,961 and still yet another was issued on Mar. 11, 1997 to Hellman, Jr., et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,047.
Another patent was issued to Farley on Jul. 29, 1997 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,201. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,391 was issued to Yao on Mar. 7, 2000. Another was issued to Burr, et al. on Sep. 5, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,367 and still yet another was issued on Feb. 20, 2001 to Smal as U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,387.
Another patent was issued to Muller on Aug. 13, 1991 as U.S. Patent No. Des. 319,121. Yet another U.S. Patent No. Des. 376,232 was issued to Villar on Dec. 3, 1996. Another was issued to Gudefin, et al. on Dec. 30, 1997 as U.S. Patent No. Des. 388,576 and still yet another was issued on Jul. 24, 2001 to Hirata as U.S. Patent No. D445,540.
Another patent was issued to Marbury on Dec. 10, 2002 as U.S. Patent No. D467,051. Yet another U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0070331 was issued to Chen on Apr. 17, 2003. Another was issued to Tobias on Feb. 10, 2005 as U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0028408 and still yet another was issued on Aug. 8, 1996 to Galliou as International Patent Application No. WO 96/24233.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,511
Inventor: Mariana Pezza
Issued: Jun. 5, 1956
A garment presser for forming creases in and smoothing surfaces of articles of clothing; said presser comprising a pair of jaws, each jaw including a blade having a compartment therein and a handle extending from an end of the blade in parallelism with the handle of the other jaw; a pivot member connecting said handles together; resilient means acting on said handles to urge the jaws to move to swing the blades toward each other; heating means comprising conducting elements arranged one in said compartment of each blade; one of said blades being adapted to overlie the other and having a second compartment arranged to underlie the first mentioned compartment in said blade and having an opening in one edge wall of the blade; a pair of flat panel elements confronting each other, one of said panel elements having therein a set of perforations spaced apart all over said panel according to a predetermined pattern, said one panel forming a wall portion of the second compartment of said one blade, the other panel element forming a wall portion of the compartment in the other of said blades; a container for liquids having a wall slidably contacting the perforated panel and having a set of perforations registerable with the perforations of the first mentioned set, said container having a filling neck, provided with a movable closure, and projecting through the opening in said one edge of said one blade; a spring reacting against said one edge to slide the container to bring the perforations therein out of register with the perforations of the first mentioned set; a plunger projecting through a wall of the second compartment of said one blade into engagement with said container; and means operable by movement of the handles to move the plunger and cause the perforations in the container to register with the perforations of the first set.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,075
Inventor: John E. Vance, et al.
Issued: Sep. 18, 1956
An electric iron comprising, a sole plate, heating means therefor, said sole plate being formed with a boiler chamber to convert water into stream, a handle pivotally mounted on said sole plate on a horizontal axis and normally occupying a vertically extending position, a water reservoir formed in said handle, said handle including a conduit for conducting water from said reservoir to said boiler, and valve means operative to cut of the flow of water from the reservoir to said boiler when said handle is moved from its normal vertical position.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,849,736
Inventor: Albert G. Kohle
Issued: Sep. 2, 1958
A self-contained steam generating brush comprising an elongated housing having a chamber at its forward end and a rearwardly extending hollow hand grip portion, a steam generating boiler in said chamber, a liquid containing reservoir mounted within the hand grip portion of said housing, said steam generating boiler having an electrically energized heating unit for converting a jet of water into steam, circuit connections for said electrical unit carried by said hand grip portion and extending therefrom for connection to a source of electric power, a thumb operated pump mounted within said handle portion and associated with said fluid containing tank to project a jet of water from said tank upon the electrically energized heating unit of said steam generating boiler, whereby upon each operation of said pump a quantity of water will impinge upon said heating unit and steam will be flash generated in said boiler, a fabric engaging brush at the forward end of said housing, and a steam directing nozzle extending from said steam generating boiler and terminating at said brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,966
Inventor: Margaret S. Mitchell
Issued: Jan. 28, 1969
An apparatus for steaming fabric 48 materials comprising:
a longitudinally extending shell, said shell having a semicircular face and plurality of orifices longitudinally placed on said semicircular face, said orifices being sufficiently large to allow water to pass therethrough into the shell; a porous heat resistant material located within the shell and able to absorb a substantial amount of water; a handle attached to said shell said handle comprising a leg attached to one end of the shell and having an axis perpendicular to the axis of the shell, and an arm extending from the other end of the leg and having an axis perpendicular to the leg and parallel to the shell; a flat electrical heating element contacting on one side of the heating element, the outside flattened face of the shell; insulation on the other side of the flat heating element; electrical conducting means for supplying electrical power to the flat electrical heating element; and a temperature responsive electrical switching means mounted within the shell for interrupting electrical current between the electrical conducting means and the electrical heating element at a preset temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,024
Inventor: Leonard Osrow
Issued: Sep. 12, 1972
A lightweight portable electric hand steamer with a special sole plate having a prow that is uniquely shaped to spread the concealed short edges at the rear of a seam joining two plies of fabric which are to be pressed into planarity. The prow includes a leading beak for initiating separation of the short rear edges. Behind the prow the sole plate is provided with a flat pressing surface. Steam issues through the pressing surface to impinge upon the fabric plies being pressed as well as upon the short rear edges so as to render them pliant for pressing. The entire sole plate, but particularly the flat pressing surface, is formed of a synthetic plastic whereby the pressing surface has a low specific heat and a low coefficient of heat conductivity so that the pressing surface is relatively cool in comparison with a conventional metal pressing surface. This has the unusual effect of preventing the outline of the steamed-flat short rear edges from showing' through the planar portions of the plies after the pressing/steaming operation has been completed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,042
Inventor: Sally J. Smith
Issued: Nov. 21, 1972
A one-piece pump bellows of a flexible, resilient material with a corrugated generally cylindrical sidewall having a plurality of interleaved outer and inner bends with interconnecting wall portions. The corrugated wall is not of uniform thickness and the thickness at the bends of the wall is greater than the maximum thickness of the interconnecting wall portions. The thickness of the interconnecting wall portions immediately adjacent the bends is less than the maximum thickness of the interconnecting wall portions. The outer bends have associated pairs of opposed circumferential ribs on the inside surface of the interconnecting walls and the inner bends have associated pairs of opposed circumferential ribs on the outside surface of the interconnecting walls. The pairs of opposed ribs are adapted to abut when the bellows is foreshortened by overstroking which decreases the maximum stress to which the bends are subjected and substantially increases the service life of the bellows.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,146
Inventor: Arvid B. Anderson
Issued: Dec. 19, 1972
An electrically heated steam and vacuum hand iron. A vacuum port is provided at the periphery of the soleplate of the iron and outwardly of the steam discharge apertures in the soleplate to extract steam and moisture from the pressed fabric, more quickly to dry the pressed fabric, thereby to speed hand ironing operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,629
Inventor: Emil Robert Plasko
Issued: Jul. 3, 1973
A portable hand-held electric clothes steamer has a one-piece body or housing with an integral fill opening intermediate a water chamber and a combined steam chamber and water trap, the position of the water inlet opening defining the maximum water level. Electric neon indicators are provided for showing when the unit is plugged in and also for showing when the unit has run dry. Provision is made for use of the steamer, in one embodiment, in either domestic or European current.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,043
Inventor: Elmer Ray Hagen
Issued: Feb. 5, 1974
Structure for attachment to slacks, or other such garments, tending to remove wrinkles and restore creases by exerting forces on the slacks both transverse and parallel to the creases. The transverse force is exerted by attaching the structure to the slacks at the front and rear at points aligned with the creases in the area between the waistband and crotch and maintaining a stretching force. The longitudinal force is provided by suspending the slacks freely from the cuffs with the structure attached, whereby the weight of the structure exerts a longitudinal force along the cuffs. The structure comprises a pair of telescoping rods with spring clips at the remote ends and detent means for maintaining the desired spacing of the clips to exert the transverse stretching force on the slacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,753
Inventor: Wilhelm Engelbart
Issued: Feb. 26, 1974
A manually operated steam ironing device comprises a bottom portion including a bottom ironing plate having outlet openings to allow passage of steam. An upper portion includes a hand receiving means located above the ironing plate. The hand receiving means has a structural configuration effective to enwrap at least a portion of an operator's hand for protecting the operator's hand and to facilitate operation of the device. The upper portion also includes a padded insulated layer and a carrier plate portion having a structural configuration which defines an insulating chamber above the bottom heating plate. The bottom portion includes a heating element and a heated cover plate carrying said element. The cover plate has a structural configuration to form a steam expansion chamber between itself and the bottom ironing plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,208
Inventor: Joseph L. Vieceli, et al.
Issued: May 21, 1974
An electric pressing iron adapted for operation in a horizontal plane for pressing fabrics or usable in. a vertical plane to steam hanging clothes, drapes and the like: The iron includes a small compact soleplate above which is superimposed an all plastic reservoir and handle assembly having the handle extending outwardly from the reservoir and a housing portion positioned between the reservoir and the soleplate enclosing a thermostat and a temperature control arm. The means for delivering' water from the 'reservoir to a steam chamber on the upper surface of the soleplate comprises a compact pump having a diaphragm which is operable by direct finger pressure to deliver water from the reservoir to the steam chamber. The pump which is mounted in an opening for the reservoir is removable to permit the pouring of water into the reservoir. The reservoir and handle include a one piece injection molded plastic member which includes a downwardly facing cup-shaped portion which is closed by the housing member to form the reservoir. The pump permits the iron to be operated in any position while delivering substantial quantities of steam from the orifices disposed in the soleplate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,759
Inventor: Leonard Osrow, et al.
Issued: Dec. 14, 1976
A device for applying steam to the exposed surface of previously applied wallpaper so as to cause the same to penetrate the wallpaper and loosen the adhesive bond between the wallpaper and the underlying substrate. The device is a compact steamer for vertical surfaces which is composed of a forward steam plenum chamber and a rear water chamber having a common separating wall between them. The steam plenum chamber has a steam discharge opening in its front wall. Associated with the common wall is a steam passageway that is wholly contained within the steamer. The steam passageway leads from a steam entry port near the top of the water chamber to a steam discharge port in the steam plenum chamber. To heat the water in the water chamber to steaming temperature, a pair of mutually spaced electrodes is disposed in and near the bottom of the water chamber and is supplied with power through a manually operable switch. A cap selectively closes a fill-opening in the water chamber. The cap and switch are provided with an interlock which prevents opening of the fill-cap when the switch energizes the electrodes and which prevents the switch from being moved to actuated position unless the fill-cap is closed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,340
Inventor: Leonard Osrow, et al.
Issued: Jun. 3, 1980
A steaming device for pressing and ironing fabric includes a hollow body and a sole plate having a pointed prow. A pair of passages lead from an electrolytically heated steam generator within the body to the front portion of the sole plate. The first passage is permanently open and leads to a plurality of first openings in a linear pattern generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the prow. The second passage leads to steam openings in the sole plate which latter openings extend transversely across the width of the sole plate rearwardly of first openings. The second passage is larger than the first and has more steam openings associated with it so that steam will flow through it more readily than through the first. A plug is associated with the top of the second passage. The plug can be moved from a position in which the passage is unblocked to a position in which the passage is blocked. The electrolytically heated steam generator includes three electrodes disposed in a quantity of electrolytic solution provided within a reservoir within the body. The spacing between a first and a second electrode is greater than the spacing between the second and third electrodes so that steam generation rate may be controlled by an appropriate adjustable electric switch, with steam generation being at a higher rate when an electrical potential is impressed between the second and third electrodes than when the electrical potential is impressed between the first and second electrodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,483
Inventor: Saul S. Fathi
Issued: Feb. 18, 1986
This portable steamer device has a central cylindrical casing open at opposite ends. A handle is rotatably mounted to a cylindrical cap attached to the rear end of the casing. A baffle is mounted to the front end of the casing, and has holes for emitting steam. In the casing is a heater assembly to heat water in a first chamber conically shaped body with a central aperature closes the chamber but permits water to pass into the chamber and steam to pass out of the chamber. A tube section inside a second chamber between the baffle and the body which passes steam to the baffle while any water which may inadvertently spill out of the first chamber is captured in the second chamber, thus, water cannot leak out of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,441
Inventor: William Schawbel, et al.
Issued: Mar. 28, 1989
A portable curling iron having a barrel to be heated, includes first and second burners which heat the barrel; a fuel supply cartridge which supplies fuel to the first and second burners, the cartridge including a fuel delivery valve which controls the flow of fuel from the cartridge; a plunger which applies a force to the valve in response to user actuation, to start the flow of fuel from the cartridge; a regulator assembly including a diaphragm which applies a reverse force to the plunger when the gas pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure, to maintain a substantially constant flow rate of fuel to the first and second burners; a valve stem through which the fuel travels from the cartridge to the second burner; a bimetallic element for applying a force to the valve stem to permit the fuel to pass to the second burner when the temperature is less than a predetermined start-up temperature and for removing such force when the predetermined start-up temperature is attained; and a spring which applies a reverse force to the valve stem to prevent the fuel to pass to the second burner when the predetermined start-up temperature is attained, so as to achieve fast heat up of the barrel without fuel waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,309
Inventor: Karlheinz Frank
Issued: Apr. 4, 1989
A hand-held steam brush, consisting of a support plate with steam holes which forms an outer wall of the hand-held steam brush. A pressure plate with steam exit holes is releasably secured to the support plate. The pressure plate, guided by hinged spacers, is movable towards the support plate counter to the pressure of a spring and can be fixedly connected to the support plate by means of a pressure plate locking device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,266
Inventor: David Tabraham
Issued: Jun. 23, 1992
A clothes steamer which can be secured to a wall such as the wall of a hotel room, the steamer including a housing with a heating element in it. The element boils water which is in the housing and causes a flow of steam along a flexible hose to a nozzle. An audible warning device is provided for indicating that an adequate supply of steam is being generated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,541
Inventor: John C. K. Sham
Issued: Aug. 30, 1994
A portable hand-held steam vacuum cleaner is provided which includes a housing having a handle portion and a nozzle portion. A reservoir is defined in the housing for retaining cleaning solution or water, and a heating unit is associated with the reservoir for heating the liquid so as to generate steam for delivery to a surface to be cleaned. A motor driven fan assembly is disposed within the housing in communication with the nozzle portion for drawing excess liquid and debris into the nozzle portion. The nozzle portion defines structure for separating and containing the liquid which is drawn into the vacuum cleaner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,961
Inventor: Cedric T. M. Walker
Issued: May 30, 1005
A steaming device includes a reservoir for containing a predetermined quantity of water, a heater for heating the water and producing the steam, a nozzle for exhausting out the steam, a conduit for connecting the nozzle with the reservoir, and an external support structure for supporting components of steaming device. The nozzle make up part of a programmable automatic flow adjusting system for selectively varying the direction and speed of the steam flowing out therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,047
Inventor: Robert R. Hellman, Jr., et al.
Issued: Mar. 11, 1997
A portable garment steaming device for use in the home which emits steam through a retractable nozzle plate of a safety nozzle assembly which when retracted prevents against accidental touching of the hot nozzle plate. The garment steaming device also includes a clothes hanger assembly for hanging the article of clothing to be steamed. A water bottle compartment for supplying water to be generated as steam for the safety nozzle assembly is further provided which is detachably mounted for refilling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,201
Inventor: Brent Lee Farley
Issued: Jul. 29, 1997
An iron having a mitt component and a heating element subdivided into at least two portions. A pivot interconnects the at least two portions of the heating element. A reservoir system interconnects a fluid tank to the heating element to enable the iron to possess steam generating capabilities. The mitt is preferably attached to the heating element by an annular crimping portion. The mitt further includes a pocket for receiving the hand of a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,391
Inventor: Isoji Yao
Issued: Mar. 7, 2000
An iron having an iron main body and an electromagnetic valve which controls flow and stop of ironing steam. The iron is provided with a first tube for ironing steam, which sends ironing steam to the iron main body in open state of the electromagnetic valve, a second tube for heating steam, which sends heating steam to its end side along the first tube and heats approximately whole length of the first tube, and a third tube, which returns the steam from the end side of the second tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,367
Inventor: Jean-Marc Burr, et al.
Issued: Sep. 5, 2000
The appliance comprises a portable and electrical self-contained assembly comprising a case of plastics material defining a housing in which there are disposed an instant steam generator operating at atmospheric pressure with a porous water storage body and electrical heater resistance elements, and a steam distributor for diffusing steam through a series of front orifices. The case is extended by a squeegee carrier fitted with a squeegee blade projecting from the front of the appliance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,387
Inventor: Henri Smal
Issued: Feb. 20, 2001
Hairdressing tongs have a pair of arms extending from handles. Each arm has a heating pad affixed thereto. The handles have opposed openings. A central element is positioned between the handles and fitted within the openings such that the central element is slidable toward the handles. The central element has guide openings. Springs are positioned in the guide openings for biasing apart the handles. The springs enable hand pressure to move the handles and arms together from a completely open position to a completely closed position and, in absence of the hand pressure, to maintain the handles and arms in relatively parallel configuration, biased against stops of the central element.
U.S. Patent Number Des. 319,121
Inventor: Ronald L. Muller
Issued: Aug. 13, 1991
The ornamental design for a garment steamer, as shown in the patent drawings.
U.S. Patent Number Des. 376,232
Inventor: Albert Villar
Issued: Dec. 3, 1996
The ornamental design for a gas heated seaming iron, as shown in the patent drawings.
U.S. Patent Number Des. 388,576
Inventor: Jacques Gudefin, et al.
Issued: Dec. 30, 1997
The ornamental design for a combined iron and steam generator, as shown in the patent drawings.
U.S. Patent Number D445,540
Inventor: Yoshihiro Hirata
Issued: Jul. 24, 2001
The ornamental design for a hair iron, as shown in the patent drawings.
U.S. Patent Number D467,051
Inventor: Yvonne L. Marbury
Issued: Dec. 10, 2002
The ornamental design for a battery operated iron, as shown in the patent drawings.
U.S. Patent Application Number 2003/0070331
Inventor: Shou Mao Chen
Published: Apr. 17, 2003
An ironing structure comprises a shell and a blow drier detachably attached to the shell. The shell is provided in the top with a receiving portion for holding one end of the barrel of the blow drier. The receiving portion is in communication with the hollow interior of the shell. The shell is provided at the bottom with a soleplate which is warmed up by the hot air streams of the blow drier to facilitate the pressing of the clothes.
U.S. Patent Application Number 2005/0028408
Inventor: Andrew J. Tobias
Published: Feb. 10, 2005
A hand-held, convertible pressing iron/steamer device includes a steaming module including a compartment for holding water, and a heater for producing steam from the water. The device further includes an ironing module including a heatable flat pressing bottom surface, the ironing module being selectively attachable to the steaming module so as to direct steam through the flat pressing bottom surface. There is also a handle attachable to the steaming module and the ironing module. In a first configuration, the handle is operably and detachably mounted to the steaming module alone. In a second configuration, the handle is operably and detachably mounted to the steaming module and the ironing module.
International Patent Application Number WO 96/24233
Inventor: Henri Galliou
Published: Aug. 8, 1996
A method for assembling an electrical heating assembly including at least one diffusing plate ( 1 ) and at least one heating element ( 4 ) arranged in contact therewith. The heating elements ( 4 ) are arranged in contact with the diffusing plate ( 1 ) and the assembly is subjected to hot heading. The resulting electrical heating assembly produced according to the method is also disclosed.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to irons and, more specifically, to a portable iron that does not require the use of an ironing board. A dual iron device includes two hingedly attached members where at least one member provides heat to iron fabric. The members are hard flat surfaces to replace the need for an ironing board. Additionally the members pivot about the hinge so that they are in the same plane wherein the device can be used to steam fabric.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.
Another, secondary object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device that will iron and steam fabric without the use of an ironing board.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby an article of clothing is pressed while hanging.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device that is portable.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device having two members that are hingedly connected to one another.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby tension exists between the two members.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby a heating mechanism heats at least one of the members.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby the outside of each member is made from a heat resistant material to prevent the user from being burned.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby one of the members act in lieu of an ironing board.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby the at least one heated member applies heat to fabric.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby the two members clamp together to engage an article to be pressed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby the at least one heated member includes a plurality of apertures allowing steam to escape.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device whereby one member is flipped out providing a single steaming iron engaging surface.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device that is simple and easy to use.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dual iron device that is inexpensive to manufacture and operate.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.
The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device of the present invention in use;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dual iron device of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device of the present invention in use;
FIG. 4 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device of the present invention in use;
FIG. 5 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device of the present invention in use;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the dual iron device of the present invention in an open position;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the dual iron device of the present invention in a closed position;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the dual iron device of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a top view of the dual iron device of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is an under side view of the dual iron device of the present invention in a fully open position; and
FIG. 11 is a side view of the dual iron device of the present invention in a fully open position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCED NUMERALS
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the Figures illustrate the dual iron device of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing Figures.
10
Dual iron device of the present invention
12
pants
14
Shirt
15
Shirt sleeve
16
housing
18
first member of housing
20
second member of housing
22
handle
24
steam button
26
heat adjustment knob
28
first heat plate
30
second heat plate
32
steam ports
34
open/close clamping trigger
36
knuckle pad
38
hinge
40
water tank
42
electrical cord
44
down directional arrows
46
crease
48
fabric
50
top side first member
52
bottom side first member
54
water tank aperture
56
power source
58
second member top
60
second member bottom
62
heating mechanism
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention (and several variations of that embodiment). This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims.
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIGS. 1 through 11 illustrate a dual iron device of the present invention which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 .
FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention in use. The dual iron device 10 includes a housing 16 having a first member 18 and a second member 20 . In the present embodiment, only the first member 18 has a first heat plate 28 to provide heat. However, in an alternate embodiment both the first member 18 and the second member 20 include the first heat plate 28 and a second heat plate 30 respectively. The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via a hinge 38 at a first end of each thereof. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is caused to be parallel to the second member 20 having a predetermined distance therebetween. Each member is rectangular in shape. However, this is for purposes of example only, and each member may be formed of any geometric shape.
Shown herein, the dual iron device 10 is being used to iron a pair of pants 12 and a shirt 14 . Both the pants 12 and the shirt 14 are able to be ironed while hanging, without the use of an ironing board. The pants 12 are placed between the first 18 and second 20 member of the housing 16 . An open/close clamping trigger 34 , as will be discussed hereinafter with specific reference to FIG. 2 , is used to press the first 18 and second 20 members against the pants 12 . The dual iron device 10 is then moved along the length of the pants 12 while heat presses the pants.
The dual iron device 10 of the present invention is advantageous in that it facilitates the ironing of fabric 48 . The second 20 member of housing 16 provides support for the fabric 48 typically provided by an ironing board. The dual iron device 10 also provides for an easier method of ironing creases into fabric 48 . In one embodiment both the first 18 and second 20 member provide heat thereby enabling both sides of a fabric 48 to be ironed at the same time, decreasing ironing time. The dual iron device 10 provides for the tension between the first 18 and second 20 members, created by the hinge 38 , to be released thereby allowing the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 to be opened along a horizontal plane to iron in a traditional manner.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes a top side 50 and a bottom side 52 . The bottom side 52 includes the first heat plate 28 positioned thereon. The second member 20 includes a top side 58 and a bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes a heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes a plurality of steam ports 32 to selectively release steam onto the fabric 48 . The top side 50 is made of a heat resistant material to prevent the user from being burned from the heat emitted by the first heat plate 28 . A handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . A knuckle pad 36 is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 . The knuckle pad 36 provides a cushion for the user's knuckles as this is where the knuckles rest when the user grips the handle 22 . A heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 .
When the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 of the housing 16 , the bottom 60 of the second member 20 is located between the bottom side 52 of the first member 18 and the top side 58 of the second member 20 . The bottom 60 of the second member 20 is a hard flat surface that acts as an ironing board. In an alternative embodiment, the bottom 60 of the second member 20 is covered with the second heat plate 30 . In this alternate embodiment, both sides of the fabric 48 are ironed simultaneously thereby decreasing the ironing time. Additionally, this embodiment requires the top 58 of the second member 20 to be formed from a heat resistant material to prevent burning the user.
The handle 22 includes a steam button 24 located thereon for steaming fabric 48 when depressed. When the steam button 24 is depressed, steam is released through the steam ports 32 on the first heat plate 28 . The underside of the handle 22 includes an open/close clamping trigger 34 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 therebetween to iron the fabirc. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
A water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through a water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve thereby preventing the water in the tank 40 from leaking. The water is heated by the power source 56 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device 10 of the present claimed invention. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to selectively release steam onto the fabric 48 . The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
When the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 of the housing 16 , the bottom 60 of the second member 20 is located between the bottom side 52 of the first member 18 and the top side 58 of the second member 20 . The bottom 60 of the second member 20 is a hard flat surface that acts as an ironing board. In an alternative embodiment, the bottom 60 of the second member 20 is covered with the second heat plate 30 . In this alternate embodiment, both sides of the fabric 48 are ironed simultaneously thereby decreasing the ironing time. The top 58 of the second member 20 is made of a heat resistant material to prevent burning the user.
The steam button 24 is located on the handle 22 and when depressed, is used to steam fabric 48 . The open/close clamping trigger 34 is located on the underside of the handle 22 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
Shown herein, the dual iron device 10 is being used to iron the pair of pants 12 . The pants 12 are being ironed while hanging, without the use of an ironing board. The pants 12 are placed between the first 18 and second 20 member of the housing 16 . The open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated to press the first 18 and second 20 members against the pants 12 . The dual iron device 10 is then moved along the length of the pants 12 in a downward direction as indicated by the downward directional arrows 44 while heat presses the pants. In the present embodiment, only the first member 18 has the first heat plate 28 to provide heat. The dual iron device 10 creates a crease in the pants 12 due to the way the pants 12 are folded when the dual iron device 10 is applied.
The dual iron device 10 of the present invention is advantageous in that it can be portable. Additionally, the dual iron device 10 can be battery operated so there is no need for an electrical outlet. The dual iron device 10 is also advantageous in that there is no need for the assistance of an ironing board as the second member 20 provides a hard flat surface.
FIG. 4 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery. Herein the heat is supplied by a battery, not shown.
The steam button 24 is located on the handle 22 and when depressed, is used to steam fabric 48 . The open/close clamping trigger 34 is located on the underside of the handle 22 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
Shown herein, the dual iron device 10 is being used to iron the pair of pants 12 . The pants 12 are being ironed while hanging, without the use of an ironing board as the bottom 60 of the second member 20 provides a flat and hard surface on which to iron. The pants 12 are placed between the first 18 and second 20 member of the housing 16 . The open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated to press the first 18 and second 20 members against the pants 12 . The battery is providing the heat to the dual iron device 10 . The dual iron device 10 is then moved along the length of the pants 12 in a downward direction as indicated by the downward directional arrows 44 while heat from the first heat plate 28 , shown in FIG. 2 , presses the pants. The dual iron device 10 creates a crease in the pants 12 due to the way the pants 12 are folded when the dual iron device 10 is applied.
FIG. 5 is an illustrative view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . The dual iron device 10 provides for the tension between the first 18 and second 20 members, created by the hinge 38 , to be released thereby allowing the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 to be pivoted about the hinge 38 so that they are in the same plane for steaming purposes. Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
The steam button 24 is located on the handle 22 and when depressed, is used to steam fabric 48 . The open/close clamping trigger 34 is located on the underside of the handle 22 , as shown in FIG. 2 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
The water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through the water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve. The water is heated by the heating mechanism 62 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
Shown herein, the dual iron device 10 is being used to steam the shirt 14 . The dual iron device 10 provides for the tension between the first 18 and second 20 members, created by the hinge 38 , to be released thereby allowing the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 to be pivoted about the hinge 38 so that they are in the same plane. The heating mechanism 62 shown herein as an electrical cord 42 heats the water in the water tank 40 . When the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is transformed into steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 located on the first heat plate 28 .
FIG. 6 is a side view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention in an unclamped or “open” position. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
The handle 22 includes the steam button 24 located thereon for steaming fabric 48 when depressed. The underside of the handle 22 includes the open/close clamping trigger 34 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
The water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through the water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve. The water is heated by the heating mechanism 62 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
Shown herein, the open/close clamping trigger 34 is not activated. Thus, the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 are in the “open” position. In the “open” position, it is easier to place fabric 48 between the first 18 and second members 20 . Additionally, when in the “open” position, the dual iron device 10 does not create a sharp crease when applied to the fabric 48 .
FIG. 7 is a side view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention in a clamped or “closed” position. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
The second member 20 of the housing 16 includes the top 58 and the bottom 60 . The bottom 60 of the second member 20 is a hard flat surface which acts as an ironing board. The top 58 of the second member 20 is made of a heat resistant material to prevent burning the user.
The handle 22 includes the steam button 24 located thereon for steaming fabric 48 when depressed. The underside of the handle 22 includes the open/close clamping trigger 34 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
The water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through the water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve. The water is heated by the heating mechanism 62 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
Shown herein, the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated. Thus, the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 are in the “closed” position. In the “closed” position, the fabric 48 is held firmly between the first 18 and second member 20 . However, the “closed” position still permits the dual iron device 10 is still able to move along the fabric 48 . Additionally, when in the “closed” position, the dual iron device 10 creates a sharp crease when applied to the fabric 48 if desired.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
When the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 of the housing 16 , the bottom 60 of the second member 20 is located between the bottom side 52 of the first member 18 and the top side 58 of the second member 20 . The bottom 60 of the second member 20 is a hard flat surface that acts as an ironing board. In an alternative embodiment, the bottom 60 of the second member 20 is covered with the second heat plate 30 . In this alternate embodiment, both sides of the fabric 48 are ironed simultaneously thereby decreasing the ironing time. The top 58 of the second member 20 is made of a heat resistant material to prevent burning the user.
The handle 22 includes the steam button 24 located thereon for steaming fabric 48 when depressed. The underside of the handle 22 includes the open/close clamping trigger 34 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
The water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through the water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve. The water is heated by the heating mechanism 62 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
FIG. 9 is a top view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
The handle 22 includes the steam button 24 located thereon for steaming fabric 48 when depressed. The underside of the handle 22 includes the open/close clamping trigger 34 , shown in FIG. 2 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention in the steaming position. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . The dual iron device 10 provides for the tension between the first 18 and second 20 members, created by the hinge 38 , to be released thereby allowing the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 to be pivoted about the hinge 38 so that they are in the same plane for steaming purposes. Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
The water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through the water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve. The water is heated by the heating mechanism 62 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
FIG. 11 is a side view of the dual iron device 10 of the present invention in the steaming position. The dual iron device 10 includes the housing 16 having the first member 18 and the second member 20 . The first member 18 is attached to the second member 20 via the hinge 38 at one end. The hinge 38 creates a tension such that the first member 18 is parallel to the second member 20 . The dual iron device 10 provides for the tension between the first 18 and second 20 members, created by the hinge 38 , to be released thereby allowing the first 18 and second 20 members of the housing 16 to be pivoted about the hinge 38 so that they are in the same plane for steaming purposes. Each member is rectangular in shape.
The first member 18 includes the top side 50 and the bottom side 52 . The bottom side includes the first heat plate 28 positioned along the bottom side 52 . The second member 20 includes the top side 58 and the bottom side 60 and the bottom side 60 faces the first heat plate 28 . The housing 16 includes the heating mechanism 62 for heating the first heat plate 28 . The first heat plate 28 includes the plurality of steam ports 32 to release steam onto the fabric 48 when the steam button 24 is depressed. The handle 22 is attached to the top side 50 . The length of the handle 22 is centered above the top side 50 in order to maximize the ease of using the device 10 . The knuckle pad 36 , providing a cushion for the user's knuckles, is located below the handle 22 on the top side 50 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The heat adjustment knob 26 is located on the top side 50 between the handle 22 and the edge opposing the hinged edge of the top side 50 . The heat adjustment knob 26 controls the heating mechanism 62 to determine an amount of heat to apply to the first heat plate 28 . The heat for the heat mechanism 62 is supplied by a plurality of means including but not limited to an electrical cord 42 and a battery.
The steam button 24 is located on the handle 22 and when depressed, is used to steam fabric 48 . The open/close clamping trigger 34 is located on the underside of the handle 22 . When the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated, both the first 18 and second 20 members clamp the fabric 48 between them to iron it. However, the clamping is not so tight as to prevent moving the dual iron device 10 along the fabric 48 while the open/close clamping trigger 34 is activated.
The water tank 40 is located within the first member 18 of the housing 16 . The water tank 40 is filled with water through the water tank aperture 54 positioned on the top side 50 of the first member 18 . A plurality of devices can be used to cover the water tank aperture 54 including but not limited to a cap and a one-way valve. The water is heated by the heating mechanism 62 and when the steam button 24 is depressed, the water is converted to steam and exits the dual iron device 10 through the steam ports 32 .
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of devices differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention. | An apparatus for changing a characteristic of fabric comprising a first member and a second member pivotally connected to said first member wherein at least one of the first and the second member are able to be heated and to provide heat to a plurality of types of fabrics. When a respective fabric is positioned between the first and second member and the heatable means contacts a surface of the fabric and changes a condition of the fabric. | 3 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/267,150, filed Jun. 27, 1994, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08/250,635 filed on May 27, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,658, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 07/940,590 filed on Sep. 4, 1992 abandoned.
In general, the present invention relates to graft co-polymer adducts which include a platinum (II) compound. The compositions provide for lower toxicity, sustained release and stabilization of platinum (II) compounds, as well as selective delivery to a tumor site.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION CONTRAST AGENTS FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Accurate detection of abnormalities in a patient's body is an essential prerequisite for diagnosing and adequately treating disease. Visualization methods, e.g., magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are becoming more important for such accurate detection. MRI is non-invasive and requires no exposure of humans to potentially harmful radiation. In MRI, tissues of different origin, such as normal and deviated, e.g., cancerous, tissues, may be differentiated on the basis of differences in relaxation times T1, the spin-lattice or longitudinal relaxation time, or T2, the spin-spin or transverse relaxation time. Because of these differences, differential signal intensity is produced which gives various degrees of contrast in MR images. The greater the difference in T1 or T2, the more pronounced the contrast. However, in many cases diseased or deviated tissue is isointensive, i.e., the diseased or deviated tissue has the same signal intensity as normal tissue, and is therefore not distinguishable from normal tissue without the use of special contrast agents.
Where MR imaging techniques employed to elucidate blood perfusion defects are based on the differentiation of flowing blood from stationary surrounding tissues, e.g., MR angiography (MRA). Three dimensional angiographic techniques, e.g., "Time of Flight" (TOF) and "Phase Contrast" (PC) techniques, provide detailed images of intracranial vessels. However, traditional MRA, i.e., Time of Flight MRA, is dependent on flow velocity and flow shape and thus high-quality angiography of peripheral vessels with high flow resistance is generally impossible due to an effect known as vessel saturation. To overcome this problem, contrast agents have been used to selectively lower the relaxation times of blood.
Gadolinium (III) diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) dimeglumine is a widely used contrast agent which is relatively small (MW 538) and extravasates on the first pass through the capillaries. However, the use of Gd-DTPA for MR angiography in all organs except the brain is limited, since the blood half-life of Gd-DTPA is less than 20 minutes, and the biological life in man of GD-DTPA is about 90 minutes. The extravasation results in a rapid decrease in vessel/muscle signal ratio, which makes the accurate detection of abnormalities and disease difficult. Moreover, Gd-DTPA dimeglumine, which is used in clinical practice, is immunogenic, which does not favor its repetitious administration to the same patient.
Similar problems occur with the use of ferrioxamine-B as a contrast agent. In addition, ferrioxamine-B causes a precipitous drop in blood pressure after its intravenous administration.
MRI contrast agents created using natural and synthetic macromolecules offer the advantage of high molecular relaxivity due to the multiple chelating groups coupled to a single polymer backbone. These groups can chelate paramagnetic cations, e.g., in Gd-DTPA-poly-l-lysine, or produce high relaxivity due to the presence of iron oxide, e.g., in iron-containing colloids. However, iron oxide-based colloids have their own ligand-independent specific site of accumulation in the body, e.g., the liver, spleen, and lymphoid tissues.
Chelating groups may be attached to a variety of natural polymers, e.g., proteins and polysaccharides, and synthetic polymers. Chemical attachment, e.g., by conjugation, of DTPA to bovine serum albumin will result in a macromolecular contrast agent, which is suitable for some applications, e.g., NMR-angiography, but because of the efficient recognition of modified albumin by macrophages, and albumin-receptors on endothelial cells this contrast agent has a short blood half-life. It is also immunogenic and toxic to reticuloendothelial system organs. Therefore, use for MR imaging is limited.
One way to diminish the antigenicity of albumin is to mask it with natural and synthetic polymers, e.g., spacer arms, by covalent attachment, but this leaves few reactive groups in the protein globule which are needed for binding the chelates and paramagnetic cations. Therefore, the use of such complexes in MR imaging is limited.
Synthetic polymers of 1-amino acids, such as poly-l-lysine (PL), are an alternative to modified natural proteins as backbones for contrast agents. PL modified with DTPA can be used as a radionuclide carrier for antibody-mediated targeting in nuclear medicine. Poly-l-lysine-DTPA, i.e., poly-l-lysine with DTPA groups bonded to epsilon-amino groups of lysine residues has been suggested as a Gd complexone, i.e., a compound which forms a complex with Gd, for use in MR angiography. It is also known that the toxicity of DTPA-poly-l-lysine is lower than that of DTPA-albumin. However, DTPA-moieties on DTPA-polylysine are recognized by liver Kupffer cells and some kidneys cells, presumably glomerulonephral phagocytes, which cause elevated and relatively rapid removal of the contrast agent from the blood. For example, 90% of the intravenously injected agent, e.g., poly-l-lysine-DTPA(Gd) (MW 48.7 kD), is removed from circulation in 1 hour (t 1/2 =0.134 h) and accumulated in the kidneys, liver, and bone. Moreover, synthesis of DTPA-poly-l -lysine can be carried out with a cross-linking reagent, e.g., cyclic anhydride of DTPA. As a result, it is difficult to avoid the formation of cross-linked products of relatively high molecular weight and the preparation obtained is heterogeneous.
Nitrogen-containing polymers, e.g., polethyleneimine, have been modified with monofunctional derivatives of acetic acid to form a molecule where the backbone nitrogens and acetic acid residues are involved in complex formation with trivalent cations. However, because of extensive undesirable accumulation in the liver, paramagnetic complexes of polyethyleneiminoacetic acid are not widely used in MRI.
Polymeric contrast agents, e.g., starburst dendrimers, constitute a separate family of macromolecules with limited potential value as contrast agents. This family of agents has not been shown to be biocompatible and thus its value for in vivo imaging is limited.
Various polysaccharide-based chelating agents have been previously described; however, their activation complement which has been shown to be a feature of polysaccharides, preclude their extensive use in MR imaging.
Agents with Extended Blood Half-Life
Blood half-life and immunogenicity are crucial characteristics of any contrast agent designed for therapy or medical diagnosis. In some cases, such as enzyme-replacement therapy, fast elimination of therapeutic agents from circulation and accumulation in antigen-presenting cells limit their potential use in the treatment of disease. To overcome this problem, it has been suggested to chemically modify the macromolecular agents, e.g., enzymes, with various natural and synthetic polymers. Dextrans, synthetic polyamino acids, and polyethylene glycols are used most frequently. However, only polyethylene glycol (PEG) and its monomethyl ester (MPEG) are suitable to prolong blood half-life and simultaneously decrease the immunogenicity of the therapeutic agent. The reason for modifying antigenic determinants by MPEG may be explained by the screening of electrostatic charge of the protected micromolecule, e.g., protein, and by the ability to form numerous bonds with water in solutions.
About three molecules of water are associated with each ethylene oxide unit and form the immediately adjacent water microenvironment for the polymer. This prevents, to a great extent, the adsorptive interactions of proteins and cells with PEG chains. The use of PEG in its activated forms, e.g., 4,6-dichloro-s-triazine-activated PEG or MPEG, is undesirable for protein modification, because the activated product is contaminated with by-products and is highly moisture-sensitive. Stable and virtually non-biodegradable bonds have been formed by the conjugation of MPEG, e.g., reacting 4,6-dichloro-s-triazine and 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole with aminogroups.
PEG and MPEG are used in contrast agents for medical imaging. Covalent modifications of desferrioxamine-B with MPEG improve the body's tolerance of such contrast agents in vivo, but does not result in any significant change in imaging efficacy. Contrast agents containing MPEG or PEG as a component of paramagnetic mixtures or in cross-linked paramagnetic polymers also have been used.
Targeted Contrast Agents
Contrast agents targeted to the sites of interest help to increase the effectiveness of MR imaging methods. Such diagnostic agents may include combinations of a ligand and a paramagnetic contrast agent coupled by strong interaction, e.g., a covalent chemical bond. After systemic application, such a contrast agent accumulates in the target site which is determined by ligand specificity. As a result, the site of accumulation is easily differentiated from surrounding tissue because it appears hyper- (or hypo-) intensive on MR images. The ligand which directs the contrast agent to the target site may be specific to receptors on either normal or transformed cells of a given organ or tissue. In the first case the contrast agent will be accumulated in normal tissue; in the second case, it will be accumulated in altered tissue.
Success in designing a targeted contrast agent is mainly determined by the following properties: 1. avidity to target site; 2. antigenicity, i.e., ability to pass through capillary endothelium; and 3. blood half-life of the ligand or targeting ("vector") molecule. Coupling a contrast agent to a targeting ligand molecule, e.g., an antibody or its fragments, which creates a targeted contrast agent, e.g., a chelated paramagnetic cation, paramagnetic colloid or combination of a chelate and a paramagnetic colloid conjugated to a targeting molecule, typically decreases its potential value for any of a number of reasons, e.g., decreased avidity to a target site, increased antigenicity, or decreased half-life. For example, coupling of a small antibody fragment, e.g., a Fab or Fv chimeric molecule, to a large paramagnetic molecule, e.g., DTPA-polymer, or a superparamagnetic colloid, e.g., iron oxide, to form a targeted contrast agent will increase the immune response of the recipient organism to the agent because of the adjuvant properties of the agent itself. The paramagnetic molecule or colloid itself may be recognized by the recipient organism's opsonizing proteins and the contrast agent may be trapped in reticuloendothelial system organs. As a result, the contrast agent is removed from the circulation by the liver and spleen before any substantial concentration is achieved in the target site. Moreover, such a contrast agent may be recognized as a foreign antigen which may give rise to undesirable host antibodies.
Platinum(II) Compounds
Cis-diaminedichlorplatinum(II) (i.e. cDDP) is a platinum (II) compound which is used to treat bladder, lung, head, neck cervical, testicular and ovarian cancers (Sherman and Lippard, Chem. Rev. 87, 1153 (1987). Other platinum (II) compounds of known or potential therapeutic value include cis-diamminediaquoplatinum (II) (i.e. cis-aq), carboplatin, iproplatin, DACCP, malonatoplatinum, trans (±)-1,2-cyclohexanediammineplatinum(II), cis-DEP, and ammine/amine platinum complexes of the general formula Pt(II) (NH 3 ) (RNH 2 )Cl 2 , where R is H, methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl (see Sherman and Lippard, supra; Schechter, et al. Cancer Immunol. Immunother 25, 225 (1987); Maeda, et al. Anti-Cancer Drugs 4, 167 (1993); Eastman Pharmac. Ther. 34, 155 (1987); Khokar et al. J. Inorganic Chem. 51, 677 (1993)). cDDP and carboplatin are also effective in combination with certain other chemotherapeutic drugs (e.g. doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide) in the treatment of cancer, for example, squamous cell carcinoma, metastatic melanoma, metastatic bladder carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and astrocytoma (Physician's Desk Reference pp. 754-757 (1993)). It is generally accepted that the biological target of cDDP is DNA, especially the DNA of rapidly dividing cells such as cancer cells.
The therapeutic value of platinum(II) compounds, particularly cDDP and carboplatin, is generally limited by cumulative nephrotoxicity and renal dysfunction. For example, cDDP toxicity causes nephrotoxicity in 30% of the patients that receive the drug and other adverse reactions have been documented (Physician's Desk Reference, supra). cDDP exhibits a complex pattern of inactivation and elimination from the body, for example, approximately 10% is rapidly removed from the systemic system. A large fraction of the remaining cDDP (>85%) is inactivated by binding with systemic proteins, for example, blood proteins. Therefore, a major clinical problem with the therapuetic administration of cDDP and other platinum (II) compounds is that a large fraction of the drug is rapidly inactivated and eliminated before contacting a tumor.
In addition to direct intravenous administration, other methods of providing cDDP have been proposed. These methods have included sustained release systems involving particulate microspheres and large implants (Verrijk, R. et al., Cancer Res. 52, 6653 (1992); Kyotaini, S. et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull (Tokyo) 40, 2814 (1992); Spenlehauer, G. et al., J. Pharm. Sci. 75, 750 (1986)). Because microspheres generally have a large size (e.g. 20-30 microcentimeters), circulation throughout the body is inhibited. Implants which include cDDP cause severe tissue necrosis (Yoshida, M. et al., Biomaterials 10, 16 (1989)).
Another cDDP delivery system involves administering a non-crosslinked (i.e. linear or branched) homopolymer or co-polymer, combined with cDDP (Maeda, M. et al., Anti-Cancer Drugs 167 (1993); Yoshida M. et al., supra; Schecter, B. et al., Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 24, 161 (1989); Schecter B. et al., Int. J. Cancer 39, 409 (1987); Schechter, B. et al., Cancer Biochem. Biophys. 8, 277 (1986); ibid, pg. 289). These systems result in a homopolymeric or co-polymeric adducts which are toxic and do not exhibit desirable solubility.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention features a biocompatible medical composition including a polymeric carrier, a protective chain linked to the polymeric carrier, and a reporter group linked to the carrier or to the carrier and the protective chain. The polymeric carrier may be chosen from the group of polyamino acids, polyethyleneimines, natural saccharides, aminated polysaccharides, aminated oligosaccharides, polyamidoamine, polyacrylic acids, or polyalcohols.
The invention also features a composition having the formula: ##STR1## wherein the ##STR2## groups can be linked in any order, e.g., the R 1 unit can be repeated several times in the chain before an R 2 unit occurs, and vice versa; wherein k is 100-560; R 1 is (CH 2 ) 4 NHCO(CH 2 ) n COOCH 2 CH 2 A-B-OR 3 , where n is 2-6; A is OCH 2 CH 2 ! x , where x is 15-220; B is OCH 2 CH 2 ! x or OCH(CH 3 )CH 2 ! y , where y+x is 17-220; R 2 is a chelating group; and R 3 is H, (CH 2 ) y CH 3 or (CH 2 ) y COOH, and p is 0-7.
In this composition, the chelating group may be, e.g., diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraaza- cyclododecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetra-azacyclododecane-N,N',N",-triacetic acid, ethylene-bis(oxy-ethylenenitrilo)tetraacetic acid, or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
The polyamino acid of the composition preferably has 20-560 amino acid units, a molecular weight of 1,000-100,000 daltons, and is preferably non-proteinaceous. The polyamino acid may be a polymer of a single species, or at least two different species of amino acid, or may be a block co-polymer.
The polyamino acid may include polyamino acid fragments linked by cleavable bonds, e.g., S--S bonds. In particular, the polyamino acid may be, e.g., poly-l-lysine, poly-d-lysine, poly-alpha,beta-(2-aminoethyl)-D,L aspartamide, or poly-l-aspartic acid.
The protective chain of the composition may be, e.g., polyethylene glycol, methoxypolyethylene glycol, methoxypolypropylene glycol, a co-polymer of polyethylene glycol, methoxypolyethylene glycol, or methoxypolypropylene glycol, or derivatives thereof. In addition, the protective chain may be a block co-polymer of polyethylene glycol and one of the group of polyamino acids, polysaccharides, polyamidoamines, polyethyleneamines, or polynucleotides. The protective chain may also be a co-polymer of polyethylene glycol including a monoester of a dicarboxylic acid. The protective chain preferably has a molecular weight of 500-10,000 daltons.
The reporter group may be a complexone, e.g., a chelating group. The chelating group may be, e.g., diethylenetriamine- pentaacetic acid, triethylenetetramine-hexaacetic acid, ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid, 1,2-diaminocyclo-hexane-N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetic acid, N,N'-Di(2-hydroxybenzyl) ethylenediamine, N-(2-hydroxy-ethyl) ethylenediaminetriacetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, ethylene-bis(oxyethylene-nitrilo) tetraacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraazacyclodo-decane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraaza-cyclododecane-N,N',N",-triacetic acid, 1,4,7-tris(carboxymethyl)-10- (2'-hydroxy)propyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazocyclodecane, 1,4,7-triazacyclonane-N,N',N"-triacetic acid, or 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetra-decane-N,N',N",N'"-tetra-acetic acid.
The composition may further include an alfa-, beta-, or gamma-emitting radionuclide linked to the complexone. The radionuclide may be gallium 67, indium 111, technetium 99m, chromium 51, cobalt 57, molibdenium 99, or a molecule linked to an iodine isotope.
The reporter group may also include a diagnostic agent, e.g., a contrast agent, which may include a paramagnetic or superparamagnetic element, or a combination of a paramagnetic element and a radionuclide. The paramagnetic element may be chosen from the group of transitional metals or lanthanides having atomic numbers 21-29, 42, 44, or 57-71. The paramagnetic element may be, e.g., gadolinium (III), dysprosium (III), holmium (III), europium (III), iron (III), or manganese (II).
The invention also features a composition in which the reporter group includes a therapeutic agent such as a cytostatic, antibiotic, hormonal, analgesic, psychotropic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, or antifungal drug, or a lymphokine.
The composition may further include a targeting group linked to the polymeric carrier or the protective chain or both. The targeting group may be an antibody, fragment of an antibody, chimeric antibody, enzyme, lectin, or saccharide ligand.
The composition may also include a reporter group which is a particle, colloidal particle, or a colloidal precipitate. The colloidal precipitate may include an oxide, sulfide, or hydroxide of a transitional element, or lanthanide having atomic numbers 21-29, 42, 44, or 57-71. The reporter group may also be a silicon oxide colloid or polymer containing silicon, sulfur, or carbon, or a fluorine-containing molecule, e.g., a fluorocarbon.
The reporter group may also be a pyridiyldithioacyl group, e.g., a N-(2-pyridyldithio)propionyl group, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl, N-hydroxysulfosuccinimidyl, imidazolyl, benzotriazolyl, aminoalkyl, aldehyde, thioalkyls, thiolane, haloid acyl, haloid alkyl, or haloid phenyl, or a diazo- or hydrazo-group, e.g., a 4-hydrazionoxyethyl, 4-hydrazino-benzyl, diasirinyl, azidophenyl, or azidoalkyl group.
In addition, the invention features a method of preparing the composition by linking the polymeric carrier with the protective chain to produce a protected carrier, and then linking the protected carrier with the reporter group. If the protective chain includes a methoxypolyethylene glycol analog, linking the polymeric carrier with the analog produces a semi-stable gel. The method may further include linking a targeting group to the carrier, protective group, or both.
The invention also features a method of treating a disease in a patient by administering to the patient a therapeutically or diagnostically effective amount of the composition of the invention. The method may further include scanning the patient using an imaging technique which can detect the reporter group to obtain a visible image of the distribution of the composition. The administration may be by intravascular or intraperitoneal injection, and the imaging technique may be, e.g., magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine imaging, position emission tomography, or single-photon-emission computed tomography.
In particular applicants' composition allows very small dosages of a paramagnetic element, e.g., gadolinium, to be administered to a patient and still obtain excellent images, e.g., MR images. For example, the reporter group may include gadolinium supplied at a dosage of less than 0.05 mmol Gd/kg of body weight of the patient. Preferably, the dosage is about 0.02 to 0.04 mmol Gd/kg of body weight.
The invention also features a method of treating a patient by scanning a submillimeter vessel of the patent to obtain a visible image of the submillimeter vessel. A submillimeter vessel is one that has an inner diameter of less than one millimeter.
The invention also features a biocompatible graft-co-polymer adduct which includes a polymeric carrier, a protective chain linked to the polymeric carrier, and a platinum(II) compound which is reversibly linked to the polymeric carrier or the protective chain or both the polymeric carrier and the protective chain. In an embodiment of the invention, the graft-co-polymer adduct includes a polymeric carrier, a protective chain linked to the polymeric carrier, a reporter group linked to the polymeric carrier or to the carrier and the protective chain and a platinum(II) compound which is reversibly linked to the polymeric carrier or the protective chain or both the polymeric carrier and the protective chain.
Graft-co-polymer adducts of the invention are therapeutic agents which provide dual pharmaceutical action: 1) systemic release of a platinum(II) compound from a graft co-polymer while the adduct circulates in the bloodstream and 2) targeted delivery of a bioactive platinum (II) compound to a tumor. In general, the graft-co-polymer adduct is capable of forming a circulating systemic depot for the sustained release of platinum(II) compounds; the adduct can also be targeted to a tumor. In addition, the graft co-polymer adduct lowers the toxicity of platinum(II) compounds (i.e. as opposed to free drug), by prolonging the biological half-life of the platinum(II) compound as well as protecting the compound from systemic removal and/or inactivation.
The co-polymer of a graft co-polymer is a negatively charged macromolecule which includes a backbone polymer covalently grafted with protective chains;
The backbone polymer of a graft co-polymer is preferably a polyacid, e.g. polyaspartic or polyglutamic acid, polylysine or carboxylated polylysine. A negatively charged polymer is useful since it is capable of forming ionic bonds with aquated platinum (II) compounds. In addition, the protective chain of a graft co-polymer is preferably a polymer of ethylene oxide (poly(ethylene glycol), i.e. PEG or a mono-methoxy ether of poly(ethylene glycol) i.e. MPEG. A protective chain is useful because: 1) it ensures the adduct solubility while maintaining a high drug payload. For example, with cDDP, approximately 30% by weight, or >1 mol cisplatin/per mole carrier of carboxyl groups can be formed; 2) a protective chain assists in the formation of a steric barrier which prevents a platinum(II) compound from binding to molecules in the body, for example, plasma albumin; and 3) a protective chain provides a platinum(II) compound in a form which permits long circulation times (i.e creates a circulating depot). The accumulation of a graft co-polymer platinum(II) compound adduct in a tumor is assisted by the abnormal permeability of tumor vessels.
In a related aspect, the invention features an adduct which includes a polymeric carrier chosen from the group consisting of polyamino acids, preferably non-proteinaceous polyamino acids, polyethyleneimines, natural saccharides, aminated polysaccharides, aminated oligosaccharides, polyamidoamine, polyacrylic acids, polyalcohols, sulfonated polysaccharides, sulfonated oligosaccharides, carboxylated polysaccharides, carboxylated oligosaccharides, aminocarboxylated polysaccharides, aminocarboxylated oligosaccharides, carboxymethylated polysaccharides, and carboxymethylated oligosaccharides; where the polyamino acid has 20-560 amino acid residues; the polyamino acid has a molecular weight of 1,000-100,000 daltons; the polyamino acid is a polymer of a single species of amino acid; the polyamino acid is a polymer of at least two different species of amino acids; the polyamino acid is a block co-polymer; the polyamino acid comprises polyamino acid fragments linked by cleavable bonds, preferably S--S bonds; or the polyamino acid is poly-l-lysine, poly-d-lysine, poly-alpha,beta-(2-aminoethyl)-D,L aspartamide, poly-l-aspartic acid or poly-glutamic acid.
In another related aspect, the adduct includes a protective chain which is polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, a co-polymer of polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol; or a monoesterified derivative thereof, preferrably methoxypolyethylene glycol, methoxypolypropylene glycol, or a co-polymer of methoxypolyethylene glycol and methoxypolypropyleneglycol; the protective chain is polyethylene glycol monoamine, methoxypolyethylene glycol monoamine, methoxy polyethylene glycol hydrazine, methoxy polyethylene glycol imidazolide or a polyethylene glycol diacid; the protective chain is a block co-polymer of polyethylene glycol and one of the group of polyamino acids, polysaccharides, polyamidoamines, polyethyleneamines, or polynucleotides; the protective chain is a co-polymer of polyethylene glycol comprising a monoester of a dicarboxylic acid; and the protective chain has a molecular weight of 500-10,000 daltons.
In another related aspect, the adduct includes a reporter group. The reporter group is a complexone, such as a chelating group, preferrably the chelating group is diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid, triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid, ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid, 1,2-diaminocyclo-hexane-N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetic acid, N,N'-Di(2-hydroxybenzyl)ethylenediamine, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetriacetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, ethylene-bis(oxyethylene-nitrilo)tetraacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraazacyclodo-decane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraaza-cyclododecane-N,N',N",-triacetic acid, 1,4,7-tris(carboxymethyl)-10-(2'-hydroxy)propyl)-1,4,7,10-te traazocyclodecane, 1,4,7-triazacyclonane-N,N',N"-triacetic acid, or 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-N,N',N", N'"-tetra-acetic acid; the reporter group includes a diagnostic agent, such as a contrast agent, preferably the contrast agent is a paramagnetic element, preferably the paramagnetic element is chosen from the group of transitional metals or lanthanides having atomic numbers 21-29, 42, 44, or 57-71, preferably gadolinium (III), dysprosium (III), holmium (III), europium (III), iron (III), or manganese (II). The contrast agent can also include a superparamagnetic element.
In another related aspect, the reporter group includes a complexone which includes an alpha-, beta-, or gamma-emitting radionuclide linked to the complexone, preferably the radionuclide is gallium 67, indium 111, technetium 99m, chromium 51, cobalt 57, molibdenum 99, or a molecule linked to an iodine isotope.
In another related aspect, the reporter group includes a therapeutic agent, preferably a cytostatic, antibiotic, hormonal, analgesic, psychotropic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, or antifungal drug, or a lymphokine; the reporter group is a particle, colloidal particle, or a colloidal precipitate, preferably the colloidal precipitate includes includes an oxide, sulfide, or hydroxide of a transitional element or lanthanide having atomic numbers 21-29, 42, 44, or 57-71; the reporter group is a silicon oxide colloid or polymer containing silicon, sulfur, or carbon; the reporter group has the general formula --COOH or --(CH 2 ) p COOH, where p is between 1 and 7, inclusive; preferably the reporter group is --CH 2 CH 2 COOH.
In a related aspect, the adduct includes a reversibly linked Pt(II) compound of the general formula: ##STR3## where: a) each R a , R b , R c , R d independently is --OH 2 , Cl, Br, I, --NH 2 , or --N(R e ) 2 , where each R e independently is H, lower alkyl, or lower cycloalkyl, with the proviso that both of R e are not H; and each R a , R b , R c , and R d is the same or different;
or
b) R a and R d are combined to form a linking group of the formula: --NH(CH 2 ) p2 NH--, where p2 is 1 or 2; --O--CO--C(CH 2 ) p3 --CO--O--, where p3 is between 4 and 6, inclusive; ##STR4## --NH--(C 6 H 10 )--NH--; or --O--CO--(CH 2 ) p4 --CO--O--, where p4 is between 1 and 6, inclusive; and R b , and R c are as defined in a);
or
c) R a and R d , R b and R c , are each independently combined to form a linking group of the formula: --NH(CH 2 ) p2 NH--, where p2 is 1 or 2; --O--CO--C(CH 2 ) p3 --CO--O--, where p3 is between 4 and 6, inclusive; ##STR5## --NH--(C 6 H 10 )--NH--; or --O--CO--(CH 2 ) p4 --CO--O--, where p4 is between 1 and 6, inclusive; and each R a and R d , R b and R c , is the same or different.
In a related aspect, the Pt(II) compound is any one of cDDP, cis-aq, carboplatin, iproplatin, DACCP, malonatoplatinum, trans (±)-1,2-cylcohexanediammineplatinum (II), cis-DEP, or Pt(II) (NH 3 ) (RNH 2 )Cl 2 , where R is H, methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, or cylcohexyl.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of preparing an adduct of the invention, the method including:
a) linking a polymeric carrier with a protective chain to produce a protected carrier; and
b) combining a Pt(II) compound with the graft co-polymer in order to form a graft co-polymer adduct, where the adduct includes a reversibly linked Pt(II) compound.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of preparing an adduct of the invention, the method including:
a) linking a polymeric carrier with a protective chain to produce a protected carrier;
b) linking the protected carrier with a reporter group sufficient to form a graft co-polymer; and
c) combining a Pt(II) compound with the graft co-polymer in order to form a graft co-polymer adduct, where the adduct includes a reversibly linked Pt(II) compound.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of treating a disease, preferably cancer, in a patient including administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of an adduct of the invention.
In preferred embodiments, the method further includes scanning the patient using an imaging technique which can detect a reporter group to obtain a visible image of the distribution of an adduct of the invention; the administration is by intravascular or intraperitoneal injection; the imaging technique is magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine imaging, position emission tomography, or single-photon-emission computed tomography; the cancer is bladder, lung, head, neck, cervical, testicular or ovarian cancer in a human; and the method further includes administering a chemotherapeutic drug, preferably cDDP, carboplatin, doxorubicin or cyclophosphamide.
In related aspect, the invention features an adduct with a reporter group which includes gadolinium supplied at a dosage of less than 0.05 mmol Gd/kg of body weight of the patient.
In another related aspect, the method further includes scanning a submillimeter vessel of the patient to obtain a visible image of the submillimeter vessel.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of selectively accumulating a Pt(II) compound, preferably cDDP or carboplatin in a mammalian tumor, preferably a human tumor, the method including administering an adduct of the invention to the mammal under conditions which allow the adduct to selectively accumulate in the tumor. By "selective accumulation" is meant that the adduct is preferentially concentrated in a tumor rather than surrounding tissues.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of providing a circulating depot of a bioactive Pt(II) compound in a mammal, preferably cDDP or carboplatin provided to a human, the method including administering an adduct of the invention to the mammal in an amount sufficient to provide a circulating depot of the bioactive Pt(II) compound.
In a related aspect, the invention features an adduct which includes between 0.1% and 30% (w\w), inclusive, of platinum, and exhibits a molecular weight of between 50 and 1500 kDa, inclusive.
In a related aspect, the invention features an adduct which includes the graft co-polymer poly ( N-(methoxy of platinum, and exhibits a molecular weight of between 50 and 1500 kDa, inclusive.
In a related aspect, the invention features an adduct which includes the graft co-polymer poly ( N-(methoxy poly(ethylene)glycol)-o-succinyl!-l-lysyl)n-(N-succinyl-l-lysyl)m!lysine and exhibits a molecular weight of between 1500 and 150,000 daltons, inclusive; where the succinate and the Pt(II) compound, preferably cDDP, are present in a molar ratio of between 1:1 and 1:20 (inclusive), respectively.
In another aspect, the invention features an adduct where the linked polymeric carrier, protective chain and reporter group has the general formula: ##STR6## where the ##STR7## groups can be linked in any order and k is 100-560; and a) R 1 is (CH 2 ) 4 NHCO(CH 2 ) n COOCH 2 CH 2 A-B-OR 3 , where n is 2-6; A is OCH 2 CH 2 ! x , where x is 15-220; B is OCH 2 CH 2 ! x or OCH(CH 3 )CH 2 ! y , where y+x is 17-220; R 2 is a chelating group; and R 3 is H, (CH 2 ) y CH 3 or (CH 2 ) y COOH, where y is 0-7;
or
b) R 1 is --CH 2 (R g )NHCO(CH 2 ) n1 COO((CH 2 ) n2 O) n3 CH 3 , where R g is --CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 --, --CO-- or --CH 2 CO--, n1 is 2 to 6, inclusive, n2 is 2 or 3, n3 is 10-200, inclusive; and R 2 is --CH 2 (R g )NHCOR h , where R h is --COOH or --(CH 2 ) y2 COOH, where y2 is 1 to 7, inclusive.
In a preferred embodiment, the chelating group is diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid, 1,4,7,10,-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",-triacetic acid, ethylene-bis(oxyethylenenitrilo)tetraacetic acid, or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
In a related aspect, the invention features an adduct where the reporter group is a pyridiyldithioacyl group, or a diazo- or hydrazo-group, preferably the pyridyldithioacyl group is a N-(2-pyridyldithio)propionyl group, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl, N-hydroxysulfosuccinimidyl, imidazolyl, benzotriazolyl, aminoalkyl, aldehyde, thioalkyls, thiolane, haloid acyl, haloid alkyl, or haloid phenyl; the diazo- or hydrazo-group is 4-hydrazionoxyethyl, 4-hydrazinobenzyl, diasirinyl, azidophenyl, or azidoalkyl groups.
In a final aspect, the invention features an adduct which includes a reporter group which is a fluorine-containing molecule.
As used herein, the term "linked" means covalently or non-covalently bonded, e.g., by hydrogen, ionic, or Van-der-Waals interactions. Such bonds may be formed between at least two of the same or different atoms or ions as a result of a redistribution of electron densities of those atoms or ions.
As used herein, the term "reversibly linked" means a non-covalent bond, e.g., hydrogen, ionic, or Van-der-Waals interactions which stabilizes a Pt(II) compound with a graft co-polymer and which is reversed or dissociated under human physiological conditions in vivo.
A "polymeric carrier" is a molecule comprised of several linked chemical moieties which may be the same or different, and serves as a site where a reporter group is linked and is shielded by protective chains.
A "protective chain" is a molecule(s) which protects a carrier molecule and a reporter group from contact with other macromolecules due to extensive linking of water to the chains.
A "complexone" is a molecule or several molecules or chemical radicals or moieties which constitute a favorable environment for linking an ion (a cation or an anion). Dissociation of the ion from the environment is hindered due to kinetic or/and thermodynamic stability of linking.
A "chelating molecule" or "chelate" is a complexone which links cations.
A "reporter group" as used herein is a non-traditional definition which includes an atom, ion, molecule, or complexone that may be linked to a polymeric carrier or protective chain and which can be detected by any methods disclosed herein. A reporter group may be a therapeutic or diagnostic agent.
The terms "derivative" or "analog" as used herein mean a compound whose core structure is the same as, or closely resembes that of, a parent compound, but which has a chemical or physical modifaction, such as a different or additional side groups; the term inclues co-polymers of parent compounds that can be linked to other atoms or molecules.
The terms "ligand", "targeting group", or "vector molecule" mean any atom, ion, or molecule linked to a carrier and/or to a protective chain and/or to a reporter group to increase the accumulation of the composition in a target site of an organism to a greater degree through the targeting group were absent.
The term "polyamino acid fragment" means individual amino acid radicals or several linked amino acids which may be linked to form a polyamino acid.
A "semi-stable gel" is a gel which forms a liquid phase by standing, or when temperature, pH or other conditions are varied.
The term "vessel mapping" refers to obtaining an image of a vessel or vessels where spatial orientation and delineation of vessels may be elucidated.
The term "aminated" describes molecules including linked amino groups.
A "diagnostically effective amount" of the composition is an amount that will provide an image of the composition in the patient.
A "therapeutically effective amount" of the composition is an amount that will provide a therapeutic benefit to the patient.
A "lower alkyl", as used herein, is a branched or straight chain hydrocarbon of between 1 and 6 carbon atoms, inclusive.
A "lower cycloalkyl", as used herein, is a cyclic hydrocarbon of between 4 and 6 carbon atoms, inclusive.
A bioactive Pt(II) compound, as used herein, is a Pt(II) compound, either free or reversibly linked with an adduct of the invention, which is capable of forming one or more covalent linkages with DNA under human physiological conditions in vivo.
Some important features of the compositions of this invention which make them surprisingly suitable for MR imaging include: 1) the ability to chelate paramagnetic cations to achieve a high molecular relaxivity, which is essential for its use as an NMR contrast agent 2) an extended blood half-life 3) low toxicity and 4) non-immunogenicity.
This invention also provides the advantages of only having to administer one dose of the contrast agent, along with enhanced signal/noise ratios in the diagnostic images obtained.
The following properties are common for the compositions of the invention: 1) increased relaxivity of each paramagnetic cation compared to Gd-DTPA, 2) large numbers of chelating groups on each molecule, 3) enhanced blood pool concentration after intravenous injection, 4) enhanced sites of abnormal endothelial permeability, and 5) prolonged circulation time compared to Gd-DTPA.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments and from the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The drawings are first briefly described. Drawings
FIG. 1 is a diagram of three schemes for synthesizing the compositions of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a graph of the blood clearance of 111 In!-labeled and Gd-saturated MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 53.5 kD)-DTPA (squares) and MPEG(MW 2 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 41 kD)-DTPA (diamonds).
FIG. 3 is a graph of the biodistribution of 111 In!-labelled and Gd-saturated MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 53.5 kD)-DTPA 90 hours after intravenous injection.
FIG. 4 is a graph of the response to Gd-DTPA of mice injected with Gd-DTPA-BSA (squares) and MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine (MW 53.5 kD)-DTPA(Gd) (diamonds).
FIG. 5 is a graph of the effect of Gd-labelled MPEG(MW 2 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 41 kD)-DTPA (squares) or Gd-labelled MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA (diamonds) on T1 values of blood at various concentrations.
FIG. 6 is a graph of the dose-dependent enhancement of vessels, with the vessel/muscle ratio determined by digitization of signal intensities of several large arteries, e.g., aorta, iliac, and femoral, and nearby muscle tissue.
FIG. 7 is a graph of the time-course of a contrast agent in large vessels in a comparative study.
FIGS. 8a and 8b are MR images of the head of a rat in 3-D bright-pixel reconstruction showing the image before (FIG. 8a) and after (FIG. 8b) an intravenous injection of MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd).
FIG. 9 is an MR image of two rats in 3-D bright-pixel reconstruction after an intravenous injection of MPEG(MW 5kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) (left image) and gadopentate dimeglumine (right image).
FIGS. 10a and 10b are of MR images of a rabbit in 3-D bright-pixel reconstruction of the lateral (FIG. 10a) and cranio caudal projection (See FIG. 10b) after an intravenous injection of MPEG (MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd).
FIGS. 11a and 11b are MR images of the left flank and thigh of a rat in 3-D bright-pixel reconstruction before (FIG. 11a) and after (FIG. 11b) an intravenous injection of MPEG (MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd). Images were taken two weeks after injection of R3230 mammary adenocarcinoma cells into the left flank of the rat.
FIG. 12 is a drawing outlining the chemical synthesis of the graft-co-polymer, poly ( N-(methoxy poly(ethylene)glycol)-o-succinyl!-l-lysyl)n-(N-succinyl-l-lysyl)m!lysine (i.e., MPEG-Poly(L-lysine)succinate or MPEG-PL-succinate).
FIGS. 13A and 13B are a drawing showing a reversible linkage between a cis-aq molecule and a portion of the graft-co-polymer. The reversible linkage is an ionic (i.e., electrostatic) interaction between the cis-aq molecule and the graft co-polymer. Part I outlines the hydration of cDDP resulting in the formation of cis-aq. Part 2 shows the electrostatic interaction between cis-aq and the graft co-polymer.
FIG. 14 is a graph showing the binding of cDDP to MPEG-PL-succinate as determined by HPLC quantitative analysis. The graph is presented in Scatchard coordinates.
FIG. 15 is a graph showing the time dependent release of cDDP from the adduct MPEG-Poly(L-Lys)succinate/cDDP in the presence of saline (triangles) or bovine serum albumin (i.e. BSA) (circles).
FIG. 16 is a graph showing the inhibition of DNA synthesis in BT-20 cells after the administration of the graft co-polymer adduct MPEG-Poly(L-Lysine)-succinate/cDDP (closed circles), or Poly(L-Lys)-succinate/cDDP (open circles) or free cDDP (triangles). Results presented are presented as the mean±SD (n=3).
FIG. 17 is a pictorial (Panels A and C) and graphical (Panels B and D) representation of the biodistribution of the graft co-polymer adduct MPEG-Poly(L-lysine) succinate/cDDP in NF13762-adenocarcinoma-bearing Fisher rats. The distribution of MPEG-Poly(L-Lys)-succinate/cDDP (Panels A and B) and Poly(L-Lys)-succinate (Panels C and D) in NF13762-adenocarcinoma-bearing Fisher rats is shown after 24 hr (solid bars, Panel B), 48 hr (hatched bars, Panel B) and 48 hr (Panel D). Panel A and C show gamma camera images. Panels B and D show the biodistribution data which is presented as mean±SD (n=3 animals). Images were obtained with 111 In!-DTPA labeled polymers. Arrows indicate the selective accumulation of the MPEG-Poly(L-lysine)succinate/cDDP adduct in the tumor site.
The compositions of this invention include a polymeric carrier, a protective chain linked to polymeric carrier, and, optionally, a reporter group. For example, the graft co-polymer may have the following formula: ##STR8## where the ##STR9## groups can be linked in any order and k is 100-560; and a) R 1 is (CH 2 ) 4 NHCO(CH 2 ) n COOCH 2 CH 2 A-B-OR 3 , where n is 2-6; A is OCH 2 CH 2 ! x , where x is 15-220; B is
OCH 2 CH 2 ! x , or OCH(CH 3 )CH 2 ! y , where y+x is 17-220; R 2 is a chelating group; and R 3 is H, (CH 2 ) y CH 3 or (CH 2 ) y COOH, where y is 0-7;
or
b) R 1 is --CH 2 (R g )NHCO(CH 2 ) n1 COO((CH 2 ) n2 O) n3 CH 3 , where R g is --CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 --, --CO-- or --CH 2 CO--; n1 is 2 to 6, inclusive; n2 is 2 or 3; n3 is 10-200, inclusive; and R 2 is --CH 2 (R g )NHCOR h , where R h is --COOH or --(CH 2 ) y2 COOH, where y2 is 1 to 7, inclusive.
Polymeric carriers
The polymeric carrier may be chosen from synthetic, non-proteinaceious polyamino acids, e.g., a linear, linked or branched polymer of a single amino acid species or of different amino acid species, e.g., regular or statistic block-co-polymers of polyamino acids, e.g, preferably linear poly-l- or poly-d-lysine, carboxylated or carboxymethylated poly-alpha, beta-(2-aminoethyl)-d,l-aspartamide, poly-l-aspartic acid, or poly-glutamic acid. The molecular weight of the polyamino acid carrier is preferably between 1,000 and 100,000 Daltons. Polyamino acids with narrow molecular weight (MW) distributions are preferred to those with broad MW distributions. The polyamino acids are linked with peptide bonds or, when obtained by condensation of two or more polyamino acid fragments or individual amino acids with cleaveable bonds, e.g., S--S bonds, which may be cleaved in vivo. Polyamino acids may be prepared by chemical synthesis or by recombinant techniques, such as genetic engineering.
The polymeric carrier also may include polyethyleneimines, e.g., branched amino-containing polymers or carboxylated polyethyleneimines, i.e., reacted with derivatives of carbonic acids; natural saccharides containing amino acids or carboxylic acids, e.g., galacturonic acid, glucuronic acid, mannuronic acid, hyaluronic acid, pectic acid, neuraminic acid, alginic acid, carrageenan; aminated, e.g. including linked amino groups, polysaccharides or oligosaccharides (linear or branched); or carboxylated, carboxymethylated, sulfated or phosphorylated polysaccharides or oligosaccharides, e.g., reacted with derivatives of carbonic, dicarbonic, sulfuric, aminosulfuric, or phosphoric acids with resultant linking of carboxylic, aminocarboxylic, carboxymethyl, sulfuric, amino or phosphate groups. Such oligosaccharides may be obtained by chemical alteration of, e.g., dextran, mannan, xylan, pullulan, cellulose, chytosan, agarose, fucoidan, galactan, arabinan, fructan, fucan, chitin, pustulan, levan or pectin. In addition these polysaccharides or oligosaccharides may be heteropolymers or homopolymers of monosaccharides, e.g., glucose, galactose, mannose, galactose, deoxyglucose, ribose, deoxyribose, arabinose, fucose, xylose, xylulose, or ribulose.
The polymeric carrier may be a linear, branched or dendrimeric polyamidoamine; polyacrylic acid; polyalcohols, e.g., polyvinylalcohol and polyxylitol to which carboxylic or amino groups are chemically linked; or oligonucleotides.
Protective Chains
The protective chain may be poly(ethylene glycol) (i.e. PEG), preferably the PEG is esterified by dicarboxylic acid to form a polyethylene glycol monoester; for example, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (i.e. MPEG) or a copyolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(propylene glycol), preferably in a form of an ester with a dicarboxylic acid; methoxypolypropylene glycol; polyethylene glycol-diacid; polyethylene glycol monoamine; MPEG monoamine; MPEG hydrazide; or MPEG imidazolide, and derivatives of all of the above.
In addition, the protective chain may be a block-co-polymer of PEG and another polymer, e.g., a polyamino acid, polysaccharide, polyamidoamine, polyethyleneamine or a polynucleotide (as described above under polymeric carriers). The blocks are preferably alternated to give a linear block-co-polymer. The overall molecular weight of the protective chain is 500 to 10,000 daltons, inclusive. The protective chain is preferably linked to the polymeric carrier by a single bond.
Reporter groups
The reporter groups of the invention are preferably linked to a polymeric carrier but also may be linked to a protective chain. The reporter groups include complexones, e.g., chelating molecules such as
diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA),
triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA),
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA),
1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid,
N,N'-Di(2-hydroxybenzyl)ethylenediamine (HBED),
N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetriacetic acid,
nitrilotriacetic acid,
ethylene-bis(oxyethylenenitrilo)tetraacetic acid (EGTA),
1,4,7,10,-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid (DOTA),
1,4,7,10,-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",-triacetic acid (DO3A),
1,4,7-tris(carboxymethyl)-10-(2'-hydroxy)propyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazocyclodecane (HP-DO3A),
1,4,7-triazacyclonane-N,N',N"-triacetic acid (NOTA),
1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid (TETA), preferably DOTA and DTPA, where these chelating molecules preferably include a contrast agent, e.g., a paramagnetic cation and/or radionuclide.
The paramagnetic elements, e.g., cations, include transitional metals or lanthanides, e.g. elements with atomic numbers 21-29, 42, 44, 57-71, preferably gadolinium (III), dysprosium (III), holmium (III), europium (III), iron (III), or manganese (II).
The radionuclides include alfa-,beta- and gamma-emitters, preferably gallium 67, indium 111, technetium 99m, chromium 51, cobalt 57, molibdenium 99, molecules, e.g., tyrosine and p-oxybenzoic acid, linked to isotopes of iodine, e.g., iodine 131.
The reporter group may also include fluorine-containing molecules, e.g., fluorocarbons.
The reporter group may also include therapeutic agents, e.g., cytostatics, antibiotics, hormones, e.g., growth factor, analgesics, psychotropic, antiinflammatory, antiviral, antifungal drugs or lymphokines, e.g., interleukin 2. The therapeutic agents are preferably linked to a carrier with detachable or semistable bonds.
The reporter group may also include a particle, or colloidal particle, or colloidal precipitate of oxides, sulfides and/or hydroxides of transitional elements and lanthanides with atomic numbers 21-29, 42, 44, 57-71, or silicon oxide colloids or polymers containing silicon or polymers of atoms of sulfur, carbon, or silicon. The particle or particles may be contained as an integral part of, or may be surrounded by, a semi-permeable membrane.
The compositions may also include additional reporter groups which may be chosen from (CH2) p COOH, where p is between 0 and 7, inclusive; pyridyldithioacyl groups, e.g., N-(2-pyridyldithio)propionyl groups; N-hydroxysuccinimidyl, N-hydroxysulfosuccinimidyl, imidazolyl, benzotriazolyl, aminoalkyl, aminoacyl, aldehyde, thioalkyls, thiolanes, haloid acyl, haloid alkyl, or haloid phenyl; diazo- and hydrazo-, e.g. 4-hydrazinoxyethyl, 4-hydrazinobenzyl, diazirinyl, azidophenyl, or azidoalkyl groups.
The above groups are linked to the polymeric carrier and/or to the protective chains, and are needed for conjugating or linking other ligands, e.g., a targeting group, capable of interacting with cell surface receptors, proteoglycans, adhesion molecules, ion channels or enzymes, to the compositions of this invention.
Targeting Group
The targeting group may include antibodies; fragments of antibodies; chimeric antibodies, where said antibodies are polyclonal or monoclonal; enzymes; quasi substrates of enzymes; lectins; or saccharide ligands of lectins detachably or nondetachably linked to the composition.
Synthesis of the composition
The compositions of this invention may be synthesized using any one of the following methods (See FIG. 1). An example of synthesis using poly-l-lysine as a polymeric carrier, MPEG as a protective chain, and a complexone as a reporter group is provided. This synthetic composition is especially suitable as a macromolecular contrast agent.
Scheme 1
The compositions may be prepared in two stages by first reacting polyamino acid with activated MPEG analogs, and then reacting this reaction mixture with an activated chelating compound. This procedure is preferred when poly-l-lysine is used as the polymeric carrier (See FIG. 1).
ε-amino groups of poly-l-lysine were reacted with activated derivatives of carboxylated MPEG, e.g., acid chlorides, anhydrides, mixed anhydrides, nitrenes, isothiocyanates and imidazolides, and activated esters, e.g hydroxysuccinimide, hydroxysulfosuccinimide, p-nitrophenyl, benzotriazolide.
The chelating molecule is brought into reaction with the remaining amino groups, either in activated form, e.g., anhydride, mixed anhydride, or isothiocyanate, or in a non-activated form. If the chelating molecule is in the non-activated form, it is activated to obtain an activated ester in the presence of succinimide or sulfosuccinimide and carbodiimide and is then brought into reaction with the remaining amino groups. The reaction may be preceded with an additional chemical modification of the polyamino acid backbone or MPEG chains which are not limited to reactions resulting in the formation or elimination of at least one chemical bond.
The sequence of chemically linking the protective chains and a reporter group to a polymeric carrier may be reversed, i.e., linking of a reporter group preceeds linking of protective chain(s) to the polymeric carrier, but preferably, the reporter group is used as a monofunctional activated analog, i.e., one molecule of activated reporter group forms only one covalent linkage with a polymeric carrier.
Scheme 2
The compositions also may be synthesized using standard peptide synthesis protocols with modified amino acid precursors such as MPEG-amino acid and complexone-amino acid. In this case, moieties of complexone and PEG may be alternated in a controllable manner.
Scheme 3
Oligomers of PEG-polyamino acids may be conjugated with oligomers of complexone-amino acids to form a block-co-polymer.
All three schemes will result in predictable compositions with highly predictable molecular weight distributions.
When carboxylated carriers are used, such as carboxylated saccharides, or polyaminoacids with carboxy groups in their radicals, such as poly-l-aspartic acid, the polymeric carrier is preferably activated in the presence of carbodiimide and sulfosuccinimide, as described in Example 2 for DTPA, and then reacted with aminated protective chains, such as MPEG monoamine at pH 7-9. The linking of complexone or chelate is then achieved preferably by carbodiimide condensation.
When used for medical imaging, the compositions of this invention preferably have a non-proteinaceous polyamino acid molecule serving as a carrier of covalently attached activated analogs of linear or branched chelating molecules, to which a MR reporter cation is linked, i.e., ionically chelated. The carrier forms a single chemical entity with protective chains of MPEG.
The synthetic route of preparing the compositions of this invention includes covalent modification of the polyamino acid carrier. Conjugation of 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole-treated MPEG to aminogroups requires high excesses of the modifier, e.g., activated MPEG, which leads to the formation of semi-stable gels since the solubility of polyamino acids in the presence of MPEG is reduced. The procedure for preparing N-hydroxysuccinimidyl MPEG-succinate described in Scheme 1 gives a product with a highly activated ester content, e.g., greater than 75%, which is advantageous for preparing the compositions of this invention. Special purification of intermediates enables elimination of peroxides and yields a preparation for in vivo use.
Linking MPEG to the polymeric carrier, e.g., polyamino acid, also prevents possible cross-linking of the poly-amino acid with the cyclic anhydride of DTPA. MPEG chains prevent the formation of by-products because they create a steric barrier for cross-linking the reagent. Therefore, the formation of high-molecular weight products can be controlled, which makes the synthetic steps predictable. As a result, a homogenous preparation is obtained with a narrow molecular weight distribution.
The polymeric carriers preferably contain peptide bonds. The same bonds are involved in conjugating a chelating molecule with reactive groups of the amino acid radicals. The compositions, therefore, are potentially biodegradable by various animal non-specific peptidases. To assist in vivo elimination of polymeric carrier and protective chains together with a reporter group, or to enhance dissociation of a reporter group from the carrier to the biological milieu if such a reporter group is a therapeutic agent, elements of polymeric carrier or protective chains or reporter groups could be linked together by a semistable linkage, such as S--S bonds. Small amounts of trapped compositions may be removed from the body by degradation to smaller fragments. However, a variety of activated PEG derivatives may be used for the preparation of the compositions thus making them either virtually undegradable or, on the contrary, labile. However, labile compositions are undesirable, since detaching MPEG will result in more extensive accumulation of the contrast agent compositions in the reticuloendothelial system.
The use of the compositions of this invention in MR imaging requires the presence of an MR reporter group, such as a paramagnetic cation, e.g., gadolinium (III). The transchelation technique developed for this experiment is based on an embodiment of Harris et al., J. Polym. Sci., 22:341-52, which is incorporated herein by reference. Applicants used Gd-citrate to prevent the contact of the contrast agent with gadolinium oxides, used previously by Griess et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,447, or gadolinium chloride, used previously by Bardy et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,529. The gadolinium citrate easily forms contaminants such as colloidal hydroxides at pH values greater than 6.5, which is within the range of optimal pH values for the NMR contrast agents of this invention. The addition of a special purification step, e.g., an anion-exchange chromatography step, allows the separation of Gd-labeled MPEG-PL-DTPA (Gd) from possible anionic contaminants, e.g., MPEG-PL-DTPA(Gd) with a low degree of substitution of amino groups with MPEG or small amounts of PL-DTPA(Gd).
The protective chains, e.g., MPEG, of this invention do not react with the C3 component of complement which is a distinct advantage over previously known agents, e.g. dextran-DTPA(Gd), which are known to react with the C3 component of complement.
MPEG prevents the exposure of chelating groups and paramagnetic cations to receptor cells, e.g., glomerulonephral phagocytes, capable of recognizing them. MPEG also forms a steric barrier which prevents rechelation of Gd cations by serum proteins such as transferrin. The compositions of this invention also prevent possible delayed toxic effects of re-chelated gadolinium.
MPEG conjugation lowers the toxicity of the composition of this invention by preventing significant accumulation of the chelating polymer in the liver and spleen. Acute toxicity studies of the compositions of this invention have indicated no apparent toxicity in mice at concentrations exceeding 10-35 times the optimal doses. Histological examination of tissues of these mice have shown no deviations from control animals.
The blood half-life of the compositions of the invention was determined in rats. The radioactive and paramagnetic contrast agents were incorporated into the composition prepared according to Examples 1 and 3 in order to accurately determine its pharmacokinetic characteristics in vivo. The rats were visualized at different time points using a gamma camera to follow the distribution of the composition. As indicated by the data presented in FIG. 2, the blood half-life of the disclosed contrast agent was equal to 24 hours for MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 53.5 kD)-DTPA labelled with 111 In! and saturated with gadolinium, while a smaller contrast agent MPEG(MW 2 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA labelled with 111 In! and saturated with gadolinium, was removed from the blood at a faster rate with the t1/2 being 6 hours. The only two sites in the body where accumulation of these compositions was detected in quantities significantly larger than 1% of injected dose per gram of tissue, were the spleen and kidneys. However, the total amount of contrast agent entrapped in both kidneys and spleen did not exceed about 7% of the contrast agent in the composition.
The typical biodistribution 90 hours post-injection of MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 53.5 kD)DTPA, labelled with 111 In! and saturated with gadolinium is presented in FIG. 3. The total amount of the composition retained in the liver, spleen and both kidneys totaled 15-18% after 90 hours in circulation. The above data indicates that the contrast agents of this invention do not accumulate in the reticuloendothelial system of animals after intravenous injection in significant amounts and may be removed from circulation, presumably by degradation in the blood, through bile excretion, and by kidney filtration.
Immunogenicity
Prevention of the interaction of the reporter group with plasma proteins by MPEG chains hinders the binding of the compositions with cells capable of opsonin recognition, e.g., antigen presenting phagocytes, and with immunocompetent blood cells, e.g., resting B-cells. As a result, the formation of an immune response to the reporter group itself is unlikely and the production of host antibodies to the reporter group is largely avoided. This enables the repetitious use of the composition of this invention if necessary. The immune response of animals to intravenous injections of the compositions of this invention have detected no antibody formation to PEG and acetylated polyamino acid.
Applicants detected the formation of low-avidity, e.g., titer of 800-1,000, of antibodies to DTPA(Gd) in animals injected with BSA-DTPA(Gd) by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA), and demonstrated virtually no response in animals injected with compositions of this invention (See FIG. 4). Substantially, no detectable antibodies against DTPA(Gd), acylated polylysine or MPEG were found in animals injected intravenously or intraperitoneally with compositions of this invention 20 days post-injection.
The combination of long-blood half-life and lack of immunogenicity is an important feature of this invention.
The compositions of this invention have demonstrated a surprisingly high capacity, e.g., up to 13% by weight, for gadolinium and exceptionally high R1/Gd atom, e.g., 20 mM-1 sec-1. Preliminary experiments showed that high-quality angiograms could be obtained when T1 values of blood are decreased at least 5-fold as a result of the injection of the contrast agent. As determined by measuring T1 values in blood, the Gd concentration which allows a 5-fold decrease in T1 corresponds to ca. 300 nmol. Gd/ml of blood (See FIG. 5). In a typical human study this corresponds to an injection of ca. 20 μmol Gd/kg of total body weight, which is 5-fold lower than for Gd-DTPA dimeglumine, which is a frequently used MR contrast agent.
Dose dependence of vessel/muscle signal ratio reveals a plateau at the saturation dose of 20 μmoles of Gd/kg of total body weight (See FIG. 6). At this concentration a contrasted vessel image had a vessel/muscle ratio of 5.5-6, which is a 4-fold increase over previously known preparations administered at a concentration of 50 μmoles Gd/kg total body weight. The compositions of this invention were far superior, i.e., greater than 200%, to poly-l-lysine (MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) in increasing the blood/muscle ratio (See FIG. 7). In this comparative study, rats were injected with 20 μmoles Gd/kg of MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) (MPEG squares) or with 50 μmoles Gd/kg of polylysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) (PL-Gd-DTPA, diamonds (See FIG. 7). The increase in vessel/muscle ratio leveled out within 30 minutes and remained constant for the time of observation, which was 100 minutes. Because MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) had a higher vessel/muscle ratio, the images of vascular anatomy were considerably better after administering compositions of the invention than after administration of PL-Gd-DTPA.
This enabled a dramatic decrease of the dose of Gd required to produce high-quality angiographic images in rats (See FIGS. 8a and 8b). In one study, the MR images of the head of a cat were compared before (See FIG. 8a) and after (See FIG. 8b) intravenously injecting MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA (Gd) at 30 μmol Gd/ml. The images were taken 20 minutes after injection on a Signa (GE Instruments, 1.5 T, 3-TOF SPGR/90 SE 60/6.5 256×192 2 NEX) using a 3 inch surface coil. The 3-D bright-pixel reconstructions of vessel maps provided a very high vessel/background signal ratio, eliminating the need for background subtraction. Contrary to known constrast agents, the compositions of the invention injected at 30 μmoles Gd/kg total body weight surprisingly resulted in resolution of submillimeter vessels having an internal diameter of less than 1 mm.
A comparative study between MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) and gadopentate dimeglumine indicated significantly better results for PEG-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd). In one study, one rat was intravenously injected with MPEG-poly-l-lysine-DTPA(Gd) (20 μmol Gd/Kg total body weight) (left image) and one rat was intravenously injected with gadopentate dimeglumine (100 μmol Gd/kg, from Magnevist®, Berlex Labs) (right image). Immediately, i.e., 10 minutes, following the intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA or the MPEG derivative, the vessel/muscle ratios had increased from 1.4 to 2.7, and 1.4 to 4.5, respectively. Thirty minutes after administration, the ratios were 2.0 for Gd-DTPA and 5.8 for the MPEG(MW 5kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA(Gd) at a p-value less than 0.001 (See FIG. 9). Gd-DTPA initially yielded a small increase in vessel contrast. However, as Gd-DTPA is distributed through the extravascular space, contrast is lost. The MPEG derivative compositions of the invention, because of their unique vascular distribution, consistently resulted in high ratios. The images were taken on a Signa using a 5 inch surface coil (See FIG. 9).
Imaging experiments with rabbit and minipig (body weight 40 kg) thorax were performed demonstrating the feasibility of visualizing the pulmonary and coronary arteries using the compositions of this invention (See FIGS. 10a and 10b). In one study, a rabbit was intravenously injected with MPEG(MW 2 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 41 kD)-DTPA(Gd) (20 μmol Gd/ml). The images were taken 20 minutes after injection on a Signa using a 5 inch surface coil.
The utility of the compositions of this invention to reveal abnormalities of vessels in experimentally induced pathological conditions was tested in rabbits and rats. By 3-D TOF (Time of Flight) MR angiography the narrowing of the femoral artery at the site of experimental stenosis could be reliably visualized. For visualization of vessel abnormalities in tumor progression, rats with R3230 mammary adeno carcinoma were used. In one study, the MR images of the left flank and thigh of a rat are shown before (See FIG. 11a) and 20 minutes after (See FIG. 11b) an intravenous injection of MPEG (MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine(MW 25 kD)-DTPA (Gd) at 20 μmol Gd/ml. The images were taken on a Signa (GE Instruments, 1.5 T, 3-TOF SPGR/60 SE 60/6.5 256×192 2 NEX) using a 3 inch surface coil.
Experiments with neoplasia in rats using 20 μmol Gd/kg provided exclusively informative contrast-enhanced angiograms. The location, size, and borders of the tumor and descending veins could be easily recognized on collapsed 3-D MR images. Therefore, the compositions of this invention may be used for detection of both neoplasia and tumor neovascularity which is important in clinical practice for staging and surgical planning.
Additional animal studies using the compositions of the invention were performed to investigate in vivo gamma imaging; biokinetics; immune response; and magnetic resonance imaging.
In vivo gamma-camera imaging
Sprague-Dawley rats (200-250 g) were injected into tail vein using a 26 gauge needle with 1-10 mg/0.5 ml of product I or III, labeled with 111 In! and Gd, as described in Example 6. Images on a gamma-camera (from Ohio Nuclear) using parallel medium-energy collimator were obtained 30, 60, 120 minutes, and 24 and 70 hours after injection.
Biokinetics of the contrast agent
The Biokinetics of Gd-and 111 In! labeled product (III or I) was studied using Sprague-Dawley rats ranging from 230-250 g. The animals were injected in the tail vein with 1-10 mg of polymer (60-70 μCi/kg, 2 μm/kg Gd) using a 26 gauge needle under ether anesthesia. Little variation in kinetics was detected within these dose limits. The biodistribution of labeled product was determined in 16 organs, i.e., organ tissues, by measuring radioactivity at each time point indicated on graphs. Two rats were used for each point (See FIG. 3).
Testing of immune response in mice
A 0.2 ml sample of product I (0.5 mmol Gd/kg, i.e. 20-fold imaging dose) was injected intravenously or intraperitoneally into C 3 H/He mice (n=2). Control animals received BSA-DTPA(Gd) with equal amount of Gd-DTPA, prepared as described in Hnatowich D. J. et al. Science 1979, in the same volume of saline. Animals were observed for 2 weeks for signs of toxicity. No signs of toxicity were detected. After the 2 week period, blood was collected from the tail vein of animals and titer of antibodies was detected by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA). ELISA plates were coated with ovalbumin-DTPA(Gd), ovalbumin-MPEG, BSA or acetylated poly-l-lysine (MW 70,000). Only wells of the plate coated with ovalbumin-DTPA(Gd) showed specific binding of mouse immunoglobulins.
MR Imaging
To visualize blood vessels in experimental animals, 0.005-0.05 mmol Gd/kg of product II was injected in male Sprague-Dawley rats (260-360 g) using a 26 gauge butterfly needle in 0.3 ml of sterile saline under barbiturate-induced anesthesia. Appropriate surface coils, 5 inch for two animals and 3 inch for one animal, were applied (See FIGS. 8a and 8b, and FIG. 9).
In experiments with rabbits and minipigs, animals were intubated. Anesthesia was performed with the use of an inhalant Isoflurane. Electrocardiography was constantly monitored. Product II was injected at 0.03 mmol Gd/kg via catheter inserted in the left femoral artery. An extremity surface coil was used for the rabbit studies; a head coil was applied in the minipig studies (See FIGS. 10a and 10b).
In rat studies, 48 saggital slices were imaged on General Electric CSI (thickness=0.7 mm) using a T1-weighted 3D--Time of Flight SPGR pulse sequence (1.5 T, SE 50/6.5, flip angle 60). In rabbit and minipig studies up to 80 slices were imaged (See FIGS. 10a and 10b).
Use of the Compositions as Contrast Agents
The compositions of this invention may be used in medical imaging, and administered intravascularly or by bolus-injection. The vascular images are enhanced due to changes of blood relaxivity or radioactivity. The contrast agents may be used for the improvement of vascular images of large vessels, e.g., arteries and veins, or to visualize small vessels, e.g., submillimeter capillaries. The resolution of the images is increased by providing more detailed information. The contrast agents may be used for vascular anatomy mapping, determination of vessel stenosis, abnormal vascularity, e.g., neovascularity, normal perfusion, perfusion defects, or functional imaging of the brain.
Use of the Composition as a Therapeutic Agent
The compositions of this invention may also comprise a therapeutic agent, e.g., one or more species of cytostatics, analgesics, antiinflammatory, antiviral, antifungal or psychotropic drugs. The compositions of this invention which include therapeutic agents are beneficial because the prolonged circulation of the composition in the blood substantially prolongs the therapeutic effect of the therapeutic agent. To achieve a therapeutic effect the therapeutic agent should slowly detach or leave the polymeric carrier. This may be achieved by detachably linking or positioning a semi-permeable membrane around the carrier to form a vesicle, allowing the drug concentrated in the vicinity of polymeric carrier to slowly diffuse through the membrane into the intravascular space. The compositions of this invention which include therapeutic agents may be administered intravascularly or by bolus-injection.
The compositions of this invention are described in the following Examples and Experimental section which form embodiments of the present invention and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of invention.
EXAMPLES AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Example 1
Synthesis of PEG-poly-l-lysine (300)-DTPA, Product I
Synthesis of MPEG succinate
Dissolve 6.5 g of MPEG (MW 2000) in 25 ml of peroxide-free dioxane at 60° C. and mix with preheated solution of 1.6 g of succinic anhydride at a 5-fold molar excess in 25 ml of dioxane Dissolve 300 mg of N,N'-dimethylaminopyridine as a catalyst in 10 ml of dioxane and add to the reaction mixture. Incubate the mixture to at 90° C. for 5 hours. Remove the dioxane by rotary evaporation at 40° C., and dissolve the solid in a minimal amount, e.g., 7-10 ml, of methylene chloride, cool to -10° C. and filter on a fritted-glass filter to remove the precipitate of succinic acid. Add 300 ml of ethyl ether per each 5 ml of filtrate and maintain the cloudy solution at -20° C. to precipitate MPEG succinate. Filter the precipitate on a fritted glass filter and wash with ethyl ether.
Dissolve 5.6 g of the dry precipitate with 40 ml of water and pass through an AG 50W X8 resin, (15 g of wet resin, treated with 50% ethanol and deionized water) on a 30-micron fritted glass filter in order to remove the remaining catalyst.
A 5 g sample of MPEG2000 succinate was obtained (86% yield) as a white amorphous solid. The Rf was 0.8 on silica gel 60 TLC plates (from EM Sciences) (developed by a solution of chloroform:methanol:15 mM CaCl2 in a ratio of 65:35:2). The Rf was 0.5 on RP-18 TLC plates (from EM Sciences) in the same system after staining with iodine vapor.
Synthesis of MPEG succinyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester
Dissolve the lyophilized MPEG succinate product (2 g, 0.5 mmol) in 10 ml of peroxide-free dioxane, which passed the peroxide-sensitivity test. Sequentially add 0.11 g N-hydroxysuccinimide (Fluka Chemie AG, Buchs, Switzerland) and 0.15 g (0.55 mmol, 1.1 molar excess) of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (Fluka Chemie AG, Buchs, Switzerland) to the mixture. Stir the reaction mixture for 6 hours at room temperature and cool on ice. Remove dicyclohexylurea by filtration through fritted glass filter or through a GF-C glass wool filter. Remove dioxane on a rotary evaporator, and add 10 ml of methylene chloride and mix with 100 ml of ether under continuous stirring. Store the precipitate at -20° C. overnight. Separate the product by filtration and recrystallize from a dichloroethane:ether mixture at a ratio of 1:9.
Test for an activated ester of MPEG succinate
The percent of the activated ester in solid was determined by solubilizing 1.5 mg of product in anhydrous DMSO (100 μl). Add 10 μl of the solution to 800 μl of 0.05M sodium phosphate (pH 8.5). Record the absorbance at 260 nm for 30 minutes. An increase in absorbance was due to hydrolysis of activated ester (e260=8260 mol cm!-1 for N-hydroxysuccinimide at pH 8.5). Approximately 75% of the composition obtained was found to be an activated ester. The Rf was 0.95 on the silica gel 60 (developed by a solution of chloroform:methanol:15 mM CaCl2 at a ratio of 65:35:2) after UV visualization with ammonia fumes.
Synthesis of MPEG-poly-l-lysine-DTPA.
Dissolve 816 mg of poly-l-lysine (PL hydrobromide, MW 67,700 (Sigma Chemical Co), DP: 324 l-lysine residues, 25 mM epsilon-aminogroups of l-lysine, hydrobromide) in 38 ml of 0.1M carbonate buffer (pH 8.7). Dissolve 3.1 g MPEG succinyl hydroxysuccimidyl ester (MPEGOSu, MW 2,200) in 15 ml of dry DMSO. Add the MPEGOSu solution drop-wise to the PL solution with agitation and incubate the mixture for 2 hours under stirring.
The degree of modification was checked by trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid titration, as used in Spadaro, A.C.C. et al., Anal. Biochem. 96:317 (1979). Mix 10 μl of the sample, 100 μl of water, 100 μl of 10% Triton X-100, 100 μl of 0.1M of sodium tetraborate, and 0.35 ml of 2 mg/ml of TNBS in a tube. Incubate for 45 minutes. Stop incubation by addition of 2.3 mg/ml sodium sulfite in 5M NaH 2 PO 4 . The absorbance was determined at 420 nm and compared with that of PL. The amount of modified groups was determined to be equal to 30%.
A suspension of a cyclic anhydride of DTPA (0.5 g/ml in DMSO) was prepared by adding 200 μl portions (1.5 g of cDTPA total) to the solution of PL and MPEG, and the pH was adjusted to 8 with 5N NaOH after each addition. The amount of titratable aminogroups was checked again and no free aminogroups were detected.
Purification of MPEG-poly-l-lysine-DTPA
Dilute the reaction mixture of MPEG-poly-l-lysine-DTPA(MPEG-PL-DTPA) to 300 ml with 0.2M sodium citrate (pH 6.), filter through 0.45 μ nylon filter and dialyze in a flow-through cell using a membrane with cut-off of 100 kD (for globular proteins). Concentrate to 30-50 ml and dilute to 300 ml with citrate. Repeat the procedure 2 times using water instead of citrate in the last stage. Concentrate the solution to 15 ml, and lyophilize. Alternatively, the sample may be filtered through sterile 0.2 μm membrane and stored at 4° C. A table of the theoretical and actual chemical analysis is presented below:
Chemical analysis: Theoretical % C 46.7, % H 7.0, % N 8.0 Actual % C 41.2, % H 6.4, % N 9.7
Example 2
Synthesis of MPEG(MW 5 kD)-poly-l-lysine (MW 25 kD)-DTPA, Product II
Synthesis of MPEG succinate
Dissolve 40 g of MPEG (MW 5000) in 250 ml of peroxide-free dioxane at 60° C. and mix with a preheated solution of 8 g of succinic anhydride (10-fold molar excess) in 50 ml of dioxane. Dissolve 900 mg of N,N'-dimethylaminopyridine as a catalyst in 10 ml of dioxane and add to the reaction mixture. Incubate the mixture at 90° C. for 8 hours.
Remove the dioxane by rotary evaporation at 40° C., and dissolve the solid in 20 ml of methylene chloride, cool to -10° C., and filter on a fritted-glass filter to remove the precipitate of succinic acid. Add 300 ml of ethyl ether per each 10 ml of filtrate and precipitate the cloudy solution of MPEG at -20° C. succinate. Filter the precipitate on a fritted glass filter (10-20 μ, Corning) and wash with cold ethyl ether.
Dilute 35 g of the dry precipitate with 100 ml of water and pass through AG 50W X8 resin (25 g of wet resin, treated with 50% ethanol and deionized water) on a 100-micron glass filter in order to remove the remaining catalyst. In order to reduce the amount contaminating peroxides, treat the solution of MPEG2000 succinate in water with 10 mM sodium borohydride for 4 hours at room temperature. Lyophilize the solution, redissolve the solution in methylene chloride (0.1 g/ml), and resediment the solution with the addition of diethyl ether. A 30 g sample of MPEG5000 succinate sample was obtained (an 83% yield) as white amorphous solid. The Rf was 0.5 on RP-18 TLC plates (from EM Sciences) (developed in a solution of chloroform:ethanol:water at a ratio of 65:25:4) after staining with iodine vapor.
Synthesis of MPEG succinyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester
Dissolve 5.29 g (1 mmol) of the lyophilized MPEG succinate product in 40 ml of peroxide-free tetrahydrofurane, which passed peroxide-sensitive test, and add 0.17 g N-hydroxysuccinimide (1.5 mmol, Fluka Chemie AG, Buchs, Switzerland) and 0.3 g (1.1 mmol) of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (Fluka). Stir the reaction mixture for 6 hours at room temperature and then cool on ice. Remove the dicyclohexylurea by filtration through a fritted glass filter (20-30 μ, Corning). Remove the tetrahydrofurane on a rotary evaporator, add 10 ml of methylene chloride and mix with 100 ml of ether under continuous stirring. Precipitate at -20° C. overnight. Separate the product by filtration and recrystallize from a dichloroethane:ether mixture at a ratio of 1:9.
Test for an activated ester of MPEG succinate
The percent of the activated ester in solid obtained was determined as described in Example 1.
Synthesis of PEG-poly-l-lysine-DTPA
Dissolve 620 mg of poly-l-lysine (PL hydrobromide, MW 41,100, (Sigma Chemical Co.) DP: 196 l-lysine residues, 25 mM epsilon-aminogroups of l-lysine, hydrobromide) in 112 ml of 0.1M carbonate buffer (pH 8.7). Dissolve 2.9 g methoxy polyethylene glycolsuccinyl hydroxysuccimidyl ester (MPEGOSu, MW 5,200) in 5 ml of dry DMSO. Add the PEGOSu solution drop-wise to the PL solution under agitation and incubate the mixture for 2 hours under stirring. Check the degree of modification by trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid titration as described in Example 1.
Prepare a suspension of cyclic anhydride of DTPA (0.5 g/ml in DMSO) by adding 200 μl portions (1.5 g of cDTPA total) to the solution of MPEG-PL and adjust the pH to 8 with 5N NaOH after each addition. Alternatively, the solution may be prepared by mixing of 2.5 mmol of DTPA, 0.5 mmol N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (pH 4) and 0.5 mmol ethyl diaminopropylcarbodiimide in 50 ml of water. The solution is then mixed for 3 min and added to the mixture the solution of MPEG-PL (pH 8) Check the amount of titratable aminogroups. (No titratable amino groups were detected).
Purification of MPEG-PL-DTPA
Dilute the reaction mixture to 300 ml with 0.2M sodium citrate (pH 6), filter through 0.45 μ nylon filter, and dialyze in a flow-through cell using a membrane with a cut-off of 50 kD (for globular proteins). Concentrate to 30-50 ml and dilute to 300 ml with citrate. Repeat the procedure 2 times using water instead of citrate at the last stage. Concentrate the solution to 15 ml, and lyophilize. Alternatively, filter the sample through a sterile 0.2 μm membrane and store at 4° C. A table of the theoretical and actual chemical analysis is presented below:
Chemical analysis Theoretical % C 51.2, % H 8.2, % N 2.7 Actual % C 46.4, % H 7.8, % N 3.7
Example 3
Synthesis of MPEG-poly-l-lysine(MW 67 kD)-DTPA, Product III
Prepare according to the procedures of Example 1, using poly-l-lysine with a mean MW of 110,000.
Example 4
Synthesis of MPEG-poly-l-lysine (MW 53.5 kD)-DTPA, Product IV
Prepare according to the procedures Examples 1 and 2, using poly-l-lysine with a mean MW of 87,400 and MPEG (MW 5000)succinyl succinate.
Example 5
Synthesis of MPEG-poly-l-lysine(69)-(dithio)propionylpoly-l-lysine-DTPA, Product V
Dissolve 50 mg of N-ε-benzoyloxycarbonyl-poly-l-lysine in 3 ml of dimethylformamide and treat with 10 mg of N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate in the presence of 20 μl of triethylamine. Incubate the product overnight and precipitate by the addition of 20 ml of water. Freeze-dry the precipitated product and divide into two equal parts. Redissolve the first part in dimethylformamide (0.5 ml) and treat for 20 minutes with 10 mM beta-mercaptoethanol, and precipitate by adding 10 ml of nitrogen-saturated water and freeze-dry. Redissolve this product together with the second part of the compound in 2 ml of dimethylformamide and add 5 μl triethylamine. Stir the mixture at room temperature overnight. Precipitate the product and wash with water, then redissolve the product in 1 ml of an HBr in glacial acetic acid solution, incubate for 1 hour, and mix with 20 ml of distilled ethyl ether. Wash the precipitate with ether and convert into MPEG-derivative and then into MPEG-DTPA derivative as described in Example 1, using DMFA instead of DMSO for solubilization of MPEG-succinyl succinate and DTPA cyclic anhydride.
Example 6
Preparation of 111 In!-Labeled Products I, II, III or IV
Prepare 100-500 μl of 111 In! citrate solution (pH 4.5) with total activity of 30-500 μCi. Dissolve 1 mg of products I, II, III or IV as prepared above in Citrate Balance Saline (CBS) of 10 mM citrate, 0.15M NaCl (pH 6.6). Mix the solutions and incubate for 30 minutes at room temperature. Purify by dialysis against 4 changes of 100 ml of the CBS. The dialyzed product was found to incorporate 98-100% of the radioactivity.
Example 7
Preparation of Gadolinium Labeled Products I, II, III or IV
Prepare a 100 ml of 20 mM solution of GdCl 3 in 0.2M citrate (pH 5.5). Dissolve 0.1-100 mg of products I, II, III or IV in 1-5 ml of water and place in dialysis bags with pores small enough to retain molecules larger than 10 kD. Place the dialysis bags in the Gd-citrate solution for 8-10 hours. Then substitute the Gd-citrate solution by 0.2M citrate and, finally, with 10 mM citrate-balanced saline (osmolarity is 300 mOsm). Sterile-filter or lyophilize the Gadolinium-labeled products.
Example 8
Preparation of 111 In!and Gadolinium -Labeled Products I, II, III or IV
Prepare according to the procedures of Example 4 and then transfer the dialysis bags to Gd-citrate solution as described in Example 7.
Example 9
The Purification of Labeled Products I, II, III or IV
A solution of gadolinium or 111 In! and gadolinium labeled products was prepared at 50-100 mg of polymer/ml of 5 mM sodium citrate (pH 6). Load the solution on a column of Sephadex A-25 (1×40 ml, 5 mM citrate, pH 6) and elute non-bound material with the same buffer, which has been collected, dialyzed against water, and lyophilized.
Although the above examples present general and specific guidelines for preparing and using contrast agents of this invention, one skilled in the art can assemble additional candidate molecules and compare their characteristics to those claimed by the invention.
Experimental characterization of products
Determination of size
The apparent hydrodynamic radii were determined using gel-filtration on an Ultragel AcA-34 (from LKB-IBF, France) column (1×40 ml) and LALLS (Submicron Particle Analyzer N-4MD from Coulter, Hialeah, Fla.).
Solutions of products I-IV in Gd-labeled form were prepared at 1 mg of polymer/ml and the sizes were determined by Size Distribution Processor (SDP) weight analysis at 90° angle scattering before and after the formation of Gd complexes (See Table 1). The calculation of molecular weights was based on determination of the degree of modification of PL with MPEG, as described in Example 1, assuming that on the second stage of modification all aminogroups were substituted with DTPA.
TABLE 1______________________________________Determination of size and molecular weights Apparent diameter MW MW CalculatedProduct (LALLS) (LALLS) (AcA34)* MW______________________________________I 15.5 ± 1 nm 171 kD 200 kD 417 kDII 16.4 ± 4 nm 150 kD 280 kD 412 kDIII 38.1 ± 10.5 nm ND >380 kD 860 kDIV 53 ± 12 nm ND >380 kD 960 kD______________________________________ Note: *AcA 34 column was precalibrated with globular protein molecular weight markers; ND: No Data available.
Determination of Gd content
The Gd content was determined titrametrically, (as in Korbl, J. and Pribil, R., Chemist-Analyst 45:101-103 (1956), or by plasma emission spectroscopy (from Gallbraith Labs, Knoxville Tenn.). The Gd content did not exceed 13.18% by weight (0.8 mmol Gd/g polymer, product I). Typically products II, III, and IV contained ca. 5% Gd by weight (0.32 mmol Gd/g polymer).
Measurement of relaxivity values (R1 and R2)
Determination of relaxation times of the H 2 O protons was performed using a Minispec (IBM PC/20) pulsed NMR spectrometer at 20 MHz, 38° C. Gd-labeled products were appropriately diluted with CBS and T1 and T2 parameters were measured. Inversion recovery and CPMG pulse sequences were used to determine T1 and T2 values, respectively. The concentration dependencies of relaxation rates 1/T1 and 1/T2 were plotted and fitted using linear regression (r=0.99). R1 and R2 values were determined as slope values (See Table 2).
TABLE 2______________________________________Molecular and atomic relaxivitiesProduct R1 R2 R1/Gd R2/Gd mMol-1 s-1!______________________________________I 5061 5053 18.1 16.9II 2076 2035 17.6 17.1IV 4565 6547 18.5 19.0______________________________________
Calculated values of molecular weights of Gd-labeled products were used for molecular relaxivity determinations.
Graft Co-Polymer Adducts
Synthetic Method Overview
Graft-co-polymers of the invention include a central carrier chain, a protecting group, and, optionally, a reporter group. Each group is linked together and is capable of forming reversibly linkages with a platinum(II) compound. A reversible linkage between the graft co-polymer and a platinum(II) compound includes, but is not limited to 1) the formation of hydrogen bonds, 2) the formation of bonds with aguated platinum(II) compounds, 3) the formation of coordination bonds with the platinum atom (charged or neutral) and 4) electrostatic interactions, particularly with chemical groups of the graft co-polymer which include a carbonyl group, for example carboxylic acid groups. The chemical bonds formed between platinum (II) compounds and amino acids have been investigated (Appleton and Hall J. Chem. Soc. Commun. 493 911 (1983) and references therein). The platinum(II) compound may be present as an electroneutral and/or positively charged (aquated) form.
The synthesis of a graft-co-polymer adduct from a polymeric carrier containing amino groups generally involves three synthetic stages: 1) covalent modification of a backbone carrier with protective chains; 2) modification of the product with negatively charged groups, for example, modification with succinic acid; and 3) incubating the co-polymer and the platinum(II) compound together to achieve formation of a graft co-polymer adduct (see FIGS. 12 and 13). Preparation of an adduct by starting with negatively charged polymeric carrier does not include modification with negatively charged groups and thus includes only the first and third stage.
As outlined in FIG. 12 a graft-co-polymer was prepared by obtaining a carboxylated derivative of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)(MPEG) (I), and reacting it with sulfosuccinimide in the presence of carbodiimide (II) reacting polyamino acid with activated MPEG analogs (III), and then reacting this mixture with an excess of dicarboxylic acid anhydride. This procedure was preferred when poly-l-lysine was used as the backbone. The nucleophilic epsilon-amino groups of poly-l-lysine were also reacted with activated derivatives of carboxylated MPEG, e.g., acid chlorides, anhydrides, mixed anhydrides, nitrenes, isothiocyanates and imidazolides, activated esters, e.g hydroxysuccinimide, hydroxysulfosuccinimide, p-nitrophenyl, benzotriazolide (not shown). The dicarboxylic acid used can be in activated form, e.g., anhydride, mixed anhydride, isothiocyanate, succinimide or sulfosuccinimide. The preferred carboxylic acid is dicarboxylic acid although a dicarboxylic acid of the general formula of X--(CH2)nCOOH where X=I,Br,CL or F and n=1-10 can also be used. The reaction may be preceded with additional chemical modification of the polyamino acid backbone. Finally, the sequence of chemical linking of protective chains and an agent to a polymeric carrier may be reversed, i.e. linking of an acid preceeds linking of protective chain(s) to a polymeric carrier.
As outlined in FIG. 12, the first stage of synthesis resulted in the formation of a graft-co-polymer where approximately 15-30% of monomeric residues of the polymeric carrier here modified with protective chains. The second and third stages yielded a graft co-polymer where generally all monomeric residues that were not linked to protective chains were modified with negatively charged moieties. The fourth stage (FIGS. 13A and 13B) generally yielded a product having more than 0.1% of platinum by weight. Generally, the adduct product had between 1% and 30% platinum by weight, inclusive, the majority of platinum (more than 50% of total content) being capable of dissociating from the graft co-polymer.
The graft co-polymer (i.e., without a reversibly bound platinum(II) compound) has a molecular weight between 50 and 1500 kDa. Generally, the molecular weight of the adduct (i.e., graft co-polymer and cDDP) is between 50 and 1500 kD, inclusive, the graft co-polymer adduct may be purified in a form which elutes as a single peak on a standard size-exclusion column.
Synthesis of a Graft Co-polmyer
Graft co-polymers of the invention may be synthesized using the following methods. The synthesis of the graft co-polymer poly ( N-(methoxy poly(ethylene)glycol)-o-succinyl!-l-lysyl)n-(N-succinyl-l-lysyl)m!lysine includes poly-l-lysine, as an examplary polymeric carrier, methoxypolyethyleneglycol as an examplary protective chain, and succinate as an examplary reporter group. Preparation of the graft co-polymer adduct proceeds by incubation of cDDP with the graft co-polymer in water or water/DMF mixtures. cDDP binds spontaneously to the graft co-polymer. A graft co-polymer adduct is especially suitable as a macromolecular contrast agent.
Example 10
1. Synthesis of monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)succinate: 75 g (15 mmol) of methoxy(poly(ethylene)glycol)5000 was dissolved in 200 ml of dioxane (freshly redistilled), add 7.9 g (75 mmol) of succinic anhydride. 1.9 g (15 mmol) of 4-dimethylaminopyridine was added in 200 ml of dioxane. The mixture was refluxed under nitrogen with stirrring in a 2-necked flask for 3 hrs at 100° C. After 24 hrs another portion of 8 g succinic anhydride was added, then 2 g of 4 dimethylaminopyridine in 100 ml of dioxane was added. The combination was mixed at 100° C. for an additional 4 hrs under nitrogen. The reaction mixture was cooled to 60° C. and transferred to an apyrogenic 1-neck 1 L flask. Dioxane was removed by using a rotary evaporator, mixing the residue with 200 ml of chloroform, filtering through glass fiber filters, and cooling on ice and filter again. Chloroform was removed at 40° C. on rotary evaporator, then, 300 ml of ethanol was added to the residue. 4 g of activated charcoal was added and the solution boiled with a reflux for 1 h. The mixture was filtered, then 300 ml of ethyl acetate was added to the mixture; the mixture was then left at 4° C. for 24 h. Afterwords, the was filtered and the precipitate saved. The precipitate was dissolved in 800 ml of ethyl alcohol and mixed with 100 g of ethanol-washed AG50 W-X8 resin. The resin was filtered and concentrated by using a rotary evaporator. 400 ml of ethyl acetate was added and the material transfered into Erlenmeyer flasks and kept at -10° C. for 4 hrs. The resulting material was filtered and the precipitate dried in a vacuum. The weight of the resulting product was 44 g. The yield of purified MPEG-succinate was 57% of theoretical yield.
______________________________________Chemical analysisElement Calculated* (%) Determined (%)______________________________________C 54.34 53.78O 36.7 37.09H 9.02 9.07______________________________________ *Calculated using a brutto formula: C.sub.231 H.sub.460 O.sub.117
Example 11
1. Synthesis of MPEG5000-PL-DTPA:
0.1M carbonate buffer was prepared by dissolving 4.2 g of sodium bicarbonate in water, after which, 20 μl of 50% NaOH solution was added. The solution was filtered through a sterile 0.4 μm filter. A solution was prepared of 1 g of poly-l-lysine/175 ml of 0.1M carbonate buffer and 50 μl was withdrawn for amino group determination. 9.6 g of MPEG-succinate was dissolved in 25 ml of sterile apyrogenic water and 500 mg of N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide was added, followed by 1 g of 1-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)-3-ethyl carbodiimide, hydrochloride. The solution of MPEG-succinate was activated at room temperature for 10 min. The solution of activated MPEG-succinate N-hydroxy(sulfo)succinimide ester was transferred to the poly-l-lysine solution and incubated for 4 hrs at room temperature with mixing. A 50 μl aliquot was removed for amino group determination. Amino groups were determined by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) titration. The assay for aminogroups gave 20-25% of amino group substitution in comparison to initial poly-l-lysine.
1 g of succinic anhydride was dissolved in 10 ml of dimethylsulfoxide and added to the reaction mixture dropwise. The pH was kept at 8 by the addition of a 5N NaOH solution. The reaction mixture was stirred for 4 hrs at room temperature. The solution was filtered through a sterile apyrogenic membrane and diluted with 100 ml of sterile apyrogenic water and transfered into a 300ml diafiltration cell equipped with a YM100 membrane. The cell was pressurized by using a nitrogen source and concentrated to 30 ml at 25 psig. The contents were diluted with sterile apyrogenic water to 300 ml and concentrated again. The procedure (i.e. concentration/dilution) was repeated 4 times (total of 5 cycles). The purity of the sample was analyzed by using size-exclusion HPLC (SEC-%, 4×25 cm, Rainin Instru. Co.). The solution was transferred to an autoclaved lyophilization flask and frozen in liquid nitrogen and lyophylized.
______________________________________Element Calculated* (%) Determined (%)______________________________________C 53 48.68O 35.7 35.67H 7.8 8.8N 3.0 4.96______________________________________ *Calculated using a brutto formula: C.sub.25360 O.sub.12630 N.sub.1200 H.sub.44460
Example 12
1. Synthesis of PL-succinate: A solution of 1 g of poly-l-lysine/175 ml of 0.1M carbonate buffer was prepared and a 50 μl aliquot was withdrawn for amino group determination. 1 g of succinic anhydride was added and dissolved in 10 ml of dimethylsulfoxide, which was added to the reaction mixture dropwise. The pH was kept at 8 by addition of a 5N NaOH solution. The reaction mixture was stirred for 4 hrs at room temperature. A 50 μl aliquot was removed for amino group determination. The amino groups were determined by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) titration. The assay for amino groups gave 100% of amino group substitution in comparison to the initial poly-l-lysine.
The solution was filtered through a sterile apyrogenic membrane. The solution was diluted with 100 ml of sterile apyrogenic water and transfered into a 300ml diafiltration cell equipped with a YM100 membrane. The cell was pressurized by using a nitrogen source and concentrated to 30 ml at 25 psig. The contents were diluted with sterile apyrogenic water to 300 ml and concentrated again. The procedure (i.e. concentration/dilution) was preformed 4 times for a total of 5 cycles. The purity was analyzed by using size-exclusion HPLC. The solution was transferred to an autoclaved lyophilization flask, frozen in liquid nitrogen and lyophylized.
Example 13
1. Synthesis of 111 In!-DTPA labeled graft-co-polymers: MPEG-PL or PL was prepared as disclosed in Example 11. Before succinic anhydride was added, a solution of cyclic anhydride of DTPA in DMSO was added at the ratio of 5 mol DTPA per 1 mol of polymer. The mixture was incubated for 1 h at room temperature, pH 7.5. Then, an excess of succinic anhydride was added to block the remaining amino groups. The succinylated product was purified by ultrafiltration as in Example 11. 111 ! chloride was mixed with the solution of purified graft co-polymer, which, prior to mixing, was dissolved in 20 mM sodium citrate, pH 5.5.
Example 14
1. Preparation of a cDDP adduct with MPEG-PL-succinate or PL-succinate:
i) Aqueous Solution: A solution of MPEG-PL-succinate or PL-succinate was prepared in water at a concentration of 20 mg/ml. A suspension of 12 mg/ml cDDP was dissolved in water. 1 ml of the cDDP solution was combined with 1 ml of polymer solution and stirred overnight at 40° C. Any unsolubilized cDDP was removed by filtration. In order to purify the adduct, the mixture was loaded onto a spin-column filled with Sephadex G-25 m (10×1 cm). The eluate was collected after centrifuging at 800 g for 5 min. The non-bound cDDP was determined by a standard o-phenylenediamine assay Schechter et al., Cancer Immunol. Immunother 25, 225 (1987). The total amount of platinum in the adduct was determined by plasma adsorption spectroscopy.
ii) Water/Organic Solution: A solution of MPEG-PL-succinate or PL-succinate was prepared in water at 100 mg/ml. A suspension of 16.5 mg/ml cDDP was prepared in dimethylformamide. 1 vol of the cDDP solution was combined with 3 vol of polymer solution and incubated overnight at 40° C. 2 vol of water was subsequently added. The mixture was loaded onto a spin-column filled with Sephadex G-25 m (10×1 cm) and the eluate collected after centrifuging at 800 g for 5 min. The amount of non-bound cisplatinum was determined by o-phenylenediamine assay. The amount of total platinum was determined by plasma adsorption spectroscopy.
The effectiveness of MPEG-PL-succinate as a carrier for cDDP, was evaluated by quantitative HPLC analysis of adducts formed after the addition of cDDP at several concentrations. Insolubility of cDDP-adducts was not observed even at cDDP/succinate ratios as high as 12:1. Scatchard analysis obtained by integration of cDDP the elution peaks indicated that MPEG-PL-succinate has approximately 1700 individual binding sites for cDDP, 25% of which are represented with high-affinity sites (Kd, apparent=3.6·10 -5 M -1 ) and 75%--with low affinity (Kd,apparent=2·10 3 M -1 ), (FIG. 14). The calculated cDPP/succinate ratio (8.5:1) in the purified adduct indicates that linkages between the protonated amino groups of cDDP (or cis-aq) and carboxylic groups of the graft co-polymer, as well as other non-covalent linkages, are present in the adduct. The data indicate that the protective chain is involved in the stabilization of cDDP with the polymeric backbone.
Dissociation of the cDDP from the graft co-polymer was detected by dialysis against isotonic saline or against isotonic medium containing 10 g/l of serum albumin (FIG. 15). The latter experiment was designed to mimic the presence of plasma proteins in the bloodstream of a mammal. Plasma proteins, are capable of irreversible (i.e., covalent) binding of free (i.e., non-complexed) cDDP. cDDP was released from the carrier with the half-time of 63 h in saline. In the presence of serum albumin, 20% of the cDDP was released at a fast rate (half-time-4 min), but the major fraction of the drug was released slowly with a half-time of 83 h. This result clearly demonstrates that the adduct is capable of slow cDDP release for prolonged periods of time in the bloodstream.
Example 15
1. Cytotoxicity of the graft co-polymer adduct in vitro:
Human mammary adenocarcinoma cells (BT-20 cells) were plated in 96-well plates in medium (i.e. 10% FCS, DMEM) at a cell density of 350,000 cells/well. Free cDDP, a cDDP graft co-polymer adduct or cDDP linked to PL-succinate were each diluted serially with cell medium and incubated with the cells overnight at 37° C. Cytotoxicity was determined by a standard 3 H!methylthymidine DNA incorporation assay. For example, 10 μCi of 3 H!methylthymidine were added per well and incubated with the cells for 3 hours. The cells were collected by harvesting on glass fiber membranes. The amount of bound radioactivity was determined on each membrane by standard scintillation counting.
Both MPEG-PL-succinate/cDDP and free cDDP showed pronounced cytotoxic effects by inhibiting DNA synthesis in human mammary adenocarcinoma cells after 16 h incubation (FIG. 16). At concentrations lower than 0.5 μM, MPEG-PL-succinate-cDDP showed higher cytotoxicity than an adduct obtained with succinylated poly-l-lysine, i.e. with a polymeric carrier devoid of protective chains. Concentrations of adduct showing about 50% inhibition of cell proliferation were: 0.9 μM for PL-succinate-cDDP, 0.7 μM for MPEG-PL-succinate-cDDP and 0.3 μM for the free cDDP.
Example 16.
1. Determination of the biodistribution of 111 In!-polymers in rats: R3230 or NF tumors were each implanted in the flank region of female Fisher rats (250 g). After formation of palpable tumors (about 10 days, tumor size is approximately 0.4-0.6 g) animals (n=3/time point) were injected i.v. with 60 mcCi of 111 In!-labeled MPEG-PL-succinate (40 mg polymer/kg). The biodistribution of the co-polymer was determined in the major organs at 24 and 96 hr post-injection (FIG. 17).
MPEG-PL-succinate-cDDP adduct exhibited a long circulation time in the bloodstream, whereas PL-succinate-cDDP did not. 24 h after i.v. injection of the DTPA-labeled co-polymer, 40% of it was found in the blood, whereas only 1% the MPEG-free adduct remained in blood. After 96 h, most (>80%) of MPEG-PL-succinate-cDDP adduct had been removed from circulation. MPEG-free adducts accumulated in kidneys (15.0±1.2% dose/g), whereas acumulation of MPEG-PL-succinate-cDDP was 5 fold lower (3.5±0.5% dose/g). Accumulation of MPEG-containing adduct in rat adenocarcinomas was 4-5 fold higher (2.6±0.3% dose/g (NF tumor); 2.05±0.25% dose/g (R3230 tumor) than MPEG-free adducts (0.5% dose/g).
These in vivo experiments demonstrate that MPEG-PL-succinate/cDDP adduct has an advantageous pharmacological profile in terms of: 1) longer circulation in the blood stream; 2) lower accumulation in kidneys (lower chance of eliciting of nephrotoxicity) and; 3) higher accumulation in solid tumors. Targeting of cDDP to the tumor could not be achieved with an adduct that included a polymer devoid of protective chains.
MPEG-PL-succinate was shown to be a high-capacity carrier for cDDP. cDDP is a highly potent chemotherapeutic agent, one which nontheless exhibits significant systemic toxicity. Prolonged blood circulation of the adduct creates a circulating depot of reversibly bound cDDP. The high cytotoxicity of the drug in vitro and in vivo indicates that graft co-polymer adducts which include a platinum(II) compound, particularly cDDP will be useful therapeutic agents in the treatment of human cancer. Furthermore, the data suggest that graft co-polymer adducts which include a platinum(II) compound can be administered either alone or in combination with other chemotheraputic agents in order to treat human cancer.
The art-skilled will understand that an adduct consisting of a graft co-polymer and a platinum(II) compound other than cDDP can be made by following the above-described methods, except that the platinum(II) compound will be substituted for cDDP. Generally, the amount of platinum(II) compound that can be combined with a graft co-polymer is within the range disclosed for cDDP. The amount of platinum(II) compound associated with a graft-co-polymer can be assayed by plasma absorption spectroscopy and the adduct can be purified and tested by any of the in vitro or in vivo methods disclosed herein.
Administration of Graft Co-Polymer Adducts
The adducts provided herein can be administered either alone or formulated into pharmaceutical compositions by admixture with pharmaceutically acceptably nontoxic excipients and carriers.
An adduct of the invention may be prepared for use in parenteral administration, particularly in the form of liquid solutions or suspensions; for oral administration, particularly in the form of tablets or capsules; or intranasally, particularly in the form of powders, nasal drops, or aerosols.
An adduct of the invention may be conveniently administered in unit dosage form and may be prepared by any of the methods well known in the pharmaceutical art, or example, as described in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences (Mack Pub. Co., Easton, Pa., 1980). Formulations for parenteral administration of an adduct of the invention may include as common excipients sterile water or saline, polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol, oils of vegetable origin, hydrogenated naphthalenes and the like. Formulations for parenteral administration may also include glycocholate for buccal administration, methoxysalicylate for rectal administration, or citric acid for vaginal administration.
An adduct of the invention can be employed as the sole active agent in a pharmaceutical or can be used in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents such as cDDP, carboplatin, doxorubicin, or cyclophosphamide. In particular, the chemotherapeutic agent may be provided as a biocompatible, biodegradable lactide polymer, lactide/glycolide co-polymer, or polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene co-polymers, each of which may serve as useful adjuncts to therapy. Other useful excipients to control the release of the chemotherapeutic agent include parenteral delivery systems such as ethylene-vinyl acetate co-polymer particles, osmotic pumps, implantable infusion systems, and liposomes.
The concentration of an adduct of the invention described herein in a therapeutic composition will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the adduct to be administered, the chemical characteristics (e.g., hydrophobicity) of the adduct employed, and the route of administration. In general terms, an adduct of the invention may be provided in an aqueous physiological buffer solution containing about 0.1 to 10% w/v compound for parenteral administration. Typical dose ranges are from about 1 μg/kg to about 1 g/kg of body weight per day; a preferred dose range is from about 0.01 mg/kg to 100 mg/kg of body weight per day. The preferred dosage of drug to be administered is likely to depend on such variables as the type and extent of progression of the cancer, the overall health status of the particular patient, the relative biological efficacy of the adduct selected, the formulation of the compound excipients, and its route of administration, and whether a chemotherapeutic drug is chosen for adjunctive therapy.
All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those in the art to which this invention pertains. All publications and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually stated to be incorporated by reference.
Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for the purposes of clarity of understanding, one skilled in the art will easily ascertain that certain changes and modifications may be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Other embodiments are within the following claims: | A biocompatible graft co-polymer adduct including a polymeric carrier, a protective chain linked to the polymeric carrier, a reporter group linked to the carrier or to the carrier and the protective chain, and a reversibly linked Pt(II) compound. The invention also relates to a method of treating a disease in a patient, particularly cancer, by administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of the adduct, and may include scanning the patient using an imaging technique which can provide a visible image of the distribution of the adduct. | 0 |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to machines for polishing metals which comprise an abrasive band running about a pair of wheels. One wheel is generally driven by an electric motor and another is set at a height such that the operator may present the object to be polished to a part of the band.
Prior art polishing machines are not entirely satisfactory because the wheel on which the object is polished is obstructed at one of its sides by the drive motor and also by the protective housing surrounding the band and part of the wheel, thereby limiting the orientation of the object during the polishing operation. Furthermore, the object to be polished is presented to the curved part of the band, whose abrasive grains at that part are momentarily spaced apart. This local deformation is accentuated, because of the tensioning of the band and its speed, the grains closing up when the band becomes rectilinear again.
Another inconvenience inherent in these arrangements resides in the fact that the part of the band to which the object is presented is deformed not only in the longitudinal direction, but also in the transverse direction, and particularly when the object to be polished is put into contact with the lateral edges of the band. With this double deformation, the bands generally retain their strength only with difficulty. Furthermore, the momentary spacing of the grains of abrasive at the precise place where the object to be polished is presented tends during the course of the polishing to clog or fill up the band, which results in poor performance of the machine, and even to scratch the polished object if the band is not changed before the clogging of it becomes too great. Moreover, such machines are expensive in use.
The present invention remedies these inconveniences.
This remedy is achieved in a band-type polisher which permits operating the objects to be polished without their coming into contact with the structural parts of the machine during polishing, and which permits prolonged use of the band for better efficiency of the machines, this efficiency being in particular increased by the aid of means for giving the band the contours necessary for doing the polishing of objects in various local operations, each of these operations requiring only one pass on the band.
This remedy is further achieved according to the invention by providing a band-type polisher which comprises a drive wheel splined on the shaft of the drive motor, and which comprises a driven wheel mounted to rotate freely on a support connected to the structure of the polisher, this being characterized in that the said support forms a working head of a width substantially equal to that of the band, which working head is quite unobstructed on either side in order to not impair the orientation of the object being polished during the polishing operation.
Another novel characteristic of the polisher according to the present invention resides in the fact that it comprises a rotatable member mounted rotatably about an axle and so as to be able to turn in a plane going approximately through the longitudinal axis of the band and disposed so as to be able to turn between the pulleys and the lengths of the band between the pulleys, the rotatable member carrying at least one contact wheel mounted freely rotatably so that it can be driven momentarily by the belt, and provided with means to immobilize it so that the said contact wheel may be near the said driven wheel and also perpendicular of and substantially in the longitudinal axis of the band. The polisher further has means to apply the said contact wheel against the nonabrasive face of the band.
Another novel characteristic of the polisher according to the present invention resides in the polishing operation in which the object to be polished is placed into contact with the taut drive length of the band thus forming a plane surface.
The principal advantage of such a machine and of the process using the machine is that the polishing is done by putting the object to be polished into contact with the plane part of the band, whose abrasive grains are pressed closely together. Another advantage of the invention is inherent because of the fact that considering this arrangement, the band may be deformed without being deteriorated, this deformation being along its transverse direction.
The object to be polished is, therefore, put into contact with the band, this latter assuming the profile of the contact wheel against which it rests, so as to polish in one operation one part of the object. A set of a number of contact wheels having different profiles facilitates the operation and permits a considerable savings of time.
Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will be apparent from reading the following description of an exemplary example, and from the annexed drawings:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectioned view of a band-type polisher according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial view looking in direction F of the work-head of a band-type polisher.
FIG. 3 is a partial section along line III--III of the said work-head.
FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a band-type polisher.
FIG. 5 illustrates different profiles of parts of objects to be polished in a single operation by the aid of the polisher of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 4, a polisher according to the invention is shown as composed of a structure 1, comprising a work-head 2. The work-head 2 slants slightly toward the front of the machine, and carries, freely rotatable on an oscillating support 2a, a wheel 2b, termed hereinafter as the "driven wheel".
An electric motor 4 is disposed at the bottom of the polisher on a support 3 which is articulated to the structure 1 round an axle 3a. A vaned wheel 4b is splined to the shaft at one of its ends. An abrasive band 5, which is run round the two pulleys 2b and 4a, is tautened under the action of the pulley 4a carried by the motor 4. The pulley 2b is covered with an elastomer, and is of the type generally used in known polishers, its peripheral face being flat and its edges slightly rounded. The pulley 4a has longitudinal grooves 4c.
The width of the work-head 2 is approximately equal to that of the band 5. The oscillating support 2a is mounted so that it is able to pivot about an axle 2c (FIG. 2), which is offset relatively to the longitudinal axis of the work-head 2, so as to be simultaneously tangent to the lateral face 2d and to the end 2e of the latter. The wheel 2b is carried by the oscillating support 2a, which comprises two lateral protective webs 2f, integrated with the work-head so that no constituent part of the machine may obstruct, at either side of the said head, the orientation of the object to be polished.
The oscillating support 2a comprises, at the rear side of the polisher, a boss 2g having an inclined face 2h.
Against this face is applied a pointed element 6, which is threaded into the work-head 2 and is operated by a knurled knob 6a. The action of the pointed element 6 on the inclined face 2h of the boss 2g has the effect of causing the support 2a to pivot round the axle 2c.
This arrangement permits centering the band 5 when imperfections thereof tend to make it become displaced toward one of the side edges of the said work-head 2 while being driven.
The object to be polished is presented to the band 5 within a zone Z extending from the wheel 2b to a support point 7 whose contact face is tangent to the rectilinear part or "driving length" of the band and which is slightly convex in the form of a spherical cap. Although it is possible to polish the object by putting it into contact with the part of the band 5 running round the wheel 2b, the preferred part of the band to work with is in the zone Z. Working in the zone Z saves the band from any deterioration due to the fact that it has been observed that it is not possible to deform a band except along either the longitudinal direction or the transverse direction, but not both at the same time.
On the axis of the work-head 2, and substantially on the longitudinal axis of the band 5, the supporting point 7 is fixed level with the axis of rotation of drum 8. The rotatable member 8 comprises four arms 8a which extend along radii spaced 90°, each from the other. Each of these arms carries a wheel 8b, termed a "contact wheel" which is surrounded by an elastomer and is mounted to rotate freely.
The rotatable member 8 is splined on the shaft 8c which in turn is mounted on a tilting support 9, carried by the structure 1, and disposed horizontally and perpendicular to the shaft 8c. The rotatable member 8 is driven in rotation in such a way that it is possible to position one or the other of the contact wheels 8b before the smooth face of the abrasive band 5, and it also may be tilted toward the band so that the wheel 8b bears against the band and causes it to assume the shape of its profile. The contact wheel 8b is thus situated near the driven wheel 2b. It should be noted that this deformation should be realized without excessive tension of the band 5. FIG. 5 illustrates various forms of deformation of the band 5 when brought into contact with the said wheels 8b. It should be ensured in particular that the tangent line 11 connecting the wheels 2b and 4a, and coinciding with the driven length of the band 5 when the band 5 is not subjected to a contact with the object to be polished, divides the profile section of the contact wheel into two equal parts with the line 11 being parallel to the axis of rotation of the contact wheel.
The rotation and the tilting of the rotatable member 8 are obtained by means of a manual device, operated from the right of the machine. This device is composed of a circular plate 12, having a handle 12a to be taken hold of, the plate being mounted so as to be rotatable around an axle 12b and carried by an arm 9c integral with the support 9.
At its end opposite to that where the plate 12 is fastened, a pinion 13 is fastened. The axle 8c which carries the rotatable member 8 carries a sprocket wheel 14 at its end opposite the rotatable member 8. A chain 15 cooperates with the wheel 14 and the pinion 13.
The plate 12 is notched at its peripheral edge along a circular sector 12c, so as to be able to cooperate with a roller 16, in such a way that, when the roller 16 enters this notch, one of the contact wheels 8b is situated substantially at the axis of the band 5 and bears against this band with the pivoting of the support 9 being caused when the said roller 16 is in the notch 12. A tensile spring 17 tends to bear the plate 12 against the roller 16.
The rotatable member 8 is therefore rotated through the operation of the plate 12 after having disengaged the contact wheel 8b from the band 5 by an upward pull, so as to disconnect the plate 12 from the roller 16. During the rotation of the rotatable member 8, the plate 12 bears against the roller 16 at its peripheral edge.
In the event that it is desired to work on the band 5 without it bearing against one of the contact wheels 8b, the arms of the rotatable member are immobilized such that the arms are positioned in an X pattern relative to the machine at X, thereby clearing the work zone Z. Such immobilization may be accomplished, for example, by means of said roller 16 contacting a correspondingly positioned notch 12 in a manner as described above relative to the indexing of the contacting wheels.
To facilitate the mounting of the abrasive band 5, the drive wheel 4a has a dome-shaped protrusion 4d at one side.
The abrasive band 5 is slackened through the intermediary of a set of levers by opening the door 1b. The spring tends to hold the door closed. Dust and metal particles coming from the polishing operations are collected below the work zone Z by an inverted boot 1c so that dust carried along by the band 5 is routed toward the bottom of the machine by a conduit 18 running along the driven length of the band.
The boot and the conduit 18 end at a case 19. The vaned wheel is located inside the case 19 to form a suction fan.
The dust and metal particles 20 are thrown into a container 21, set in the lower rear part of the machine. A filter 21a permits evacuation of the air. The filter 21 is removable to permit periodic cleaning of the container 21.
It will be understood that various modifications may be made to the exemplary polisher and polishing method of this invention by a person skilled in the art without going outside the scope of the invention. | The present invention concerns an abrasive band-type polisher having a plurality of contact wheels with differing profiles carried on arms which are rotatable to bring respective ones of said contoured contact wheels into engagement with the band to cause the band to assume the profile of the contact wheel. Special provision is made to allow polishing of workpieces without engagement thereof with the structural portions of the polisher, to facilitate accurate tracking of the band during polishing, and to facilitate the substitution of contact wheels. | 1 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/754,290 filed Jan. 9, 2004 which application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/440,264 filed Jan. 14, 2003. This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/573,102 filed May 20, 2004.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Live crickets are used as bait for fishing and for pet food. There is a substantial market for live crickets. Crickets are sold by mail order and shipped in crowded shipping boxes. At retail crickets are typically stored loose in a suitable bulk container such as an aquarium, wooden box, or plastic tub. Bulk inventories of crickets take up considerable amounts of floor space. Consequently there are typically more sizes of crickets available for a retailer to sell than can be offered. Quantities of loose crickets are scooped or otherwise derived from their bulk container such as an aquarium and given to the customer in a plastic bag or like receptacle. The crickets do not thrive well in the bulk container environment unless tended to with food and water on a periodic basis. Many do not survive. Those that do may not be particularly healthy if they have been neglected. The bulk container can create odor problems at the retail establishment. The display of loose crickets can be unappealing in bulk containers. Many crickets escape and run loose about the establishment or crawl into a neighboring establishment. Inventory control is a problem because it is difficult to accurately control numbers dispensed from bulk containers and because of cricket die-offs and escapes. Dispensing crickets from a bulk container is labor intensive for the retailer and inconvenient for both the employee and consumer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention pertains to an insect habitat and retail receptacle for the purpose on the one hand of providing a healthy environment habitat for a number of live insects such as crickets and at the same time providing a retail point-of-sale or a mail order package for selling the crickets. The habitat/retail package includes a box or housing with a window or viewing opening covered by a suitable transparent material such as clear plastic or tightly woven screen. A habitat insert is located in the box. The insert is comprised of a multi-sided structure that partitions the inside of the housing into several discrete sub-spaces or compartments connected by passages. Structure of the insert can range from that of flat fiber board pieces to a convoluted structure having ridges or peaks and valleys that extend substantially from surface to surface of the box interior. The insert is constructed in such a way as to provide spaces for the crickets to crawl around from one surface of the habitat insert to another. The configuration of the insert permits insects to emerge into the light and outside view or to escape from the outside view and light from time to time as they seek out an area of comfort as their nature dictates. The insert can be of a moisture absorbent material. The insert can be a soft paper product material that is favored by crickets for chewing. The insert can be made of a nutritious material that can be consumed by the crickets. Nourishment in the form of a supply of food and water can be placed inside the box. A high moisture content food item such as a piece of carrot or commercially available cricket food can be placed inside of the box. The high moisture food item can be partially wrapped to retard moisture loss through evaporation.
The cricket habitat/package has an extended shelf life. The crickets are un-crowded and have continuous access to a food and water source that results in a generally healthier and “gut-loaded” cricket that is more nutritious to the animal being fed. The habitat/prepackage is a way to display and sell live crickets without the need to carry a bulk inventory of crickets. The habitat/package allows retailers to sell many cricket sizes where space considerations make similar bulk loose displays impractical. The prepackaged cricket habitats can be sold from a dispenser on a self-serve basis by which boxes are loaded into the dispenser from the top and dispensed from the bottom. This results in rotation of the stock. This also eliminates the need for an employee diversion to dispense crickets from a bulk container.
The housing can be made difficult to open so as to be tamper proof. The crickets, however, are clearly visible through the window of the housing. The housing can have a perforated punch-out opening pattern in a wall. The opening can be punched out when the box is placed in a pet environment where the crickets are intended as pet food. The crickets exit the box through the punched out opening over a period of time effectively managing the dispersion of pet food into the pet environment. When fed in this way, the pet environment is kept clean of the waste products like cricket feces, shed skins, food, and bedding that would normally be introduced when crickets are shaken from their container into an animal's living area.
The habitat insert in the box provides a climbing and nesting habitat for the crickets. It also provides areas and spaces for the more vulnerable crickets to hide from the others and from view through the window. The material of the insert and of the box absorbs and disperses condensation as may develop during shipping or as may be generated by live insects or the food and water supplement in the box. The window covering can be made of a micro-pore material that allows the escape of moisture. The window covering can be made of a tightly woven screen to do the same. The box and the insert provide dark areas for the crickets to escape from the light and from one another. Crickets generate organic debris in the form of shed skin and body waste as well as spent food and chewed bedding. The box can have collector panels or surfaces carrying a low tack adhesive that will collect and hold the debris so that it is not dispensed with the crickets. The adhesive is tacky enough to collect the debris but light enough so as not to inhibit cricket movement about the interior of the box.
The habitat insert creates additional surface area inside the box available for crickets to nest and climb upon. The insert helps the box to keep its shape and from being crushed, lending support from top-to-bottom, side-to-side and end to end.
According to another form of the invention a cricket habitat/retail package has a cylindrical housing. A convoluted habitat insert can be located in the housing. An adhesive tacky enough to collect the debris but light enough so as not to inhibit cricket movement about the interior of the box can be applied to the interior of the box. An end cover to the housing has a window for viewing the interior of the housing.
IN THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is perspective view of a cricket habitat/retail package according to one form of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 2 taken along the line 3 - 3 thereof;
FIG. 4 is a view of the end of the box of the cricket habitat of FIG. 1 in an open configuration to show the closure system thereof;
FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a dispenser holding a number of cricket habitat/retail packages of FIG. 1 displayed for retail sale;
FIG. 6 is a side view in perspective of a cricket habitat/retail package according to a second form of the invention;
FIG. 7 is an end view of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 6 ;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 7 taken along the line 8 - 8 thereof showing a cover removed;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 6 taken along the line 9 - 9 thereof;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a modification of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 1 with the habitat insert omitted for purposes of clarity;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 10 taken along the line 11 - 11 thereof;
FIG. 12 is another view of the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 10 with an insert included showing an end panel closed and a punch-out opening created in a housing wall;
FIG. 13 is a view of a cricket habitat/retail package having a modification of a habitat insert and having a portion of the package housing removed for purposes of illustration;
FIG. 14 is a view in perspective of a habitat/retail package having another modification of a habitat insert;
FIG. 15 is a sectional view of the habitat/retail package of FIG. 14 taken along the line 15 - 15 thereof;
FIG. 16 is an end view of a habitat/retail package with a modified end closure having a tear-away strip;
FIG. 17 is an end view of the habitat/retail package of FIG. 16 with the tear-away strip removed and preparatory to re-closing the box; and
FIG. 18 is an end view of the habitat/retail package of FIG. 17 closed.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4 , there is shown an insect habitat and retail package indicated generally at 10 . As described herein habitat 10 houses crickets although habitat 10 could house other species of insect as well. Habitat 10 includes a housing 12 . Housing 12 can be formed of a moisture absorbent material such as a paperboard material. The term paperboard is used comprehensively to include, without limitation, cardboard, fiberboard, and similar products made from cellulose fiber and having a thickness greater than normal paper. Housing 12 can be fabricated of other material fabricated to permit the escape of moisture from the interior of the housing. This could include, for example, a perforated plastic. Housing 12 has an interior space or room for habitation by crickets. Housing 12 has a front wall 14 , a back wall 16 , a top wall 18 and a bottom wall 20 which define the interior habitat space for insects. The various walls are opaque. Housing 12 has end openings closed by end walls 22 , 24 formed of end wall panels as will be more fully described. The end walls can be glued or constructed to fold together in such a way as to seal the package. The box can be of varying dimensions such as 1″ to 3″ high, 3″ to 5″ wide and 2″ to 4″ deep. By way of example, the box can typically be 3″×4″×2″ and house 25 to 50 crickets.
Housing 12 has a sight window 27 for viewing crickets. Sight window 27 is a corner window. The sight window 27 is comprised of a first cutout opening 28 in the top wall 18 and an adjoining second cutout opening 30 in the front wall 14 . A transparent material 32 covers the opening. The transparent material can be a continuous clear transparent paper or plastic material covering the cutout openings and traversing the corner formed at top wall 18 and front wall 14 . Alternatively the covering material can be a tightly woven screen. The sight window 27 admits light and enables viewing of a portion of the interior of the housing 12 from the outside. The sight window can by way of example be 2″ to 4″ wide and have a dimension of 1″ to 2″ on the front wall of the housing, and 1½″ to 2½″ on the top wall.
In certain environments moisture accumulation in the air inside of housing 12 can be problematic. Crickets do not like moisture. The moisture can collect on an impermeable sight window covering material made of transparent plastic. Debris in the housing can adhere to this condensation. When the condensation dries, the debris is stuck to the window covering rendering it unsightly. One way to address this problem is through a window covering formed of a tightly woven mesh. Another way is through the use of a transparent covering material 32 formed of a plastic or plastic-like micro-pore material having micro-perforations of a size suitable to permit the escape of moisture from the interior of housing 12 . Such a material can have micro-perforations in the order of magnitude of 70 micron to 300 micron. The micro-perforations serve to let moisture out of the housing 12 . At the same time condensation of moisture on the inside of the window is avoided.
A cricket habitat environment is provided by a multisided habitat insert located inside the housing 12 . The purpose of the habitat insert is to divide the space inside housing 12 into habitat spaces or compartments that are connected but separated from one another so as to provide multiple nesting areas for the crickets as well as areas of escape for the crickets from other crickets and from the light. The compartments are divided in such a manner that at least one compartment is shielded from direct light entering through the window 27 to provide at least one subdued lighting environment for the crickets.
As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 , housing 12 has a habitat insert 34 . Insert 34 substantially fills housing 12 from side-to-side, end-to-end and top-to-bottom. Insert 34 is a multi-sided partition of thin walls that can have flat, curved or convoluted surfaces or combinations thereof. Insert 34 can have a surface roughness 35 . In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 3 insert 34 has a convoluted or egg carton shape structure. Habitat insert 34 formed this way has top and bottom surfaces characterized by peaks or ridges 36 , 40 separated by valleys 38 .
Housing 12 with insert 34 provides an ideal environment for crickets. The insert can be loosely disposed inside the housing 12 or can be constructed in such a way with formed holes or cutout openings as to provide access passages such as the passage 44 ( FIG. 3 ) for crickets 43 to move from one surface area to another. The insert 34 offers a large surface area for the crickets 43 to crawl about. Crickets are known to be omnivorous whereby more dominant crickets will eat more vulnerable ones. The various surfaces of habitat insert 34 and the access passages 44 permit the more vulnerable crickets to escape to other areas. The insert partitions the interior of housing 12 into a multiple of subspaces or separate but connected compartments 42 for the crickets. Some compartments are more shielded than others from light entering the window opening. The various areas of insert 34 provide dark areas for live crickets 43 as well as areas of subdued light, both of which are preferred by crickets.
The material of the insert 34 can be moisture absorbent to absorb condensation that may develop in the package during shipping or otherwise. The insert 34 adds a measure of rigidity to the housing 12 by spanning the interior volume thereof. This is useful in terms of shipping the item and inventorying and dispensing the item in a store.
Insert 34 can be manufactured from a nutritious edible material such as a heavy gauge rice paper or wafer paper. As crickets are prone to chew the insert material, the provision of nutritious material is beneficial to the insects and consequently to animals they feed.
Food and water are provided in the housing 12 . These can take the form of a high moisture food item such as a piece of carrot or such as the cricket food item indicated at 46 in FIG. 3 . Crickets with such a food supply can survive for a period of at least seven days. The food supply can be periodically replenished. This prolongs the shelf-life of the product.
Food item 46 provides nourishment in the form of food and moisture. Water can evaporate from the exposed food item which can leave it dry and unappetizing to the cricket as well as depriving the cricket of needed water. As shown in FIG. 3 a wrap 47 can partially cover the food item 46 but leave portions exposed and accessible to the crickets. The wrap 47 can extend around the food item but leave the ends exposed. Wrap 47 can be formed of a suitable material such as a thin plastic sheet. Wrap 47 alternatively can be applied to the food and water supplement in the form of a suitable impermeable spray, or by dipping or by painted coating. Wrap 47 retards moisture loss from the food item through evaporation. This results in a longer lasting food item and extends the shelf life of the insect habitat/retail package.
It is desirable to eliminate pin-point light spots in housing 12 of the type that occurs at closure corners. Crickets are attracted to such light spots and tend to chew there and then escape through the chewed opening. The end walls of housing 12 and insert 34 contained in housing 12 address this problem.
As shown in FIG. 4 , end wall 22 closes an end opening 23 to housing 12 . End wall 22 includes opposing end panels 50 , 52 that are pivotally attached to the edges of front and back walls 14 , 16 adjacent end opening 23 and are positioned to fold over the end opening 23 . Each of the end panels 50 , 52 has a sufficient length and width to cover the end opening 23 when folded over it.
Top and bottom panels 54 , 56 are connected to the edges of the top and bottom walls 18 , 20 of housing 12 adjacent the end opening 23 and are foldable over the end panels. Bottom panel 56 has a length and width to substantially cover the end opening 23 when folded over the end panels 50 , 52 . Bottom panel 56 has an outer lip 58 that is inserted between the edges of the end panels in the closed position and the adjacent part of top wall 18 .
Top panel 54 has tapered edges ending in a tongue 60 and is adapted to be folded over the end panels 50 , 52 and bottom panel 56 . A slot 62 is located at the intersection of the bottom panel 56 and the bottom wall 20 . When the top panel 54 is folded over the end opening 23 , the tongue 60 can be inserted into the slot 62 in order to secure closure 22 in the closed position. When closed light leakage is substantially eliminated.
FIG. 5 shows a dispenser indicated generally at 61 for the cricket habitat/retail package of FIG. 1 . The dispenser 61 includes a long, upright dispenser carton 62 having a rectangular cross-section with interior dimensions sufficient to accommodate the cricket habitat/retail packages 10 . Dispenser carton 62 has a front wall 64 , side walls 66 connected to a back wall (not shown). A hinged lid 68 closes the top opening formed at the top of the front, side and back walls. Opening the hinged lid 68 permits loading the dispenser carton 62 with packages 10 to be displayed for resale. A bottom wall 70 supports packages 10 held in the dispenser.
Front wall 64 has sight slots 72 for viewing packages 10 stored in the dispenser 61 . Slots 72 also allow direct air exchange to vent air onto and moisture away from packages 10 stored in the dispenser. A dispensing opening 74 is located at the lower end of front wall 64 . Dispensing opening 74 is large enough to permit packages 10 to be withdrawn or dispensed one at a time from the dispenser housing 62 . As a package is removed from the dispensing opening 74 the next package drops down to the position of the previously withdrawn one. There is a continual rotation of stock. The carton 62 can be hung on a wall or placed in a stand and used as a self-service display. The carton covers the corners of the boxes that might otherwise permit light seepage. Darkened corners provide no incentive for crickets to chew isolated points. This reduces the likelihood of escape by way of chewing out of the box.
FIGS. 6 through 9 show a further embodiment of a cricket habitat/retail package according to the invention indicated generally at 80 . Cricket habitat 80 includes a cylindrical box or housing 82 formed of fiber board or a material having properties similar to fiber board. Housing 82 is moisture absorbent and has opaque cylindrical sidewalls 84 . A habitat insert 86 is located inside housing 82 . Habitat insert 86 is a convoluted sheet material extending from side-to-side across the interior of housing 82 and is formed with openings or in such a way as to allow insects to crawl from one surface to another. Insert 86 has convolutions 88 providing a large surface area on which the live crickets 90 can crawl about. The ends of insert 86 are spaced from the ends of housing 80 permitting crickets 90 to crawl from one surface of the habitat insert 86 to the other. A food item 92 is lodged in the habitat insert 86 . Sidewalls 84 and habitat insert 86 are a moisture absorbent material for purposes previously described.
Cricket habitat 80 includes a removable cover 94 secured in a first end of housing 82 . Cover 94 is circular and frictionally fits in the open end of housing 82 . Cover 94 includes a rim 96 that frictionally engages the interior walls of housing 82 at the end thereof. Rim 96 surrounds a cover base 98 . Cover base 98 is a sight window formed of a transparent material such as a transparent plastic or tightly woven screen so as to permit viewing of crickets inside the housing 82 from the exterior thereof. Cover rim 96 and cover base 98 can be formed of a single piece of transparent material.
The second end of housing 82 is closed. It can be closed by a second friction-fit removable cover 102 . Second cover 102 can be transparent or opaque. Alternatively the second end of housing 82 can be closed by a permanent closure means.
FIGS. 10 and 12 show a modification of the insect habitat and retail package of FIG. 1 indicated generally at 10 A. In FIG. 10 the habitat insert is removed for purposes of clarity. The package 10 A includes a housing 12 A with an interior space for habitation by the insects. The housing 12 A has a front wall 14 , a top wall 18 and a sight window 27 . An end of the housing or box 12 A is closable by opposing end panels 50 , 52 attached to the edges of the front and back walls of the housing 12 A for folding between open and closed positions. Top and bottom panels 54 , 56 A are connected to the edges of the top and bottom walls 18 , 20 of housing 12 and are foldable over the end panels as previously described.
A perforated pattern for a punch-out egress opening is formed in a wall of the housing 12 A. The purpose of an egress opening is to allow the crickets to exit the housing 12 A one at a time in a contained pet environment as opposed to simply broadcasting the crickets about the pet environment. Reptile pets such as lizards enjoy stalking food prey. An egress opening from the habitat housing will provide amusement to the reptile that will excitedly monitor the opening waiting for prey. Alternatively the egress opening permits a user to shake the housing 12 A in salt-shaker like fashion to distribute crickets in a desired amount and location.
A punch-out egress opening pattern can be located on any convenient wall of housing 12 A. As shown in FIG. 10 , a punch-out egress opening pattern 108 is formed in the bottom panel 56 A of one of the end closures of the housing 12 A. The punch-out pattern includes a perforation line 109 that describes an intended opening, and a linear fold line 110 . The ends of perforation line 109 connect to the ends of fold line 110 . The perforation line 109 describes a closed pattern with the fold line 110 in the shape of the intended egress opening.
Until use the area described by the perforation line 109 is intact with the rest of the bottom panel 56 A. At the time of use, pressure is applied to the area bordered by the perforation line 109 . Referring to FIG. 12 , under the influence of pressure applied, the perforation line gives way to form a door 112 which can be pivoted about the fold line 110 to create an egress opening 113 . Alternatively the perforation line 109 could describe the entire intended egress opening whereby the door 112 would simply be completely punched out and removed.
As shown in FIG. 12 , the bottom panel 56 A is moved to covering relationship over the open end of housing 12 A with the remaining end panels 50 , 52 , 54 out of the way. Crickets 115 can randomly exit the housing 12 A by wandering through the egress opening 113 . Crickets can also be distributed by shaking the housing 12 A with the egress opening 113 facing down so that the crickets fall out.
Insects including crickets generate a considerable amount of debris in the form of shed skin and organic waste. In the confined space of housing 12 A such debris can accumulate and become undesirable particularly upon dispensing the crickets from the box. The housing 12 A includes one or more collector surfaces or panels to collect and accumulate the debris. As shown in FIG. 10 , the housing 12 A includes a first collector surface or panel 118 installed on the interior surface of an end panel 52 which will face the interior of housing 12 A when closed. A second collector panel 119 is located on the bottom wall 20 of housing 12 A and is exposed to the interior thereof. A collector panel can be located on any convenient exposed interior surface including exposed interior walls or the surfaces of the habitat insert.
Each collector panel includes a cold or light adhesive layer to attach and collect insect debris. The adhesive is a low tack adhesive that does not stick very strongly. The adhesive is tacky enough to adhere to and collect the insect debris, but not so adherent as to unduly impede the movement of the crickets in the housing.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 , the collector panel 118 includes a substrate or carrier 121 fixed to the interior surface of the end panel 52 . The carrier 121 carries an adhesive layer 120 of the type described above. The adhesive layer is effective to collect insect debris 122 so that it will not tumble about and out of the interior of housing 12 A while not unduly inhibiting insect movement about the housing 12 A. A low tack adhesive approximately as tacky as that used on Post-It Note® brand note pads has been found to be satisfactory.
Alternatively a collector panel can be comprised of an adhesive layer applied directly to a surface in lieu of being applied to a substrate fixed surface. The adhesive of collector panel 119 is applied directly to the surface of the housing wall 20 by suitable means such as brushing or spraying.
FIG. 13 shows a further embodiment of a cricket habitat and retail receptacle indicated generally at 10 B. Package 10 B has a housing 12 B that contains a habitat insert 124 . Habitat insert 124 is comprised of insert panels 125 , 126 . A first panel 125 extends from an upper rear corner of the housing 12 B to a lower forward corner. The second panel 126 extends from the upper forward corner of the housing 12 B to the lower rear corner. The panels centrally intersect. The panels can intersect by engagement of centrally located mutually aligned slots 128 . Together the panels 125 , 126 substantially fill the interior of the housing 12 B and partition it into separate habitat compartments, one or more being shielded from direct light entering the window 27 . Openings 129 are formed at various locations in the panels 125 , 126 in order to provide passages from one compartment to another. The habitat insert panels 125 , 126 can be formed of a moisture absorbent paperboard product as previously described, or an edible material that is nutritious for the crickets. The partitions can have a thickness that is approximately equal to that of the thickness of the sidewalls of the housing 12 B.
FIGS. 14 and 15 show another embodiment of a cricket habitat and retail receptacle. Habitat 10 C includes a box-like housing 12 C with a sight window 27 . A habitat insert 131 is located in the housing 12 C. Habitat insert 131 includes a partition panel 132 that spans the width of housing 12 C and extends from the upper rear corner to the lower forward corner. A rear leg 134 extends from the upper edge of the partition panel 132 horizontally to the lower rear corner of housing 12 C. Foot 135 extends forward from the lower edge of the leg 134 . The leg 134 and foot 135 serve to support partition panel 132 in place in the housing 12 C. A passage opening 138 is provided to permit the cricket to travel from one partitioned area of housing 12 C to another.
The front face of the partition panel 132 can carry a design such as the camouflage design shown in FIG. 14 for viewing through the window 27 . The camouflage design can take the form of foliage such as leaves along with crickets crawling among the leaves. The camouflage design is aesthetically pleasing and conveys to the prospective customer the nature of the habitat/retail package 10 C.
An alternative end closure for the cricket habitat/retail receptacle is shown in FIGS. 16-18 . A housing 12 D has an outer end panel 140 . The lower edge 143 of panel 140 is glued to the next adjacent panel 148 to securely close the end of the box. Panel 140 includes a tear strip 141 that extends horizontally across the width of the end panel 140 . An upper perforation line 142 and a lower perforation line 144 define tear strip 141 . The upper perforation line 142 is indented to define a closure tab 145 . The next adjacent panel 148 has a horizontal slot 147 . The slot 147 is positioned to receive the closure tab 145 .
In use, the retail receptacle package initially has the tear strip 141 intact on the outer panel 140 . In lieu of having to rip the panels apart against the glue, the tear strip 141 is simply torn away from the outer panel 140 . The upper portion of the panel 140 can be pivoted away from the box end. The remaining end panels can be folded open for access to the interior of the housing 12 D.
The housing 12 D is closed by folding the upper panel on 140 to a position where the closure tab 145 is poised over and inserted into the closure slot 147 . | A live insect habitat that also serves as a retail receptacle for point of sale display of the insects. In particular, the invention comprises a cricket habitat and point of sale display receptacle for the sale of live crickets primarily for fishing bait and pet food purposes. The habitat/receptacle includes a housing having side walls with a sight window formed therein for purposes of permitting viewing of the inside of the housing and insect habitat from the outside. A habitat insert is located inside the housing and includes a multiple-sided member that partitions the interior space of the housing into discrete subspaces connected by passages giving the crickets ample room in which to crawl about. The housing and the habitat insert can be made of a moisture absorbent material in order to reduce the moisture content of the cricket environment. An item of cricket food is located in the housing whereby the retail habitat/receptacle has a prolonged shelf life while maintaining healthy live crickets. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of “tablet” form-factor digital devices. More specifically, the present invention is related to a modified “tablet” form-factor digital device which can physically “dock” with like devices to create a larger, more capable device.
[0003] 2. Discussion of Related Art
[0004] A tablet form factor is a “single slab” device which generally does not have a hinged keyboard section (in comparison to a notebook computer), but is essentially a screen device with some sort of touch screen as the primary input. Current examples on the market are the Fujitsu “Stylistic” series of tablet computers (representing Win9x devices), and at a smaller scale, Palm Pilot and handheld WinCE devices.
[0005] Many times, work utilizing such tablet form factor devices involves two or more people in immediate proximity to each other collaborating on some task which involves the use of such devices. In most collaborative environments such as this, the devices are digitally linked in some manner (IR, radio, ethernet) where data is shared on a “virtual whiteboard”. This whiteboard displays redundant, identical information on each device, which each user can thereby modify independently on their own device.
[0006] In these cases, the additional display, and essentially the entire hardware of the additional devices, are wasted due to their redundancy. In addition, portable products generally make sacrifices in screen area and hardware capability for the tradeoff of increased portability (smaller size and weight). Significant disadvantages result by failing to combine the resources, such as the displays, of each device in scenarios such as this.
[0007] The technique of “tiling” CRT or LCD displays has been demonstrated before, however, all efforts have focused on creating a large, permanent, single purpose display. The driving reason behind such techniques is to create a lower-cost tiled display (due to economies of scale of smaller displays) in comparison to a single display of comparable size. Two companies which have been working in this area are Sharp Corp. and Rainbow Displays, Inc.
[0008] The following US patents describe methods for tiling LCD screens together or the displaying of an image on multiple synchronized display units: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,760,388; 4,800,376; 4,844,068; 5,275,565; 5,661,531; 5,805,117; 5,838,405; 5,903,328; and 5,956,046.
[0009] Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieve a collaborative environment wherein a modular display and computing device can be increased and decreased in size and function in response to the task at hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] One or more sections on a housing of a portable computing device are selectively removed or folded away, thereby exposing a free edge of the display screen as well as electrical connectors and structural connectors. Two or more such devices are docked utilizing the exposed connectors such that the exposed screen edges abut. Upon docking, the devices recognize the new configuration and re-map the desktop area of the display into a single display for the combined device.
[0011] One embodiment of the present invention allows either, or both, the top edge or side edge of the housing to be simply pivoted underneath the device to expose the edge of the device screen. Electrical and structural connectors are exposed as well. The edges of the device are sharply angled, allowing the edge of the device to pivot under itself without adding any substantial thickness to the device. The two folding side sections are split at a 45 degree angle, allowing for independent rotation of the sections, while still providing the maximum potential protection to the screen edge. When one side is folded down, the other edge extends beyond the screen edge, and therefore must be accommodated for in the mating device with a corresponding cut-out area. These male and female shapes provide the added advantage of a visual cue as to how the two devices connect.
[0012] Additionally, in another embodiment, other computing resources, such as RAM and CPU cycles, are shared when two such devices are docked.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] [0013]FIG. 1 a illustrates a front plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] [0014]FIG. 1 b illustrates a front plan view of an embodiment of the present invention with one edge folded.
[0015] [0015]FIG. 2 a illustrates a back plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] [0016]FIG. 2 b illustrates a front plan view of an embodiment of the present invention with one edge folded.
[0017] [0017]FIG. 2 c illustrates a back angled view of an embodiment of the present invention with one edge folded.
[0018] [0018]FIG. 3 illustrates docking of two devices of an embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] [0019]FIG. 4 a illustrates a landscape orientation of two docked devices of an embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] [0020]FIG. 4 b illustrates a portrait orientation of two docked devices of an embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] [0021]FIG. 5 a illustrates a landscape orientation of two docked devices of an embodiment of the present invention utilizing PDAs.
[0022] [0022]FIG. 5 b illustrates a portrait orientation of two docked devices of an embodiment of the present invention utilizing PDAs.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] While this invention is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment, the device may be produced in many different configurations, forms and materials. There is depicted in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as a exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications of the materials for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the present invention.
[0024] As part of the present invention a housing/mechanism for a tablet form-factor computing device allows the edge of the device's display to be exposed. Once exposed, the display may be abutted to another like display on a like device to create a larger display meta-device.
[0025] One realization of the present invention is a device where just a single side of the device pivots. Although easier to implement, however, it limits the combined screen configuration to a single aspect ratio. With the advent of new low-temperature polysilicon LCD displays, LCD screens only need two edges of the display connected to driver circuitry, allowing two sides to be totally free of physical features that would prevent the abutment of the screens. When designed such that two sides can pivot, two aspect ratios can be created, 1) a long and thin landscape view, and 2) a more square portrait view, allowing for a choice of formats that will best fit the shape of the displayed data. In addition, by allowing more than one side to pivot, more than two such devices can be joined, allowing for a much larger combined display and computing power
[0026] [0026]FIG. 1 a illustrates a front view of an embodiment of the present invention. Tablet device 104 comprises a display 108 and a plurality of edges 100 , 102 , 112 , and 116 . Two of the edges 100 , 102 are capable of being folded towards the back surface of the device such that the device is able to be docked with a similar device in two orientations, landscape or portrait, dependent upon which side is pivoted. Or, rather than just providing for two orientations, both sides are pivoted at the same time allowing more than two such devices to be combined. Edges 112 , 116 are stationary and extend along perpendicularly oriented sides of the device while edges 100 , 102 extend along the other perpendicularly oriented sides of the device. At the point where foldable edges 100 , 102 meet 110 , edges 100 , 102 are split at a 45 degree angle 114 . In addition, the corner where edges 100 , 102 meet 110 is shaped rather than rectangular to provide male physical forms when one of edges 100 , 102 are folded towards the back surface of the device. The ends of stationary edges 112 , 116 which meet with foldable edges 100 , 102 are provided with docking cutouts 106 a , 106 b so as to provide female forms when one of edges 100 , 102 are folded towards the back surface of the device. The use of movable edge sections 100 , 102 is advantageous as they provide protection to the connectors and the edge of the display which are exposed when the device is to be mated with a similar device.
[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 1 b, when one of the foldable edges, in this illustration edge 100 , is folded under, a male docking edge point 118 extending beyond the edge of LCD screen and female docking cutout 106 a are exposed such that they may be mated with corresponding cutouts and edge points on another similar device having its corresponding edge folded. Corner 110 where edges 100 , 102 meet and 45 degree split 114 of the edges provides for triangular edge point 118 extending beyond the edge of the LCD screen 108 . Additionally, docking cut 106 a and LCD screen edge 120 become exposed when edge 100 is folded back.
[0028] [0028]FIGS. 2 a and 2 b illustrate sequential back views of the device shown in FIGS. 1 a and 1 b having unfolded edges and a folded edge, respectively. As shown, sides 200 of the device are angled. In this manner, when edge 100 or edge 102 is folded under the device, the folded edge does not add thickness to the device.
[0029] A three dimensional back view is illustrated in FIG. 2 c which further illustrates male edge point 118 , female docking cutout 106 , and exposed screen edge 120 . Electrical connectors 202 are placed symmetrically across exposed edge 120 whereby a male electrical connector on one side would mate with a female electrical connector on the other device. The exact type (i.e. physical, optical, RF, etc.) and configuration of the connectors is determined by the size and type of device. Electrical connectors may include both power and data busses, or separate connectors may be provided for the power and data busses.
[0030] Utilizing mating sections 106 a , 118 , a second device 302 , with a corresponding edge folded down, and the entire device rotated 180 degrees, two devices are capable of being docked together, as is illustrated in FIG. 3. Device 104 has edge 100 folded exposing male edge point 118 , female docking cut out 106 a and edge 120 . Device 302 has a corresponding edge also folded back (not shown) and is rotated 180 degrees such that male edge point 304 of device 302 is aligned to female docking cutout 106 a of device 104 and male edge point 118 of device 104 is aligned with female docking cutout 306 of device 302 . Electrical connectors 202 (not shown in FIG. 3) are placed symmetrically across the exposed edges whereby a male electrical connector on one device mates with a female electrical connector on the other device. Devices 104 and 302 are physically pushed together and docked. Upon being docked, displays 108 , 308 combine to form a single coplanar display surface and the two devices 104 , 302 recognize the new configuration and re-map the desktop area of the display into a single display device. The specifics of re-mapping the display are not critical to the understanding of the present invention. Any known or future method of remapping two or more screens into one screen can be used without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0031] The physical and structurally linking of the two devices into a single monolithic device provides the advantage of displaying twice the screen area. Another advantage is obtained when hardware components, such as RAM and CPU cycles, are shared, creating a parallel processing device, that can run more demanding software than each individual unit could alone. Additionally, the physical connection allows for any new information created during the collaborative session to be immediately synchronized between the two devices, bypassing the secondary step of “beaming” information to the other device. The form factor of the linked devices also encourages positive social positioning of the two users in a side by side orientation, reinforcing a collaborative environmental setting.
[0032] [0032]FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show two tablet computing devices according to the present invention docked together with their screens re-mapped to a single screen for the combined device. FIG. 4 a shows the devices arranged such that a landscape orientation is produced. FIG. 4 b shows the devices arranged such that a portrait orientation is produced.
[0033] [0033]FIGS. 5 a and 5 b illustrate the use of the present invention in so-called “personal digital assistant” (PDA) computing devices. FIG. 5 a illustrates two such equipped devices arranged in a landscape orientation, while FIG. 5 b illustrates the devices arranged in a portrait orientation.
[0034] While specific structures and shapes have been illustrated by the present disclosure, i.e. the structural docking points are located at opposite ends of the exposed edge and having a male-female relationship, the present invention should not be deemed limited by such disclosure. Other manners of providing a structural link, dependent upon the specific tablet form factor, can be utilized. Additionally, while a triangular shape has been illustrated for the structural docking points, other shapes can be used in a manner advantageous to the specific tablet form factor device being utilized. In addition, the embodiments have illustrated only two devices combined, however, the present invention is not limited thereto. More than one device is able to be combined with a device when more than one edge with electrical and structural connectors are exposed at the same time.
Conclusion
[0035] A system and method has been shown in the above embodiments for the implementation of a tablet form factor device capable of being docked with a like device to increase display size and computing power. While various embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. | A section of a housing on a portable computing device is removed or folded away, thereby exposing a free edge of an LCD screen as well as electrical (data and power) connectors and structural connectors. Connectors are placed symmetrically across the exposed edge whereby a male connector on one side mates with a female connector on the other device. Two such devices are physically pushed together, with locking catches securing the two devices together. Upon docking, the two devices recognize the new configuration and re-map the desktop area of the display into a single display for the combined device. In a preferred embodiment, either a top edge or a side edge is selectively exposed independently on the same device, to mate two devices in either a portrait or landscape orientation. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 604,155 filed on Aug. 13, 1975 and now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for growing plants singly in individual spaced-apart root support beds and to a method for cultivating the plants in said apparatus and for varying the spacing of the plants according to their growth stage. In particular, the invention relates to a system of elongated channels having interior ducts for continuously supplying fluid growth regulating media to plants spaced apart on elongated members above the bottoms of the channels, the spacing between corresponding plants in adjacent channels being increased as the plants mature.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art known as hydroponics of growing plants in nutrient solutions, with or without a porous inert medium to provide mechanical support, has been practiced with oblong boxes filled to a predetermined level with an aqueous nutrient solution. The plants are typically supported on a holding stand such as a perforated cover on each box that allows the roots of the plants to depend into the nutrient solution, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,189,510 issued Feb. 6, 1940 to M. W. Swaney.
In the Swaney patent, individual plants are held in support blocks set in spaced holes in the cover. The plants can be rearranged by shifting them to different holes in the cover. Because the plant roots continually excrete toxic matter, the nutrient solution in the boxes must be drained and replaced by fresh solution periodically.
Another procedure for increasing the spacing of plants grown hydroponically is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,491 issued to R. S. Farnsworth. The plants are placed initially on small buoyant rafts spaced close together and floating in a nutrient solution. As the plants grow larger and heavier, the small rafts are placed on larger rafts, which provide greater buoyancy and increased lateral spacing.
In conventional soil cultivation of plants grown singly in individual pots, it is a known procedure to transplant to larger pots and to increase the spacing between pots, as described in "Crysanthemums The Year Round" by Searle and Machin, published by Blandford Press, London in 1968.
Still another system for increasing the space between plants as they grow is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,447 issued to O. Ruthner on June 7, 1966. The Ruthner system comprises a ladder-like conveyor belt having elongated vertically oriented loops. Plant containers are suspended from spaced transverse bars or "rungs" of the conveyor belt. The belt moves continuously, and the containers dip into open receptacles of nutrient solution periodically each time they traverse a lower reversing point between two vertical paths of the belt. In embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 of the patent, the belt follows a serpentine path, and the spacing between adjacent vertical loops increases to accommodate progressively larger plants as they mature.
Thus, it is well known in the prior art of hydroponics cultivation that the nutrient solution supplied to the plants must be replenished or replaced periodically to avoid excessive buildup of toxins excreted by the plants. It is also known to minimize the area required for growing plants by cultivating the plants singly in individual beds or pots and by shifting the beds or pots to provide more space as the plants grow larger.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method adapted for fully automated continuous supply of fresh cultivation regulating media to and continuous draining off of surplus media from a larger number of plants growing singly in individual spaced apart root support beds.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for increasing the spacing between large numbers of plants grown singly in individual root support beds with a minimum expenditure of labor or energy.
These and other objects are achieved by use of apparatus for cultivating a multiplicity of plants grown singly in individual root support beds, the apparatus comprising an elongated U-shaped channel having a bottom and a pair of spaced upright sides. Guides extend the length of the interior face of each side parallel to and spaced between the bottom and the upper margin or each side.
An elongated member such as a horizontal conveyor belt is supported by the guides along the length of the channel and is adapted to support individual porous root support beds of single plants so that they are spaced above the bottom of the channel.
At least one continuous, preferably integral, duct extends the length of the channel along the interior surface of at least one of the sides. The duct has longitudinally spaced outlets adapted to deliver liquid growth or cultivation-regulating media from the duct to the interior of the channel above the elongated member, the space between the member and the bottom of the channel being adapted to carry off surplus liquid cultivation-regulating media drained from said member.
The apparatus may further comprise a pair of flexible opaque flaps, each flap being attached to the upper margin of a respective side of the channel and extending upwardly and inwardly therefrom. The flaps terminate in a pair of adjacent lips extending the length of the channel, the lips being adapted to yieldingly embrace the stems of plants in the channel to permit growth and longitudinal movement of such plants in the channel while reducing moisture loss from the channel and protecting the plant roots from exposure to light. The flaps also prevent condensation of moisture from the channel on the undersides of the plant leaves and prevent growth of algae in the channel.
The elongated member, which is supported in the guides and in turn supports the spaced apart plants, preferably has a flat central part and raised side margins to form a reservoir for liquid cultivation-regulating media. The raised side margins may comprise upright side portions, preferably with turned-in upper edges adapted to secure a root complex of plants growing in the channel and to restrain the roots from growing out of the reservoir.
The apparatus of the invention also includes devices adapted to increase the spacing of individual plants in the channel. One embodiment of such a device comprises a plurality of carrier sections for individual plant beds movably aligned along the elongated member and a fexible line connecting each of the carrier sections together. The line between adjacent carrier sections has a predetermined length equal to the maximum desired spacing between the plants.
An alternative embodiment comprises a plurality of carrier sections and spring means connecting adjacent sections; so that the spacing between sections is determined by the tension exerted on the spring means.
Another embodiment of a plant spacing device comprises a plurality of linearly spaced spring-actuated coilers adapted to extend along one side of a conveyor belt. A carrier arm is mounted on each coiler for rotation therewith, and lengths of wire connect adjacent coilers. The wires are adapted to be wound on the coilers by the actuating springs and to be unwound in response to tension exerted on the wires. As the wires unwind, the carrier arms are turned and adapted to contact corresponding plant beds on the conveyor belt and to push said beds further apart with increasing tension in the wires.
Still another spacing device embodiment comprises a plurality of holders spaced on a wire adapted to extend along one side of a conveyor belt. A carrier arm is pivotally mounted on each holder and bears resiliently against a stop with the arm perpendicular to the wire; so that the arm is adapted to extend across the conveyor belt when the wire is pulled in one direction the carrier arm swings away from the stop against the resilient force when the wire is pulled in the opposite direction.
In addition to providing means for increasing the spacing of individual plants in a channel of the apparatus, the invention further provides a system comprising a multiplicity of elongated channels arranged in straight parallel lines and means for supporting the channels for lateral movement transverse to their longitudinal axes; so that the spacing between adjacent channels can be adjusted according to the size of plants in the channels.
The system further may include a header extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axes of the channels adjacent to one end thereof for supplying fluid cultivation-reguating media under pressure. A multiplicity of flexible tubes is connected between a respective multiplicity of outlets spaced along the header and the corresponding channels for delivering the liquid cultivation-regulating media from the header to the one end of each channel while permitting lateral shifting of said channels on the support means. Preferably, the system also includes motorized means for laterally shifting the channels on the support means.
At the other ends of the channels, the system provides an open trough extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axes of the channels directly underneath said other ends for carrying away surplus liquid cultivation-regulating media drained from the channels.
The method of the invention comprises broadly the steps of arranging linearly spaced individual beds of single plants on support surfaces in at least two adjacent horizontal channels, the support surfaces being spaced above the bottoms of the respective channels; continuously flowing cultivation-regulating media into each channel to supply the media to the individual beds; continuously draining off noxious substances from the plants in the space between each support surface and the bottom of each channel; increasing the spacing between adjacent beds in each channel in accordance with the space required by the growing plants; and increasing the spacing between beds in adjacent channels correspondingly.
The invention contemplates performing the step of increasing the spacing between the beds in adjacent channels in several ways. In one aspect of the method, the channels are straight and parallel to each other, and the spacing is increased by shifting at least one channel parallel to itself. Alternatively, straight channels may be arranged to diverge from one end to the other end, and the spacing between corresponding beds in adjacent channels is increased by moving the beds progressively through the channels from the one end to the other end as the plants mature.
In another aspect of the invention the plant beds are arranged in at least two pairs of straight, parallel channels on the same level, the beds in each channel are moved progressively along each channel from one end to the other end. The other ends of each adjacent pair of channels are joined to a single further channel extending in the same direction intermediate said pair of channels and the beds are moved in the same direction from each pair of channels to the corresponding single channel.
In still another aspect, the method comprises arranging the beds in a continuous serpentine channel with the distance between adjacent loops increasing from one loop to the next, and moving the beds progressively along the continuous serpentine channel as the plants mature.
A preferred aspect of the method, in which alternate cycles of plants are grown in a constant area, is practiced by arranging a first group of plants in an early first stage of development in at least two adjacent channels forming one portion of a set of straight parallel channels on the same level. The channels in the one portion of the set are spaced a first predetermined distance smaller than the spacing between at least two additional channels forming a second portion of the set.
When the plants reach a second stage of development, the spacing between adjacent ones of the channels of the one portion is increased by shifting the channels parallel to themselves until the spacing between the channels in the one portion is equal to a second predetermined distance. At the same time, the spacing between the channels in the second portion of the set is decreased so that the total area occupied by the set remains constant. A second group of plants in the first stage of development is then arranged in the channels of the second portion of the set.
After the first group of plants has reached a third stage of development, the plants are removed successively from one end of the first portion of channels. The spacing between the channels of the one portion is then decreased to the first predetermined distance, and the spacing between channels of the second portion is increased to the second predetermined distance. The cycle continues by arranging a third group of plants in the first stage of development in the channels of the one portion of the set.
The apparatus and method of the present invention thereby provide a system in which a continuous supply of cultivation-regulating media will deliver an exact dosage to the plants in the channels according to their condition of growth. At the same time surplus quantities of the cultivation-regulating media continuously drain off in the bottoms of the channels below the beds and roots, carrying with them the toxic materials excreted by the plants during growth. Because the plant roots are in contact only with fresh cultivation-regulating media at all times, residual toxins in the plants may be reduced to a level previously unobtainable.
In addition to a solution of nutrient salts supplied to the plant through spaced outlets in an interior duct extending the length of the channel, additional ducts may deliver other cultivation-regulating media, such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and oxygen-containing nutritive fluid, or may circulate warm or cool fluids through the channels to maintain the desired thermal environment.
The foregoing and other benefits of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-section of a channel for growing plants singly in spaced apart individual root support beds on an elongated support member carried by guides above the bottom of the channel.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a plant cultivation system using the channels of FIG. 1 arranged in straight parallel rows.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view in simplified semi-schematic form of a set of channels arranged according to the system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a top view in schematic form of channels arranged according to the system of FIG. 2, the view being split to show two phases in the cultivation cycle.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an alternative system embodiment in which two sets of straight channels are arranged in opposed diverging or fan patterns.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another system embodiment in which pairs of adjacent parallel channels merge into respective single channels extending in the direction of plant movement.
FIG. 7 is another system embodiment in which a continuous channel is arranged in serpentine form with the space between adjacent loops increasing in the direction of plant movement.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of an elongated plant support member adapted for use in the channel of FIG. 1.
FIG. 9 is a side view of the elongated support member of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a cross-section of the elongated support member embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with carrier sections, for an individual plant root support bed.
FIG. 11 is a side view in section taken on line XI--XI of FIG. 10 of the elongated support member with a number of carrier sections joined by flexible lines and spaced closely adjacent to one another.
FIG. 12 is a side view similar to FIG. 11 but with the carrier sections spaced apart to the maximum extent allowed by the flexible lines.
FIG. 13 is a side view in section of the elongated support member embodiment of FIG. 1 with carrier sections joined in closely spaced arrangement by spring means in contracted condition.
FIG. 14 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 13 with the carrier sections spaced apart and with the spring means in extended condition.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of coiler apparatus for changing the spacing of individual plant beds on a conveyor belt, the coilers being in retracted condition.
FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus of FIG. 15 with the coilers in extended condition.
FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of apparatus for changing the spacing of individual plant beds on a conveyor belt comprising a plurality of holders spaced on a wire with rotatable carrier arms in turned-out position.
FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of one of the carriers of FIG. 17 with the carrier arm in turned-in position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A basic feature of the present invention for cultivating plants is an elongated channel for holding the plants in spaced apart relation and for providing the necessary growth-inducing environment to the root systems of the plants.
Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred design comprises a U-shaped channel 11 having parallel upright sides 12 and a bottom 13. Other channel forms may be used, however, as for example a channel in the form of a tube slotted longitudinally to provide a top opening corresponding to the upper opening of a U-shaped channel.
Internal ducts 14 and 15, integrally formed in sides 12 adjacent to their upper margins, extend the length of channel 11. Each of the ducts has longitudinally spaced outlets 16 for delivering cultivation-regulating fluid media to the interior of the channel. Along the bottom of the channel extend additional closed ducts 17 which are adapted to circulate a temperature regulating medium such as warm water in order to maintain a desired constant temperature in the lower part of the channel.
Two sets of lower guides 18 and upper guides 19, spaced vertically between the bottom and upper margins of the sides, extend the length of the channel for slidably carrying an elongated member 20, such as a conveyor belt. Member 20 is adapted to support a number of individual plant root support beds, preferably in the form of a porous block 21 (shown in dashed outline form). Each root support bed holds a single plant 22.
A pair of flexible opaque flaps 23 are attached to the respective upper margins of sides 12 and extend inwardly and upwardly to meet in a pair of lips 23a. The lips embrace the stem of each plant 22 but yield to allow movement of the plants through the channel.
Elongated support member 20 is preferably formed with a flat central part 20a and upright side portions 20b having turned-in upper edges 20c. The upright sides form a liquid reservoir 24 for cultivation-regulating liquid media supplied from at least one of the ducts 14, 15. The turned-in edges are adapted to secure a root complex of plants growing in the channel and to restrain root growth out of the reservoir. In this way, root formation along the center of the belt is encouraged, and the edges of the belt are kept free during the initial period of growth. In a short time, therefore, the roots of the spaced apart plants approach each other and form a continuous longitudinal wick that provides firm support to the plants as they grow larger, particularly as the root complex extends under the turned-in edges of the belt.
As mentioned earlier, the plants are continuously supplied with cultivation-regulating media from the ducts above the elongated support member. Such media may include fresh oxygen-containing nutritive fluid supplied to the ducts under pressure. The fluid squirts out of outlets 16 to provide an even dosage to the plants throughout the whole length of the channel; so that lack of oxygen is avoided.
Surplus fluid overflows the edges of the belt, passing into drainage space 25 between the belt and the bottom of the channel, from whence it can be led to a reception tank (not shown).
Other cultivation-regulating media that can be delivered through the ducts include CO 2 , hot or cold air, systemic poisons for treating plant diseases, algae preventives, growth retarding or flower-inducing media, root developers, and so forth. In the case of gaseous media, such as CO 2 , the flap arrangement covering the channel opening permits slow circulation of the gas up around the leaves of the plant, for economical dosage with minimum waste.
The provision of two sets of guides 18 and 19 allows the belt height to be changed, depending on the size of root support block being used. If the elongated member is a conveyor belt, the upper guides can carry the belt in one direction and the lower guides can carry it in the return direction.
Turning next to FIG. 2, a complete plant cultivation system 30 using channels according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in schematic form. The method of the invention will be explained in relation to this system using, as an example, a crop such as lettuce. System 30 includes a number of channels 11 which are arranged in straight parallel rows, preferably in a hothouse to provide a controlled ambient environment for the plants.
Crop production commences with placement of a number of cultivation blocks on a conveyor belt at a initial station 31, where the blocks are watered-up. A seed is sown in each block at station 32, and the seeds germinate at station 33. At the end of the germination stage, the blocks are set apart by a small predetermined distance and the plants enter a pre-nursing phase designated A. At the end of growth phase A the plants have reached station 34 at the end of the conveyor belt. At that point they are transferred to a first group of channels where they remain for a nursling phase B. In these channels, as well as all succeeding groups of channels, the necessary cultivation-regulating media are supplied in the manner previously described.
After a suitable period in the nursling phase, the plants are sorted manually and transported to one portion of a next set of channels for a further growth phase C. At the same time a previous batch of plants in another portion of the next set of channels is entering a final growth phase D.
Using the above-mentioned lettuce crop as an example, the time of each growth phase, the spacing of the plants in the channels, and the spacing between channels is shown in Table I.
TABLE I______________________________________ Spacing Time In Plant Spacing Between Time ForGrowth Phase In Channel Channels TransferPhase (Days) (cm) (cm) (Days)______________________________________A 10-14 2 10-14B 10-14 4 4 20-28C 10-14 16 4 30-52D 10-14 16 16 40-66______________________________________
Referring to FIG. 3, the final phases C and D of the system of FIG. 2 are illustrated in more detail. The set of channels 11 is strung on transverse wires 35, 36 and 37 so that they can be displaced sideways by means of cables 38, 39 and 40 wound on rollers 41 and 42, the rollers being driven by electric motors 43 and 44.
Conveyor belts, illustrated schematically by wires 45 trained over pulleys 46, 47 driven by shafts 48, 49, carry the plants into the channels at one end and out at the other end. A header pipe 50 supplies fluid cultivation-regulating media under pressure through spaced outlets 51 and flexible tubing 52 to inlet connectors 53 (see FIG. 1) to a duct 15 of each channel. Surplus fluid drains out of the other ends of the channels (which are inclined as necessary for the purpose) into an open trough 54. From the trough the liquid may be directed to the previously mentioned receptacle tank, from which it can be directed for re-use after proper analysis to guarantee that the proper nutritive quality is maintained.
As shown in FIG. 4, the method of properly spacing successive crops of plants using the system of FIGS. 2 and 3, involves setting one portion of the set of parallel channels at a first predetermined close spacing for growth phase C and the other portion of the set at a second predetermined greater spacing for growth phase D.
In FIG. 4, the channels are shown arranged for one crop cycle, designated by I. In cycle I, the plants in the upper portion of the set of channels are entering growth phase C, and the plants in the lower portion are entering growth phase D. At the end of these phases (10-14 days later for lettuce), the plants in the lower portion are harvested. The lower portion channels are then shifted close together and the upper portion channels are shifted apart for the next crop cycle II.
A new group of plants just entering phase C is then delivered to the lower portion of the set of channels. The crop cycles can be continued in this manner; so that optimum plant spacing is always maintained in a total constant growing area. It will be noted from the drawing that the spacing of plants 22 in each channel is shown the same for both growth phase C and phase D. This obviously simplifies handling at the loss of some available space for additional plants in phase C.
FIGS. 5-7 illustrate alternative channel arrangements for achieving increased plant spacing. In the arrangements of FIGS. 5 and 7 the plants move progressively through successive growth stages B, C and D on a single conveyor system without any need to transfer to other channels.
Referring to FIG. 5, two groups of straight channels 11 are arranged in opposed diverging, fan-shaped patterns. This arrangement allows the two groups to be accommodated within a single hothouse. The channels in each group remain fixed in position, but the conveyor system in each channel may be provided with devices for increasing the spacing between individual plants as they progress on the conveyor belts through each growing phase. Several embodiments of such devices are shown in FIGS. 10-18 and will be described below. It will be apparent from FIG. 5 that as the plants move progressively through the channels from growth phase B to phase D, the spacing between corresponding plants in adjacent channels will increase because of the divergent arrangement of the channels.
In FIG. 6 a number of channels 11 are arranged in parallel pairs in the lower part of the figure. Plants entering growth phase B are delivered to these channels. At the end of phase B, the plants in each pair are transferred directly to a single channel for growth phase C. Each pair of channels in phase C then deliver plants to a single channel in phase D. The system can be similarly extended through further phases until it eventually ends in a single channel, after which the plants are adequately developed. At each phase the channels may be differently dimensioned and provided with a cultivation-regulating media supply tailored for that paritcular phase.
In FIG. 7 a channel 11 is arranged in an expanding serpentine form, allowing plants to progress through growth phases B, C and D, as indicated, in a single channel as in the case of the fan pattern shown in FIG. 5. The spacing between adjacent loops of the winding pattern of FIG. 7 increases from loop to loop; so that during phases B, C and D a suitable distance can be maintained between plants in adjacent channel sections. As in the arrangement of FIG. 5 conveyor belts equipped with devices for increasing the spacing between adjacent plants as they progress through the channel can be used, if desired.
Referring next to FIGS. 8 and 9, an elongated support member 55 is shown which is of different design than member 20 in FIG. 1. Member 55 is in the form of a belt having a flat central section 56 and thickened edges 57, which may be made hollow to provide ducts 58 adapted to carry a flow of cultivation-regulating media to achieve correct growth of plants carried on the belt. The thickened edges of member 55 serve as sides of a reservoir 59 to assure the sufficient nutrient solution is supplied to the root systems of plants carried on the belt.
In applications where the plants are to be maintained at a fixed spacing on the belt, U-shaped pins 60 may be inserted at intervals through the belt and an individual root support block transfixed on each pin (see FIG. 1). In this way, the plants can be transported through the channels on the belts in either direction, forward or backward. On the other hand, the root support blocks can be placed on the belt in front of the pins, allowing the plants to be fed forwards into the channels.
FIGS. 10-12 illustrate a simple apparatus for obtaining increased spacing between adjacent plants on a conveyor belt 20. The channel structure in which the conveyor belt slides is not shown, to avoid unnecessary detail, but it is clear that belt 20 can be installed in a channel such as that shown in FIG. 1.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 10-12, a number of right angle carrier sections 61 are connected together by a flexible line 62 in such a way that the carrier sections, each of which is adapted to carry an individual plant root support bed, may be set next to each other in tandem when the plants are in the nursling phase (see FIG. 11). By pulling on the flexible line, the distance between carrier sections may be increased until the line becomes taut, as shown in FIG. 12. This position corresponds to the desired spacing for the plants when fully developed.
FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate another embodiment of apparatus for varying the plant spacing in each channel. This embodiment offers infinite variation between minimum and maximum spacings between adjacent plants. This embodiment includes carrier sections 61, just as in the embodiment of FIGS. 10-12, but adjacent sections are connected by spring means 63. When no external tension is exerted on the line of carrier sections, the spring means keep the line of carrier sections close together, as shown in FIG. 13. By exerting a pulling force on the line of carrier sections, the spring means are extended, thereby increasing the spacing between sections until the springs are fully extended, as shown in FIG. 14. The spacing distance between adjacent carrier sections can be regulated between the minimum and maximum spacings, depending on the pulling force exerted.
Referring to FIGS. 15 and 16, individual plant support beds 21 can be conveyed along the elongated support member in a channel (not shown here for sake of clarity) by a carrier device comprising a number of coilers 64 connected by wire lengths 65. When no external tensile force is applied to the coiler apparatus, the coilers coil up the wire, as shown in FIG. 16. An arm 66 is attached to each coiler such that the arms are swung-in parallel to the line of plants on the belt when the apparatus is in the coiled-up condition. If tension is applied to the wire in the direction of arrows 67 in FIG. 16, the arms will swing out and push the individual plant beds in the direction of the arrows, as shown in FIG. 16. At the same time the spacing between individual beds is increased as the wire lengths 65 uncoil from the coilers.
Finally, spring-loaded carrier arms 68 pivotally mounted on holders 69 spaced on wire 70 may be used for the same purpose, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. If desired, wire 70 may be resilient (i.e., elastic) and consequently yielding. Each arm bears resiliently against a stop 71 in the turned-out position of the arm, shown in FIG. 17. When returning in the direction indicated by arrow 72 towards the right in FIG. 18, the arm turns in which passing plant 22. Then by a forward pull in the direction of arrow 73, towards the left of FIG. 17, the arm swings out, taking the plants 22 along. By increasing the length of wire between holders 69, the distance between the adjacent beds 21 on the belt will be correspondingly increased.
As mentioned earlier, the flexible opaque flaps used to close the top of the channels prevent loss of moisture from the channels. This assures a high humidity inside the channels, which also prevents choking the duct outlets 16 with crystallized nutrient salts from the cultivation-regulating media. The flaps also reduce condensation on the leaves, with consequently diminished likelihood of fungus attacks or other leaf diseases. In addition, the barring the light from the interior of the channels by the opaque flaps assists root growth and prevents the development of algae, which otherwise would compete with the plants for the oxygen and nutrients from the cultivation-regulating media.
As an example of the effectiveness of the present invention in improving plant production, the system illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3 has been used in Denmark to increase yields from typical values of about 150-200 p/m 2 of growing area per year, for conventional growing methods, to about 400-500 p/m 2 of growing area per year. At the same year, the total growing time, from sowing to harvesting, has been reduced by about one week, compared to conventional methods. | A system for growing plants in spaced apart individual root support beds in elongated U-shaped channels. Each channel has guides for an elongated member to support the root beds above the bottom of the channel and at least one interior duct extending along the length of the channel above the elongated member to deliver cultivation-regulating media through longitudinally spaced outlets. Surplus liquid drains off through the space between the member and the bottom of the channel, carrying away noxious substances from the plants. The top of each channel may be closed by a pair of flexible opaque flaps which yieldingly embrace the stems of plants in the channel to reduce moisture loss and exclude light from the plant roots. The spacing between adjacent channels is varied according to the stage of plant growth, either by arranging the channels in a fixed expanding pattern and moving the plants progressively along the channels or by shifting groups of parallel channels sideways as the plants mature. In particular, a number of parallel channels may be divided into two groups. One group is closely spaced and contains plants at an intermediate stage. The second group is spaced further apart and contains plants in a final stage. After harvesting the mature plants, the second group of channels is shifted to close spacing, providing room to shift the first group further apart. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application in a Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 153,756, filed Feb. 8, 1988.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is concerned with the novel process for the production of 3-chloro-4-hydroxyacetanilide (CAPAP) in high yields by the chlorination of N-acetyl-para-aminophenol (APAP) using sulfuryl chloride (SO 2 Cl 2 ) as the chlorine source and liquid sulfur dioxide as the reaction medium.
The process of this invention provides a very easy and relatively inexpensive synthesis for the production of CAPAP.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
CAPAP is a known compound which has been very difficult to prepare perhaps due to the fact that the monochlorination of phenolics is difficult to accomplish.
One reported CAPAP synthesis involves treating 3-chloroacetanilide with rabbit liver microsomes. See Daly et al, Biochem. Pharmacol., 17(1), 31-6, 1968 (CA 68 13:56878p)
CAPAP has been observed as a metabolic intermediate from phenacetin which is a known analgesic. See for example Calder et al, the Australian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 29, No. 8, pp. 1801-8, 1976; (CA 85 21:153705p) as Well as Calder et al, Chem-Biol Interactions, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 87-90, 1974 (CA 80 15:82342b). It is reasonable to assume that CAPAP would have analgesic properties. Additionally, CAPAP finds utility in the field of low molecular weight liquid crystal materials and in the formation of liquid crystal polymers.
CAPAP is formed in small amounts during the Beckmann rearrangement of 4-hydroxyacetophenone oxime using thionyl chloride in liquid sulfur dioxide to produce APAP as disclosed and claimed in U. S. Pat No. 4,524,217.
A method to prevent the formation of CAPAP is said Beckmann rearrangement as disclosed and claimed in co-pending application Ser. No. 118,117, filed Nov. 6, 1987, entitled "A Novel Process to Prevent Formation of Chlorinated By-Products in APAP Production," the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The novel process of this invention is carried out simply by treating APAP with sulfuryl chloride as a slurry in liquid sulfur dioxide as the reaction medium. The reaction is usually carried out at room temperature in order to prevent dichlorination and temperatures ranging from 0°-50° C. are suitable. A preferred temperature ranges from 0°-30° C. Particularly preferred is to operate between 20° and 25° C. The reaction is carried out at autogenous pressure.
APAP is soluble in liquid sulfur dioxide in only small amounts, i.e., about 2 wt.%. It is not known whether the reaction is occurring in the solid phase or in solution with the APAP rapidly coming into and out of solution. Accordingly, no additional reaction medium for APAP is used in the novel process of this invention.
The ratio of APAP to SO 2 Cl 2 on a molar basis is usually 1:l. It is to be understood that higher molar ratios can be used such as 1:2 or higher but no practical benefits are gained going beyond substantially 1:1 molar ratios. The amount of SO 2 which is employed is also not narrowly critical and sufficient SO 2 must be used to function as a reaction medium and form a slurry. Conventionally, 5 lbs. of liquid SO 2 are used for each pound of APAP.
It is to be immediately understood that the chlorination of APAP by the novel process of this invention to produce CAPAP in high yields is not predictable or even fully understood. As will be illustrated in the comparative examples, when other conventional chlorinating agents are used, a very inferior process results in connection with extremely low yields and other undesirable features.
The following examples will not illustrate the novel process of this invention.
EXAMPLE 1
A 1 liter 316 SS Zipperclave was charged with 150 g of APAP. The autoclave was cooled to -50° C. with a Dry Ice-acetone bath and 500 g sulfur dioxide was vacuum transferred into the autoclave forming a slurry. Eighty ml of sulfuryl chloride was added via a syringe and the contents of the autoclave were allowed to warm to room temperature; the slurry was allowed to stand at room temperature overnight and then the sulfur dioxide was vented. The reactor solids were slurried with 450 ml of hot acetone and then the slurry was cooled in an ice bath, filtered and washed with 2-200 ml portions of cold acetone to obtain offwhite CAPAP.
The off-white solids were placed in a 2-L beaker with 1 g citric acid, 1 g sodium dithionite and 1000 mL demineralized water and heated to dissolve all the solids. The beaker was then placed in an ice bath and crash crystallized to 20° C. with stirring. The solids were filtered and washed with 2-200 mL portions of cold water. The wet solids were dried on the rotabap at 60° C. for 30 minutes yielding 104.8 g of white solids (CAPAP).
Further Purification
The solids were then placed in a 2-L round bottom flask with 750 mL of demineralized water, 0.3 g sodium dithionite, and 1 g ADP carbon (Calgon lot D-06126) and were heated and allowed to reflux for 30 minutes.
The contents of the flask were then hot filtered through a celite pad into 0.1 g sodium dithionite. The filtrate was crash crystallized in an ice bath to 20° C.
The white crystals were filtered and washed with 200 mL of demineralized water. The solids were finally dried on the rotavap at 60° C. for 30 minutes yielding 74.3 g of CAPAP (melting point 133°-135° C.). No polychlorinated material is detected.
Examples 2 and 3 are presented in order to demonstrate that other conventional chlorination procedures are inferior.
EXAMPLE 2
A chlorine generator was assembled by placing 100 mL of concentrated HCl in an addition funnel and attaching the funnel via a vacuum sidearm adapter to a round-bottom flask which contained 32 g of potassium permanganate.
A chlorine generator gas line was connected to a sintered glass gas sparger which was inserted into a three-necked round-bottom flask. APAP (30 g) and water (150 mL) were charged to the three-necked round-bottom flask and the contents were stirred.
HCl was dripped slowly over a 25 minute period into the potassium permanganate in order to generate chlorine. The APAP solution turned black during this time.
The APAP water solution was then dried on a rotavap yielding a black tarry residue which was shown to contain about 12% CAPAP.
EXAMPLE 3
The procedure of Example 2 was repeated with the exception that the chlorination reactor was charged with 80 mL of concentrated HCL and 13 g of potassium permanganate.
The 30 g of APAP were charged to the three-necked round-bottom glass with 100 mL of methanol as opposed to the water which was used in Example 2. The three-necked flask was placed in an ice bath and the contents stirred.
The HCl was dripped into the chlorine generator slowly and the reaction flask allowed to stand stirring for 1 hour after completion. Again, the APAP solution turned black during chlorine addition. The methanol was rotavapped off yielding a black tarry residue which contained about 8% of CAPAP.
Examples 2 and 3 clearly demonstrate that not all conventional chlorination procedures result in the production of CAPAP at high yields and that the chlorination procedure of the novel process of this invention is unobvious. | A novel process for the preparation of 3-chloro-4-hydroxyacetanilide in high yields is disclosed which involves reacting N-acetyl-para-aminophenol (APAP) with sulfuryl chloride (SO 2 Cl 2 ) as the chlorine source and liquid SO 2 as the reaction medium. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to training devices for an archery bow, and in particular, to devices for engaging the forearm of an archer.
2. Description of Related Art
An archery bow may have a substantial draw weight, that is, a substantial force required to pull the string back and fully flex the bow. This force can produce torques that change the aiming of the arrow in elevation and azimuth. Moreover, these torques will abruptly change direction at the moment the string is released to launch the arrow. For this reason, a certain amount of angular rotation of the bow can be expected and tolerated when the string is released. Specifically, when the string is released the bow normally tends to rotate in a vertical plane with its upper tip tilting forward.
Improved accuracy is achieved if the archer does not grip the bow too tightly. A tight grip tends to apply undesirable torques to the bow. In a recommended shooting method, the hand holding the bow is kept relatively open so the bow passes though the crook between the thumb and forefinger to balance primarily against the heel of the palm. This relatively open grip avoids manual torques that might tend to undesirably rotate the bow azimuthally or elevationally when aiming an arrow. Instead, the bow takes a balanced position that enhances accuracy.
Modern bows have threaded sockets for accepting a variety of accessories. For example, stabilizers in the form of cantilevered weights can be attached to the bow to balance it and to increase its moment of inertia, in order to reduce undesirable bow rotations and vibrations. Also, a string vibration arrester mounted on the bow has a rod terminating with a notched cradle for stopping a released string at a neutral position and preventing vibration.
With a compound bow the string is part of a cable system and is suspended between cams on opposite ends of the bow. When the string is pulled the cables are drawn over the cams to produce a mechanical advantage. A cable guard can be used to push the cables to the side to avoid interference with the bow string in the nock of the arrow. This cable guard can take the form of a rod screwed into a threaded socket on the bow and extending rearwardly. The affected cables can engage the guard either directly or through a slide mounted on the guard.
Any accessory attached to a bow must not interfere with the ease of use. Often, a bow must be quickly grasped and raised when hunting. A hunter does not have the time to manipulate accessories when a target suddenly comes within range.
See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,572,312; 3,599,621; 4,787,361; 4,836,177; 4,976,250; 5,137,008; 5,349,937; 5,464,002; 5,531,211; 5,853,000; 6,173,707; 7,748,369; and 7,954,175.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the illustrative embodiments demonstrating features and advantages of the present invention, there is provided an accessory for an archery bow. The device has a forearm brace and a support. The forearm brace extends arcuately around a forearm axis and sized to partially encompass a forearm. The support has a distal portion that is attached to the brace and extends away from the forearm axis. The support has a proximal portion contiguous with the distal portion. The proximal portion is adapted to be supported by the bow.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an accessory for an archery bow. The device has a support and a rigid, C-shaped forearm brace. The brace has an arcuate slot and an inside and an outside. The brace extends arcuately around a forearm axis at least 180°. The brace is sized to partially encompass a forearm. The support has a proximal portion contiguous with a distal portion. The distal portion is attached to the outside of the brace in the arcuate slot. The distal portion extends outwardly from the brace in a direction transverse to the forearm axis. The support is adjustable to allow angular and linear translation of the forearm brace relative to an adjustment axis that is parallel to the forearm axis. The proximal portion is adapted to be supported by the bow. The distal portion of the support is circumferentially repositionable along the outside of the forearm brace. The support includes a post having a longitudinal axis and a distal end. The post has on the distal end a bearing surface skewed relative to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The post has on opposite sides of the bearing surface a pair of walls straddling a peripheral portion of the forearm brace.
By employing an accessory of the foregoing type, an archer can achieve improved accuracy. In a disclosed embodiment a C-shaped brace is supported on its periphery by a post. The post can be perpendicularly mounted on a rod that is, in turn, attached to a threaded socket on the back of the riser of the bow. This rod can be dedicated to supporting the brace or may be part of another accessory, such as a string vibration arrester or cable guard.
In this disclosed embodiment the C-shaped brace extends 240°, has beveled tips, and is sized to encircle an archer's forearm. This forearm brace is mounted in a channel at the distal end of the post. The floor of this channel is skewed so it does not lie in a plane transverse to the post axis. This skewing is designed to tip the brace closer to the archer's forearm.
The position of the disclosed brace can be adjusted. For example, the post supporting the brace can be shifted back and forth along the rod that is attached to the bow. Thus, the forearm brace can be moved closer to or farther from the archer's wrist. Also, the post can be angularly adjusted to raise and lower the forearm brace. In this embodiment post 12 is 2 inches (5 cm) long, but different lengths may be employed in other embodiments depending upon the bowl and the archer. Also, and some embodiments, the position of the forearm brace can be adjusted by choosing an appropriate post from a set of posts of different lengths.
In the disclosed embodiment, the forearm brace can be rotated relative to the post. Specifically, the brace will have a circumferentially extending slot. A screw will extend through the slot and into a threaded hole in the floor (bearing surface) of the channel at the distal end of the post. Thus, to the extent allowed by the slot, the forearm brace can be rotated and then secured in place by tightening the screw. Accordingly, the angular position of the brace can be adjusted so it extends, for example, from the nine o'clock to five o'clock position on the forearm (from the vantage point of the archer).
When adjusted appropriately, the forearm brace rests lightly atop the archer's forearm when the bow string is drawn and the bow grip is resting against the heel of the extended hand, between the thumb and forefinger. If the extended hand inappropriately squeezes the bow, it will tip forward, lifting the forearm brace. The lifting of the brace will give the archer an indication that the grip must be changed.
Once the string is released and the arrow launched, the bow will tend to tip forward. This natural tipping will be accommodated by the forearm brace which is sufficiently open to allow unimpeded lifting of the brace and rotation of the bow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above brief description as well as other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments in accordance with the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an accessory in accordance with principles of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 , assembled;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the device of FIG. 2 shown embracing an archer's forearm;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 2 shown mounted on an archery bow;
FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the assembly of FIG. 4 with portions of the bow broken away for illustrative purposes; and
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a support that is an alternate to that shown in FIG. 1 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , archery bow 14 is shown with an accessory comprising forearm brace 10 mounted on support 12 . Brace 10 is C-shaped and extends from bevelled tip 10 A to bevelled tip 10 B. Brace 10 is shown with a cylindrical inside 10 D and with a cylindrical outside 10 C that extends 240° around forearm axis 16 , although a greater or smaller angular dimension may be employed in other embodiments. Starting approximately 15° from tip 10 A, arcuate slot 18 extends circumferentially 70°. Slot 18 runs from outside 10 C to inside 10 D. Recess 20 on inside 10 D encompasses slot 18 .
Support 12 is shown as a cylindrical post with a longitudinal axis 22 . The distal end of post 12 has a bearing surface 24 that is skewed approximately 7° from a plane that is perpendicular to longitudinal axis 22 . Surface 24 has central threaded hole 25 and is bordered on opposite sides by parallel walls 26 . Walls 26 form a channel sized to embrace forearm brace 10 at peripheral portion 10 E. The wall-to-wall space of the channel is 0.5 inch (1.3 cm) and its depth is ⅛ inch (3 mm) with post 12 having a diameter of ¾ inch (1.9 cm), although these dimensions can be different in different embodiments.
Screw 28 can be inserted through washer 30 and slot 18 before being threaded into hole 25 . As shown in FIG. 2 washer 30 has a bevelled face pressing against recess 20 . The beveling of washer 30 accommodates the skewing of bearing surface 24 . Washer 30 can be either molded into the illustrated shape or can be made from an elastomeric material that deforms into this shape when compressed by screw 28 .
The proximal portion of post 12 has through bore 32 extending along adjustment axis 34 , which axis is perpendicular to walls 26 and axis 22 . In this specification support 12 is deemed divided into two contiguous portions, namely, a proximal portion containing bore 32 and a distal portion having the channel located between walls 26 . The border between the proximal and distal portions is somewhat arbitrary and may be considered a divison into half and half, one third and two thirds, etc.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 , bow 14 has a pair of limbs 38 bolted on opposite ends of riser 40 . Limbs 38 are bifurcated and rotatably support a pair of cams 42 A and 42 B mounted on axles 44 A and 44 B between the bifurcations.
Bow string 46 is routed around cam 42 A and is shown descending down as cable 46 A to attach through a split yoke to the ends of axle 44 B. Likewise, bow string 46 is routed around cam 42 B and is shown ascending as cable 46 B to attach through a split yoke to the ends of axle 44 A. Cable guard 48 is mounted in a threaded hole on the back of riser 40 above arrow rest 45 . Guard 48 presses cables 46 A and 46 B to the right to avoid interference with bow string 46 .
String vibration arrester 50 has a post 50 A that is mounted in a threaded hole in the back of riser 40 just below hand grip 52 . Clamp 50 B is mounted on the distal end of post 50 A and supports rod 50 C. Forked rubber implement 50 D is mounted on the distal end of rod 50 C and is shown straddling bow string 46 in FIG. 4 . Arrester 50 and guard 48 are herein referred to as rearwardly extending bow accessories.
Rod 50 C is shown inserted through bore 32 of previously mentioned post 12 . Rod 50 C may be pulled out of clamp 50 B in order to insert the rod through bore 32 , before again clamping rod 50 C in clamp 50 B. Post 12 can linearly translate along the length of rod 50 C, as well as angularly translate around the rod, before being locked into place by tightening set screws 36 , 37 A and 37 B against rod 50 C. Set screw 36 is screwed into the proximal end of post 12 through a treaded axial bore that reaches bore 32 . Set screws 37 A and 37 B are screwed into diametrically opposed, threaded radial bores (bore 39 A visible in FIG. 1 ) that reach bore 32 . While three set screws are illustrated, some embodiments many employ one, two or another number of set screws.
To facilitate an understanding of the principles associated with the foregoing apparatus, its operation will be briefly described. An archer will grasp grip 52 , placing it between thumb T and forefinger I using a relatively open grip. At the same time, the archer's forearm F will be inserted into brace 10 . If brace 10 does not fit comfortably, various adjustments can be made.
To perform adjustments, set screws 36 , 37 A and 37 B can be loosened to move brace 10 along rod 50 C and thus along the length of forearm F. Also, support 12 can be rotated about rod 50 C to change the elevation of brace 10 . In some embodiments a collection of alternate supports will be supplied that can be longer or shorter than support 12 . Accordingly, an archer can select a support having a length that positions brace 10 at a desired distance from rod 50 C. Alternatively, support 12 can be fabricated as a post within a larger hollow post so that the length of the support can be telescopically adjusted.
FIG. 3 shows brace 10 encircling forearm F for approximately 240°. Tip 10 A is shown located at the five o'clock position and tip 10 B at the nine o'clock position (viewed from the archer's vantage point). That orientation can be achieved by loosening screw 28 so it can be shifted in slot 18 in order to rotate brace 10 . It will be appreciated that other orientations may be desired. In some cases the orientation may be set to extend from eight o'clock to four o'clock; 10 o'clock to six o'clock, etc. In some embodiments, brace 10 may have an angular dimension smaller than 240°, for example, 180°, 200°, 220°, etc. Also in this embodiment, brace 10 has an inside diameter of 3.0 inches (7.6 cm) and an outside diameter of 4.0 inches (10 cm), although these dimensions may be varied depending upon the size of the archer's forearm F.
When screw 28 is tightened, outside 10 C is pressed against the skewed bearing surface 24 . Due to this skewing, forearm axis 16 is shifted away from longitudinal axis 22 , as shown in FIG. 3 . This skewing is 30°±15° but can be different in other embodiments. This skewing provides the advantage of bringing the brace 10 closer to forearm F. The tilting of brace 10 caused by bearing surface 24 is accommodated by washer 30 , which is tapered at an angle to accommodate the skewing of the bearing surface.
In any event, brace 10 is positioned so that forearm F can be easily inserted into and removed from the brace. Ease of use can be very important when bow 14 must be quickly raised and fired by a hunter who is responding to the arrival of a target.
With string 46 drawn and arrow A nocked and placed in rest 45 , significant forces and torques will be applied to bow 14 . If an archer squeezes grip 52 too tightly, bow 14 will tend to rotate in a vertical plane with the top of the bow shifting forward. However, brace 10 is arranged to encompass the top of forearm F. This feature gives positive feedback to let an archer know whether an improper grip is causing rotation of bow 14 . The archer will notice such rotation because brace 10 will lift from forearm F.
When bow string 46 is released and arrow A is launched, bow 14 will naturally tend to rotate in a vertical plane with the top of the bow moving forward. Brace 10 is open and therefore accommodates this natural rotation. Basically, forearm F moves out of brace 10 as the brace moves upwardly due to rotation of bow 14 .
Referring to FIG. 6 , alternate support 112 is shown. Components corresponding to that previously illustrated for the support of FIG. 1 will bear the same reference numeral but increased by 100. Support 112 is shown as a solid rectangular prism with a V-shaped notch 154 at one end (in the proximal portion) and at the other end (in the contiguous, distal portion) a skewed bearing surface 124 . Surface 124 has central threaded hole 125 and is bordered on opposite sides by parallel walls 126 and 124 . Walls 26 form a channel sized to embrace forearm brace (brace 10 of FIG. 1 ) at peripheral portion 10 E.
As before, the C-shaped brace (brace 10 of FIG. 2 ) can be inserted between walls 126 to bear against surface 124 . The brace can be secured in place using the previously mentioned screw and washer (screw 28 and washer 30 of FIG. 2 ).
In this embodiment, support 112 has a clamp 156 in the form of a rectangular block with a V-shaped notch 158 facing notch 154 . Clamp 156 can be secured to the body of support 112 by a pair of screws 160 that are inserted through bores 162 (only one visible in this view) before being screwed into threaded holes (not shown) in notch 154 .
Previously mentioned rod (rod 50 C of FIG. 5 ) can be inserted between notches 154 and 158 with screws 160 loosely holding clamp 156 in place. Support 112 can then be adjusted linearly and angularly before being clamped onto the rod by tightening screws 160 . Notches 154 and 158 are oriented to keep the forearm axis of the brace parallel to the clamped rod.
Support 112 can be used to allow the same adjustments as previously described for the embodiment of FIG. 1 . Accordingly, the brace can be positioned and used to assist an archer in the manner previously described.
It is appreciated that various modifications may be implemented with respect to the above described embodiments. While a compound bow is illustrated the present invention can be applied to various other types of bows. The dimensions can be adjusted to accommodate different bows and different archers. The disclosed support and brace can be made aluminum, steel, other metals, plastics, composite materials, etc. In some cases the brace may be flexible to yield and facilitate placing the forearm into and out of the brace. In some embodiments the inside of the brace may be padded for comfort. Also, the brace need not be circular and may be curved to ergonomically engage the forearm. Instead of using a skewed bearing surface, the support may be a rod that curves toward the forearm to bring the brace closer to the forearm. In some embodiments the support may be a flexible gooseneck or may incorporate one or more universal joints that allow spatial adjustment. The support joint may be configured as an encircling hook or as a claw with opposing teeth that fit into arcuate slots on the side of the brace. Alternatively, the brace may have an arcuate, external fin that slides in a narrow slot at the end of the support; or may have an external groove that straddles a rib at the end of the support. A support was shown using a separate V block to clamp to a rod, and likewise, similar structure can be used on the opposite end of the support to clamp to the brace.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. | An accessory for an archery bow has a C-shaped forearm brace attached to the distal end of a support. The support can be supported on the bow. The brace extends arcuately around a forearm axis at least 180° in order to partially encompass a forearm. The support is mounted in an arcuate slot in the brace and extends outwardly, transverse to the forearm axis. The support can be adjusted to allow angular and linear translation of the forearm brace relative to an adjustment axis that is parallel to the forearm axis. The forearm brace is circumferentially repositionable along the support. The support may be a post with a bearing surface skewed relative to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. This post may have on opposite sides of the bearing surface, a pair of walls that straddle a peripheral portion of the forearm brace. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the opening and cleaning of natural fibres in which the material, suspended in a transporting air stream, is subjected to the action of one or two beaters, by which the staple fibre is opened and reduced to a shorter tuft length, to release and expel the trash, ie dust and foreign material bodies. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and process for opening and cleaning staple fibre by means of a beater opener.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the known art openers are available for staple fibre in a transporting air stream using beaters consisting of one or more rotary cylinders provided with beater spikes. Below said cylinders there are located separation grids which retain the fibre tufts but allow the trash to pass, this having separated from the fibres on colliding against said grids or the cylinder spikes. The inlet and outlet openings for the air stream which pneumatically transports the staple fibre are offset axially to the beater cylinder or cylinders so as to achieve a helical fibre path about the cylinder by the effect of said axial component of the motion combined with the tangential thrust of the beater spikes.
The cylinders which form said beaters can be single or double, of right cylindrical or stepped form, or of conical form. The spike clothing can be parallel or inclined to the cylinder radius, and be of either constant or differing Length along the cylinder axis. The spaces surrounding the cylinder or cylinders can be provided with guide walls to regulate the velocity and direction of the pneumatic transport stream for the fibres, hence regulating the residence time and the intensity of the beating action which opens and cleans the processed staple fibre, and finally the separation effect between the trash particles and the fibre tufts. To illustrate more clearly both the technical problems to be solved and the characteristics and advantages of the present invention, it is described hereinafter with reference to some typical embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 by way of non-limiting example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1 to 3 relate to a typical embodiment of the opener according to the invention, FIG. 1 being a front section through its end, FIG. 2 being a view from above without the cover, FIG. 3 being a view of the cylinders from above with their shells shown sectioned, and FIG. 4 being an enlarged detailed view of the carding plates.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The opener is contained in a support and containing structure 1 for the two cylinders 2a, b which form the support for the beater spikes 3a, b. On the top left of the structure there is an opening 4 through which a fibre transporting air stream is fed in the direction of the arrow 5, to bring the fibre tufts into contact with the first cylinder 2a. On the top right of the structure there is an opening 6 through which the fibre transporting air stream is withdrawn in the direction of the arrow 7 to discharge opened fibre tufts which have been cleaned by the effect of the contact with the beaters, firstly with the first cylinder 2a and then with the second cylinder 2b. The conduits associated with the openings 4 and 6 are preferably positioned at the two ends of the structure in such a manner as to direct the transporting streams in directions 5 and 7 which are vertical and tangential to the underlying beater. Each of the cylinders 2a, b is surrounded in its lower part by a grid 8a, b of longitudinal bars, for example of triangular or square cross-section and preferably with sharp edges, which does not allow passage of the staple material which comes into contact with it during its spiral motion, but allows passage of the trash which is released from the fibre tufts when opened by the beaters.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, to increase the separation action on the trash by the grid 8, the staple material can be additionally opened by fixed carding plates 9a, b positioned at the entry to and exit from the grids, between the longitudinal bars. The fixed carding plates 9a, b positioned in correspondence with the grids 8 hence cooperate with the action of the cylinders 2a, 2b. Optionally, the exit carding plate can be installed only for the first of the two cylinders.
The dust and foreign material bodies, generally heavier and more compact than the fibres, fall below the grids 8a, b and deposit on their triangular base 10a, b, from which they are withdrawn, for example by transportation in an air stream which discharges them into the lower part of the machine, or by a screw device, the suction and discharge being controlled for example by a bladed valving element 11a, b. This discharge can be continuous or occasional through their pipe 12a, b, maintaining the level of accumulated material in the base 10 under control.
The fibre tufts do not pass below the grid 8a, b, but are conveyed away from it by the action of the transport air, which moves in a helical path within the cavity between the cylinder and grid. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the grid is prolonged upwards and outwards by non-perforated directional lead-in cowlings 13a, 13b for the spiral flow of the transport air, so that the distance of the surface of the cylinder 2a, b from the upper surface of its grid 8a, b and from its cowling 13a, b is progressively reduced in the direction of rotation, to cause the air stream, at each revolution, to accelerate in its path transverse to the grid when at the grid 8, for example by determining the distances s between the cylinder and grid with the following criteria: Sa1≧Sa3>Sa2, where Sa1 corresponds to the grid entry, Sa2 corresponds to the grid centre on the beam 14a, b supporting the grids, and Sa3 corresponds to the grid exit. Using the same notation the corresponding relationship for the second grid is hence Sb1≧Sb3>Sb2.
This acceleration intensifies the impact of the tufts with the grid 8a, b and with the carding plates 9a, b, to increase the cleaning effect on the fibres and facilitate withdrawal of the fibre tufts after their collision with the grid, by which the trash fraction removed from the fibre tufts is separated. The cylinders 2a, b are hence preferably mounted eccentric to the working cavity which contain's them, and defined lowerly by their particular grid 8 and upperly by their particular cowling 13. According to a further improvement, this eccentricity can be adjusted at any required time or the various processing runs, for example by changing the horizontal distance between the two support shafts for the cylinders 2a, b, by shifting them along two adjustment slots provided in their supports in correspondence with the end walls of the structure 1, these not being shown in the figures for simplicity.
An important characteristic of the present invention lies in the fact that the two cylinders 2a and 2b are arranged with their axes horizontal and parallel, but mutually offset so that the fibres are firstly compelled to pass along a spiral path about the cylinder 2a to reach a transfer region 16 between the two cylinders in which the staple fibre stream, which has passed about the cylinder 2a and has been subjected to its action, is passed to the subsequent cylinder 2b along a passage path of "spectacles" form.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cylinders are right cylinders of identical size and lie axially side by side. The length of the axial portion common to the two cylinders, in correspondence with the final section of the first cylinder 2a and the initial section of the second cylinder 2b with reference to the direction of movement of the material--in which the fibre tufts pass from the first to the second cylinder--is between 5% and 40% of the length of each cylinder. The parallel axes of the two cylinders preferably lie in the same horizontal plane.
A further important characteristic of the present invention lies in the fact that the constituent beater spikes of the two cylinders 2a and 2b have a different population density. The first cylinder 2a has a smaller number of spikes than the cylinder 2b and is rotated at a lesser velocity than the cylinder 2b. This can be achieved, for example, by rotating the two cylinders with two separate motors 17a, b and transmitting their movement to the cylinders by a belt/pulley system 15a, b.
The population density of the constituent spikes of the two beaters is between 50 and 100 spikes per m 2 for the first cylinder 2a and between 100 and 200 spikes per m 2 for the second cylinder 2b. The cylinder peripheral velocities increase from the first to the second cylinder and preferably lie in the range of 10-20 m/sec for the cylinder 2a and in the range of 20-40 m/sec for the cylinder 2b. The length of the spikes forming the beaters lies within the range of 10-100 mm and preferably 40-80 mm.
At the end of its spiral path about the cylinder 2a, the staple fibre stream passes to the cylinder 2b where it undergoes a more intense opening and cleaning action than that of the cylinder 2a, because the spikes 3b of the cylinder 2b are more dense and considerably faster, resulting in a larger number of collisions at a higher speed. The bars of the grid 8b are also much more densely arranged than those of the grid 8a. In this respect the grid 8b has to separate fibre tufts and trash in which the tuft size is much smaller than that to be separated by the grid 8a. The pneumatic fibre transport stream then proceeds with a spiral path about the cylinder 2b until the discharge opening 6.
This differential action of the two cylinders which process the fibres rigorously in sequence results in considerable advantages. Processing proceeds on the cylinder surfaces so that the fibre tufts become progressively reduced in size as they open, to produce a much greater number of smaller fibre tufts, of lower mass and increasingly more difficult to open to enable the undesirable trash to escape from them. The apparatus of the invention satisfies the requirement of grading the opening and cleaning action according to the staple fibre size, to the required degree of opening, to the quantity of trash contained and to its resistance to removal.
The opening and cleaning process can be easily adjusted according to the fibre batch to be processed at any given time, by varying the residence time in each of the two processing stages, the intensity of action of the beaters and the axial and tangential components of the fibre motion. These process modifications do not involve substantial modifications to the opening device.
Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined the appended claims. | A double-cylinder opener for staple fiber being pneumatically transported in an air stream, the two cylinders being parallel and mutually offset, the fibers passing firstly about the first cylinder and then about the second cylinder with spiral motion, the two cylinders forming two beaters of different action, which rotate at different velocities and are provided with different spike population densities. | 3 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] This invention generally relates to a system and method for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft. The invention more particularly relates to a system and method for ensuring that oxygen gas suitable for breathing is promptly and intermittently available to flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft including during an aircraft's descent. Components of the system include oxygen generators.
[0002] Conventional systems and methods for supplying oxygen to aircraft passengers typically rely upon gaseous oxygen that is either chemically generated in a passenger service unit (PSU) located above a passenger seat or dispensed from pressurized gaseous cylinders. According to the latter, gaseous oxygen may be dispensed through a centralized distribution network on the aircraft or from a plurality of separate individualized gaseous cylinders.
[0003] Pressure and flow regulator devices may also be incorporated in systems that provide oxygen and oxygen enriched gas may be delivered to these devices before being passed along to breathing masks of passengers. To assist with flow regulation, pressure sensors may be provided in the inspiratory and expiratory airways of the tubing of such oxygen providing systems. One known method for regulating oxygen involves determining an onset of an exhalation phase of the breath cycle, suspending gas flow delivery to a tubing system during the exhalation phase of the breath cycle, and monitoring exhalation flow and pressure in the tubing system during a plurality of control intervals of the exhalation phase of the breath cycle.
[0004] Presently, in passenger oxygen systems of large aircraft utilizing a gaseous oxygen supply source, oxygen is typically distributed from a centrally located bank of storage vessels or cylinders by a network of piping to manifolds that are commonly located adjacent to each row of seats. Each passenger mask is typically supplied via a separate orifice of the manifold. By varying the input pressure to the manifolds, the flow of oxygen to each of the masks can be varied.
[0005] When the emergency oxygen is to be supplied to a face mask, a constant flow of oxygen is typically received by a reservoir bag attached to the face mask. The oxygen is commonly supplied continuously at a rate that is calculated to accommodate even the needs of a passenger with a significantly larger than average tidal volume who is breathing at a faster than average respiration rate. The continuing flow of oxygen into the reservoir bag and into the mask is typically diluted by cabin air.
[0006] Chemically generated oxygen systems are generally suitable for shorter duration flights, under 22 minutes. However, the terrain of the flight path is also a determining factor in the suitability of chemically generated oxygen systems to meet oxygen demands. In addition to these limitations, chemically generated oxygen systems are provided as single use devices that once activated can only be used once and must be replaced for future use. One conventional system for supplying oxygen to an aircraft cabin is known that includes a plurality of chemical oxygen generators with igniters, sequencers for energizing the igniters in sequence, and oxygen masks to which the chemical generators distribute the oxygen generated. A pressure sensor in part of the distribution system controls the sequencers to energize the igniter of the next chemical generator in sequence whenever the pressure drops below a threshold.
[0007] For longer duration flights and flights subject to variable or challenging terrain gaseous oxygen is required. Gaseous oxygen is stored in cylinders that add significant weight, increasing fuel costs, and contribute to the hazard potential of the oxygen supply system.
[0008] There are disadvantages to relying entirely on either a pressurized cylinder of oxygen enriched gas or a chemical oxygen generator. Pressurized cylinders of oxygen enriched gas add significant weight to an oxygen supply system and contribute to its hazard potential by providing an ever-present risk of combustion. Added weight increases fuel costs. Oxygen from pressurized cylinders of gas may be distributed from one or more sources within a distribution network of an aircraft or individual cylinders may be provided for each passenger or crew member. In either case, given the limited space of an aircraft, oxygen from the cylinders is typically not far from components of the aircraft's illumination system increasing the hazard potential. For example, individual cylinders or outlets of a distribution network above the seats are near the lights.
[0009] Chemical oxygen generators decrease this hazard potential and reduce the weight of continuously storing pressurized gaseous cylinders but have limited applications as discussed above. The need to refill pressurized cylinders and to replace single use chemical oxygen generators increases the maintenance costs for aircraft oxygen supply systems.
[0010] Enhancing the efficiency of such aircraft emergency oxygen supply systems either in terms of the generation, storage, distribution or consumption of oxygen could therefore yield a weight savings. Conversely, an enhancement of an aircraft emergency oxygen supply system's efficiency without a commensurate downsizing would impart a larger margin of safety in the system's operation. It is therefore highly desirable to enhance the efficiency of an emergency oxygen supply system in any way possible.
[0011] The delivered supplemental oxygen flow rate needed to properly oxygenate an aircraft cabin occupant depends on the prevailing pressure altitude. The quantity of oxygen delivered to a user can advantageously be varied as a function of altitude, so that the quantity delivered produces proper oxygenation, while avoiding an inefficient and wasteful delivery of a greater quantity of oxygen than is required.
[0012] In addition to supplying oxygen on-board an aircraft from pre-existing oxygen sources, including pressurized gaseous cylinders and chemical oxygen generators, on-board oxygen generators (OBOG) are known. Two types of on-board oxygen generators (OBOG) include molecular sieve oxygen generators (MSOG) and ceramic oxygen generators (COG).
[0013] A molecular sieve oxygen generating (MSOG) system is known that generates a supply of oxygen or an oxygen enriched gas and a residual gas from a supply gas. When the molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) type of on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices relying on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology are used and operating efficiently they produce an oxygen enriched gas comprising up to 95% oxygen with a residual gas stream that can contain greater than about 9% oxygen. However, this system has limited applicability for meeting aircraft passenger demands for oxygen in the initial stages of operation. Further, this system does not minimize consumption of oxygen or conserve oxygen.
[0014] Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology, incorporated in molecular sieve oxygen generating (MSOG) systems, is based on the principle that gases under pressure are generally attracted to solid surfaces upon which the gases are adsorbed. Higher pressure results in greater gas adsorption. When the pressure is reduced or swings from high to low, gas is released or desorbed. Gaseous mixtures may be separated through pressure swing adsorption (PSA) because different gases tend to be adsorbed or attracted to different solid materials to varying degrees.
[0015] Accordingly, when the pressure is reduced gases that are less strongly attracted to the solid materials will be desorbed first to form an outlet stream. After the bed of solid material to which gases are adsorbed reaches its capacity to adsorb, pressure is further reduced to release even the more strongly attracted gases. As applied to an on-board oxygen generator (OBOG), engine bleed air is typically fed into the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) device, the nitrogen component of air is adsorbed to a bed of solid material more strongly than the oxygen component of air, and a gaseous outlet stream enriched with oxygen is produced. This is similar to the process used in portable oxygen concentrators for emphysema patients and others who require oxygen enriched air to breathe.
[0016] Adsorbents for pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems must have the ability to discriminate between two or more gases demonstrating selective adsorption. Suitable adsorbent materials for pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems are usually very porous materials selected for their large surface areas, for example activated carbon, silica gel, alumina and zeolites. The gas adsorbed on these surfaces may consist of a layer that is only one or at most a few molecules thick. Adsorbent materials having surface areas of several hundred square meters per gram enable the adsorption of a significant portion of the adsorbent's weight in gas. The molecular sieve characteristics of zeolites and some types of activated carbon called carbon molecular sieves serve to exclude some gas molecules based on size, in addition to the differential adsorption selectivity for different gases.
[0017] Another system is known that utilizes molecular sieve bed and/or permeable membrane technology, to produce first, oxygen for use for breathing by an aircrew, and second, nitrogen for use as an inert environment in the fuel tanks of an aircraft. However such systems still require the provision of compressors for both the oxygen, in order that the oxygen can be delivered at an appropriate pressure for breathing, and for the nitrogen. Also, the concentration of oxygen which can be produced is restricted by virtue of the nature of the conventional on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device technology which is used. Due to the high temperature requirement there is a time lag before full oxygen capacity can be utilized.
[0018] Another type of on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) is a ceramic oxygen generator (COG). Ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices utilize solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) technology in which oxygen is catalytically separated from air inside specialized ceramic materials at high temperatures, about 650° C. to 750° C., using electrical voltage. While this process produces substantially pure oxygen gas product at pressure and suitable for breathing at any altitude, including higher altitudes over 30,000 feet, the drawback is that the oxygen is not promptly available upon powering on the device because the device has to reach the required operating temperature first.
[0019] Oxygen for breathing generated by on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices typically is not promptly available due to the required cycling through membranes. While ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices typically are superior to molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) devices based on an ability to provide purer or more highly concentrated oxygen-enriched gas at pressure suitable for breathing, oxygen from ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices is also not promptly available due to the high temperature requirement necessary for oxygen generation from such devices.
[0020] When an emergency situation arises on-board an aircraft, oxygen that is promptly available at a concentration, temperature, and pressure suitable for breathing is needed. At high altitudes, greater than 30,000 feet, 99% purity or higher oxygen gas is required. At lower altitudes, equal to or less than 30,000 feet, oxygen gas that is 90-95% oxygen may be suitable. An emergency situation may include sudden cabin decompression, sudden descent, and the like.
[0021] It would be desirable to provide a system that leverages the advantages of ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices incorporating solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) technology without sacrificing availability of breathable oxygen gas in the short-term during descent or upon an emergency situation arising by integrating ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices with other sources that provide oxygen in the short-term. Ideally, such a system that integrates on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices, including ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices, with short-term oxygen supplies would also conserve oxygen and maximize efficiency of oxygen usage.
[0022] Short-term needs emerge upon an emergency situation arising or during an initial descent mode of an aircraft. Longer-term needs exist during a subsequent holding altitude mode of an aircraft. It would also be desirable to provide a system and method for maximizing efficiency of oxygen usage by reducing reliance on pressurized gaseous cylinders and chemical oxygen generators. There is a need for a system that reserves usage of such bulky cylinders and single-use disposable generators to emergency and descent situations, before oxygen enriched gas from an on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device is available, to reduce maintenance costs for aircrafts reliant upon pressurized cylinders and chemical oxygen generators.
[0023] It would further be desirable to conserve oxygen that is available or generated by providing oxygen to the masks of passengers or crew intermittently, utilizing a feedback mechanism such that oxygen is provided as needed with a margin allowed for safety. The present invention meets these and other needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides a system and method for promptly and intermittently supplying oxygen enriched gas suitable for breathing. According to one aspect of the present invention, the system is designed to meet the needs of the flight crew and the passengers of an aircraft, including during both emergency and initial descent and holding altitude modes.
[0025] According to a first aspect of several aspects, the present invention provides a system for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft, the system including a first on-board oxygen supplier configured to supply oxygen in an initial stage, a second on-board oxygen supplier configured to generate oxygen on-board an aircraft in a subsequent stage, and a controller configured to control the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier. The first on-board oxygen supplier may include a pressurized oxygen cylinder and/or a chemical oxygen generator. The first on-board oxygen supplier is configured to supply highly enriched oxygen at pressure suitable for breathing at high altitudes greater than 30,000 feet. The second on-board oxygen supplier includes a solid electrolyte oxygen separator configured to catalytically separate oxygen from a supply stream of air at a temperature of 650° C. to 750° C. by applying an electrical voltage. The solid electrolyte oxygen separator includes a ceramic material inside of which oxygen is catalytically separated from the supply stream of air.
[0026] The system may further include a breathing mask in a communicating relationship with the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier, whereby the breathing mask is configured to receive oxygen from at least one of the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier. The system may also include a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem connected to both the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier and configured to regulate flow of oxygen to the breathing mask based on a sensed breathing pattern and physiological requirements. The controller is configured to initiate rapid flow of oxygen from the first on-board oxygen supplier at high altitudes greater than 30,000 feet.
[0027] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a system for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft, the system including: a first on-board oxygen supplier configured to supply oxygen during an initial stage, a second on-board oxygen supplier configured to generate oxygen on-board an aircraft to be supplied during a subsequent stage, a breathing mask in a communicating relationship with both the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier, whereby oxygen is supplied to a passenger or a flight crew member through the breathing mask from at least one of the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier, and a controller electrically connected to both the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier and configured to control the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier.
[0028] According to a third aspect, the present invention provides a system for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft, the system including: a first on-board oxygen supplier configured to supply oxygen during an initial stage, a second on-board oxygen supplier configured to generate oxygen on-board an aircraft to be supplied during a subsequent stage, a controller electrically connected to both the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier and configured to control the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier, a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem connected to both the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier and downstream of both the first on-board oxygen supplier and the second on-board oxygen supplier, and a breathing mask connected to and downstream of the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, wherein the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem is configured to regulate flow of oxygen to the breathing mask based on a sensed breathing pattern and physiological requirements of a passenger or a flight crew member.
[0029] According to a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a method for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft, the method including: activating a first system to initiate rapid flow of oxygen from a first on-board oxygen supplier at high altitudes greater than 30,000 feet, powering on a second system including an on-board oxygen generator, activating the second system to initiate flow of oxygen from the on-board oxygen generator, integrating oxygen supplied from the second system with oxygen supplied from the first system, deactivating the first system when the second system is able to meet oxygen demands, sensing a breathing pattern of a passenger or a flight crew member; and regulating flow of oxygen to a breathing mask of a passenger or a flight crew member by delivering oxygen to the mask from the first system or the second system through a pulsed oxygen supplier configured to vary a flow rate of oxygen based on a sensed breathing pattern and physiological requirements. In accordance with the method, the first on-board oxygen supplier may include a pressurized oxygen cylinder and/or a chemical oxygen generator. The on-board oxygen generator of the second system is configured to supply highly enriched oxygen at pressure suitable for breathing at high altitudes greater than 30,000 feet and also suitable for breathing at altitudes less than or equal to 30,000 feet.
[0030] The system is designed to minimize the weight, volume, and potential combustion risk of the oxygen generators. The system is also designed to conserve usage of oxygen by selectively controlling the supply of oxygen from various sources and the interaction of various components of the system.
[0031] The pressurized cylinder of oxygen enriched gas or the chemical oxygen generator may be used to promptly supply oxygen gas at pressure suitable for breathing upon an emergency situation arising or during initial aircraft descent mode.
[0032] According to one of several aspects of the invention, the system includes lighter weight on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices to supply oxygen as part of the system together with traditional pressurized cylinders or chemical oxygen generators. The amount of oxygen that must be stored in the cylinders or generated by the chemical oxygen generators is reduced to the amount of oxygen necessary to cover the time period from onset of an emergency situation or descent until the secondary supply of oxygen from the on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device is available.
[0033] The system of the invention is designed to decrease maintenance costs by reducing or eliminating the need for refilling of gaseous oxygen in pressurized cylinders on the ground and reducing or eliminating the need for replacing single use chemical oxygen generators. The system of the invention may accomplish these objectives by storing for future use excess high purity oxygen gas produced from on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices. Excess highly oxygen enriched gas beyond that required to satisfy the current needs of passengers or crew for breathing may be feed into a pressurized cylinder or other emergency supply reservoir.
[0034] The system of the invention detects when a passenger or crew member inhales through their breathing mask and initiates or resumes the flow of oxygen to their mask upon detecting inhalation. The pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem that feeds the breathing masks is designed to adjust the flow rate of oxygen to the masks based on known or sensed physiological requirements of passengers and flight crew as dictated by the aircraft's descent profile.
[0035] In addition to the components discussed above, the present invention may also incorporate additional on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) or on-board inert gas generator (OBIGG) devices in any series, combination, or orientation to produce desirable effects including maintenance of an adequately enriched oxygen supply for breathing in the short-term, refilling emergency oxygen supplies, providing sufficient inert gas streams to fill voids in the fuel tank to keep pace with combustion, and the like.
[0036] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating integration of traditional and contemporary oxygen supply systems through a common controller in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.
[0038] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating integration of traditional and contemporary oxygen supply systems through a common controller in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention.
[0039] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating integration of traditional and contemporary oxygen supply systems through a common controller in accordance with a third aspect of the present invention.
[0040] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing regulated flow of oxygen on-board an aircraft in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0041] The present invention provides a system and method for generating, supplying and maintaining adequate reserves of oxygen. One preferred application for the present invention is to provide oxygen for passengers and flight crew on-board an aircraft including at high altitudes above 30,000 feet, during descent, at holding altitudes at or below 30,000 feet, on flight paths over variable terrain, and on flights of any duration. The present invention offers several advantages for providing oxygen to passengers and crew on both business jets and commercial aircrafts.
[0042] Maintaining adequate reserves of oxygen may be accomplished by storing excess oxygen generated for future use through refilling emergency reserves. Conservation of available oxygen by more closely matching oxygen supplied from the system to oxygen demand by passengers and crew also assists with maintenance of adequate reserves.
[0043] Accordingly, as is shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 , which are provided for purposes of illustration by way of example, and not by way of limitation, the present invention provides for a system for providing regulated flow of oxygen rapidly and intermittently as needed, in aircraft. Referring to FIG. 1 , in a first presently preferred embodiment, the system 100 for providing regulated flow of oxygen rapidly and intermittently as needed, in aircraft, includes a controller or control system 102 in electronic communication with a pressurized cylinder 110 through line 104 . The controller is also in electronic communication with a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem 122 through line 105 . Additionally, the controller is in electronic communication with an on-board oxygen generator 114 through line 108 . The pressurized oxygen cylinder is in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 116 . The on-board oxygen generator is also in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 120 . The pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, in turn, is in fluid communication with one or more breathing masks 132 , 134 , 136 , and 138 which can be provided for passengers and crew members through low pressure tubing 124 , 126 , 128 , and 130 . Optionally, one or more sensors 140 or detectors in electronic communication with the controller and/or the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem may be provided in any of the breathing masks, the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, the oxygen sources, or along the feed lines or low pressure tubing through which oxygen is supplied for sensing air pressure and/or flow and communicating a corresponding sensor signal indicating air pressure and/or flow to the controller, as will be further explained below.
[0044] With regard to FIGS. 1 , 2 , and 3 , different types of sensors or detectors may be provided for each of the oxygen sources, the feed lines, the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, and in the breathing masks. As used herein, reference numeral 140 refers generally and broadly to any type of sensor or detector in any of these locations and need not be the same across the various locations. For example, the sensors or detectors represented by reference numeral 140 may be for measuring pressure, flow rate, temperature, volume, concentration of constituent gases in a gaseous mixture, oxygen usage rates, and the like.
[0045] Referring to FIG. 2 , in a second presently preferred embodiment, the system 200 for providing regulated flow of oxygen rapidly and intermittently as needed, in aircraft, includes a controller or control system 102 in electronic communication with a chemical oxygen generator 112 through line 106 . The controller is also in electronic communication with a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem 122 through line 105 . Additionally, the controller is in electronic communication with an on-board oxygen generator 114 through line 108 . The chemical oxygen generator is in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 118 . The on-board oxygen generator is also in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 120 . The pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, in turn, is in fluid communication with one or more breathing masks 132 , 134 , 136 , and 138 which can be provided for passengers and crew members through low pressure tubing 124 , 126 , 128 , and 130 . Optionally, one or more sensors 140 or detectors in electronic communication with the controller and/or the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem may be provided in any of the breathing masks, the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, the oxygen sources, or along the feed lines or low pressure tubing through which oxygen is supplied for sensing air pressure and/or flow and communicating a corresponding sensor signal indicating air pressure and/or flow to the controller, as will be further explained below.
[0046] Referring to FIG. 3 , in a third presently preferred embodiment, the system 300 for providing regulated flow of oxygen rapidly and intermittently as needed, in aircraft, includes a controller or control system 102 in electronic communication with pressurized cylinder 110 through line 104 and also in electronic communication with a chemical oxygen generator 112 through line 106 . The controller is further in electronic communication with a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem 122 through line 105 . Additionally, the controller is in electronic communication with an on-board oxygen generator 114 through line 108 . The pressurized oxygen cylinder is in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 116 and the chemical oxygen generator is in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 118 . The on-board oxygen generator is also in fluid communication with the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem through feed line 120 . The pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, in turn, is in fluid communication with one or more breathing masks 132 , 134 , 136 , and 138 which can be provided for passengers and crew members through low pressure tubing 124 , 126 , 128 , and 130 . Optionally, one or more sensors 140 or detectors in electronic communication with the controller and/or the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem may be provided in any of the breathing masks, the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, the oxygen sources, or along the feed lines or low pressure tubing through which oxygen is supplied for sensing air pressure and/or flow and communicating a corresponding sensor signal indicating air pressure and/or flow to the controller, as will be further explained below.
[0047] The chemical oxygen generator 112 may optionally include one or more accompanying igniters or sequencers or a chemical oxygen generator initiation device.
[0048] The on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) 114 may include a ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device incorporating solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) technology.
[0049] At least one on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) is preferably of the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type. The ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type of device provides the advantages of producing highly enriched oxygen gas (substantially 100% O 2 ) at pressure suitable for breathing, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for compressors which take up space and add weight.
[0050] Referring to FIG. 4 , the steps of a method 400 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention are illustrated. A method for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for flight crew or passengers on-board an aircraft, includes the step 402 of activating a first system to initiate rapid flow of oxygen from a first on-board oxygen supplier at high altitudes greater than 30,000 feet. Then, a second system including an on-board oxygen generator is powered on at 404 . The second system is activated at 406 to initiate flow of oxygen from the on-board oxygen generator. Then, at 408 , oxygen supplied from the second system is integrated with oxygen supplied from the first system. The first system is deactivated when the second system is able to meet oxygen demands, as shown at 410 . At 412 , the breathing pattern of a passenger or a flight crew member is sensed. At 414 , the flow of oxygen to a breathing mask is regulated, for example, by delivering oxygen to the mask from the first system or the second system through a pulsed oxygen subsystem configured to vary a flow rate of oxygen based on a sensed breathing pattern and physiological requirements.
[0051] During an initial stage, for example immediately after an emergency situation arises, a stream of gas highly enriched with oxygen is provided from the first on-board oxygen supplier. The initial stage typically exists when the aircraft is at an altitude greater than 30,000 feet. In a subsequent stage, oxygen is supplied from a second on-board oxygen supplier. The second on-board oxygen supplier includes an on-board oxygen generator that produces oxygen enriched gas on-board the aircraft. The subsequent stage typically exists after the aircraft has completed an initial descent and reached a holding altitude.
[0052] Ceramic membranes for separating oxygen from a supply stream of air rely on the catalytic properties of the interior surfaces of specialized ceramic materials to ionize and then separate oxygen. As applied on aircrafts the supply stream of air for the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device is typically engine bleed air. However, the supply gas for the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device may come from other sources. For example, the supply gas may come from the product stream of another on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device positioned upstream, including a ceramic oxygen generator (COG) or molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG).
[0053] The oxygen ionization process at high surface temperatures is partly responsible for generation of a product gas from the ceramic membrane systems that is virtually 100% pure oxygen with no possibility for the presence of biological or toxic chemical components. Ceramic operating temperatures are around 700° C. and the electrical potential difference across the membrane is on the order of a volt. Ceramic membrane oxygen generators are one preferred subset of ion transport membrane (ITM) technologies.
[0054] The highly enriched oxygen gas produced by the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device is suitable for breathing at higher altitudes above 30,000 feet whereas more moderately enriched oxygen gas produced by other types of on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices, including molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) devices, is not suitable for breathing at higher altitudes and requires compressors to pressurize it before it is suitable for breathing at lower altitudes. Highly enriched oxygen gas from the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device may be used directly for breathing at any altitude after waiting for attainment of the high temperature requirement necessary to the production of such gas.
[0055] The standby availability of the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device on-board the aircraft reduces reliance on pressurized gas cylinders and chemical oxygen generators. Smaller pressurized gas cylinders may be provided if ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices are available. Additionally, the excess oxygen generated by the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices might be used to refill the smaller pressurized cylinders in the air, thereby reducing maintenance costs from refilling or replacing pressurized gaseous cylinders on the ground.
[0056] By incorporating this ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device and existing solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) technology as a component in a system with other components that can supply oxygen sooner and managing the supply of oxygen among the components, the present invention overcomes the drawback of delays encountered with ceramic oxygen generator (COG) and solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) devices. For example, pressurized cylinders of highly oxygen enriched gas (about 99% oxygen and above) or chemical oxygen generators may supply oxygen for about the first 5-10 minutes upon an emergency situation arising. After the first 5-10 minutes it is likely that the aircraft will have descended to or below 30,000 feet at which point a molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) type of on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) can be relied upon to supply more moderately enriched oxygen gas (90-95%) suitable for breathing at lower altitudes. Alternatively, after the first 5-10 minutes if the aircraft has not descended sufficiently to switch the oxygen supply source to the molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG), it is likely that by that time the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device will be ready to utilize, having attained the necessary temperature requirement and sufficiently cycled.
[0057] The controller may be used to coordinate the supply of oxygen from the various sources to the one or more pulsed oxygen suppliers (not shown) of the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem that feed one or more individual breathing masks. The controller is able to determine what quality of oxygen is required based on altitude and what sources of oxygen are available. The controller manages the oxygen supplies as necessary to meet the demands of passengers and crew while maintaining adequate reserves.
[0058] For example, upon an emergency situation arising at high altitude greater than 30,000 feet, if oxygen from a ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device is not promptly available because the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device was not turned on until the emergency situation arose, the controller can direct a pressurized cylinder or a chemical oxygen generator to promptly supply oxygen. Upon the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device attaining operation temperature of 650° C. to 750° C. and cycling, the controller can sense the presence of highly enriched oxygen available from the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device, infiltrate this into the supply stream from the pressurized cylinder or chemical oxygen generator, and phase out supply from the pressurized cylinder or chemical oxygen generator once the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device is able to adequately meet demand.
[0059] One way in which the system may provide regulated flow of oxygen rapidly and intermittently, as needed in aircraft, is through the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, which can conserve oxygen, such as by regulating oxygen flow to the breathing mask of a passenger or a flight crew member during an exhalation phase of the breathing cycle and resuming flow of oxygen to the breathing mask during an inhalation phase.
[0060] For example, one or more sensors may be provided in fluid communication with each breathing mask for detecting an inhalation phase or an exhalation phase of a breathing cycle of a passenger or a flight crew member and then communicating this information to the controller. The controller, in turn, directs the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem and the oxygen sources accordingly to conserve, decrease, stop, increase, or resume the flow of oxygen as needed to better manage oxygen supplies while meeting the demands of passengers and flight crew members.
[0061] Other components may be incorporated in different embodiments but are not required. For example, these other components may be a main cabin decompression relay, one or more additional relays, an electrically operated on/off inlet valve between each oxygen source and each of the feed lines from the oxygen source to each breathing mask, one or more pressure transducers, and the like.
[0062] Other components of the system may also include cooling or heating devices, for example along the feed lines, to ensure enriched oxygen gas from the oxygen generator (particularly the high temperature ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device) is supplied to the breathing masks of passengers or cabin flight crew at the appropriate temperature compatible with physiological preferences or requirements. Cooling or heating devices, for example along the feed lines, may also be provided to ensure inert gas is delivered to the fuel tank at the appropriate temperature.
[0063] Additionally, the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem may include one or more pulsed oxygen suppliers (not shown) for intermittently providing flow of oxygen to the individual breathing masks. The breathing masks may each include a reservoir bag.
[0064] In alternative embodiments, as part of the control system, in addition to the controller, one or more sensors 140 or detectors at each of the oxygen sources may be provided to determine volume available and oxygen concentration. Another sensor or detector (not shown) in a communicating relationship with the controller may read altitude. Additional sensors 140 and detectors may be provided within individual breathing masks, within the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem, or along any of the lines to or from the breathing masks or the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem to monitor other variables including oxygen usage rates.
[0065] In still other embodiments, the controller may be in electrical communication with each oxygen source and a main cabin decompression relay (not shown). More specifically, the controller may be in communication with an electrically operated on/off inlet solenoid valve (not shown) between each oxygen source and each breathing mask, or between each oxygen source and the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem supplying oxygen to the masks, or between the pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem and each mask.
[0066] In further embodiments, given the ability of ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices to perform better with input streams more highly concentrated in oxygen, it may be particularly advantageous to have another on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device upstream of the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device. This upstream on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) would serve to increase the oxygen concentration in the supply stream fed to the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) device beyond the oxygen concentration of an alternative air supply stream, for example engine bleed air.
[0067] According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for providing regulated flow of oxygen, for a passenger on an aircraft. In accordance with the method, a first system is activated to initiate an initial flow of oxygen at high altitudes greater than 30,000 feet from a first on-board oxygen supplier. The first on-board oxygen supplier may be a pressurized oxygen cylinder, a chemical oxygen generator, or a combination of a pressurized oxygen cylinder and a chemical oxygen generator. A second system is also activated to initiate a subsequent flow of oxygen from a second on-board oxygen supplier. The second on-board oxygen supplier is a first on-board oxygen generator. The first on-board oxygen generator is configured to supply a first gas stream having an oxygen concentration of 99% or greater. The method further involves integrating oxygen supplied from the second system with oxygen supplied from the first system and deactivating the first system when the second system is able to meet oxygen supply requirements. The method also includes sensing the breathing pattern of a passenger and regulating flow of oxygen to a breathing mask of a passenger. Oxygen flow may be regulated by delivering oxygen to the mask from the first system or the second system through a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem configured to vary a flow rate of oxygen based on a sensed breathing pattern and physiological requirements.
[0068] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Various changes and modifications can, of course, be made, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. | The present invention provides a system and method for supplying, generating, conserving, and managing oxygen that is ideally suited for use on-board an aircraft for supply of breathable oxygen to passengers and flight crew. The system includes several components that together optimize oxygen utilization while reducing costs from maintenance and added weight of traditional pressurized gaseous cylinders. Components of the system include a pressurized cylinder of oxygen enriched gas or a chemical oxygen generator for rapid use in emergency situations, an on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) of the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) type incorporating solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) technology, a controller, a pulsed oxygen supplier, a crew/passenger breathing mask, and one or more sensors including sensors that detect inhale/exhale phases and communicate with the controller so that flow of oxygen may be regulated for conservation and to adapt to physiological needs. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation application of PCT application No. PCT/CN2006/002529, filed Sep. 26, 2006, which claims Chinese priority No. 200510102270.4, filed Dec. 7, 2005.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of data communications, and in particular to an XML document management method and system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An Extensible Markup Language (XML) Document Management (XDM) system is a universal enabler for various services in Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standards. The XDM system is capable of storing and managing the data of various enablers.
As illustrated in FIG. 1 , an XDM system primarily includes an XDM client 100 , an aggregation proxy server 200 , and XDM servers 300 . The XDM client 100 is an entity with an access to different XDM servers, and may be a user equipment terminal or a server. When the XDM client 100 is a user equipment terminal, an XML Configuration Access Protocol (XCAP) request transmitted by the XDM client 100 is forwarded by the aggregation proxy server 200 to a corresponding XDM server 300 . When being a server, the XDM client interacts directly with the XDM servers 300 . The XDM client 100 manages XML documents stored in the XDM servers 300 via XCAP protocol.
The aggregation proxy server 200 is primarily adapted to provide the functions of, e.g. routing, authentication or charging and compression.
The XDM servers 300 store and manage XML documents for multiple XDM clients, and provide a notification message for an XDM client, which subscribes to a notification on a change of some documents, upon any change of the corresponding documents. The XDM servers 300 also provide an authentication function.
In the existing XDM system, the management and operations of the XDM client 100 on an XML document include:
(1) A creation or update operation: The XDM client 100 may transmit to an XDM server 300 an XCAP PUT request for creating or updating a document or an element or attribute in a document.
(2) A reading operation: The XDM client 100 may transmit to an XDM server 300 an XCAP GET request for retrieving a document or an element or attribute in a document.
(3) A deletion operation: The XDM client 100 may transmit to an XDM server 300 an XCAP DELETE request for deleting a document or an element or attribute in a document.
In addition to the above document management and operations, the XDM system is required in many cases to support a document recovery function of recovering the state of an XML document at a previous point of time from the state of the XML document at a point of time. For example, a user changes an XML document on an XDM server 300 through the XDM client 100 , thereafter finds the misoperation, and wishes to recover the original state of the document prior to the change. Such a function can not be supported by the existing XDM system, which therefore limits the application for the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to address such an issue that an XDM system existed in the prior art can not support the recovery of the state of an XML document at a previous point of time from the state of the XML document at a point of time, which limits the application for users.
The object of the invention is attained through the following technical solutions.
An extensible markup language document management method includes the steps of:
storing change records for a document;
recovering a current document of the document which a user requests for recovering, to a version as needed by the user, dependent upon the change records corresponding to the document which the user requests for recovering, upon reception of a document recovery request from the user.
Prior to storing the change records for the document, the method further includes:
determining whether to store the change records for the document.
The storing of the change records for the document further includes:
performing a control on a size of the change records for the document.
The recovering operation further includes:
searching for the change records corresponding to the document which the user requests for recovering, locating a corresponding operation object in the current document, and recovering sequentially operations prior to a change in a reverse time sequence until the version as needed by the user is recovered.
The recovering operation further includes:
generating a sequence of reverse operation requests dependent upon the change records corresponding to the document which the user requests for recovering;
changing the current document dependent upon the sequence of reverse operation requests until the version as needed by the user is recovered.
The document recovery request in the recovering operation is transmitted through:
an XCAP request message or an HTTP POST request message.
An extensible markup language document management system includes:
a change-recording storage module adapted to store change records for a document;
a change operation record module adapted to perform a change recording operation for the document and to store a change operation record into the change records for the document;
a rollback control module adapted to recover a current document of the document which a user requests for recovering, to a version as needed by the user, dependent upon the change records corresponding to the document which the user requests for recovering, upon reception of a document recovery request from the user.
The system further includes:
a change configuration module adapted to determine whether to store the change records for the user and to control the change operation record module to store the change operation record into the change records for the document.
The change configuration module is further adapted to limit a size of the change records.
The rollback control module further includes:
a rollback operation sub-module adapted to search for the change records corresponding to the document which the user requests for recovering and to recover sequentially operations prior to a change in a reverse time sequence until the version as needed by the user is recovered.
The rollback control module is arranged in a client or a dedicated rollback server;
the change-recording storage module and the change operation record module are arranged in a server.
The rollback control module, the change-recording storage module and the change operation record module are arranged in a server.
The rollback control module further includes:
a reverse operation request generation sub-module adapted to generate a sequence of reverse operation requests dependent upon the change records corresponding to the document which the user requests for recovering.
The system further includes:
a reverse operation request response module adapted to change the current document dependent upon the sequence of reverse operation requests until the version as needed by the user is recovered.
The rollback control module, the change-recording storage module, the reverse operation request response module and the change operation record module are arranged in a server.
The rollback control module is arranged in a client or a dedicated rollback server;
the change-recording storage module, the change operation record module and the reverse operation request response module are arranged in a server.
It is obvious from the inventive technical solutions that with the invention, a rollback operation can be enabled on the document, so that the user can recover the document to a previous version, and thus a remedy can be provided for a document misoperation of the user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a typical structural diagram of an XDM system in the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of implementing the storage of a change record for an XML document;
FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a system for implementing a document rollback operation at an XDM client in a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of implementing a document rollback operation at an XDM client in the first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a system for implementing a document rollback operation at an XDM server in the first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of implementing a document rollback operation at an XDM server in the first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of a system for implementing a document rollback operation with a rollback server added in an XDM system in a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of implementing a document rollback operation with a rollback server added in an XDM system in the second embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of implementing a document rollback operation at an XDM client in the second embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will be further described in detail with reference to the drawings and embodiments of the invention to make the object, technical solutions and advantageous of the invention clearer to be understood. It shall be understood that the specific embodiments described here are merely intended to explain but not to limit the invention.
According to the invention, when a user desires to perform a recovery on a current XML document, a version of the XML document as required by the user may be recovered from the current XML document by using the change record of the current XML document, and a remedy can be provided for a misoperation by the user.
FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of implementing the storage of a change record for an XML document:
1: An XDM client 100 transmits to an XDM server 300 an XCAP request for changing an XML document. If the XDM client 100 is a user equipment client, the XCAP request is forwarded through an aggregation proxy server 200 .
2: Upon determining that the XCAP request is for a document change operation, such as XCAP PUT or XCAP DELETE, the XDM server 300 determines that a record shall be made for the change operation in accordance with user requirements, and then stores a change record for the XML document.
3: The XDM server 300 returns a response message (200 OK) to the XDM client 100 . If the XDM client 100 is a user equipment client, the response message is forwarded through the aggregation proxy server 200 .
In the above procedure, the XDM server 300 may control the scale of the change-recording document by clearing the change-recording document so as to limit the scale of the document. For example, the number of operations recorded for each XML document may be defined; and if the recording of a change operation for an XML document goes against a limiting rule, the XDM server 300 may delete original change record(s) stored for a relatively long time period. In another example, a storage time period for each operation record is defined, and operation record(s) exceeding the storage time period may be cleared. Prior to clearing the change record of the XML document, or when the change record of the XML document is exceeding a predetermined scale, the XDM server 300 may transit a notification message as requested by the XDM client 100 .
In a first embodiment of the invention, a rollback operation is performed dependent upon an XML document and a change-recording document for the XML document. Firstly, the change-recording document is searched for a change record corresponding to the document version as required, and an operation object in the XML document is located. In the case of an XCAP DELETE operation, a recorded element or attribute value prior to deletion is inserted at the location, and in the case of an XCAP PUT operation, an element or attribute prior to the operation is present in the change record, the element or attribute at the location is replaced with the element or attribute prior to the operation. The rollback is performed sequentially in a reverse time sequence until the rollback arrives at an XML document of the version as required.
The above document rollback operation may be implemented in either the XDM client 100 or the XDM server 300 , or by a dedicated rollback server.
FIG. 3 illustrates a structure of a system for implementing a document rollback operation at the XDM client 100 .
The XDM client 100 includes a rollback control module 101 . The XDM server 300 includes a change-recording storage module 301 , a change configuration module 302 and a change operation record module 303 .
The rollback control module 101 performs a rollback operation on an XML document, thereby rolling the XML document back to a version at a previous time point. The rollback control module 101 performs the rollback operation through a rollback operation sub-module 1011 .
The XDM client further includes a reverse operation request generation module 1012 adapted to generate a reverse operation request.
In correspondence with the reverse operation request generation module 1012 of the XDM client, a reverse operation request response module 304 is arranged in the XDM server. The reverse operation request response module 304 is adapted to perform a rollback change on a document in response to the reverse operation request generated by the reverse operation request generation module 1012 .
The change-recording storage module 301 records change records for an XML document. If the change operation record module 303 needs to record the change of an XML document, the change is recorded in the change-recording storage module 301 .
The change-recording storage module 301 maintains a change-recording document for each user, which records the change of an XML document. Every time the user performs a creation, deletion or change operation on an XML document, the XDM server 300 records a change in the change-recording document.
The change record in the change-recording document may take the following XML structure:
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcap-log”
xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”
xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcap-log”
elementFormDefault=“qualified”
attributeFormDefault=“unqualified”>
<xs:element name=“change-log”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence minOccurs=“0” maxOccurs=“unbounded”>
<xs:choice>
<xs:element ref=“delete-event”/>
<xs:element ref=“put-event”/>
<xs:any namespace=“##other” minOccurs=“0”
maxOccurs=“unbounded”/>
</xs:choice>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name=“put-event”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:choice>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:element name=“previous-element”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:any namespace=“##other”/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name=“element”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:any namespace=“##other”/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:element name=“attribute” type=“xs:string”/>
<xs:element name=“previous-attribute” type=“xs:string”/>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:any namespace=“##other”/>
</xs:choice>
<xs:element name=“type” type=“operationType”/>
<xs:element name=“operator” type=“XUIType”/>
<xs:element name=“previous-etag” type=“etagType”/>
<xs:element name=“etag” type=“etagType”/>
<xs:element name=“timestamp” type=“timestampType”/>
<xs:attribute name=“node-selector” type=“xs:anyURI”
use=“optional”/>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name=“delete-event”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:choice>
<xs:element name=“previous-element”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:any namespace=“##other”/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name=“previous-attribute” type=“xs:string”/>
</xs:choice>
<xs:element name=“type” type=“operationType”/>
<xs:element name=“operator” type=“XUIType”/>
<xs:element name=“previous-etag” type=“etagType”/>
<xs:element name=“etag” type=“etagType”/>
<xs:element name=“timestamp” type=“timestampType”/>
<xs:attribute name=“node-selector” type=“xs:anyURI”
use=“optional”/>
<xs:attribute name=“node-selector” type=“xs:anyURI”
use=“optional”/>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
In the above structure, the change record for an XML document is represented by an element <change-log>. <change-log> includes several elements <put-event> or <delete-event> indicative of a record of changing the XML document. The element is <put-event> if the changing is XCAP PUT. The element is <delete-event> if the changing is XCAP DELETE.
In the <put-event>, if an operation object is an element in the XML document, <previous-element> records information on the element prior to the operation, and <element> records information on the element after the operation; and if an operation object is an attribute of an element in the XML document, <previous-element> records information on the attribute prior to the operation, and <attribute> records information on the attribute after the operation.
In the <delete-event>, if an operation object is an element in the XML document, <previous-element> records information on the element prior to the deletion operation; and if an operation object is an attribute of an element in the XML document, <previous-element> records information on the attribute prior to the deletion operation.
Either of the <put-event> and <delete-event> includes an attribute “node-selector” specifying an element corresponding to a change operation. Either of the <put-event> and the <delete-event> further includes sub-elements of <type>, <operator>, <previous-etag>, <etag>, <timestamp>, etc. Particularly, the <type> indicates an operation type, such as creation, change and deletion. The <operator> indicates an operator. The <previous-etag> indicates the etag value of the document prior to the operation, <etag> indicates the etag value of the document after the operation, <timestamp> indicates the time stamp at the time of the operation.
The change record for an XML document may take the following XML structure:
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcap-log”
xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”
xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcap-log”
elementFormDefault=“qualified”
attributeFormDefault=“unqualified”>
<xs:element name=“xcap-log”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence minOccurs=“0” maxOccurs=“unbounded”>
<xs:element name=“document”>
<xs:element ref=“change-log”/>
<xs:attribute name=“doc-selector” type=“xs:anyURI”/>
<xs:attribute name=“previous-etag” type=“etagType”/>
<xs:attribute name=“etag” type=“etagType”/>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
Practically, not documents of all users or change operations on all documents of a user should be recorded. The change configuration module 302 is adapted to control whether to record a change operation on an XML document and limit scale of the change record. For example, at most ten change operations may be recorded or change operations for only one latest month can be stored for a document of a user. When the XDM server 300 creates, deletes or changes an XML document, the change configuration module 302 determines whether to record the change operation on the XML document; and if a recording is required, the change operation record module 303 records the change operation in the change-recording storage module 301 . During a rollback operation, the rollback control module 101 should refer to the change configuration module 302 to determine whether a change operation for the corresponding XML document is present.
The change configuration module 302 stores information on a change operation in a format of an XML document with the following structure:
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace=“urn:oma:params:xml:ns:xcap-log-
configure”
xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”
xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcap-log”
elementFormDefault=“qualified” attributeFormDefault=“unqualified”>
<xs:element name=“log-configure”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence minOccurs=“0” maxOccurs=“unbounded”>
<xs:element name=“document”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:element name=“need-log” type=“xs:boolean”/>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:choice>
<xs:element name=“log-scale” type=“xs:integer”/>
<xs:element name=“log-period”
type=“xs:timespan”/>
</xs:choice>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:attribute name=“doc-selector” type=“xs:anyURI”/>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart for implementing a document rollback operation at the XDM client 100 , in which a user requests the XDM server 300 for deleting users B and C from a friend list via an XCAP protocol, thereafter finds the deletion operation is performed in error, and desires to roll the state of the XML document back to the state prior to the deletion and store the document in the XDM server 300 .
The XML document prior to the change is as follows:
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<resource-lists xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:resource-lists”>
<list name=“friends>
<entry uri=“sip:userB@example.com”>
<display-name>Bob</display-name>
</entry>
<entry uri=“sip:userC@example.com”>
<display-name>Christopher</display-name>
</entry>
<entry uri=“sip:userD@example.com”>
<display-name>Dennis</display-name>
</entry>
</list>
</resource-lists>
The corresponding change-recording document is as follows:
<?xml version=”1.0” encoding=”UTF-8”?>
<log-configure xmlns=”urn:oma:params:xml:ns:log-configure”>
<log-configure>
<document doc-selector=”resource-lists/users/userA/friends.xml”>
<need-log>true></need-log>
<log-scale>100</log-scale>
</document>
</log-configure>
As can be seen from the above, an element <change> in a relevant <document> node in the initial change-recording document is null.
A specific implementation flow is as follows:
(1) The XDM client 100 requests the XDM server 300 via the XCAP protocol for deleting friends B and C from its friend list friends.xml, respectively. The XDM server 300 deletes the friends B and C. The change operation record module 303 records change information in the above format to the change-recording document in the change-recording storage module 301 dependent upon that the change configuration module 302 determines that a record is required for the deletion operation of this document (friends.xml) by the user (processes of 1 to 10 in FIG. 4 ).
(2) If the user needs to perform a rollback for the deletion operation, and the XDM client 100 transmits to the XDM server 300 through the aggregation proxy server 200 an XCAP GET request for a latest XML document (friends.xml) stored in the XDM server 300 (processes of 11 and 12 in FIG. 4 ).
(3) The XDM server 300 returns the XML document requested to the XDM client 100 of the user through the aggregation proxy server 200 (processes of 13 and 14 in FIG. 4 ).
(4) The user requests the XDM server 300 via XCAP GET for change record for the XML document (processes of 15 and 16 in FIG. 4 ).
(5) The XDM server 300 returns a change record for the XML document requested by the user to the XDM client 100 through the aggregation proxy server 200 , after the change configuration module 302 determines that the change record for the XML document is present (processes of 17 and 18 in FIG. 4 ).
(6) The XDM client 100 performs a rollback operation on the XML document, thereby rolling the XML document back to the state prior to deletion of B and C (process of 19 in FIG. 4 ).
The rollback operation sub-module 1011 retrieves from contents of the element <timestamp> in the element <delete-event> the lastly changed element <delete-event>, i.e. the second element <delete-event> in the change record, determines that the operation type is element deletion in accordance with the sub-element <type> of the element <delete-event>, determines the location of the deleted element in the original document in accordance with the attribute “node-selector” of the element <delete-event>, and inserts an element prior to the deletion (i.e. an element recorded in the sub-element <previous-element>) in the determined location in the original document, thereby finishing a rollback process. The rollback process is performed sequentially on each element <operation> recording an operation at a recent time. When the user determines a rollback arrival at the state as required, the rollback-to XML document may be stored in the XDM server 300 via an XCAP PUT request.
(7) The XDM client 100 of the user transmits the rollback-to XML document to the XDM server 300 for storage via the aggregation proxy server 200 through an XCAP PUT request (processes of 20 to 23 in FIG. 4 ).
In the above flow, the XCAP request, which is transmitted from the user to the XDM server 300 when the user deletes its friend B from the list in step 1 as illustrated in FIG. 4 , is in the following format:
DELETE
http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/users/sip:userA@
example.com/friends.xml~~/resource-lists/list[@name=“friends”]/
entry[@uri=”sip:userB@example.com”] HTTP/1.1
Content-length: 0
After the XDM server 300 records the operation of deleting B and C dependent upon the change configuration module 302 in steps 3 and 8 , contents of the node in the change record document are as follows:
<document doc-selector=” resource-lists/users/userA/friends.xml”
previous-etag=”abababab”
etag=”efefefef”>
<delete-event node-selector=” resouce-lists/list[@name=%22friends
%22]/entry[@uri=%22userB@example.com%22]” >
<type>del-elem</type>
<requestor> sip:userA@example.com </requestor>
<previous-etag>abababab</ previous-etag >
<etag> cdcdcdcd</etag>
<timestamp>199809010915001</timestamp>
<previous-element>
<entry uri=“sip:userB@example.com”>
<display-name>Bob </display-name>
</entry>
</previous-element>
</ delete-event >
< delete-event node-selector=” resouce-lists/list[@name=%22friends
%22]/entry[@uri=%22userC@example.com%22]”>
<type>del-elem</type>
<requestor> sip:userA@example.com </requestor>
<previous-etag>cdcdcdcd</ previous-etag >
<etag> efefefef</etag>
<timestamp>199809010915002</timestamp>
<previous-element>
<entry uri=“sip:userC@example.com”>
<display-name>Christopher</display-name>
</entry>
</previous-element>
<new-element />
</operation>
</document>
Contents of the changed XML document stored in the XDM server 300 are as follows:
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<resource-lists xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:resource-lists”>
<list name=“friends>
<entry uri=“sip:userD@example.com”>
<display-name>Dennis</display-name>
</entry>
</list>
</resource-lists>
FIG. 5 illustrates a structure of a system for implementing a document rollback operation at the XDM server 300 , wherein the rollback control module 101 is located in the XDM server 300 , and finishes a rollback operation on an XML document stored in the XDM server 300 according to the change-recording document stored in the XDM server 300 . An implementation flow is as illustrated in FIG. 6 .
1. The XDM client 100 transmits to the XDM server 300 an XCAP request. The message body of the XCAP request includes information on an XML document to be rolled back, a rollback-to version, etc. which may be represented with the following XML structure:
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<xs:schema targetNamespace=“urn:oma:params:xml:ns:xcap-rollback”
xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”
xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcap-log”
elementFormDefault=“qualified” attributeFormDefault=“unqualified”>
<xs:element name=“roll-back”>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:element name=“document” type=“xs:anyURI”/>
<xs:complexType>
<xs:choice>
<xs:element name=“previous-etag” type=“xs:string”/>
<xs:element name=“back-steps” type=“xs:integer”/>
<xs:element name=“before” type=“xs:datetime”/>
</xs:choice>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
Particularly, <roll-back> is a root element, and includes a sub-element <document> indicating a document to be rolled back, and further includes any one of elements <previous-etag>, <back-steps> and <before> indicating a rollback-to version.
For example, it is assumed that the XDM client 100 will roll an XML document back to a state with an etag “cdcdcdcd”, and the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of this document is as follows:
http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/users/sip:userA@
example.com/friends.xml
The XDM client 100 may transmit the following XCAP request message to the XDM server 300 :
PUT http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/userA@
example.com/rollback HTTP/1.1
...
Content-Type: application/rollback+xml
Content-Length: (...)
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<rollback xmlns=“urn:oma:params:xml:ns:rollback”>
<document>resource-lists/users/sip:userA@
example.com/friends.xml</document>
<back-etag>cdcdcdcd</back-etag>
</rollback>
2. The aggregation proxy server 200 forwards the XCAP request message to a corresponding XDM server 300 in accordance with Application Unique ID (AUID) in the XCAP request message.
3. The XDM server 300 extracts information from the message, and retrieves the XML document to be rolled back and the rollback-to version. The rollback control module 101 performs a rollback operation on the XML document. A specific implementation is as described above, and will not be repeated herein.
4. The XDM server 300 returns a response.
5. The aggregation proxy server 200 transmits the response to the XDM client 100 .
In the above process 1 , the XDM client may alternatively transmit a rollback request through an HTTP POST message.
Particularly, Request-URI in the POST message is an operation object document: http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/userA@example.com/friends.xml
The message is particularly as follows:
POST
http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/userA@
example.com/friends.xml HTTP/1.1
...
Content-Type: application/rollback+xml
Content-Length: (...)
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<rollback xmlns=“urn:oma:params:xml:ns:rollback”>
<document>resource-lists/users/sip:userA@
example.com/friends.xml</document>
<back-etag>cdcdcdcd</back-etag>
</rollback>
FIG. 7 illustrates a structural diagram of a system for implementing a document rollback operation with a rollback server 400 added in an XDM system. The rollback control module 101 is located in the rollback server 400 . The rollback server 400 determines which state an XML document in the XDM server 300 is rolled back to in accordance with rollback information in a rollback request from the XDM client 100 . Also, the system may define AUID as “org.openmobilealiance.rollback” indicating a rollback application.
It is assumed that an XML document to be rolled back for the client is as follows:
http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/users/sip:userA@
example.com/ friends.xml
If the etag of the rollback-to version is “cdcdcdcd”, the XDM client 100 transmits to the rollback server 400 such a request with a message body including information on the URI of the XML document to be rolled back, the rollback-to version, etc. The message body is in a format similar to that as described above:
PUT
http://xcap.example.com/services/org.openmobilealliance.rollback/users/
sip:userA@example.com/ HTTP/1.1
...
Content-Type: application/rollback+xml
Content-Length: (...)
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<rollback xmlns=“urn:oma:params:xml:ns:rollback”>
<document>http://xcap.example.com/services/resource-lists/users/sip:
userA@example.com/friends
.xml</document>
<back-etag>cdcdcdcd<back-etag>
</rollback>
An implementation flow is as illustrated in FIG. 8 , and is detailed below.
1. The XDM client 100 transmits the above XCAP request to the aggregation proxy server 200 .
2. The aggregation proxy server 200 forwards the XCAP request message to the rollback server 400 in accordance with the AUID in the head of the XCAP request message.
3. Upon receiving the XCAP request message, the rollback server 400 determines whether a change record for the XML document exists in accordance with a document change record in the change configuration module 302 .
4. The rollback server 400 transmits to a corresponding XDM server 300 an XACP GET message requesting for a corresponding XML document.
5. The XDM server 300 returns the XML document requested to the rollback server 400 .
6. The rollback server 400 transmits to the XDM server 300 an XCAP GET message requesting for retrieval of a corresponding change-recording XML document.
7. The XDM server 300 returns the change-recording XML document requested to the rollback server 400 .
8. The rollback server 400 performs a rollback operation on the XML document.
9. The rollback server 400 transmits the rolled back XML document to the XDM server 300 .
10. The XDM server 300 stores the rolled back document and returns a response message to the rollback server 400 .
11. The rollback server 400 returns a response message to the aggregation proxy server 200 .
12. The aggregation proxy server 200 returns a response message to the XDM client 100 .
In the second embodiment of the invention, starting with a latest operation record, the rollback control module 101 generates a sequence of reverse XCAP operation requests in accordance with the corresponding change-recording document, and in response to each of the reverse XCAP operation requests, the XDM server 300 proceeds sequentially with rolling back a corresponding XML document to obtain the rolled back XML document as required. These reverse operation requests from the rollback control module 101 are generated by the reverse operation request generation module 1012 . Correspondingly, a reverse operation request response module 304 is added in the XDM server 300 . The reverse operation request response module 304 is adapted to perform a rollback change on a document in accordance with a reverse operation request generated by the reverse operation request generation module 1012 . As compared with the first embodiment, the second embodiment can reduce the traffic volume between the XDM server 300 and the XDM client 100 , and may be implemented on the XDM client 100 or the rollback server 400 . A corresponding system structures are as described above, and description of such a system is not repeated.
FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of implementation at the XDM client 100 , where the XDM client 100 retrieves a corresponding change-recording document (processes of 11 to 14 in FIG. 9 ); starting with a latest operation record, the rollback control module 101 generates a sequence of reverse XCAP operation requests (process of 15 in FIG. 9 ); the XDM client 100 transmits the reverse XCAP operation requests to the XDM server 300 ; in response to each of the reverse XCAP operation requests, the reverse operation request response module 304 in the XDM server 300 proceeds sequentially with rolling back a corresponding XML document to obtain the rolled back XML document as required (processes of 16 to 23 in FIG. 9 ). The other processes are identical to those in the above flow, and will not be repeated herein.
Indeed, the rollback server 400 may generate a sequence of reverse XCAP operation requests, and transmits the sequence to the XDM server 300 . The XDM server performs the sequence of XCAP operations, and thereby retrieving a rolled back XML document. A specific procedure is as described above, and will not be repeated herein.
In the invention, if the rollback control module 101 is located in the XDM client 100 , the rollback control module 101 during a rollback operation may determine whether a latest version of a corresponding XML document is stored in the XDM client 100 , and if not, the rollback control module 101 requests the XDM server through an XCAP GET request for the corresponding XML document, otherwise the rollback control module 101 may make use of the document of the latest version stored in the XDM client 100 .
It should be noted that only those parts relevant to the invention are illustrated in FIG. 3 , FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 of the invention for convenience. Apparently, there are corresponding interface modules arranged in the XDM client 100 , the aggregation proxy server 200 , the XDM server 300 and the rollback server 400 , which are adapted to transport XCAP protocol messages therebetween. In addition to the component modules as described above, the XDM server 300 is further provided with a document storage module for storing an XML document of a user and a document change module for performing a change operation on an XML document of a user. The functions of the above modules can be provided by the existing system. Indeed, the function of the reverse operation request response module 304 as described above in the invention can be enabled with the original document change function of the XDM server 300 .
The above are merely preferred embodiments of the invention but not limit the invention. Any modification, equivalent substitution and variation made without departing from the spirit and principle of the invention shall fall within the protective scope of the invention. | An extensible markup language document management method includes: receiving a document recovery request from a user; and recovering a version of the document as required by a user from the current version of the document, in accordance with the change records for the document. An extensible markup language document management system includes: a rollback control module, adapted to recover a version of a document as required by a user from the current version of the document, in accordance with change records for the document, upon receiving a document recovery request from the user. | 6 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The inventions relate generally to the use of optical fibers for transmission of power, and more particularly to mounting optical fibers for coupling to light sources.
BACKGROUND
Optical fibers can be used to transmit power. To transmit along a fiber, electrical power is first converted into light with a power conversion device, such as a multimode pump chip. The high power light is directed into the fiber at a fiber tip, and then travels down the fiber to a destination, or is coupled into another fiber. To achieve optimal coupling at the fiber tip, the fiber tip is accurately aligned with the light source, and, once aligned, securely held in place. A typical securing technique involves stripping a 10-20 mm length of the jacket off the fiber at one end, metallizing the exposed glass of the fiber, inserting the fiber through a mounting tube, and securing the fiber to the mounting tube. The mounting tube is then secured to a mounting block.
High-powered optical fibers have been secured to a mounting tube with a metallic solder applied to the metallized surface of the fiber. When light traveling inside the fiber reaches the fiber wall, a significant portion of the light is deflected out into the metal. The deflected light is rapidly absorbed since the metallized surface of the fiber, as well as the solder, do not transmit light. Furthermore, the interface between the fiber and the solder contains a complex web of oxides and other dielectric materials that also absorb light. Modem multimode power-carrying optical fibers typically carry a total power of about 10 watts. Since about 10% of the fiber's power can be coupled to the metal layer and solder, this coupling can result in the deposition of about one watt within a few millimeters around the solder junction. Such energy deposition can cause intense localized heating, which can cause the solder to melt, and thus cause serious damage to the fiber and the surrounding components.
In one alternative approach, the metallic solder is replaced with glass solder or with epoxy. However, because these materials have a refractive index that is similar to that of glass or even a little higher, they refract light out of the fiber, also causing power loss. Oxides within the glass solder are efficient light absorbers, and the result can again be significant localized heating with potentially destructive consequences.
SUMMARY
The described embodiments reduce the coupling of power from a power-carrying fiber to its surroundings, particularly the mounting means. This reduction is achieved by securing the fiber with its polymer cladding stripped off to its mount with an adhesive that has a refractive index lower than that of the outer glass cladding of the fiber.
In general, in one aspect, the invention features a method of mounting an optical fiber for coupling to a light source. The method involves providing a portion of the fiber with its polymer cladding stripped off in a mounting tube, applying an adhesive having a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the fiber core and glass cladding to a junction between the fiber glass cladding and the mounting tube to secure the optical fiber to the mounting tube, and hermetically sealing the mounted fiber and the light source within a module housing.
Embodiments include one or more of the following aspects. The adhesive has a refractive index of less than 1.5; the adhesive may comprise sol gel, and may be transmissive of visible light; the adhesive further may have a curing time of less than 30 minutes at room temperature. The sol gel comprises 3-mercapptopropyl-trimethoxysilane and methyltrimethoxysilane. The mounting tube is mounted such that the optical fiber is aligned with the light source. The mounting tube may be mounted on a mounting block connected to the module housing. The fiber core and cladding may comprise glass, in addition to a polymer outer cladding. Prior to placing the fiber inside the mounting tube, a tip portion of the fiber glass cladding may be exposed by stripping off the polymer cladding.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features an apparatus with a mounted optical fiber. The apparatus includes an optical fiber having a tip portion where the fiber with its polymer cladding stripped off is exposed; a mounting tube surrounding at least a portion of the tip portion of the optical fiber, the fiber being secured to the mounting tube with an adhesive having a refractive index lower than the refractive index of glass; and a light source that is optically coupled to the light source.
Embodiments include one or more of the following aspects. The fiber core is made of glass. The adhesive has a refractive index of less than 1.5; the adhesive curing time is less than 30 minutes at room temperature; the adhesive may be a sol gel adhesive; and the adhesive may be transmissive of light. The mounting tube is mounted so as to align the fiber with the light source. Other features and advantages will become apparent from the drawings and detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a high power multi-mode laser pump module assembly.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of selected components used to secure a high power optical fiber.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Multimode optical fibers typically transmit between one and 10 watts of power as light within an individual fiber, but power transmission may be as high as 100 watts per fiber. The power to be transmitted is normally provided to the fiber as an electrical current traveling along a conducting cable. A high power multimode pump chip converts the incoming electrical energy into optical energy in the form of laser light, which is coupled to an optical fiber. The multimode pump chip, the fiber tip (one end of the fiber), and associated components are all housed within a hermetically sealed module. One source of malfunction in the assemblies that couple electrical signals to optical fibers is leakage of non-coupled energy out of the core of the fiber into the cladding and into other material that is used to adhere the end of the fiber to its mount. Such energy leakage can cause intense localized heating with consequent damage to the fiber and its surrounding material, and can cause the system to fail, potentially catastrophically.
Energy is diverted from a glass fiber when a material surrounding the fiber has a refractive index equal to or higher than that of the fiber's glass, i.e., greater or equal to about 1.4. When glass solder is used to adhere the fiber to a mount, the adhering material has the same or higher refractive index as the fiber, which results in considerable coupling between the light incident on the inner fiber wall and the surrounding material. The degree of coupling may also be affected by the nature of the core-to-glass solder interface, which may have a layer of surface oxides.
The coupling of light to the surrounding material can be drastically reduced by using a material having a lower refractive index than that of the glass fiber. In this situation, light traveling along the fiber that impinges on the glass/surround boundary is incident from the higher-refractive index side of the junction. If incident at an angle greater than the critical angle (which is typically the case for light traveling along the fiber), the light is internally reflected back into the fiber. Low refractive index surrounding material thus reduces the coupling between the fiber and its surround.
The described embodiment uses a sol gel adhesive, referred to herein as sol gel 1612, to secure the optical fiber to the mounting tube. Sol gel 1612 is a colloidal suspension of silicon dioxide that is gelled to form a solid. It comprises 3-Mercapptopropyl-Trimethoxysilane (MPTMOS), Methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), and Ceramabind 644-A Colloidal Alumina Aqueous Solution.
The following is a typical mixing procedure and sequence.
1. Weigh 2.5 grams MTMOS into Trace-clean, 2 nd glass bottle using pipette. 2. Weigh 2.5 grams 644A to same bottle using second pipette. 3. Add 5 drops MPTMOS using third pipette. 4. Screw on lid. 5. Shake by hand for 5 minutes. 6. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. 7. Add 0.75 grams Acetone. 8. Shake bottle. 9. Label bottle contents, batch and mix date. 10. Use or refrigerate.
The sol gel is an effective adhesive, and serves to replace the metallic solder and/or the glass solder or epoxy adhesives used in other systems. The 1612 compound sol gel has a refractive index of 1.38 at a wavelength of 589 nm, significantly below the 1.5 refractive index of glass.
Sol gel is also optically transmissive, which means that any light that is coupled into it is not rapidly absorbed and does not cause localized heating. In contrast, the glass used in glass solder contains oxides that are efficient light absorbers that would cause power from coupled light to be deposited close to the contact surface with the fiber core. A further advantage of sol gel is that it is stable at room temperature, having a long shelf life. It also cures relatively rapidly (15 to 30 minutes) at room temperature. This property enables the assembly process to proceed rapidly. It also removes the need for the high temperatures required to melt and apply solder adhesives. This allows the assembly to be fixed while on the assembly station, avoiding possible internal movements within the assembly during removal from the assembly station. The low-temperature cure also beneficially avoids temperatures that could cause other solders in the module to soften or move, which could result in thermal damage to the polymer cladding of the fiber.
In another embodiment, the fiber is adhered to the mount with an adhesive having a refractive index of less than 1.5; in another embodiment, the adhesive has a refractive index of less than 1.45; in yet another embodiment, the adhesive has a refractive index of less than 1.4.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a high power, hermetically sealed, multimode pump module that incorporates a sol gel adhesive, and that is used to couple optical power into a fiber. Fiber 102 is mounted inside module 104 with fiber tip 106 aligned with multimode pump chip 108 and its carrier 110 . Carrier 110 is mounted on submount 112 . Fiber 102 is mounted and secured by ferrule 114 , which serves as a mounting tube, and is mounted on mounting block 116 . Fiber 102 is adhered to ferrule 114 using a sol gel (not shown in FIG. 1 ). The fiber then passes through second ferrule 118 that exits sealed module 104 through package ferrule 120 . First ferrule 114 and second ferrule 118 preferably comprise metals or metal alloys. Package ferrule 120 is soldered to wall 122 of module 104 , and forms a hermetic seal with wall 122 . Fiber 102 is hermetically sealed to second ferrule 118 with a glass solder. The purpose of first ferrule 114 is to secure fiber 102 in correct alignment with multimode pump chip 108 , while second ferrule 118 surrounds the fiber with a hermetic seal before it exits sealed module 104 . Sealed module 104 includes enclosure 124 containing a gettering material (not shown), which removes impurities from within module 104 through porous housing 126 .
Outside sealed module 104 , fiber 102 exits second ferrule 118 and, after a short gap, is covered with acrylate fiber jacket 128 . The acrylate jacket is a covering that is normally supplied with the optical fiber, but here, the jacket has been stripped off to expose the glass core of fiber 102 to a distance of 18±0.5 mm from fiber tip 106 . Second ferrule 118 is secured to jacket 128 with notched tube 130 , providing strain relief for the fiber gap between second ferrule 118 and jacket 128 . The entire assembly from package ferrule 120 to jacket 128 and beyond is covered with protective rubber strain relief boot 132 , preferably comprising flame-retardant rubber.
FIG. 2 is an illustration showing the fiber assembly in more detail. The figure shows the portion of fiber 102 from tip 106 extending about 18 mm along the fiber, corresponding to the portion for which fiber 102 has been stripped down to the glass core. At a distance of 1-4 mm, and preferably at about 2 mm, from fiber tip 106 , the fiber enters first ferrule 114 . The fiber is secured to ferrule 114 by sol gel 202 , which serves as a low refractive index, highly transmissive adhesive layer. Sol gel 202 is applied to the first ferrule 114 , and, through capillary action, wicks along fiber 102 , reaching approximately 80-100% along the length of ferrule 114 . Fiber 102 exits from back face 204 of ferrule 114 , and after a short gap of approximately 2 mm, enters second ferrule 118 , where it is secured with a hermetic seal provided by glass solder 206 . Fiber 102 then exits second ferrule 118 , and, after short gap 208 , enters jacket 128 . Strain relief is provided by notched tube 130 , which is secured by epoxy joints 210 to second ferrule 118 at one end and to fiber jacket 128 at the other.
Glass solder is used to secure fiber 102 to second ferrule 118 in order to provide a hermetic seal. This joint allows light to leak from the glass cladding into the glass solder adhesive, which causes heating around the hermetic seal. This heating can be tolerated for low power parts in the 10 W range since the heat can be dissipated in the seal vicinity without destabilizing the fiber coupling or compromising the hermetic seal. However, when used with high power modules, such light leakage could cause destructive heating. In such applications it would be desirable to use a low refractive index adhesive, such as sol gel, to provide the required hermetic seal at this joint (as for first ferrule 114 ) without the light leakage and resulting heat dissipation associated with a glass solder joint.
Typical applications of optical fibers transmitting high power multimode laser light include ordnance initiation, soldering, photodynamic therapy, and marking. The laser light may also be used to provide pump power to other lasers, such as to diode-pumped solid state lasers, or to fiber lasers. Since the packages are fully hermetic, they can be used in challenging environments, such as underwater or in space.
Other embodiments are within the following claims. | Method and apparatus for mounting an optical fiber for coupling to a high power light source, the fiber being secured to its mount with a low refractive index adhesive. The low refractive index adhesive serves to reduce the coupling of light traveling within the fiber to the fiber mount, thereby reducing undesirable, potentially destructive heating in the fiber mount. The adhesive preferably comprises sol gel. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a photopolymerizable material that is suitable for the production of colored images, in particular, for color proofing for multicolor printing. The invention further relates to a process for the production of a colored image, in particular, a color proofing method in which a photopolymerizable material comprising a transparent film support, a colored polymerizable layer and a thermoplastic adhesion layer is laminated onto an image-receiving sheet, exposed imagewise through the film support and developed to produce the image by peeling off the film support together with the exposed areas of the colored polymerizable layer.
2. Description of Related Art
Materials and processes relating to color proofing are known and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,895,787 and 5,049,476, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The color proofing process described therein has the advantage that development of the image does not require the use of any alkaline or acidic solutions or organic solvents. Color proofing materials typically include a transparent film support, a colored photopolymerizable layer and a heat-activatable adhesion layer. A disadvantage of these materials is that they produce images whose background areas have a yellow discoloration. As has been found, this discoloration is predominantly attributable to the presence of the photoinitiator in the photopolymerizable layer which can diffuse into the adhesion layer during storage.
Because this photoinitiator also is present in the image areas of the photopolymerizable layer, the color of each individual color image is distorted by its presence. Although attempts have been made to employ photoinitiators whose absorption is exclusively in the ultra-violet region and which therefore appear colorless in the visible region, these photoinitiators are significantly less effective in the light of conventional copying lamps and require very long exposure times. It also has been found that even visually colorless photoinitiators can cause a color shift, since these compounds frequently form colored photodecomposition products.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,435 describes a process for the production of colored images in which a photosensitive material comprising a layer support, an uncolored photopolymerizable layer, a colored photopolymerizable layer and an image-receiving sheet is exposed image-wise and developed to produce an image by peeling apart the layer support and the image receiving sheet. The unexposed areas of the colored photopolymerizable layer remain on the image-receiving sheet, while the exposed areas remain on the layer support. Using this method, single-color images are obtained. The production of multicolored images from superimposed single-color images also is described, however, development is always carried out by washing out. A color shift also occurs in this material since the colored photopolymerizable layer contains a photoinitiator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,525 describes a photosensitive material which contains an uncolored photopolymerizable layer and a colored, non-photosensitive layer. The material is exposed and developed by peeling apart. The photopolymerizable layer and at least part of the colored layer remain on the layer support in the exposed areas, while both layers remain on the image-receiving material in the unexposed areas. Color distortion therefore is caused in the colored positive image by the presence of the photoinitiator in the photopolymerizable layer. A similar material and process are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,395. The disclosures of the U.S. Patents described above are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Thus, there exists a need to provide a material and a photopolymerizable process that produces color images that are not distorted by photoinitiator residue and that have low background discoloration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a photopolymerizable material and a process for the production of colored images, in particular multicolored images, that produces pure-color images which are not distorted by photoinitiator residues which absorb in the visible spectral region. It also is an object of the invention to provide a photopolymerizable material and a process for producing a colored image that utilizes highly photosensitive photopolymerizable mixtures. It is an additional object of the invention to provide a photopolymerizable material and a process for the production of color images that have low background discoloration.
In accordance with these objectives and other objectives of the invention, there is provided a photopolymerizable material having
(A) a flexible, transparent film support,
(B) a colored, polymerizable layer which contains a polymeric organic binder, a free-radical-polymerizable compound, containing at least one terminal ethylenically unsaturated group, and a dye or colored pigment, and
(C) an adhesion layer which contains a thermoplastic polymer and has a glass transition temperature (T g ) of from 25° to 100° C.
The material according to the invention also includes an uncolored photopolymerizable layer (D) which contains a polymeric organic binder, a free-radical-polymerizable compound containing at least one terminal ethylenically unsaturated group, and a photopolymerizable initiator. Uncolored photopolymerizable layer (D) is arranged between the film support (A) and the colored polymerizable layer (B), and the cohesion of layers (B), (C) and (D) and the adhesion of these layers to one another and to the film support (A) are adjusted so that the adhesion (a 2 ) of the photopolymerizable layer (D) to the colored polymerizable layer (B) in the unexposed state is lower than (i) the adhesion (a 3 ) of the colored layer (B) to the adhesion layer (C), (ii) the adhesion (a 1 ) of the photopolymerizable layer (D) to the film support (A) , and (iii) the cohesion (c 1 ), (c 2 ) and (c 3 ) of layers (D), (B) and (C), respectively. The adhesion (a 3 ') of the colored layer (B) to the adhesion layer (C) in the exposed state is lower than (i) the adhesion (a 1 ') of the photopolymerized layer (D) to the film support (A), (ii) the adhesion (a 2 ') of the photopolymerized layer (D) to the colored layer (B), and (iii) the cohesion (c 1 ') , (c 2 ') and (c 3 ') of layers (D) , (B) and (C), respectively.
In accordance with the aforementioned objectives, there is provided a process for the production of a colored image which comprises (i) laminating a photopolymerizable material having the above-described features by means of its adhesion layer (C) to an image-receiving sheet (E) under pressure and an elevated temperature; (ii) exposing the resultant laminate imagewise through the film support (A); and (iii) peeling the film support, together with the photopolymerizable layer (D) and the exposed areas of the colored polymerizable layer (B), off from the image-receiving sheet. The photopolymerizable material further is characterized in that the adhesion (a 4 ) of the adhesion layer (C) to the image-receiving sheet (E) in the unexposed state is greater than the adhesion (a 2 ) of the photopolymerizable layer (D) to the colored layer (B), and the adhesion (a 4 ') of the adhesion layer (C) to the image-receiving sheet (E) in the exposed state is greater than the adhesion (a 3 ') of the colored polymerizable layer (B) to the adhesion layer (C).
These and other objects of the invention will become reality apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the detailed description that follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-section of a photopolymerizable material of the invention after lamination on an image-receiving material in the exposed and unexposed state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The process according to the invention preferably first is carried out for the production of a single-color image using a material which contains a colored polymerizable layer (B) in one primary color of the multicolor print and is exposed under a color separation, which corresponds to the same primary color. To prepare a multi-colored image, the process steps described above then can be repeated on the same image-receiving sheet using materials in the other primary colors, each exposure being carried out in register with the first single-color image on the receiving sheet. Those skilled in the art are familiar with the techniques involved in carrying out multiple exposure and image transfer to achieve a multicolor image.
A preferred embodiment of the inventive material is that the colored layer (B), although containing a polymerizable compound, does not contain a photoinitiator. In this arrangement, no photoinitiator diffuses out of this layer into the immediately adjacent adhesion layer. In addition, the colored image elements transferred to the image-receiving sheet contain virtually no photoinitiator which could distort their color impression. It is furthermore preferred that layer (B) contains a polymerizable compound that polymerizes, at least to same extent in the region adjacent to the photopolymerizable layer (D), on exposure through contact with the polymerizing compound layer (D), and thus increases the adhesion between the layers (B) and (D).
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-section of a photopolymerizable material of the invention after lamination onto an image-receiving material (E). The right-hand section of the figure illustrates (indicated by vertical arrows) the material after exposure, and the left-hand portion illustrates an unexposed area. A and E represent the film support and the receiving material, respectively. Between these layers are the uncolored photopolymerizable layer (D), the colored polymerizable layer (B) and the adhesion layer (C).
Throughout this description, c 1 denotes the cohesion of the photopolymerizable layer (D), c 2 denotes the cohesion of the colored polymerizable layer (B) and c 3 denotes the cohesion of the adhesion layer (C). Throughout this description, cohesion denotes the forces that hold a layer together and prevent that layer from peeling apart when the substrate and image-receiving material are peeled apart. The adhesion at the various interfaces before exposure is indicated by a 1 , a 2 , a 3 and a 4 , and the adhesion after exposure is indicated by a 1 ', a 2 ', a 3 ' and a 4 ' in the sense of the above explanations. The hatching of layer (D) and of the interface zone within layer (B) indicates the effect of the polymerization in the exposed portion of the inventive film.
Before exposure, the lowest adhesion (a 2 ) is between layers (D) and (B). The adhesions between all of the other layers and all the cohesions of the individual layers are greater than (a 2 ). The exposure shifts the position of the lowest adhesion, since, as described above, layers (D) and (B) are firmly anchored to one another by the polymerization. The lowest adhesion (a 3 ') after exposure is between layers (B) and (C), which is again lower than each of the cohesions c 1 ', c 2 ' and c 3 ' and the adhesions between the other layers. Each of the dashed lines in FIG. 1 illustrate the limiting line of lowest adhesion, i.e. The nominal breaking point when (A) and (E) are peeled apart. Although the cohesion of layer (D) and, in part, of layer (B) are also changed on exposure, this change has no effect on the position of the nominal breaking point between layers (D) and (B) before exposure, and between layers (B) and (C) after exposure.
For the purposes of this invention, an uncolored photopolymerizable layer is taken to mean a layer which has not been colored by addition of dyes or colored pigments that absorb in the visible spectral region. As stated above, the colored polymerizable layer (B) is not itself photosensitive, i.e. will not polymerize itself upon exposure. However, layer (B) can be stimulated to polymerize on exposure of the adjacent photopolymerizable layer, at least in the region of contact therewith. The layer can furthermore be cured after transfer of the image areas to the receiving sheet by intense exposure without a mask, if necessary with warming. Thus, upon exposure, the adhesion between (B) and (D) is increased significantly.
The flexible, transparent film support (A) for the material according to the invention can be any derived material, including, for example, plastic films which are dimensionally stable on warming to about 60° to about 130° C. Preferably, the films are made from polyesters, polycarbonates, polyimides and similar polymers; polyester films are particularly preferred. The film support can have a thickness in the range from about 10 to about 120 μm, preferably about 20 to about 80 μm. In order to improve the dimensional stability, the films generally are biaxially stretched and, if desired, heatset. The surface of the film can be smooth or matted, but smooth films are preferred. In order to improve the adhesion of the photopolymerizable layer (D), the surface of film support (A) may be subjected to a treatment which increases the adhesion, for example by corona discharge, by etching with chemicals, for example trichloroacetic acid, and by coating with an adhesion-promoting primer. Such coatings generally have a thickness of from about 0.001 to about 0.1 μm. Film support (A) can comprise copolymers of (meth)acrylate esters, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,952, and are preferably crosslinked. Suitable films for use in the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,476. The disclosures of each of these patents are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The photopolymerizable layer (D) can contain any photopolymerizable composition and usually contains, as preferred constituents, a polymeric binder, a polymerizable compound, a photoinitiator and, if desired, further conventional additives. Suitable binders include homopolymers and copolymers of (meth)acrylic esters and in particular polyvinyl acetals, for example polyvinyl butyryl, propional or formal. The proportion of the binder generally is from about 10 to about 75% by weight, and preferably from about 30 to about 70% by weight, based on the non-volatile constituents of the layer.
The polymerizable compound can be any compound capable of polymerizing, and typically includes at least one, preferably at least two, terminal ethylenically unsaturated groups. Particular preference is given to (meth)acrylic esters of polyhydric, in particular, primary aliphatic or cycloaliphatic alcohols. The polymerizable compound should have a boiling point at atmospheric pressure of at least about 100° C. Examples of suitable compounds are acrylates and methacrylates of triethylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, trimethylol ethane, trimethylol propane, pentaerythritol, dipentaerythritol and of bisphenol A or trimethylolpropane which has been reacted with ethylene oxide or propylene oxide. The polymerizable compound generally is present in the layer in a proportion of from about 10 to about 60% by weight, and preferably from about 15 to about 40% by weight, based on the non-volatile constituents.
The photoinitiator may be any compound that can be stimulated to form free radicals by irradiation with actinic light. Typical examples include polycyclic quinones, acyloins, in particular benzoins, for example benzoin alkyl ethers, α-alkylbenzoins, triarylimidazolyl dimers, quinoxaline compounds and in particular trihalomethyl compounds, in particular trihalomethyl-s-triazines. The photoinitiator generally is present in the photopolymerizable layer in an amount suitable to initiate polymerization, and can be present in an amount of from about 2 to about 30% by weight, and preferably from about 5 to about 20% by weight.
As further constituents, the layer can contain inhibitors for thermal polymerization, spectral sensitizers, plasticizers, oligomers, surface-active compounds, inert fillers, optical brighteners, antihalation agents, photoactivators, hydrogen donors and residual solvents. Those skilled in the art are capable of preparing photopolymerizable layers including the aforementioned components. The photopolymerizable layer generally has a layer weight of from about 0.05 to about 3 g/m 2 , and preferably from about 0.2 to about 0.5 g/m 2 .
The colored polymerizable layer (B) can contain any colored polyerizable composition, and usually includes a polymeric binder, a polymerizable compound, a dye or a colored pigment, and, if desired, further conventional additives. The polymerizable compound can be the same as the polymerizable compound utilized in the photopolymerizable layer, or can be another compound selected from the same general group and can be present in the same proportions. Further additives useful in polymerizable layer (B) likewise can be the same as the additives in the photopolymerizable layer. Thus, the colored polymerizable layer can contain inhibitors for thermal polymerization, spectral sensitizers, plasticizers, oligomers, surface-active compounds, inert fillers, optical brighteners, antihalation agents, photoactivators, hydrogen donors and residual solvents.
Suitable polymeric binders useful in layer (B) also can by the same as those utilized in the photopolymerizable layer (D) and, in addition, include styrene-maleic anhydrides, styrene-maleic monoester copolymers, polyamides, polyvinylpyrrolidones, cellulose derivatives, such as cellulose esters and ethers, phenolic resins and polyvinyl esters. Polyvinyl acetals again are preferred in the colored polymerizable layer. The binder generally is present in an amount of from about 10 to about 75%, and preferably from about 20 to about 50% by weight, based on the non-volatile components of the layer.
The dye or the colored pigment can be any dye or pigment capable of forming a color and includes, for example, any dye capable of providing a color. Useful dyes include Permanent Yellow G (C.I. 21 095), Permanent Yellow GR (C.I. 21 100), Permanent Yellow DHG (C.I. 21 090), Permanent Ruby L6B (C.I. 15 850:1), Permanent Pink F3B (C.I. 12 433), Hostaperm Pink E (C.I. 73 915), Hostaperm Red-Violet ER (C.I. 46 500), Permanent Carmine FBB (C.I. 12 485), Hostaperm Blue B2G (C.I. 74 160), Hostaperm Blue A2R (C.I. 74 160) and Printex 25 (carbon black). These pigments or dyes are readily available to those skilled in the art.
The pigments and dyes can, if desired, be blended in order to achieve the desired shade. The pigments generally are dispersed and slurried in a suitable solvent together with some of the binder. The mean particle size of the colored pigment generally is below 1 μm, and preferably below 0.2 μm. Pigments generally are preferred to dyes. The dye or colored pigment usually is present in the layer in an amount sufficient to form a color, and can be any amount of from about 10 to about 50% by weight, and preferably from about 15 to about 35% by weight, based on the non-volatile constituents of the layer. Those skilled in the art are capable of incorporating the aforementioned pigments or dyes in a colored polymerizable layer.
The colored polymerizable layer (B) generally has a layer weight of from about 0.1 to about 5 g/m 2 , and preferably from about 0.3 to about 1 g/m 2 . Layer (B) generally is produced by coating and drying using solvents. If the solvents have a low dissolution action, or none at all, with respect to the constituents of the photopolymerizable layer (D), the coating can be applied directly to this layer. Otherwise, the colored polymerizable layer can be applied from a solution to a temporary layer support, dried and transferred to the photopolymerizable layer by lamination. Those skilled in the art readily recognize how to prepare such a colored polymerizable layer (B) in accordance with the procedures outlined herein.
The adhesion layer (C) can be any adhesion layer, and can contain a thermoplastic polymer and, if desired, further constituents. Layer (C) further can have a glass transition temperature (T g ) of from about 25° C. to about 100° C. In addition, layer (C) can have the property of becoming tacky on warming to a temperature in the range from about 60° to about 130° C. Layer (C) usually is applied to the colored polymerizable layer (B) from solution or dispersion or by lamination. Suitable solvents which do not partially dissolve layer (B) are saturated hydrocarbons, for example cyclohexane, n-hexane and n-heptane, water or mixtures of water with miscible organic solvents.
Polymers such as (meth)acrylic acid copolymers having a high acid number or vinyl acetate-crotonic acetate copolymers useful in adhesion layer (C) can be applied from aqueous solutions, for example aqueous ammoniacal solutions. Other polymers, for example vinyl actetate polymers, can be applied from aqueous dispersions. Still other polymers, for example ethylene- vinyl acetate copolymers, can be applied from the melt. The adhesion layer also can be applied to the colored polymerizable layer (B) by preparing it on a temporary layer support and transferring it therefrom to the colored polymerizable layer by lamination and peeling off of the temporary support.
The adhesion layer also can be transferred from the temporary support to the image-receiving sheet (E) by lamination and peeling off. The photopolymerizable material comprising film support (A), uncolored photopolymerizable layer (D) and colored polymerizable layer (B) then is laminated with the latter onto the adhesion layer on the image-receiving sheet. For this type of transfer, (meth)acrylic ester polymers and in particular vinyl acetate polymers having a softening range of from 80° to 180° C. are suitable. Those skilled in the art are capable of applying addition layer (C) depending on the thermoplastic polymer of layer (C) and the constituents of layer (B).
The thermoplastic polymer present in adhesion layer (C) preferably is present in the adhesion layer in a proportion of greater than about 50% by weight. The polymer generally has a softening temperature in the range from about 40° to about 200° C., in particular from about 60° to about 120° C.. In addition, the adhesion layer may contain UV absorbers, antistatic additives, inert fillers, optical brighteners, additives for increasing the tack, and plasticizers. Suitable adhesion layers useful in the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,476 and the earlier unpublished German Patent Applications P 42 04 950.4 and P 42 43 253.7, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The adhesion layer generally has a thickness of greater than about 1 μm, and it typically has a layer weight of from about 2 to about 30 g/m 2 , preferably from about 4 to about 12 g/m 2 . Those skilled in the art are capable of preparing adhesion layer (C) in accordance with the guidelines presented herein.
The image-receiving sheet (E) can comprise any suitable material which withstands the conditions of lamination and peeling apart and which forms a suitable visual contrast to the transferred color image. The material should normally be white. Plastic films, for example pigmented polyester films, plastic-coated papers, for example polyethylene-coated paper, wood, glass, metal and the like can be used. The material also can carry an adhesion-promoting precoating. A normal printing paper also can be employed.
Lamination ordinarily is carried out by placing the photopolymerizable material with its adhesion layer onto the receiving sheet and passing it together with the latter through the nip between two heated lamination rolls under a sufficient pressure. The lamination temperature is usually in the range from about 60° about 130° C., preferably from about 70° to about 110° C. The rolls can have the same or different temperatures; the lamination rate usually is between about 10 and about 100 cm/min, preferably from about 20 to about 60 cm/min. Preparing an image receiving sheet (E) and laminating layers thereon is within the skill of those skilled in the art.
The photopolymerizable layer is exposed in a known manner through the transparent film support (A) before or after the lamination. The exposure usually is carried out under a positive screen separation in a vacuum copying frame. Preferred light sources are mercury vapor lamps. Any light source capable of framing an image, however, is suitable for use in the present invention. Light absorption filters also can be employed to reduce scattered light.
After the lamination and exposure, the image is developed at room temperature by evenly peeling off the film support from the receiving sheet. Special devices for gripping or holding the receiving sheet down during the peeling operation are unnecessary since only moderate peeling forces are required. The peel angle should be at least 90°. During the peeling, the entire uncolored photopolymerizable layer (D) is removed with the film support together with the exposed areas of the colored polymerizable layer, and the unexposed areas of the colored polymerizable layer remain on the image-receiving sheet together with the entire adhesion layer. A positive image of the original is thus obtained.
An additional photopolymerizable material including a polymerizable layer having a different color then can be laminated onto the first single-color image by means of an adhesion layer and exposed through the corresponding color separation in register with the first single-color image. The second single-color image is developed in the same way by peeling off the film support. A third and fourth single-color image further can be added in the same way. A four-color image usually is built up from the primary colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black. If desired, the surface of the finished image can be given a matt texture, for example by embossing the glossy surface in contact with a rough surface, for example a matted film. To this end, the image and the matted film are passed together through the nip between the rolls of a lamination unit. Selection of an appropriate matted material allows the surface texture to be determined.
Finally, the finished image can be cured by final exposure with a suitable light source, if necessary with warming. A protective layer, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,266, also can be laminated onto the surface of the finished image. Preparing a multicolored image using photopolymerizable materials of the present invention is within the skill of the skilled in the art upon reading the guidelines presented herein.
The examples below illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention. The amounts are expressed in parts by weight (pbw). Ratios and percentages are expressed in weight units, unless stated otherwise.
EXAMPLE 1
A solution combining the following ingredients was applied to one side of a biaxially stretched and heat-set polyethylene terephthalate film
18.8 pbw of polyvinyl formal, mean molecular weight 110,000, 7% of vinyl alcohol units, 11% of vinyl acetate units and 82% of vinyl formal units (®Formvar 15/95),
11.3 pbw of dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate and
5.6 pbw of 2-(4-styrylphenyl)-4,6-bis-trichloromethyl-s-triazin in
1,500 pbw of tetrahydrofuran and
450 pbw of 1-methoxy-2-propanol.
The polyethylene terephthalate film had a thickness of 50 μm, and the side of the polyethylene terephthalate film treated with the aforementioned solution was initially coated with an adhesive promoter in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,767, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein. The other side of the film was provided with an antiblocking finish. After drying for two minutes at 70° C., the photopolymerizable layer had a weight of 0.3 g/m 2 .
Four samples of the film prepared above and provided with the photopolymerizable layer were coated with, in each case, one of the following coating solutions for the primary colors cyan, yellow, magenta and black:
______________________________________ Cyan Yellow Magenta Black pbw pbw pbw pbw______________________________________Dipentaerythritol- 3.60 3.09 3.03 3.02pentaacrylatePolyvinyl formal 2.86 2.87 3.01 2.42mean molecular weight80,000, 24% of vinylalcohol units, 26%of vinyl acetateunits and 50% ofvinyl formal units( ®Formvar 12/85) ®Hostaperm Blue B2G 1.75 -- -- --(C.I. 74 160)Permanent Yellow GR -- 1.33 -- --(C.I. 21 100)Permanent Carmine FBB -- -- 1.58 --(C.I. 12 485)Carbon black -- -- -- 2.07( ®Printex 25)Tetrahydrofuran 93.00 79.95 78.28 78.051-Methoxy-2-propanol 63.00 54.16 53.03 52.87γ-Butyrolactone 12.62 11.77 14.10 15.12______________________________________
The aforementioned colored pigments were introduced into the solutions as dispersions. To this end, they were dispersed in butyrolactone together with some of the polyvinyl formal and ground to the desired particle size, i.e. a mean particle diameter of 0.1 μm. Before the coating, each coating solution was mixed well. The coatings then were dried for two minutes at 70° C., and the optical densities of the individual layers were measured to yield the following values:
______________________________________ Cyan 1.3 Yellow 1.0 Magenta 1.4 Black 1.6______________________________________
Each of the colored polymerizable layer weights were 0.6 g/m 2 . Each of the colored layers was coated with an adhesion layer solution of the following composition:
______________________________________ pbw______________________________________Ammonium hydroxide (25%) 8.5Sodium sulfite 1.4Polyvinyl methyl ether 1.9( ®Lutonal M 40)Pyrogenic silicic acid, 0.1mean particle size 3 μmVinyl acetate-crotonic acid 96.7copolymer (95:5)Water 520.0Ethanol 43.0______________________________________
After drying, the adhesion layers each had a weight of 6.5 g/m 2 . The cyan film was laminated by means of its adhesion layer onto a paper receiving sheet at 105° C. The photosensitive material then was exposed for 3 seconds through the film support by means of a 5,000 W copying lamp under a cyan positive color separation. After the exposure, the film support was peeled off from the receiving sheet, and the exposed areas of the color layer adhered to the film support and the unexposed areas remained on the receiving sheet together with the entire adhesion layer.
The yellow photosensitive color film was laminated onto the cyan single-color image in the same manner in which the cyan color film was laminated to the image receiving sheet, and then exposed under the corresponding yellow color separation and developed to form a yellow single-color image by peeling off the film support. These process steps then were repeated in a corresponding manner with the magenta and black color films. An accurate four-color reproduction of the original was obtained.
The dot reproduction of the resulting film was from at least 3 to 99% in a screen of 60 lines per cm. The yellow coloration in the non-image areas, measured using a blue filter, corresponded to an optical density of 0.01; after further exposure for 30 seconds and peeling-off the film support, it increased to 0.02.
EXAMPLES 2 TO 8
A cyan film was produced as described in Example 1, but with different photoinitiators in the photosensitive layer. The table below illustrates the photoinitiators, their color, their absorption maximum, the exposure time and the background discoloration before and after subsequent exposure.
______________________________________ Discoloration before afterEx- λ.sub.max Exposure subsequentample Initiator (nm) time (s) exposure______________________________________1 as Example 1 371 3 0.01 0.022 2-(4-ethoxynaphth-1-yl)- 388 5 0.01 0.02 4,6-bistrichloromethyl-s- triazine3 2-(4-methoxystyryl)-4,6- 379 6 0.01 0.02 bistrichloromethyl-s- triazine4 Michler's ketone 366 60 0.01 0.025 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)- 352 20 0.01 0.02 4,6-bistrichloromethyl-s- triazine6 2-(3,4,5-trimethoxy- 337 70 0.01 0.02 phenyl)-4,6-bistrichloro- methyl-s-triazine7 2-biphenyl-4-yl-4,6-bis- 332 25 0.00 0.01 trichloromethyl-s-triazine8 4,4'-bis[2,4-bistri- 331 30 0.00 0.01 chloromethyl-6-triazinyl]- diphenyl ether______________________________________
EXAMPLE 9
The method of example 1 was carried out except that the amount of monomer in the photopolymerizable layer of the cyan film was doubled, i.e. increased to 22.6 pbw. The exposure time was 3 seconds. The dot reproduction was is changed to 2-98%. The background discoloration of the four-color image for yellow was 0.02 density unit, after subsequent exposure, 0.04 density unit.
EXAMPLE 10
Example 1 was repeated with the difference that the monomer in the photopolymerizable layer of the cyan film was replaced by the same amount of trimethylolpropane triacrylate. The exposure time was 5 seconds. The background discoloration of the four-color image toward yellow corresponded to 0.02 density unit, after subsequent exposure, 0.03 density unit.
EXAMPLE 11
Example 1 was repeated with the difference that the binder in the photopolymerizable layer was replaced by the same amount of an ethyl methacrylate polymer (to give viscosity in 37.5% strength solution in toluene 7,500 mPa.s., acid number 0, Tg 63° C). The exposure time was 5 seconds. The background discoloration of the four-color image toward yellow corresponded to 0.01 density unit, after subsequent exposure 0.02 density unit. The dot reproduction was 4-97%.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE A
The procedure of this comparative example was similar to that in Example 1, but the photopolymerizable layer and the color layer are combined to form a single layer. The coating solutions for the four base films had the following composition:
______________________________________ Cyan Yellow Magenta Black pbw pbw pbw pbw______________________________________Dipentaerythritol 3.90 3.82 3.55 3.61pentaacrylateFormvar 12/85 3.13 3.54 3.65 2.89s-Triazine 0.98 0.95 0.78 0.96derivativeas Example 1Hostaperm Blue B2G 1.90 -- -- --Permanent Yellow -- 1.64 -- --GRPermanent Carmine -- -- 1.85 --FBBPrintex 25 -- -- -- 2.48Tetrahydrofuran 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.001-Methoxy-2- 68.00 68.00 68.00 68.00propanolγ-Butyrolactone 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00______________________________________
The photopolymerizable color layers were produced in the same manner as described in Example 1. The optical densities and layer weights were the same as given therein. The color layers were each coated with an identical adhesion layer as in Example 1.
The color films were processed in the same manner as described in Example 1 to give a multicolored image. The dot reproduction was from 2 to 98%, and the exposure time was from 3 to 6 seconds, depending on the color. The yellow background discoloration was 0.04 density unit, due in part to the presence of the yellow photoinitiator in the color layer. After subsequent exposure for 30 seconds, this value increased to 0.06 and was thus no longer tolerable.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE B
Comparative Example A was repeated but with the s-triazine employed as photoinitiator replaced by the same amount of the white compound 2-biphenyl-4-yl-4,6-bistrichloromethyl-s-triazine. The dot reproduction ranged from 2 to 98%, but exposure times of from 14 to 28 seconds were necessary. The yellow background discoloration was 0.03 unit; after subsequent exposure, it increased to 0.09 unit.
EXAMPLE 12
As in Example 1, 4 photosensitive color films were produced by means of the following coating solution:
______________________________________ Cyan Yellow Magenta Black pbw pbw pbw pbw______________________________________Dipentaerythritol 3.60 3.09 3.03 3.02pentaacrylateFormvar 12/85 2.86 2.87 3.01 2.42Hostaperm Blue B2G 1.75 -- -- --Permanent Yellow GR -- 1.33 -- --Permanent Carmine FBB -- -- 1.58 --Printex 25 -- -- -- 2.07Butanone 39.00 33.53 32.83 32.731-Methoxy-2-propanol 87.75 75.44 73.86 73.644-Hydroxy-4-methyl- 29.25 25.15 24.62 24.542-pentanoneγ-Butyrolactone 12.62 11.77 14.10 15.12______________________________________
The color films were processed as in Example 1, giving essentially the same results. The solvent mixture employed in this example was preferred since the 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone present therein does not dissolve the polyvinyl formal present as binder in the photopolymerizable precoating. Since the 1-methoxy-2-propanol does not dissolve any of the polyvinyl formals used, less care need be taken to ensure that the precoating is not dissolved.
The invention has been described by reference to the following detailed description and examples illustrating preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art recognize, however, that various modifications can be made to the foregoing description when departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. | A photopolymerizable material having
(A) a flexible, transparent film support;
(B) a colored, polymerizable layer containing an organic binder, a free-radical-polymerizable compound, containing at least one terminal ethylenically unsaturated group, and a dye or colored pigment;
(C) an adhesion layer containing a thermoplastic polymer and having a T g of from 25° to 100° C.; and
(D) an uncolored photopolymerizable layer which contains a polymeric organic binder, a free-radical-polymerizable compound containing at least one terminal ethylenically unsaturated group and a photopolymerization initiator between the film support (A) and the colored polymerizable layer (B),
where the cohesion of layers (B), (C) and (D) and the adhesion of these layers to one another and to the film support (A) provides the relationship wherein the adhesion (a 2 ) of the photopolymerizable layer (D) to the colored layer (B) in the unexposed state is lower than: (i) the adhesion (a 3 ) of the colored layer (B) to the adhesion layer (C); (ii) the adhesion (a 1 ) of the photopolymerizable layer (D) to the film support (A); and (iii) the cohesion (c 1 ), (c 2 ) and (c 3 ) of layers (D), (B) and (C) and the adhesion (a 3 ') of the colored layer (B) to the adhesion layer (C) in the exposed state is lower than: (i) the adhesion (a 1 ') of the photopolymerized layer (D) to the film support (A); (ii) the adhesion (a 2 ') of the photopolymerized layer (D) to the colored layer (B); and (iii) than the cohesion (c 1 '), (c 2 ') and (c 3 ') of layers (D) , (B) and (C). The material is processed by "peel-apart" development and yields color images with lower background discoloration. | 6 |
REFERENCE TO PENDING PRIOR PATENT APPLICATIONS
This patent application:
(1) claims benefit of pending prior U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/940,361, filed Feb. 14, 2014 by Serdar Firkan for EXOTHERMIC REACTOR WITH EXOTHERMIC REACTION CHAMBERS AND EXOTHERMIC INJECTORS FOR HEATING, ELECTRIC AND POWER GENERATION; and
(2) claims benefit of pending prior U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/940,832, filed Feb. 18, 2014 by Serdar Firkan for EXOTHERMIC REACTOR FUEL.
The two above-identified patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an air independent power generation and propulsion system based on exothermic reactor for generating thermal cycle by producing steam or overheating another working fluid to be sent to a power turbine system, or to a Rankine Cycle (steam turbine) or to a Brayton Cycle (gas turbine) for producing electrical energy or mechanical shaft power. The invention relates to a controlled exothermic reaction by injecting exothermic agents into a reaction chamber in a controlled sequence and computed timing which gives out heat and enables the transfer of heat to the fluid inside the reactor body. The invention relates to produce power and electric combining alternative fuel options by using exothermically chemical reactants. The invention relates to produce necessary heat, electric, and power where in absence of oxygen, and air compared to hydrocarbon fuel using systems or alternative to solar, wind, water stream, or geothermal sources or alternative to nuclear reactor power more particularly comprising a new power configuration for submarines, ships, subsea vessels. The invention relates to mobilized power generation unit. The invention relates to submarines for reducing the detection risk of the submarines at snorkel depths and increasing the thrust power during evasive maneuvering.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is to produce power by combining a chemical reactor and a steam or appropriate fluid in order to supply a compressor or power turbine system to generate power and electricity and propulsion independent from air. Another object of this invention is to provide a power generation system which may be constructed either stationary or mobilized, and commercially be available to all industrial and personal applications alternative to either hydrocarbon fuel systems or natural power sources like sun, wind, wave, etc. More specifically, the invention relates to an arrangement as disclosed in the preamble of independent claims 1 , 2 , 3 , 9 , and 11 . The further object of this invention is to provide alternative power production more specifically on sea, at subsea or arctic regions with almost zero emissions and without air.
There a number of problems arising in exhaust emissions due to need to large container vessels, VLCCs, ultra large bulk cargo ships. As the ships are built in larger sizes the sizes of the diesel engines are increasing. Thus the emissions are increased as the engines are producing higher power. In order to decrease the emissions especially on sea transportation, the most ship designs sacrifices from speed. For lower speeds, the cargo charters or ship operators are looking for shorter routes in order to compensate the disadvantage of the ship designs on speed side. Shorter inter-continent routes are generally located on arctic conditions like North Sea, Bering Passage, and North Atlantic where sea conditions results possible delays or extra wave resistance which reduces the speed of the vessels and increases fuel consumption. On the other hand arctic routes need long distance vessel without being supplied for fuel for a very long time. Several attempts were made to use nuclear powered cargo and utility ships; but nuclear power cannot be commercialized due to security and safety reasons after many learned lessons in the history.
As the fossil fuel resources are getting decreased and dried day by day, alternative energy sources are in development. Due to decreasing availability of resources, more costly routes are in subject for exploration of oil such as deep sea drilling, Greenland ice drilling. For such said operations current fossil fuel engine powered transportation vessels are offering limited and interrupted operation performances due to weather, sea and environmental factors.
Alternative fuel and energy sources are not yet powerful enough for supply large conventional transport and cargo vessels.
Submarines are not capable to travel long distances underwater when not using nuclear power.
Subsea operating vessels such as deep sea drilling, arctic ice drilling are dependent on surface supply vessels or platforms nearby themselves.
Building plants nearby the resources are generally creating extra difficulties like bringing electricity, fuel type power requirements. Environmental regulations near the resources do not enable the plant operations based on fossil fuel or hydrocarbon fuels. So the plants are needed to be located further than the resources.
Fossil fuels or hydrocarbon fuels have exhaust products which none of them or very trace amount them can be reused which effects the efficiency of said type hydrocarbon fuels in a negative way.
Other problem of the fossil fuel or hydrocarbon fuel operated systems are in need of air or oxygen which especially create a detection risk for a submarine with a diesel engine when cruising at snorkel depth or surface speed even at night.
Another problem in a liquid fossil fuel dependent system is to keep the fuels warm or at pumpability temperature (also known as Clog Point or Pour Point) especially in arctic weather conditions.
In chemical plants or in refineries, the excessive heat coming from exothermic reactions is used for heating another production process or steam for power turbines. These systems are dependent and particular only for the systems they have designed.
Another problem is as in prior similar arts have generally single reaction chamber design which is located in or around another process or a heat exchanger. These systems are not being operated or treated in piston type engine system machine mentality.
Another problem in exothermic reactors is the complexity of the injection system of reactants and the removal or by other definition the discharge of reaction products from the chamber. The complexity increases when the injection and especially discharge sequence is put in a sequence like adiabatic engine piston systems.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors is the reactant state. General designs are based on mixture of fluid state reactants which limits the usage of powder or solid state reactants.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors is the flushing of the injectors and chambers has to be done manually or replacing them with new or cleaned ones by stopping the system fully or partially.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors and in other chemical reactors, the design of the injection systems are limiting mixing, dosing and injection actions of different types of chemicals in one system and in various sequences including the catalyzers.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors and in other chemical reactors is the limit on applying different type of chemical reactions in one vessel or heat exchanging system.
Another problem is such exothermic reactors and in other chemical reactors, they all are designed to use one set of chemical reaction process and particular to be used only for a certain part of another chemical process. Example of such exothermic reaction applications take place in petrochemical refineries, oil refineries and some chemicals production facilities.
To reduce or eliminate aforementioned disadvantages and problems, there is provided, according to the present invention, an arrangement as disclosed in the characterizing clause of claims 1 , 2 , and 9 .
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises exothermic reactors which are consisting of reaction chambers, chemical reactant injectors, low pressure and high pressure vessels for heating a thermal cycle medium. More specifically the invention is based on a thermal cycle wherein the invention has a reaction chamber enabling to generate continuous exothermic reaction by enabling to use multiple chemical reactants in a controlled space volume.
The invention has a reaction chamber unit which a reactant injector connected to a reaction chamber. According to the required power or heat generation level, any numbers of said reaction chambers are connected to an exothermic reactor body which contains water, steam or gas. The said reaction chambers may be aligned inline, circular or any desired array variation according to the body geometry.
The invention has a reactant injector and a reaction chamber which solves the problems related to injection of reactants in a desirable sequencing depending on the reaction speed of used exothermic reactants.
The invention solves the problems related to use different chemical reactants in an exothermic reaction at different ratios or volumes or in different sequences. The invention has a reactant injector system with multiple injection port connections for adjusting the flow of injectors at any desired level separately. The said injection ports provide the injection, dosing, and mixing of different types of chemical reactants and any catalyzers at once or in a sequence with programmable pump controls.
The invention provides the application of many different types of chemical reactions inside one tank vessel or in one heat exchanger system by using different exothermic reaction process and chemicals including their catalyzers. The invention provides a wide range of combination option to use any kind of chemicals in one system according to the availability and environment being in.
The invention has a reactant injector with a discharge port which solves the problems related to discharging of unused part of the reactant which is left inside the injector. The number of said discharge port on the reactant injector system can be in multiple numbers and in multiple locations.
The invention solves the problems related to discharging different exothermic reaction products in a set sequence depending on the reaction of used exothermic reactants. The invention provides extension of a chemical reaction by adding the second stage of chemical elements or compounds onto the reaction products form the first stage inside the reaction chambers.
The invention has flushing and discharging ports on both reactant chambers, and reactant injectors that are providing flushing of the excessively pumped reactants from the injectors and discharging the chemical reaction products at any time and in a sequence even automatically or manually or semi-automatically.
The invention provides an advantage in injecting various kinds of reactants with any desired or programmed amount into the reaction chamber based on flow of mass or flow of volume and may be controlled manually or digitally.
The invention has no exhaust systems connected directly to the atmosphere. The invention provides solution to the emission reduction problems especially in marine type heavy duty engines.
The invention solves the limitation on application areas of exothermic reactors where the invention enables the use of exothermic reaction on ship propulsion, train propulsion, other type of vehicle productions.
The invention solves the limitations on the application of Stirling engines by providing additional heat production which is needed on its performance especially on aerospace and military systems. As one of the best mode of application, one of the reaction cores of the invention can be attached to a Stirling engine design in order to provide the high temperature source intake of the Stirling engine.
The invention is designed to be coupled with alternators in order to produce electricity and store electricity in any type of capacitors and battery systems. The invention is designed to be coupled with any other known power engines like CODAG system in frigates.
The invention provides satisfactory power outputs like adiabatic hydrocarbon fuel engines, thermal coal reactors or alternative environmental energy sources. The invention solves the need of power where converting alternative natural energy sources are problematic in arctic conditions, sub-sea operations, mobilized systems including offshore platforms.
The invention provides multipurpose application that enables to apply the invention on any kind of vehicle, including construction and mining machinery, industrial plant, house or location where power generator or air conditioning or heating is needed. The invention provides easy scaling in order to be used from domestic house to very large industrial plants including military and aerospace applications in a wide power range.
The invention solves providing of alternative power generation instead of diesel engines and nuclear reactors in sub-sea operations for sub-sea vessels, semi-submersibles, and submarines.
The invention solves the problem related to the cruise range of submarines based on electric motors and battery capacity under sub-sea operations by providing long range running option with necessary supplied amount of chemical reactant. The range may be extended by adapting recycling unit system as well as electrolysis and chemical processing which the system may consume some of the produced power to produce reactant from the exothermic reaction discharge products.
The invention solves the problems related to continuous power production at sub-sea operation due the absence of oxygen or air. The invention features water based exothermic reactions which the water is the main environmental intake substance like in adiabatic hydrocarbon fuel diesel, gasoline, and gas engines. This solution may be adapted to aerospace applications like outer space mining operations in other planets.
The invention solves the need for sub-sea operable utility vessels especially for off-shore platforms or exploration centers where an alternative energy source is asked to be used other than nuclear power or diesel engines.
The invention solves the detection risk of diesel-electric powered submarines cruising at snorkel depth by providing power generation independent form air or oxygen. The invention has less moving parts than a diesel engine which increase the efficiency of silent run when compared to the snorkel depth running.
The invention is designed to run itself in a continuous cycle including conversion of the exothermic reaction products back into reactants by using electrolysis and supporting chemical processes.
The invention has a closed cycle system which increase the efficiency of the used fuel (here chemical reactants are counted and defined as fuel) when generally compared with adiabatic hydrocarbon fuel engine systems like diesel engines.
The invention solves the application limitations on exothermic reactors which are mainly designed for a particular set of chemical reaction for only particular part of a chemical process in a plant. The invention provides to use multiple set of chemical reactions in one system and enable to mobilize or adapt the reactor to any process or facility like any other combustion engine.
The invention is designed to be used in mining excavation and crushing plants including their offshore platforms where power generation is needed.
Apart from the advantages mentioned above the invention will result in the following positive effects:
An improved operation options at deep see drilling.
Longer working periods in arctic regions.
Establishment of new commercial sea routes.
Reduced dependency to hydrocarbon fuels.
Reduced ozone and environmental damage.
Reworking of unused mining regions or mineral resources.
Reduced noise and vibrations because of less moving parts than adiabatic engines.
Increased hydrocarbon fuel efficiency and reduced operation costs where the system is combined with an adiabatic system by using low cost exothermic reactants like exothermically reactant with water.
The parts of invention are used independently, especially further described exothermic reactors 300 , secondary exothermic reactors 400 , reaction chamber 200 assemblies and/or the injector assemblies 100 of the invention in the drawing and claims, are adaptable to combustion engines, steam and gas turbines in order to increase efficiency and more particularly increases the steam enthalpy inside the steam turbine which is similar to afterburner system of the gas turbines.
Example of an Exothermic Reactant and Chemical Reaction in a Reaction Chamber
As a best mode of application of the invention but not limited to, the one example of the reaction process which may be used with this invention is based on the usage of sodium peroxide Na 2 O 2 (solid) as a chemical agent which gives an exothermic reaction (1) with water. The reaction results with oxygen O 2 (gas) and sodium hydroxide NaOH (solid) products and excessive heat which is transferred to the fluid inside the exothermic reactor body. And as a second stage, an exothermic dilution process (2) is the spraying water on the sodium hydroxide NaOH (solid) which gives out heat which then transferred to the fluid outside the chamber.
The sodium peroxide Na 2 O 2 (solid) is pumped to the chemical reactant injector of the invention. The reactant injector pulverizes Na 2 O 2 (solid) into the reaction chamber of the invention. After then water is sprayed onto sodium peroxide Na 2 O 2 (solid) in order to start exothermic reaction. As the reaction ends the gas product of the said reaction which is oxygen here is vacuumed from the outlet port of the reaction chamber. Meanwhile another portion of water is pulverized onto the remaining reaction product which is sodium hydroxide NaOH (solid). Solid sodium hydroxide NaOH ionizes in water to produce sodium Na (aqueous solution) and hydroxide OH (aqueous solution) ions. The reaction is a dilution process of sodium hydroxide NaOH (solid) (also known as caustic soda) with water and gives out heat. When all the above said reactions completed, the final product which is diluted sodium hydroxide NaOH (solid) is pumped to the suction line from the bottom outlet port of the reaction chamber of the invention.
The following examples describe the best mode of applications and there are numerous alternative chemical reaction combinations available for providing necessary power and energy outputs.
The said chemical reactions are briefly described herein:
2Na 2 O 2 (s)+2H 2 O(l)=>2O 2 (g)+4NaOH(s) ↑(ΔH 1 ) (1)
The formation enthalpies are (given at 298 K): ΔH f (Na 2 O 2 )=−510.90 kjmole −1 , ΔH f (H 2 O)=−285.80 kjmole −1 , ΔH f (NaOH)=−425.80 kjmole −1 . According to Hess's Law, above described reaction equation gives a standard enthalpy of reaction ΔH 1 =−109.8 kJ. This energy is coming from the reaction of two moles of Na 2 O 2 (solid). In practical, for one mole of Na 2 O 2 unit energy output is:
(−109.8 kJ/2)=54.9 kJ.
H 2 O with NaOH(s), at the point in time when 1 mole of NaOH(s) pure substance dissolves in water gives a standard enthalpy of dissolution of −44.5 kJ.
NaOH(s)==>Na + (aq)+OH − (aq) ↑(ΔH 2 ) (2)
The second exothermic dilution process may be used optional depending on the heating regime of the fluid inside the exothermic rector body. For better understanding the second reaction (2) can be though as an afterburner process of aerospace gas turbines or a second stage heating of the gas furnaces.
In determining compounds that would satisfy the above-mentioned conditions 1, and 2, the main requirement to be met is that the enthalpy of dissolution into water or the enthalpy of reaction should be negative (exothermic).
The output energy is directly related to the injected exothermically reactant chemicals into the reaction chamber. For example when 225 cm 3 of Na 2 O 2 (solid) is injected into the chamber and then water is sprayed onto, the chemical reaction output energy is calculated as below just in one chamber:
225 cm 3 ×2.805 gr/cm 3 (density of Na 2 O 2 (solid))=631.125 gr
631.125 gr/77.98 gr/mole (molar mass of Na 2 O 2 (solid))=8.093 moles of Na 2 O 2 (solid)
8.093 moles×54.9 kJ/mole Na 2 O 2 (solid)=444.306 kJ
If there are 20 reaction chambers in a vessel and works at the same time than total energy per injection is calculated as:
444.306 kJ/chamber×20 chambers=8886.12 kJ
This is the energy only coming from the exothermic reaction between Na 2 O 2 (solid) and H 2 O(l). When water is continued to be sprayed onto the reaction product which is NaOH(solid), then additional energy output for four moles of NaOH in one reaction chamber is:
44.5 kJ×4=178 kJ/chamber
If there are 20 reaction chambers in a vessel then the total additional energy output is:
178 kJ/chamber×20 chambers=3560.0 kJ
As a result, for one injection period and following two exothermic reactions during the period, total energy output in a 20 reaction chamber reactor vessel is calculated as:
8886.12 kJ+3560.0 kJ=12446.12 kJ
Unit specific heat of water is assumed as c p =4.2 kJ/kg° C. at 101.33 kPa. In this case total temperature increase for 1000 kg of water in a vessel is calculated with the formula Q=m·c p . Δt (where m(kg), c p =4.2 kJ/kg° C., Δt(° C.)):
Δ t=Q/ ( m·c p )=12446.12/(1000×4.2)=2.963° C.
Above mentioned examples and calculations are for principal calculations, and in practical the temperature increase rate and heat transfer rate are needed to be recalculated by considering the thermal conductivity of the reaction chamber wall material, isolation of the vessel (heat escape rate to outer wall), injection period of the chemicals and exothermic reaction speed(s) and temperature difference in time between reaction chamber and the medium (or working fluid) inside the vessel.
The invention comprises number of chemical supply and discharge lines, inlet ports and outlet ports on the injector assembly and reaction chambers which enables the use of any other chemicals and plus the booster chemicals (i.e. zinc Zn powder is mixed with sodium peroxide Na 2 O 2 ) by adjusting the injection sequences and mixture proportions. For example, some of the supply lines of the ports are connected to different types of exothermically reactant chemical supply tanks which may contain single or multiple chemicals that are exothermically, explosively or violently reactive to water as listed below but not limited to:
Acetic Anhyride (C 4 H 6 O 3 ), Acetyl Chloride (CH 3 COCl), Aluminum Bromide (AlBr 3 ), Aluminum Chloride (AlCl 3 ), Boron Tribomide (Bbr 3 ), Butyl Lithium (C 4 H 9 Li), Calcium Carbide (Ca 3 C 2 ), Calcium Hydride (CaH 2 ), Chlorosulfonic Acid (ClSo 3 H), Chlorotrimethyl Silane ((CH 3 ) 3 SiCl), Dichlorodimethyl Silane ((CH 3 ) 2 SiCl 2 ), Lithium Aluminum Hydride (LiAlH), Lithium Hydride (LiH), Lithium Metal (Li), Methyltrichlosilane (CH 3 SiCl 3 ), Oxalyl Chloride (C 2 Cl 2 O 2 ), Phosphorus Pentachloride (PCl 5 ), Phosphorus Pentoxide (P 2 O 5 ), Phosphorus Tribromide (PBr 3 ), Phosphorus Trichloride (PCl 3 ), Phosphoryl Chloride (POCl 3 ), Potasssium Amide (KNH 2 ), Potassium Hydride (KH), Potassium Metal (K), Potassium Hydroxide (KOH), Silicon Tetrachloride (SiCl 4 ), Sodium Amide (NaNH 2 ), Sodium Azide (NaNH 3 ), Sodium Hydride (NaH), Sodium Hydrosulfite (Na 2 S 2 O 4 ), Sodium Metal (Na), Strontium Metal (Sr), Sulfuric Acid (H 2 SO 4 ), Tetrachloro Silane (SiCl 4 ), Thinonyl Chloride (SOCl 2 ), Titanium Tetrachloride (TiCl 4 ), Trichloro Silane (SiHCl 3 ), Triethyl Aluminum (Al(C 2 H 5 ) 3 ), Triisobutly Aluminum (Al(C 4 H 9 ) 3 ), Zirconium Tetrachloride (ZrCl 4 ). Low toxic or non-toxic chemicals are preferred in order to avoid environmental and health hazards.
Alternatively any exothermic chemical reactant combination is selected as a fuel for the reactor system which the invention is capable to inject and discharge all states of matter including gas, liquid, solid, semi-liquid or any mixture thereof.
Especially chemicals reacts exothermically water is chosen because the water is widely available when the invention is used at sea and at arctic conditions. With this approach invention reduces the number of kinds of chemicals to be used and decreases the dependency on the chemicals and decreases the energy costs.
Alternatively any two or multiple types of chemical reaction sets is applied inside the invention such as one reaction set is giving out oxygen gas and other reaction set is giving out hydrogen gas, which these two gases is used to supply polymer fuel cells or is reacted to provide water and take out excessive heat out for energy production in a later stage.
The invention is explained in greater detail on the basis of drawings which show further details also important to the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in the following, a non-limiting embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention is described in more detail with the reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is the schematic view of the invention showing chemical reaction flow and process, thermal cycle, power generation and propulsion system connections.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exothermic reactors principally showing the basic layout of exothermic reactor alignment with a centrifugal compressor and secondary exothermic reactor including cylinder body steam inlets and main steam outlet.
FIG. 3 is a side view of chamber core assembly principally showing main chemical supply, and discharge lines connections to the exothermic reactor.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the exothermic reactor principally showing reaction core layout from outside.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal vertical cutting plane view of the exothermic reactor principally showing multiple numbers of reaction chamber core assemblies inside half of the cylinder body of the exothermic reactor.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the exothermic reactor principally showing reaction core layout, supply and discharge lines, and connections of the pipe lines of the cores to the main supply and discharge lines. The reactor body and steam lines are extracted from the view for better understanding.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the exothermic reactor principally showing reaction core layout form top together with reactor cylinder body fore and aft heads, and steam return line. The cylinder part of the reactor body is extracted from the view for better understanding.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of secondary exothermic reactor with extended number of reaction cores principally showing reaction core layout form top together with reactor cylinder body fore and aft heads, and steam return line. The cylinder part of the reactor body is extracted from the view for better understanding.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of blade shaft.
FIG. 10 is another perspective view of blade shaft.
FIG. 11 is another perspective view of blade shaft.
FIG. 12 is another perspective view of blade shaft.
FIG. 13 is front view of blade shaft.
FIG. 14 is top view of blade shaft.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of back pressure valve.
FIG. 16 is another perspective view of back pressure valve.
FIG. 17 is a side view of back pressure valve.
FIG. 18 is a front view of back pressure valve.
FIG. 19 is a top view of back pressure valve.
FIG. 20 is a perspective view of back sleeve.
FIG. 21 is a front view of back sleeve.
FIG. 22 is a side view of back sleeve.
FIG. 23 is a perspective view of back sleeve principally showing inlet port valve connection.
FIG. 24 is a front view of back sleeve principally showing inlet port valve connection.
FIG. 25 is a side view of back sleeve principally showing inlet port valve connection.
FIG. 26 is a top view of back sleeve principally showing inlet port valve connection.
FIG. 27 is a perspective view of piston.
FIG. 28 is another perspective view of piston.
FIG. 29 is back view of piston.
FIG. 30 is a side view of piston.
FIG. 31 is a perspective view of piston principally showing assembly of driving gear, blades, blade shaft, and pusher head.
FIG. 32 is another perspective of piston view principally showing assembly of driving gear, blades, and blade shaft.
FIG. 33 is a perspective view of piston principally showing assembly of driving gear, blade shaft, blades, pusher head, back sleeve, and inlet port valve.
FIG. 34 is another perspective view of piston principally showing assembly of driving gear, blade shaft, blades, back sleeve, and inlet port valve.
FIG. 35 is a perspective view of chemical reactant injector body portion.
FIG. 36 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector body portion.
FIG. 37 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector body portion.
FIG. 38 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector body portion principally from back.
FIG. 39 is a top view of chemical reactant injector body portion.
FIG. 40 is a bottom view of chemical reactant injector body portion.
FIG. 41 is a front view of chemical reactant injector body portion principally showing cutting plane location, and view direction.
FIG. 42 is a sectional view of chemical reactant injector body portion showing inside holes, and nozzle portion principally looking from right side.
FIG. 43 is a perspective view of chemical reactant injector body assembly principally showing piston, driving gear, back sleeve, inlet port valve, port connectors, and nozzle portion.
FIG. 44 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector body assembly principally showing back pressure valve, nozzle portion, port connectors, and piston.
FIG. 45 is a back view of chemical reactant injector body assembly principally showing BB cutting plane view location, and view direction.
FIG. 46 is a perspective view of solid lubricant containing sleeve.
FIG. 47 is a sectional view from BB cutting plane of chemical reactant injector assembly principally showing the initial position of the injector piston assembly.
FIG. 48 is a perspective view of chemical reactant injector assembly principally showing the final position of the injector piston assembly, and back pressure valve after the injection of the chemicals.
FIG. 49 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector assembly principally showing the final position of the injector piston assembly, and back pressure valve after the injection of the chemicals.
FIG. 50 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector assembly principally showing supply and discharge pipe line connections.
FIG. 51 is another perspective view of chemical reactant injector assembly principally showing supply and discharge pipe line connections.
FIG. 52 is a perspective view of reaction chamber body principally from top.
FIG. 53 is another perspective view of reaction chamber body principally from bottom.
FIG. 54 is a top view of reaction chamber body.
FIG. 55 is a side view of reaction chamber body.
FIG. 56 is another side view of reaction chamber body.
FIG. 57 is a perspective view of collector drain of the chamber body principally showing inside channel forms.
FIG. 58 is another perspective view of collector drain of the chamber body principally showing outside form.
FIG. 59 is a top view of collector drain.
FIG. 60 is a side view of collector drain.
FIG. 61 is a perspective view of chamber core assembly principally showing inlet and outlet ports, injector connection hole, and collector drain.
FIG. 62 is another perspective view of chamber core assembly principally showing chemical reactant injector assembly with pipe lines.
FIG. 63 is another perspective view of chamber core assembly principally showing chemical reactant injector assembly with pipe lines.
FIG. 64 is another perspective view of chamber core assembly principally showing chemical reactant injector assembly with pipe lines including chamber core pipe line connections.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The process flow diagram of the invention herein describes the method and facility layout for air independent power generation and propulsion system using exothermically reactant chemical for producing thermal work includes only main process elements where gauges, PCUs (process control units), extra pumps, auxiliary pumps, auxiliary equipment, filtration systems, probes, and other standard and well known industrial equipment are not shown but still under the scope of the invention when put into installation and not ignorable as components of the invention.
Referring FIG. 1 , low pressure vessel LPV is a closed vessel unit for initial heating of the thermal cycle fluid wherein the low pressure vessel LPV is a steam generator or increased enthalpy gas generator. Referring FIGS. 2, 4, 5, and 6 , the exothermic reactor 300 is represented as a low pressure vessel LPV on the schematic view. Low pressure vessel Referring FIG. 1 , high pressure vessel HPV is a closed vessel unit wherein temperature and the pressure of the thermal cycle fluid (steam, gas) is increased in order to reach to higher enthalpy levels for target power requirement of the power turbine TRB 1 . Referring FIGS. 2 and 8 , the secondary exothermic reactor 400 is represented as high pressure vessel HPV on the schematic view. Low pressure vessel LPV and high pressure vessel HPV is connected to each other and the circulation of the thermal fluid is controlled by valves and compressors TC 1 , TC 3 , and TC 3 . The valves marked VL 1 , and VL 2 are three way valves, either mono directional or bi-directional from each ways, and activated either manually, electric, pneumatic, hydraulic or remotely. The compressors marked with TC 1 , TC 2 , and TC 3 are either driven by an electric motor or a power turbine or both simultaneously, and they can be centrifugal, axial or turbo compressors. The power turbine TRB 1 is a power turbine connected to a thermal fluid cycle (steam or gas) which generates shaft power to a gearbox GBX unit or directly to an alternator G 1 or propulsion unit via clutch systems CL 1 , and CL 2 . The alternator G 1 charges the main battery unit or supply the main electric line, transformer or capacitor unit. The clutch systems CL 1 , and CL 2 are either hydraulic, mechanic or pneumatic type or combination and are shown as a best mode of application but not limited to. The electric motor M 1 is either a DC or AC current motor to power the propulsion system when the thermal cycle is in standby, offline, shut off or whole system is required to be put into silent mode running The electric motor M 1 is powered by either main battery unit or PEM (polymer exchange membrane) fuel cells system or simultaneously. The cathode or anode fluid supply tank PFT 1 is either a standalone tank or supplied by cathode or anode fluid which is a product of exothermic reaction and is stored inside the discharge tank DT 1 . The secondary turbine TRB 2 is an optional power turbine to be used when returning high pressure thermal fluid is completely or partially diverted to low pressure vessel LPV (exothermic reactor 300 ) and is used to lower the pressure of the thermal fluid slightly above the pressure level inside the low pressure vessel LPV and benefit from the enthalpy drop during the pressure reduction inside secondary turbine TRB 2 by connecting to a secondary alternator G 2 which charges an auxiliary battery unit or supply the main or substantial electric power line as a secondary power source or connected to a compressor or another auxiliary equipment such as pump. The propulsion unit as indicated on the appended figure comprises a propeller, pump-jet, water-jet, wheel drive, and gear-drive but not limited to.
Referring to FIG. 1 , the chemical supply tanks TK 1 , TK 2 , and TK 3 are the storage vessels for supplying exothermically reactant chemicals to the injector assembly set 10 and reaction core assembly set 20 . Number and size of chemical supply tanks TK 1 , TK 2 , and TK 3 can be increased or decreased depending on the number and type of the chemicals that will be used for exothermic reaction cycle.
Referring to FIG. 1 , the primary reactant chemical tank PT 1 is the storage vessel for supplying primary chemical reactant into the reaction core assembly set wherein the chemicals in the supply tanks TK 1 , TK 2 , and TK 3 are exothermically reactive to the chemical inside the primary reactant chemical tank PT 1 . Number and size of primary reactant tank PT 1 can be increased or decreased depending on the number and type of the chemicals that will be used for exothermic reaction cycle.
Referring FIG. 1 , the injector core assembly set 10 comprises of at least one or multiple chemical reaction injectors 100 wherein the best example apparatus is described in the following embodiments as a best mode of application but not limited to.
Referring FIG. 1 , the reaction core assembly set 20 comprises of at least one or multiple chemical reaction chambers 200 wherein the best example apparatus is described in the appended embodiments of the invention as a best mode of application of the invention but not limited to.
In the appended embodiments of the invention an example for the low pressure vessel LPV is shown as an exothermic reactor 300 , and an example of high pressure vessel HPV is shown as a secondary exothermic reactor 400 wherein the embodiments are the best mode of application of the invention but not limited to.
Referring FIG. 1 , the thermal fluid supply tank MT 1 is the source tank of the fluid which is used as the main medium of the thermal cycle and can be water, air or any gas to be supplied to the power turbine TRB 1 , and secondary power turbine TRB 2 .
Referring FIG. 1 , as a best mode of application, in case the primary reactant is selected as water and the thermal cycle fluid is selected as steam, then the primary reactant tank PT 1 can be eliminated and the thermal fluid supply tank MT 1 is also connected to the primary reactant line with a separate supply output from the thermal fluid supply tank MT 1 . It is important that if water is selected as a primary reactant then the water should be distilled pure water in order to increase the efficiency of the exothermic reaction at maximum and may need to be supplied from a different tank system such as the primary reactant tank PT 1 can be used for this purpose. Using a separate water supply for the chemical reaction will give flexibility to use alternative water sources under emergency conditions supplying sea water to the thermal cycle when the thermal fluid is water (steam).
Referring FIG. 1 , the heat exchanger EX 1 is connected to the discharge line of the reaction core assembly set 20 wherein the exothermic reaction products inside the reaction chambers 200 is in gaseous state due to high temperature and some reaction products like Oxygen is needed to be separated for supplying breathing air unit AT 1 or PEM fuel cells as a cathode fluid. The heat exchanger EX 1 can the cooled by water, forced air system or refrigeration fluid. The heat exchanger EX 1 has two discharge outputs which one for gaseous state products and the other is for fluid or solid state products.
Referring FIG. 1 , the discharge tanks DT 1 , and DT 2 are connected to the outputs of the heat exchanger EX 1 . The number and size of the discharge tanks can be increased or decreased according to the power requirement, and their sizes have direct ratio with the chemical reactant flow to the reaction chambers 200 .
Referring FIG. 1 , embodiment is a process flow diagram of the invention. According to the diagram thermal fluid is charged to the low pressure vessel LPV, from thermal fluid supply tank MT 1 . During charging process of the low pressure vessel LPV, the exothermic reaction cycle is started by first sending the chemical reactants from supply tanks TK 1 , TK 2 , and TK 3 to the injector assembly set 10 to be mixed and then to be pulverized into the reaction chambers 200 . As the chemical reactants are charged into the reaction chambers 200 , the primary reactant from primary chemical tank PT 1 is diverted directly to the reaction chambers 200 to be pulverized inside the reaction chamber 200 for starting the exothermic reaction. As the exothermic reaction starts then the heat transfer to the thermal fluid inside the low pressure vessel LPV starts. The exothermic reaction products are transferred to the discharge lines and then to the heat exchanger EX 1 from the discharge ports of the reaction chambers 200 . The separated discharge products are sent to discharge tanks DT 1 , and DT 2 wherein the discharge tank DT 1 is for gaseous state products and other discharge tank(s) DT 2 is for solid or fluid state products. The exothermic cycle on the low pressure vessel side continues until the target thermal conditions (temperature, pressure) for the thermal fluid is reached. According to the thermal fluid conditions, the exothermic reaction cycle is controlled by a computerized control unit adjusting the chemical flow inside the reaction chambers 200 for maintaining the target temperature, pressure parameters of the thermal fluid. One or several of the chemical reactant supply tanks TK 1 , TK 2 , and TK 3 can be used as a booster reactant chemical supply which the booster reactant chemical has a higher enthalpy output during exothermic reaction for fast start or for elevated thermal output.
Referring FIG. 1 , once the thermal fluid reaches the target thermal conditions on the low pressure vessel LPV side, the thermal fluid is sent to high pressure vessel side HPV. If the pressure is lower on the high pressure vessel HPV than low pressure vessel LPV then the thermal fluid is transferred to the high pressure vessel HPV without any forced flow until the pressure increases to an equal level of the low pressure vessel LPV. Once the pressure equalizes on both sides then the thermal fluid is sent to high pressure vessel HPV by a turbo compressor TC 1 . Once the thermal fluid start to enters into the high pressure vessel HPV, the exothermic cycle on the high pressure vessel HPV side starts in same working regime as on the low pressure vessel LPV side but this time the exothermic reaction cycle is controlled according to the target parameters of the thermal fluid on the high pressure vessel HPV side which are set according to the power turbine TRB 1 design calculations.
Referring FIG. 1 , the thermal fluid from the high pressure vessel HPV is sent to a power turbine (steam, gas). The valve VL 1 is a multiway valve which is used to split the thermal fluid according to the inlet flow rate and the admission or control stage of the power turbine TRB 1 . The returning thermal fluid from the output of the power turbine TRB 1 is sent back to high pressure vessel HPV by turbo compressors TC 2 , and TC 3 . There are two main returning line of the thermal fluid from the power turbine TRB 1 outlet as one of the line is from the extraction stage of the power turbine TRB 1 which has a higher back pressure and lower flow rate and the other is the final output which has a lower back pressure than extraction stage but higher flow rate than extraction stage but not limited to. Turbo compressors TC 2 , and TC 3 is required to send the returning thermal fluid back to the pressure vessels LPV, and/or HPV for reheating or achieving thermal cycle parameters (enthalpy, temperature, pressure).
Referring FIGS. 9-51 , embodiments of a chemical reactant injector 100 assembly having improved use in exothermic reactor in order to pump the chemical reactants into the reaction chambers are provided in accordance with the invention. The agent injector is especially used to inject solid type chemical reactants into the reaction chamber. The chemical reaction injector 100 assembly is used for state form of chemical reactants which are either in gel, semi-liquid or liquid states. The chemical reactant injector 100 assembly comprises a body portion 101 and a nozzle portion 111 extending from the body portion 101 , a main piston together with its shaft 102 including a pusher head 106 which is driven by an electro-mechanical, manual or hydraulic or pneumatic system for injecting the chemical reactant(s) that comes from the inlet ports 105 , 112 into the reaction chamber connected with. The blade shaft 103 connected with multiple number of blades 104 is driven by a driving gear 116 which is driven by a servo motor or any other means of forces, enables the chemical reactant to have a vortex to flow throughout the outlet nozzle 111 and protects the blockage of the reactant due to its solid, semi-solid or jelly formation. There are preferably eight blades 104 are located on the blade shaft 103 . The blades 104 are positioned as in three groups on the blade shaft 103 . First and second blade groups 118 , 119 are consisting of three blades 104 which are positioned among themselves with generally 120 degrees to each other around the shaft perimeter. The third blade group 120 is consisting of two blades 104 which are positioned among themselves with 180 degrees. The blade shaft 103 , and blade groups 118 , 119 , 120 revolve during the injection period of the piston group 102 , 106 . The blade shaft 103 has four concave half-cylinder block type longitudinal side channels which prevent the clogging of the motion due to chemical reactant remaining inside the injector body 101 . The pusher head 106 has a convex type conical form which leads a smooth aerodynamic movement of the main piston 102 . The nozzle portion 111 gives a direction to the reactant to be diverted directly to the reaction area where meets with the other reactant inside the reaction chamber. There is a back pressure shaft hole 121 inside the injector body 101 for the back pressure shaft 109 , and back pressure spring 110 assembly. The back pressure valve 108 is opened by the movement of the blade shaft 103 and compressed by the back pressure spring 110 , and back pressure shaft 109 to return back to its original position after piston 102 , and blade shaft 103 moves to their initial position. Backpressure valve 108 prevents the inlet of the reaction products like gases under high pressure into the body portion 101 . Inlet port valve 114 slides together with the main piston 102 in order to block the entry of the chemical reactant back of the main piston 102 , and body portion 101 during injection movement. This inlet port valve 114 can be used for arranging the dosage based on the adjusted initial position of the piston prior to the injection. The drain port 107 enables to drain out any excessive material remains after the injection movement. The remaining material inside the body portion 101 comes along with the piston 102 back to the drain valve 107 with the pressure inside the body portion 107 . Pusher head 106 improves the aerodynamic profile of the main piston 102 , and ensures to push out the most of the remaining reactant at the very end of the body portion 101 where it connects with the nozzle portion 111 . Back sleeve 115 keeps the piston 102 , inlet port valve 114 , pusher head 106 aligned with the center of the movement and body portion 101 . Inlet port 112 or of the any other inlet ports 105 can be connected to different agents for enabling mixture of the reactant combination before the main reaction inside the reaction chamber. The solid lubricant containing sleeve 113 which is located around the initial position of the piston 102 reduces friction between the piston 102 and inner layer of the body portion 101 . The inlet ports 105 , 112 , and drain port 107 is also used for flushing and cleaning the injector pump when connected to an appropriate cleaning agent line that is compatible with the injected reactants.
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , the embodiments of a reaction chamber 200 , and a reactant injector 100 assemblies having improved use in exothermic reactor 300 assembly in order to realize the chemical reaction and heat transfer. The invention has a reaction chamber 200 which has a spherical reaction chamber body 201 shown herein but not limited to, and has preferably three ports 202 , 203 , and 204 on the chamber body 201 which are used as inlet, and outlet for the chemical reactants and reaction products. The number of ports may be increased or decreased depending on the exothermic chemical reaction types according to the used chemical agent kinds. The invention has a collector drain 205 which is for collection of liquid or solid state chemical reaction products to be drained out of the reaction chamber body 201 . The invention has a chemical reactant injector 100 connection hole 206 on the surface of the chamber body 201 which the chemical reactant injector 100 is assembled to the reaction chamber body 201 . The invention has a connection flange 320 for connecting the reaction chamber 200 assembly to the exothermic reactor body 301 . There is a fluid supply inlet 317 at the bottom of the exothermic reactor body 301 for initial filling of the liquid to be heated and for top up purposes. The steam exit 318 of the heated fluid is located at the top of the exothermic reactor body 301 . There is a fluid return inlet line 314 at the top of the exothermic reactor body which has several numbers of gas diffusers 319 on and at the end of the line inside the exothermic reactor body. These diffusers are commonly used ones in steam generators for distributing the returning steam more homogenously into the cylinder body. There is a fore head cap 312 and aft head cap 313 at the end of the cylindrical exothermic reactor body 301 . The reaction chamber body 201 has drain channel form 207 which is a cross sectional form of two crossing cylinders.
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the reaction chamber 200 has a spherical body part 201 for providing homogenous heat transfer to the fluid outside the reaction chamber body 201 . The said fluid is inside the exothermic reactor body 301 , and may be steam, or any type of appropriate fluid in gas or liquid state.
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the invention has an upper angled top side port 202 which is for pulverizing secondary chemical agent which initiates the exothermic reaction. The said secondary chemical can either be in fluid, solid or gas state. The said upper angled top side port 202 is connected to the reaction chamber 200 through a hole on the surface of the reaction chamber body 201 and connected to a supply line 305 with a supply line pipe 210 . A nozzle, pulverizer or bidirectional pneumatic or solenoid valve device may be added and connected to the said upper angled top side port 202 . The angle of the upper angled injection port 202 may be between 2 to 45 degrees relative to the normal centerline of the collector drain hole 208 . The upper angled top side port 202 may be used for vacuuming, and flushing, and on the supply line pipe 210 connected to the said upper angled top side port 202 a bi-directional, tri-directional, or venturi type valves may be added in order to use the said upper angled top side port 202 for bidirectional use.
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the invention has an upper vertical top port 203 which is for vacuuming the gas products coming from the result of the exothermic reaction. The said upper vertical port 203 is connected to the reaction chamber 200 assembly through a hole on the surface of the reaction chamber body 201 and connected to a suction pipe 211 . The said upper vertical top port 203 is preferably aligned with the spherical center of chamber body 201 and center of the drain hole 208 . The said upper vertical top port 203 may be used for injection of chemical agents or catalyzers or may be used for both injection and vacuuming purposes when connected with a bidirectional pneumatic or solenoid valve.
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the collector drain 205 has a form consisting of having spherical ended sides of two empty cylinder form crossing each other with 90 degrees on a horizontal plane and a drain hole 208 at the center of the said crossing location lower face. Almost half of the upper parts of the said cylinders are cut-off and left open for collecting the reaction products inside the reaction chamber body 201 . There hole 208 on the surface of the said collector drain 205 is connected to a drain pipe 209 through a discharge port 204 . The collector drain 205 may be a separate part which is welded or may be a combined design form merged with the chamber body part 201 .
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the invention has a connection flange 320 which aligns and connects the reaction chamber 200 assembly to the exothermic reactor body 301 . The connection flange 320 is the connection part to the cylinder wall of the exothermic reactor bodies 301 , and 405 .
Referring FIGS. 52-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the invention has an exothermic reactor body 301 which contains numbers of reactor chambers 200 , and in one of the following embodiments the number of reactor chambers 200 is 20. The said reaction chambers 200 are arrayed inline, and they are located symmetrical on each sides of the exothermic reactor body 301 (ten reaction chambers 200 on each side). The ports of the said reaction chambers 200 are connected to pipe lines 302 , 303 , 305 , and 306 . The chemical inlet ports 112 and 105 of the reactant injector 100 are connected to the main chemical reactant agent supply line 302 with pipe 311 in connection with a standard or universal type of any known proportional and directional valve 307 either controlled pneumatically or with an electronic servo controller. The chemical inlet port 112 may further be connected to separate chemical lines when any other chemicals may be used with the said connection valve style. The chemical inlet ports 105 may further be connected together or separately or in any combination of to one or multiple chemical lines when any other chemicals may be used with the said connection valve style. The discharge ports 204 are connected to the discharge line 303 with a drain pipe 209 . There are check-valve systems 308 , and 310 on drain pipes 309 , and 315 connected to the discharge line 303 . The said check-valve systems 308 , 310 are for blocking the return of the drained chemicals to the reaction chamber 200 and injector 100 . The drain ports 107 of the reactant injectors are connected to the discharge line 304 with a drain pipe 309 . There is a check-valve system 310 on connection of drain pipe 309 and discharge line 304 which is for blocking the return of the drained chemicals to the reactant injector 100 assembly. The upper angled top side ports 202 are connected to the secondary reactant supply line 305 with a supply line pipe 210 in connection with a standard or universal type of any known proportional and directional valves including a servo valve system 316 . The upper vertical top ports 203 are connected to suction transfer line 306 with a suction pipe 211 . Each suction pipe 211 is connected to the suction transfer line 306 .
The other purposes of the said valves are to control the flow rate of the chemicals to be pumped in, to control the sequence of the pumping to the chemical reactant injectors 100 as well as to the reaction chambers 200 assemblies or by other means to enable the working of the reaction chambers in a sequence or in a timing order one after another similar to piston movement cycle in a diesel or gasoline engine.
Referring FIGS. 2, and 3 , the embodiments show the secondary exothermic reactor 400 .
Referring FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 , the layout shows a secondary exothermic reactor 400 assembly is connected to the exothermic reactor 300 assembly. The purpose of the secondary exothermic reactor 400 is to overheat or reheating the fluid at a later stage. The secondary exothermic reactor 400 assembly is also an exemplary embodiment to the layout of an extended version of exothermic reactor 300 assembly with additional reaction chambers 200 which are 40 in number. The reaction chambers 200 inside the secondary exothermic reactor 400 are arrayed inline and symmetrical to each other at both sides of the exothermic reaction body. The reaction chambers 200 , the reactant injectors 100 , supply lines and all pipes in the secondary exothermic reactor 400 have identical connection design and technique with the exothermic reactor 300 . The secondary exothermic reactor 400 assembly is an almost identical copy in terms of reaction chambers 200 , reactant injectors 100 assemblies except the number reaction chambers.
The secondary exothermic reactor 400 assemblies or any extended or scaled version of the invention can be using different chemical reaction. The invention provides multiple types of exothermic reactor 300 assemblies using multiple types of exothermic reactions in each assembly in a whole power plant design utility. The said exothermic reactor 300 assembly may be installed on a truck platform in order to provide mobilized usage at any location.
Referring FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 , the secondary exothermic reactor 400 assembly, there is a fluid supply inlet line 406 on top of the secondary exothermic reactor body 405 which has several numbers of gas diffusers 319 on and at the end of the line inside the exothermic reactor body. These diffusers are commonly used ones in steam generators for distributing the returning steam more homogenously into the cylinder body. There is a fore head cap 401 and aft head cap 402 at the end of the cylindrical secondary exothermic reactor body 405 .
The number of exothermic reactors 300 and the secondary exothermic reactors 400 may be connected to each other either parallel or serial according to the required power level and dimension of the location where the invention is needed to be installed.
Referring FIG. 2 , the connection between exothermic reactor 300 , and the secondary exothermic reactor 400 is shown. The centrifugal compressor 404 is enabling the transfer of the low pressure fluid to the high pressure secondary exothermic secondary reactor 400 . The fluid may be steam of another type of gas to be heated and overheated depending on the steam property demand for the following turbine design connected to outlet 403 . There are fluid inlets 314 , 317 , 406 , and fluid outlets 318 , and 403 on the exothermic reactor bodies 301 , and 405 connected via appropriate piping systems.
Referring FIG. 2 , the layout shows the invention arrangement layout mounted on a platform 407 construction.
Referring FIGS. 9-64 , and FIGS. 2-8 , the driving gear 116 is driven on a worm gear which gives a circular movement to the blade inside the reactant injector 100 . The blade shaft 103 and blades 104 enable the homogenous mixture of the injected chemicals inside the agent injector body 101 and prevents any clogging inside the agent injector body 101 . As the piston 102 and pusher head 106 start to move the chemical reactant or reactants start to be pumped inside the injector body 101 from the chemical agent supply lines 302 passing through the injection ports 105 , and 112 . The chemical agent or a mixture is pushed out to the reaction chamber body 201 . Meanwhile the fore end side of the blade shaft 103 hits the backpressure valve 108 . The backpressure valve 108 starts to move to the same direction with the blade shaft 103 on its back pressure shaft 109 and at the same time the back pressure spring 110 starts to shrink. The backpressure valve 108 is being opened towards the inside direction of the reaction chamber body 201 with the force of blade shaft 103 . Close to the ending time of the chemical agent injection process, the exothermic reaction starting agent(s) or chemical(s) is/are started to be pulverized to inside of the reaction chamber body 201 from the secondary reactant supply line 305 by passing through the supply pipe line 210 and then passing from upper angled top side port 202 . Meanwhile the chemical reaction starts inside the reaction chamber body 201 . As the reaction continue, in a very short time frame the blade shaft 103 moves backwards to its original starting position. As the blade shaft 103 moves backwards, the back pressure valve 108 is closed with the relief of the back pressure spring 110 on back pressure shaft 109 . The closing of the backpressure valve prevents the ingression of the chemical reaction products inside the reactant agent injector body 101 . The nozzle portion 111 diverts the injected chemical reactants to move towards the collector drain 205 direction of the reaction chamber body 201 . When the exothermic reaction ends inside the reaction chamber the reaction products at the collector drain 205 of the chamber are vacuumed or transferred outside the reaction chamber body 201 by passing through drain port 204 , and drain pipe 209 , and drain check-valve 308 and drain pipe line 303 to any collector or collector tank system. As the exothermic reaction occurs the heat produced by the chemical reaction is transferred to the fluid inside the exothermic reactor body 301 and same happens inside the secondary exothermic reactor body 401 . The heat transfer from the reaction occurs mainly conductive type and then convective and radiation type. The reaction chamber body 201 material can either be known high conductive materials or preferably nanotechnology ceramic material. When the exothermic reaction ends inside the reaction chamber body 201 the gas as the result of the reaction production is vacuumed or transferred from the reaction chamber body 201 by passing through the upper vertical port 203 , and drain pipe 211 , and suction transfer line 306 to the collector or collector tank system or exhaust system.
The parts mentioned above which are standard and well known and not mentioned detail are listed as following: Solenoid valves, check-valves, bi-directional valves, tri-directional valves, proportional valves, venturi valves, piping systems, centrifugal compressor, alternator, electronic servo controller, pneumatic controller, hydraulic controller, turbine system (steam or gas turbine), and other unmentioned general industrial components which may be needed.
The abbreviations which are used in this application have the following definitions:
CODAG: Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine system COGEN: A process in which an industrial facility uses its waste energy to produce heat or electricity.
Having described the invention in detail and by reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims. More specifically, although some aspects of the present invention are identified herein as preferred or particularly advantageous, it is contemplated that the present invention is not necessarily limited to those preferred aspects of the invention. | An air independent propulsion and power generation system based on thermal cycle generated from continuous exothermic reaction cycle in a controlled volume space. An exothermic reactor utility for generating power by producing steam or overheating another heat transfer fluid in gas state for supplying a power turbine system in order to produce electrical energy or mechanical power. A controlled exothermic reaction is occurred by injecting exothermic agents into the reaction chambers of the invention in a controlled sequence and computed timing which gives out heat and enables the transfer of the exothermic reaction output heat to the fluid of the thermal cycle. The exothermic reaction cycle does not need atmospheric connection or air or oxygen. The invention provides option to use multiple chemical types independently at the same time in any of its reaction chambers. | 5 |
[0001] Applicant claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/085,018 filed Nov. 26, 2014 and Applicant claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/154,240 filed Apr. 29, 2015.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to tools generally, and is more specifically related to handle instruments, methods and systems facilitating use of handle instruments that are useful in medical settings, and particularly, dentistry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Dentists use instruments to conduct dental operations. Instruments held in the hand are used to place, carve and smooth materials such as dental composites and fillers. Instruments held in the hand may also be used to manipulate, apply or remove cement. Instruments having appropriate tips may be used for applying liquids or gels used in etching and bonding.
[0004] Instruments in common use are characterized by metallic handles that are corrosion resistant and require sterilization prior to use. Points or blades are permanently attached to a distal end of the handle instrument. The points or blades are formed and made available in various shapes and sizes, and are used for placing or for shaping materials. Very small brushes present on the distal ends of the points are useful applying etching and bonding materials. These tools are expensive to purchase on an individual basis, and acquiring a wide variety of shapes and sizes of such handle instruments is very expensive. Strict guidance must also be followed in order to ensure safe aseptic use.
[0005] Currently, time is wasted as the operator searches through boxes looking for the appropriate point. After the appropriate point is found, it is grasped with tweezers or similar tools, and attached to a handle or other instrument. This process is inefficient.
[0006] There is a need for a dental instrument system and method having conveniently interchangeable points. The system should provide points that are conveniently arranged, and may be quickly and easily changed. The system should provide points that are relatively inexpensive for most applications, so that they are disposable. The points in some applications are capable of being manually formed into desired shapes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention is a handle instrument system and method of using the handle instrument system. The handle instrument has a receiver on an end of the handle instrument. The handle instrument receives points directly from a container that is constructed according to the invention. The points are positioned generally vertically within the container, and are retained in the container in the generally vertical orientation that permits the points to be conveniently selected and picked from the container using the handle instrument. A point picked from the container and connected to the handle instrument is ready for use.
[0008] The points are preferably arranged in kits such as containers for ease of identification. In some cases, the points are capable of being manually deformed to a shape and architecture as desired by the operator.
BRIEF DRAWING DESCRIPTION
[0009] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a handle instrument for use with points for dental operations and showing points having various configurations.
[0010] FIG. 2 shows the handle instrument of FIG. 1 picking a point comprising from a retention material that holds the point in a generally vertical position.
[0011] FIG. 3 shows the handle instrument of FIG. 1 with a point held thereon after being picked from the retention material.
[0012] FIG. 4 shows the handle instrument of FIG. 1 with a point having a distal end formed in a different configuration from that of FIG. 3 and held by the handle instrument after being picked from the container.
[0013] FIG. 5 shows a plurality of points in a multiple compartment container, with retention material in the containers, and the openings of the points exposed above the retaining material.
[0014] FIG. 6 shows a plurality of points in a multiple compartment container, with retention material in the containers, having another embodiment of the handle instrument and having an embodiment of the points for dental operations.
[0015] FIG. 7A shows the embodiment of the handle instrument of FIG. 6 positioned over a vertically standing point held in the retention material.
[0016] FIG. 7B shows the embodiment of the handle instrument of FIG. 6 initially engaging a point in the container.
[0017] FIG. 7C shows the embodiment of the handle instrument of FIG. 6 rotated to secure the point within the handle instrument by threaded engagement.
[0018] FIG. 7D shows the point positioned within the handle instrument and being withdrawn from the retention material.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] FIG. 1 shows a handle instrument 2 having a rigid wire 4 on the distal end of the handle instrument. It is preferred that the rigid wire not materially deform during use in dental operations with a point 6 attached. The terminal end 8 of the wire as shown is straight, but is formed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the handle. The angle of the terminal end of the wire is preferred to be from 30 degrees to 75 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the handle and is more preferred to be from 45 degrees to 70 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the handle. The extreme terminal end is preferred to have a point thereon, with the smaller diameter of the point facilitating insertion of the terminal end of the wire into a void formed in the point selected by the operator. The terminal end also tapers to a smaller dimension from the curve or crook in the wire to the extreme terminal end to facilitate insertion of the wire into the point.
[0020] The points 6 for dental operations in this embodiment are preferred to be formed of a flexible, compressible elastomeric material, which may be a polymeric material. The points may be formed of rubbers including saturated rubbers. The points may be formed of closed cell foam, silicone or polyethylene. Each point has a void 18 that opens to the proximal end, with the void providing a female receptacle for the male extension of the handle instrument, which may be the terminal end 8 of a wire as shown in FIG. 1 . The longitudinal length of the void is preferred to exceed the length of the terminal end of the wire of the handle instrument, so that the point extends to where the curve 14 of the wire intersects the terminal end. The void is preferred to be positioned in the center of the point. The void does not extend to the distal end of the point.
[0021] The mechanism of attachment of the handle instrument to the points in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is a frictional fit. In an embodiment, the male extension at the distal end of the handle instrument is correspondingly larger than the receptacle diameter of the flexible, elastomeric point, which may be formed of a polymeric material. The male extension at the distal end of the handle instrument having a point formed in the extreme terminal end is inserted in the receptacle, and at least the upper portion of the male extension compresses the material from which the point is formed. The compression of the material against the male extension provides a frictional fit that retains the point on the handle instrument for use.
[0022] The proximal end of the points 6 may comprise a chamfered opening in the receptacle to assist insertion of the male extension of the handle instrument. The chamfered opening may lead to a cylindrical receptacle. The diameter of the cylindrical receptacle may be approximately equal to the thickness of the wall of the point where the receptacle exists. The point may be formed of an elastomeric polymer having a durometer range that is sufficiently soft to permit compliance of the point when the point is installed on the instrument handle.
[0023] As shown in FIG. 2 , a selected point is installed by pushing the terminal end of the handle instrument into the cylindrical opening of the point. The points are held in a generally vertical configuration in the retention material 10 . The proximal ends of the points extend above a top plane of the retention material. In some embodiments, the proximal ends of the points are larger than the distal ends of the points and are larger than the openings to the pockets 12 to resist being pushed into the pockets as the handle instrument engages the point.
[0024] The points may vary in design at the distal end. The form and construction of the points is selected according to the dental operation to be performed. Some preferred embodiments of the distal end of the point include a wedge shape, a ball or generally cylindrical point, a flat round, a pointed end, a conical shape, an irregular shape and a generally flat paddle shape. The overall size may also be selected according to application.
[0025] FIG. 6 and FIGS. 7 A-D show another embodiment of the handle instrument 102 . The handle instrument of this embodiment is useful for picking points 106 having a male extension, such as stem 108 . As shown in FIG. 6 , the handle instrument has a female receptacle in the distal end of the handle instrument. The male extension or stem of the points is retained within the receptacle of the handle instrument. A selected point may be picked from the retention material and container, and used to perform a dental operation while retained within the handle instrument. The points may be constructed in configurations on the distal end that are useful to particular dental operations, such as the distal ends shown in FIG. 1 , which are non-limiting examples.
[0026] The stem 108 may be formed as a round cross section on an upper, or proximal, end thereof. The points may be disposed in the retention material 10 , with the upper or proximal end of the stem, extending above the top surface or top plane of the retention material, with the points held generally vertically in the retention material. The retention material may be positioned in a container 16 as shown in FIG. 6 .
[0027] The handle instrument 102 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 A-D has a threaded receptacle 120 in a distal end thereof. In one embodiment, the receptacle has a relatively wide opening 122 at the terminal end, which may be frusto-conically shaped as shown. The wide opening, such as the frusto-conical shape, encourages insertion of the point into the receptacle, and guides the proximal end of the point towards a threaded portion of the receptacle in the handle. In the embodiment shown, a cylindrical non-threaded portion 124 of the receptacle assists in aligning and guiding the stem to the threads. The dimensions of the opening 122 , portion 124 and threaded portion 120 will depend upon the dimensions of the stem. In a preferred embodiment, the threads occupy not less than 4 mm of the overall length of the receptacle.
[0028] In one embodiment, the proximal end of the stem 108 of the point abuts the threaded portion 120 of the receptacle as the receptacle is placed over the stem, with the stem meeting little resistance until abutting the threads of the receptacle. FIG. 7B . The proximal end of the stem of the point and the threads of the handle are similarly dimensioned for engagement of the resilient stem with the threads. The stem in preferred embodiments is not threaded prior to engagement with the threads. FIG. 7 A. The handle is rotated until the stem of the point is felt to have engaged the threads. FIG. 7C . Rotation of 4 or 5 turns generally provides adequate engagement of the point with the handle instrument, meaning that engagement is quick and easy for the operator when selecting and engaging a point with the handle instrument. Such rotation is generally adequate in a preferred embodiment with resilient and deformable stems that are properly dimensioned according to the threads.
[0029] The point attached as described above may then be lifted from the container. FIG. 7D . If desired, a manual rotational force may be applied to the point after removal of the point from the container, while giving the point a slight pull, to verify that the point is secured prior to using the point in a dental or medical operation. Manual counter rotation of the point disengages the point from the threads of the handle instrument.
[0030] In another embodiment of the handle instrument, the threads of the receptacle extend to the terminal and distal end of the handle instrument. As could also be true with the embodiment of FIG. 7A , only a small portion of the opening is threaded, since it is preferred that engagement of the threads with the stem of the point occur with minimal rotation of the handle, as described herein. After contact of the threads with the stem of the point, the method of engagement is as shown in FIG. 7C .
[0031] The stems of the points are resilient, and engage the threads of the handle. The stem may be formed of a plastic material, such as polypropylene or polyethylene, which is resilient and deforms to securely engage with the threads formed in the much harder handle instrument, which is preferred in all embodiments to be formed of a non-corrosive or corrosive resistant material such as stainless steel. This combination enables secure threaded engagement of the point with the handle instrument, as described herein, with minimal rotation of the handle, providing quick connection of the point to the handle instrument. The dimensions of the stem relative to the threads of the handle, and the selected material for the stem, will cause the terminal and proximal end of the stem to be deformed by the threads of the handle, with the stem engaging the threads. The point is held in the handle by rotation of the handle after the stem in the container makes initial contact with the threads as described herein.
[0032] The handle instrument of the embodiments may be formed of chrome plated stainless steel or other corrosion resistant metals that are autoclavable. The handle may comprise copper and/or silver, which are known to have antimicrobial properties. The handle is preferred to be 10-18 cm in length, with a round cross section along its length. Knurling or similar roughening of the surface of the handle along a length nearest the proximal end aids in gripping the handle. The outer diameter of the distal end that houses the opening is about 4-6 mm, with the diameter of the internal opening that is between the frusto-conical portion and the threads being about 0.5 mm less than the outer diameter in an embodiment of the handle instrument having a threaded receptacle. For example, the threads may be SAE 4-40, M3×0.6 or M3.5×0.6. The dimensions of the handle, as well as the threads, are sized according to the application requirement, and the examples herein are suitable for many medical and dental operations.
[0033] The stem of the point is matched to the dimension of the opening and/or threads of the handle. If the portion 124 of the opening is about 3.0 mm, the stem of the points useful with the handle will also be about 3.0 mm, or slightly less, since the stems are formed of a material that is softer than and is deformable by threads formed in a metal handle.
[0034] The construct of the distal end of the points used may be varied. The proximate ends of the points may be coded according to the construct of the points and/or size of the points. Indicia such as letters, numbers, designs or colors may be used for coding.
[0035] The retention material 10 holds the points in a generally vertical position for engagement of the handle instrument with the points. The retention material and the pockets 12 in the retention material for the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 A-D must be constructed and arranged to retain the points so as to resist rotation of the points within the container as the handle is rotated to engage the stem of the points, yet permit the points to be withdrawn vertically from the container. The points 106 may be formed with an enlarged collar 114 that prevents the stem of the points from being pushed below the surface of the retention material. Lugs 116 may be formed on at least generally two opposing sides of the collar that engage the rendition material so as to resist rotation of the point 106 as the handle instrument is attached.
[0036] The retention material is formed with a plurality of generally vertical pockets 12 . Preferably, one point is inserted into and retained by one pocket in the retention material and disposed generally vertically until the point is picked by the handle instrument for use. The retention material may be formed of closed cell foam, extruded or expanded polystyrene foam, or of a polymer such as silicone.
[0037] In a preferred embodiment, the retention material is a block formed of polystyrene, such as the polystyrene material used for building insulation. Pockets may be formed in the block of polystyrene by a punch that forms the pockets to a depth that allows the proximal end of the point that is placed in the pocket to extend above a top surface of the pocket. The polystyrene may have a pressure resistance of 15 to 25 lbs. For the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5 , the polystyrene provides resistance for pushing the handle instrument into the point. Other materials having similar properties may be used.
[0038] For the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-7D the polystyrene provides resistance for pushing the handle instrument over the point and onto the threads, while the pocket is also sized to provide frictional contact to the sides of the points for resisting rotation of the points while threading the handle instrument onto the points. For example, the point may be slightly larger than the pocket, pushing against the deformable foam material. This deformation and elasticity of the foam grips the point sufficiently to resist rotation of the point by the handle instrument during the threading process. Other materials having similar properties may be used.
[0039] Since the points in many cases are formed of inexpensive plastics and metals, the points may be discarded after use, which is more cost effective than sterilizing the points. Only the handle instrument is retained, which may be sterilized for subsequent use. The handle instrument is useful with multiple constructs and configurations of points.
[0040] The container for the points is designed so that a new supply of points may be installed when the supply is exhausted without the medical or dental office replacing individual points in the upright position for withdrawal. The points may be machine loaded into the retention material at a factory, and supplied to the dental office for positioning into the container. The container may be constructed and arranged to accommodate a single retention material member having points positioned in the pockets, or it may be constructed and arranged to comprise multiple compartments.
[0041] A disposable waste receptacle is useful with the invention. After use, points are removed from the handle instrument. Points may be collected by the waste receptacle for easy disposal. Most dental offices have trays upon which hand pieces and other instruments are placed. The tray is covered with a disposable paper sheet. The receptacle has a pressure sensitive adhesive coated on the bottom of the receptacle that is used to attach the waste receptacle to the paper. The waste receptacles may be stacked so that the adhesive does not contact adjacent cups, or a peel off covering may be provided over the adhesive. After completion of the dental operation, the paper sheet, and the receptacle containing the used points, may be disposed of as a unit.
[0042] In use, a container is constructed or obtained having a plurality of points for dental operations disposed generally vertically in the container as described in one of the embodiments herein. The operator manually grasps a handle instrument as described herein, and selects a point from the plurality of points for retrieval from the container. The distal end of the handle instrument engages a proximal end of the point selected.
[0043] The operator retrieves the point selected from the container by pulling the handle instrument away from the container, with the point selected engaged with the handle instrument. The operator may manually verify engagement of the point with the handle instrument after the handle instrument pulls the point out of the container. Engagement of the point with the handle instrument does not require touching the point. The operator may then perform a dental operation with the point selected and engaged with the handle instrument. | A handle instrument system and method of using the handle instrument system. The handle instrument has a receiver on an end of the handle instrument. The handle instrument receives points directly from a container. The points are positioned generally vertically within the container, and are retained in the container in the generally vertical orientation that permits the points to be conveniently selected and picked from the container using the handle instrument. A point picked from the container and connected to the handle instrument is ready for use. The points are preferably arranged in kits such as containers for ease of identification. In some cases, the points are capable of being manually deformed to a shape and architecture as desired by the operator. | 0 |
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/422,318, filed on Dec. 13, 2010, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for reducing power consumption in a network.
BACKGROUND
Modern processors present in devices such as computers, smartphones, etc. have capabilities allowing them to adjust the clock frequency depending on the processing load. Also, multi-core processors allow for some of the cores to perform calculations at regular speeds while others are kept in a low-powered sleep mode until their contribution is required by the overall load of the system (for example, in the Tilera TileGX family). Network processors that take care of the packet forwarding function in switches and routers are also based on multicore designs (for example, the Cavium Octeon and the Xelerated HX). However, it was not possible to determine what power saving features is incorporated in these network processors, based solely on publicly available information.
The P802.3az standard proposal, based on the investigation started by the IEEE 802.3 Energy Efficient Ethernet Working Group, introduces three power states for the Ethernet PHY: full, low power idle, off. The Energy Efficient Ethernet workgroup at IEEE is evaluating technologies that would allow Ethernet bridges to reduce their power consumption by introducing a low-power idle mode for the PHY component when there is no traffic to be sent. Low power modes for Ethernet controllers (that is, allowing for power savings beyond the PHY chip) were suggested by D. Koenen in 2007, Potential Ethernet Controller Power Savings, www.ieee802.org/3/eee_study/public/may09/koenen — 1 — 0507.pdf.
The Broadband Forum TR-202, TR-202 ADSL2/ADSL2plus Low-Power Mode Guidelines, Broadband Forum, February 2010 defines three power states for ADSL equipment (L0 full power, L2 low power, L3 no signal with the transceiver either powered or unpowered).
Academic proposals such as the ClickCAM research proposes techniques to reduce the power consumption of particular chips on a switch/router linecard (the TCAM, in this particular case), Exploring Router Power Performance Tradeoffs Using Click.
An overall solution for energy minimization at the network node was proposed by Bolla et al, GreenSim: An Open Source Tool for Evaluating the Energy Savings through Resource Dynamic Adaptation, Raffaele Bolla et al. The authors constructed an energy consumption model for a PC-based multicore router and devised a method to optimize the energy consumption taking into account the traffic passing through the device. The solution proposed by Bolla et al. relies on ACPI calls that enable the equipment to switch between power conservation modes. Such a solution is clearly limited to routers based on multi-core processors that support ACPI calls. Also, their model includes a simple node-based traffic estimator. However, in practice, such a traffic estimator is quite energy-hungry to operate on each network node (CPU time and memory occupancy). Also, such a traffic estimator is complicated at the network node level to implement in a carrier network that supports multiple classes of services.
In US2009089601 a power saving mechanism on GMPLS controlled networks is described. The consumption is reduced by cutting power consumption on spare paths that are not normally used. To achieve power consumption reduction, in the path setting process, a path is calculated while taking the power saving capability of each interface into account, and the applicable interface is set to the power-saving state when setting the spare path. When the spare path was set to the operating state, then the power-saving state on the applicable interface was canceled so that interface could operate normally. The power reduction strategy described is clearly limited and only considers shutting down paths that are not in use. A finer granularity of power state updates is required. Further, not only GMPLS-based networks must be considered.
The Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) is a network-control protocol that enables Internet applications to obtain differing qualities of service (QoS) for their data flows. Such a capability recognizes that different applications have different network performance requirements. There exist extensions to RSVP, such as RSVP-TE which allow the operator to traffic engineer the network.
On the radio network side, the power saving features in a base station is discussed at length in WO2009031955. Of particular interest to is the mention that a base station has several transmitters (TRX), and using power-management algorithms some of them could be put temporarily in a stand-by mode thus saving energy.
In summary, according to prior art, network nodes include capabilities that allow reducing the power consumption depending on the level of traffic and/or operator policies. Known power saving schemes includes various degrees of flexibility with respect to the amount of power savings to be expected. For multi-core network processors, it is possible to reduce the clock speed and shut down individual cores (Tilera GX being an example). Ethernet PHY chips will support P802.3az features and potentially operate in three different power modes (on, idle, off). For other components, such as the TCAMs, academic contributions such as ClickCAM suggested ways to build them in ways that enable energy-efficient operating modes.
The Metro Ethernet Forum is working on a series of specifications that describe Ethernet connectivity services. Such Service Level Specifications include the specification of bandwidth profiles and support for protection switching features (MEF 6.1 describes Service Definitions, MEF 10.2 specifies Service Attributes). Ongoing work in IETF supports the automated provisioning of such services over GMPLS networks (draft-ietf-ccamp-gmpls-mef-uni).
The authors of JP 2009147615 disclose a method for controlling the energy consumption of the router based on bandwidth reservations made via messages transmitted with the RSVP protocol. The authors describe a system that is able to reduce the clock frequency of the chip and control the power supply voltage provided to the chips in accordance to pre-defined resource reservations. The solution proposed by JP 2009147615 is addressing only pre-reserved resources and it does not take into account that those resources might be used at less than the maximum capacity during normal system operation. As such, the solution proposed is inefficient with respect to the actual energy savings that could be achieved during operation. Also, presented is an individual node-centric view and does not extend or correlate the savings at a network level. The solution presented does not allow the operator to control what level of savings should be achieved by each node. In terms of practical implementations, the suggestions to reduce the clock frequency and the power supply voltage for the packet processing unit cover only some of the potential cases, and are by no means universal applicability. For example, Ethernet PHY chips supporting P802.1az would be able to shut down parts of the chip (except the low power idle circuitry) while not necessarily being able to control neither the clock frequency nor the power supply voltage. Also, the solution disclosed does not make it very clear what happens when a certain network port supports multiple resources which would be reserved through unrelated RSVP sessions.
Anecdotic evidence suggests that switches and routers operate at maximum capacity regardless on the traffic generated by the services being supported at a given moment in time. Technology exists that would allow individual components on the switch/router linecard to be switched off temporarily, or put in low power consumption modes when there is no traffic. However, such individual solutions are unlikely to optimize the overall power consumption of the node or the path, and are likely to operate in an uncoordinated way which might cause problems (such as packet loss, or increased transmission times).
The solutions according to the prior art are thus associated with a plurality of drawbacks.
SUMMARY
Proposed is, among other things, a method that reduces the power consumption on network nodes by taking into account the network services that need to be supported by the network and the power saving capabilities of each node and it's components. Each network service may be described through a Service Level Specification document that specifies the QoS and availability parameters associated to the service.
In one aspect, a green controller, which may be arranged at each node, may modify the power state of a node in such a way that the node can handle the already provisioned network services as well as newly provisioned network services. In some embodiments, a power policy maps power states to a “resource occupancy” of one or several components of the node. For example, if the component of the node is a component that transmits data, the resource occupancy may be a value corresponding to the components bandwidth utilization; if the component is a processor, then the resource occupancy may be the number of active processor cores and operating frequency; and if the component is a data storage component (e.g., volatile memory) then the resource occupancy may be a value corresponding to storage utilization. By keeping the power state as low as possible, but still high enough for serving the already provisioned network services, power consumption may be lowered.
The power consumption may be coordinated via a control plane as well as autonomic functionality in the network nodes.
In another aspect, there is provided a method for handling power consumption in nodes in a communication network, the network comprises a plurality of nodes connected via paths, a path computation engine (PCE) and a self-organizing network (SON) module. In some embodiments, the method comprises some or all of the following steps to be performed in the SON Module: (a) transmitting to the PCE a message requesting a path based on e.g. topology, capacity and reserved resources of the network; (b) receiving from the PCE the requested path information; (c) for each node in the path, transmitting to the node a control plane message that causes the node to change the power state of a component of the node (or the node itself) in accordance with a power policy and the level of services that the component (or node) has to provide.
In another aspect, there is provided a method for handling power consumption in nodes in a communication network, where the network comprises a plurality of nodes connected via paths, a PCE and a SON Module. In some embodiments, the method comprises some or all of the following steps to be performed in a network node: (a) receiving from the SON module power policies; (b) receiving a particular message from the SON Module (e.g., an instruction from a SON module to change power states of the components of the node); (c) in response to receiving the particular message, comparing and correlating the power states with the level of services that the node has to provide; (d) modifying the power state based on actual utilization of services the node has to provide and policies obtained from the SON module.
In another aspect, there is provided a method for conserving power in a network comprising a network node. In some embodiments, the method includes: (a) receiving, by the network node, a power policy; (b) determining a utilization of a component of the network node; and (c) modifying the power state of the component of the network node based on the determined utilization of the component and the received power policy. In some embodiments, the method further comprises, receiving by the network node, a particular message transmitted from another network node (e.g., a SON module or other network node), and the steps (b) and (c) are performed in response to the network node receiving the particular message.
In some embodiments, the particular message is a resource reservation request message transmitted from another network node, the resource reservation request message identifying a data flow and a desired quality of service for the data flow. The power policy may map different power states to different utilization values. In some embodiments, step (b) comprises: (bi) determining a value representing the utilization of the component, (bii) using the power policy to determine a power state to which the determined utilization value is mapped, and (biii) causing the power state of the component to be set to the determined power state.
In some embodiments, the step of determining the utilization of the components comprises determining the amount of resources the component is using or the amount of resources that have been reserved for use.
The method may further include: (c) determining a utilization of a second component of the network node and (d) causing the power state of the second component of the network node to be modified based on the determined utilization of the second component and the received power policy, where steps (c) and (d) are also performed in response to the particular message. The first component may be an interface of the network node and the second component may be a routing or switch module of the network node.
In another aspect, a network node with a power conserving capability is provided. In some embodiments, the network node includes: a network interface for transmitting and receiving data; and a data processing system coupled to the network interface, the data processing system being configured such that, in response to the network node receiving a particular message, the data processing system performs a process comprising: (a) determining a utilization of a component of the network node and (b) causing the power state of the component of the network node to be modified based on the determined utilization of the component and a received power policy.
The above mentioned methods and apparatuses provide a way of reducing power consumption in networks. No central understanding on how to set power consumption parameters is required. However, the operator is given the option to control through a policy system to what extent a particular node along a given path should enable energy saving features. The methods and apparatuses may also allow for network-wide coordination of energy savings.
The methods and apparatuses allow a network system to automatically adapt the power consumption according to the actual amount of resource consumption, rather than just using pre-defined resource reservations. In addition, it allows for transparent support of energy saving for multiple connectivity services on the same network interface. Embodiments do not require changes to state-of-the-art resource reservation protocols.
Further features and advantages are described herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a network according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a network node according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3 illustrates a mapping between power states and throughput utilization.
FIGS. 4-7 are flow charts illustrating various processes according to embodiments.
FIG. 8 illustrates a signalling diagram for reserving resources and setting power states.
FIG. 9 schematically illustrates an a network node including some of its components.
FIG. 10 schematically illustrates an SON Module including some of its components.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a network 199 according to some embodiments. Network 199 includes: a plurality of network nodes 200 connected via links 11 , a path computation engine (PCE) 100 and a self-organizing network (SON) module 13 . FIG. 1 schematically illustrates PCE 100 . PCE 100 contains topology information and capacity information 102 pertaining to network topology and network capacity and reserved resources information 104 pertaining to reserved resources. Traditionally a path is determined by utilizing network topology and capacity information 102 in combination with resource information 104 identifying resources that are already reserved using Dijkstra's algorithm (or various versions and extensions to it) for calculating the path (point-to-point, point-to-multipoint or multipoint-to-multipoint). The network topology information 102 contains details about devices and links in network 199 and their properties. In response to receiving a request for a path, PCE 100 determines a path given data and constraints provided by the network topology and capacity and reserved resources blocks. The path is returned in a PCE 100 response message.
SON module 13 acts as a proxy between a network operator 15 of network 199 (or other entity capable of operating the network) and the network itself. It is responsible for obtaining paths from PCE 100 as well as triggering RSVP messages at ingress and egress nodes.
RSVP is the traditional resource reservation protocol in the IP world. For example, the extension RSVP-TE is used for setting up optical paths based on MPLS. Embodiments of the present invention are exemplified herein utilizing RSVP. The control protocol is used as an example on how to provision paths and set power parameters.
FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary network node 200 . Network node 200 may be an ingress node, an intermediate node, or an egress node in a communication network. Node 200 may have routing and/or switching capabilities, and, thus, in some embodiments, network node 200 may be referred to as a network router or a network switch. As shown in FIG. 2 , node 200 includes a green controller 202 , a power state to performance map 203 , an RSVP module 204 , a routing and/or switching module 206 , a comparator 208 , a correlator 210 , and a modifier 212 .
The power state to performance map 203 contains a mapping between maximum allowed power states and performance parameters such as throughput utilization (e.g., a table that associates each of a plurality of different power states with one or more throughput values associated with a component of node 200 ). An example of this mapping is illustrated in FIG. 3 , which illustrates an exemplary mapping 300 . As shown in mapping 300 , a given power state provides a certain maximum throughput for a specific line card or interface. This mapping may be provided for network node 200 as a whole as well as for all its line cards and interfaces and other components. The mapping is preferably pre-determined, that is before the network becomes operational. Means for performing such tests include startup tests (e.g. ITU-T Y.156sam, on Ethernet Service Activation Test Methodology) performed by network element vendors. Such a maximum power state could be altered during network operations by green controller 202 depending on actual network utilization.
Green controller 202 is responsible for keeping track of already reserved resources between any interfaces. In some embodiments, each time a resource reservation request (or a reservation teardown request) arrives at node 200 , green controller 202 updates a resource database 290 (e.g., a resource table) to reflect the current resource state of node 200 . The already reserved resources can also be synchronized and verified by contacting PCE 100 . Further, green controller 202 is responsible for changing the power state of node 200 . How to change the power state and exactly which API to use is device dependent. When a particular message (e.g., an RSVP reservation request message—a.k.a., RSVP RESV message) is received at network node 200 , green controller 202 performs a process for changing the power state of node 200 (e.g., changing the power state of one or more components of node 200 ).
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process 400 , according to some embodiments, that is performed, in part, by SON module 13 . Process 400 may begin in step 401 , where an operator wants to add a new service to the network. For example, the operator may want to add a new IP connectivity service between interface 181 on node 200 a and interface 182 on node 200 c having a certain quality of service (QoS). Thus, the operator may use an admin tool to define the service, which admin tool may then send to SON module a provision service message.
In step 402 , in response to receiving the provision service message, SON module 13 transmits to PCE 100 a message requesting a path based on the provision service message. In step 404 , SON module 13 receives from PCE 100 the requested path information. The path information may identify a set of one or more nodes and, for each identified node, one or more interfaces on the node. In step 406 , for at least one node in the path, SON module transmits to the node a control plane message that may include a power state ceiling value for the node itself, an interface on the node, and/or other components of the node.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process 500 , according to some embodiments, that is performed by a node 200 . Process 500 may begin in step 502 , where node 200 transmit a power policy request to SON module 13 . In step 504 , node 200 receives from SON module 13 a power policy (e.g., map 300 ). In step 506 , node 200 receives a particular message. In some embodiments, the particular message is a message including a instruction instructing the network node to change power states of the components of the node. In other embodiments, the particular message is a path message (e.g., an RSVP Path message) or a reservation request message (e.g., RSVP Resv message). In step 508 , in response to receiving the particular message, node 200 modifies the power state of a component of node based on the current utilization of the component (e.g., the amount of resources the component is using or the amount that has been reserved for use) and a power policy obtained from the SON module. For example, the power policy may map power states to utilization values. Thus, in step 508 , for example, node 200 may determine a value representing the utilization of a component, consult the received power policy information to determine the power state to which the determined utilization value is mapped, and set the power state of the component to the determined power state.
Referring now to FIG. 6 , FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a process 600 performed by green controller 202 in response to node 200 receiving a resource reservation request message (e.g., an RSVP Resv message). In some embodiments, the resource reservation request message includes information identifying a data flow (e.g., an RSVP Tspec) and a desired quality of service for the data flow (e.g., an RSVP flowspec).
Process 600 may begin in step 602 , where node 200 receives the resource reservation request.
In step 604 , green controller 202 , based on the reservation request, determines the component (e.g, line card, interface) to which the resource reservation request pertains.
In step 606 , for a component impacted by the reservation request, green controller 202 checks if the amount of currently reserved resources for the component plus the amount of the resources being requested for reservation by the resource reservation request is less than a resource limit (e.g., throughput limit) for the current power state for the involved component. If, the answer is no, the process proceeds to step 608 , otherwise it proceeds to step 614 .
In step 608 , green controller 202 determines whether the power state can be updated (e.g., green controller 202 determines whether the power state is already at its maximum level).
In response to determining that the power state cannot be updated, green controller 202 rejects the reservation request according to the resource reservation protocol (step 610 ).
In response to determining that the power state can be updated, green controller 202 updates the power state for the interface and/or line card to the minimum power state that is capable of handling the new request (step 612 ).
In step 614 , green controller 202 updates a reserved resource database 290 so that the database will contain information identifying the new resource usage. Therefore, resource reservations for multiple services are supported transparently along the same interface.
Steps 606 - 614 are performed for each of the interfaces and/or line cards impacted by the reservation request.
In addition, as stated above, green controller 202 is also responsible for dynamic changes to the power states dependent on the resource utilization on node 200 . The utilization may be measured by counting the sum of bits in transfer for each reserved resource. Using the mapping between power states and throughput, green controller 202 changes the power state to the one appropriate for the level of utilization. For example, if the current power state for interface IF 1 is Pn and the measured utilization (e.g., measured throughput) is 65, then, based on mapping 300 , green controller 202 can update (e.g., lower) the power state from Pn to P 2 because mapping 300 indicates that P 2 is the minimum amount of power that is needed to handle a throughput of 65.
The interaction with PCE 100 allows the operator to set policies that control power state savings on each node along a given path. As there are always costs (in terms of time for reaction, for example) related to any transition between power states, the operator might thus specify that certain nodes along a path that have lower capabilities in this respect would have to operate at their maximum power regardless of the actual state of resource reservation.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a process 700 according to an embodiment.
Process 700 may begin in step 702 , where an operator 15 (see FIG. 8 ) requests provisioning of a connectivity service to SON module 13 (e.g., the operator causes a provision service message 801 to be sent to SON module 13 ).
In step 704 , SON module 13 module requests a path from PCE 100 , which fulfils the connectivity service performance requirements in terms of, for example, capacity. For example, in step 704 , SON module 13 transmits a request message 802 to PCE 100 .
In step 708 , in response to receiving request message 802 , PCE 100 returns a path to SON module 13 . For example, PCE 100 transmits to SON module 13 a message 803 containing information identifying a path and identifying changes to power states for each node in the path. In this example, we will assume that the path includes three nodes: an ingress node 200 a , an intermediate node 200 b , and an egress node 200 c.
In step 710 , in response to receiving message 803 , SON module 13 transmits an path start message 804 to ingress node 200 a . In one embodiment, path start message 804 contains path information only. In another embodiment, path start message 804 contains path information and power state information. For example, in some embodiments, for each interface on the path, the power state information may include power state information for the interface. Additionally, the power state information may include power state information for each node itself on the path.
In step 712 , in response to path start message 804 , ingress node 200 a transmits a path message 805 a (e.g. an RSVP Path message) to the intermediate node 200 b.
In step 714 , in response to message 805 a , intermediate node 200 b passes a path message 805 b to egress node 200 c.
In step 718 , in response to receiving message 805 b (assuming the request is not rejected), egress node 200 c reserve resources according to path message 805 b , and changes the power states according to the process 600 described above.
In step 720 , egress node 200 c transmits an reservation request message 806 a (e.g., an RSVP Resv message) to intermediate node 200 b.
In step 722 , in response to receiving and processing message 806 a , intermediate node 200 b reserve resources according to the request, it also changes the power states according to the process 600 described above.
In step 724 , in response to message 806 a (assuming the request is not rejected), intermediate node 200 b transmits a reservation request message 806 b to ingress node 200 a.
In step 726 , in response to receiving and processing message 806 b , ingress node 200 a reserve resources according to the request, it also changes the power states according to the process 600 described above.
Path message 805 a,b and reservation message 806 a,b may include the power state information (or a portion thereof) that was included in path start message 804 , if any. In such embodiments, the power state information may identify a power state value and the nodes (ingress, intermediate and egress) may treat the power state value as a ceiling value such that the node will not set the power state to a value above the power state value communicated to it in message 805 or 806 .
In step 728 , ingress node 200 a transmits to SON Module 13 an acknowledgement message 807 indicating that the reservation is completed (in the case where no errors occurred).
In step 732 , in response to message 807 , SON module 13 transmits to PCE 100 a message 808 that causes PCE 100 to commit the changes due to the new connectivity service.
In step 734 , after committing the changes as instructed, PCE 100 transmits to SON module 13 an ack message 809 .
In step 736 , in response to receiving ack message 809 , SON module 13 transmits to operator 800 a report message 810 reporting to operator that the connectivity service is provisioned.
FIG. 9 illustrates a possible implementation for at least some components of network node 200 according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 9 , network node 200 may include: a data processing system 920 , which may include one or more microprocessors and/or one or more circuits, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc; a set of network interfaces 925 ; data storage system 905 , which may include one or more non-volatile storage devices and/or one or more volatile storage devices (e.g., random access memory (RAM)). Data processing system 930 may be used to implement modules shown in FIG. 2 (i.e., modules 202 - 204 , 206 , 208 , 210 , 212 ). In some embodiments, mapping 300 and database 290 is stored in data storage system 905 . In embodiments where data processing system 920 includes a microprocessor, a computer program product may be provided, which computer program product includes: computer readable program code 915 , which implements one or more computer programs, stored on a computer readable medium 910 , such as, but not limited, to magnetic media (e.g., a hard disk), optical media (e.g., a DVD), memory devices (e.g., random access memory), etc. In some embodiments, computer readable program code 915 is configured such that when executed by a processor, code 915 causes the processor to perform steps described above (e.g., steps describe above with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 5-7 ).
FIG. 10 illustrates a possible implementation for at least some components of SON module 13 according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 10 , SON module 13 may include: a data processing system 1020 , which may include one or more microprocessors and/or one or more circuits, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc; a set of network interfaces 1025 ; data storage system 1005 , which may include one or more non-volatile storage devices and/or one or more volatile storage devices (e.g., random access memory (RAM)). In embodiments where data processing system 1020 includes a microprocessor, a computer program product may be provided, which computer program product includes: computer readable program code 1015 , which implements a computer program, stored on a computer readable medium 1010 , such as, but not limited, to magnetic media (e.g., a hard disk), optical media (e.g., a DVD), memory devices (e.g., random access memory), etc. In some embodiments, computer readable program code 1015 is configured such that when executed by a processor, code 1015 causes the processor to perform steps described above (e.g., steps describe above with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. 4 ).
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
Additionally, while the processes described above and illustrated in the drawings are shown as a sequence of steps, this was done solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is contemplated that some steps may be added, some steps may be omitted, the order of the steps may be re-arranged, and some steps may be performed in parallel. | A method that reduces the power consumption on network nodes by taking into account the services that need to be supported by the network and the power saving capabilities of the nodes. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to beverage dispensers, and more specifically to dispensers for dispensing a diluted beverage concentrate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Beverage dispensers for juice, particularly for orange juice, are required to pump a high viscosity juice concentrate and accurately control the ratio of juice concentrate to diluent to produce a beverage of uniform standard. Such dispensers commonly comprise a diluent inlet line from a pressurised diluent source, a juice concentrate reservoir and means for delivering concentrate from the reservoir to the dispenser, which delivering means customarily comprises one of means for pressurising the concentrate reservoir and controlling the flow of concentrate through a valve, means for pumping concentrate from the reservoir and controlling the flow through a valve, or means for volumetrically pumping concentrate from the reservoir. It is known that there are advantages to having a juice concentrate delivery system in which those parts of the system that contact the concentrate are disposable in order to maintain sanitation and reducing the risk of contamination through substandard cleaning of the system.
To improve sanitation in the delivery of juice concentrate from a concentrate reservoir to a juice dispenser the art contemplates use of a rotary peristaltic pump to deliver the concentrate, a deformable tube of which pump forms an integral part of a disposable concentrate reservoir, and use of a positive displacement pump that includes a disposable piston-type pump portion supplied with the concentrate reservoir and a non-disposable drive for reciprocating the pump to draw fluid into and expel it from the disposable pump, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,114,047 and 5,154,319.
Peristaltic pumps provide a reasonable solution for sanitation problems, but often experience problems pumping higher viscosity fluids such as juice concentrate, and as the viscosity of juice concentrate can be highly dependant on its temperature, peristaltic systems often do not dispense a correct ratio of juice concentrate to diluent at lower temperatures. In addition, the tube part of the pump often deforms to a permanent set over time, such that the volumetric output towards the end of its life is less than that at the beginning of its life, again affecting the ratio of the mix of concentrate to diluent.
Positive displacement pumps, such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,047, produce a more constant ratio of the mix of juice concentrate to diluent, but because they have a fill cycle and a dispense cycle, the beverage will have a stratified appearance as it exits the dispenser as a result of the concentrate being intermittently dispensed into the diluent stream.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the invention is to provide a beverage dispenser incorporating a relatively inexpensive piston pump having a disposable pumping portion that is incorporated into a concentrate cartridge and that is capable of pumping high viscosity concentrate at a substantially continuous flow rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, apparatus for dispensing a post-mix beverage comprises a reservoir of beverage concentrate; a disposable pump unit including a pair of piston pumps having inlet means fluid coupled to beverage concentrate in the reservoir and outlet means; and pump drive means for being coupled to the disposable pump unit for operating the pump unit to pump concentrate from the inlet means to the outlet means. Also included is a mixer fluid coupled to the pump unit outlet means; a control valve having an inlet for being fluid coupled to a supply of diluent for the beverage concentrate and an outlet for being fluid coupled to introduce diluent to beverage concentrate intermediate the disposable pump outlet means and the mixer; and control system means. The control system means operates the pump drive means and the control valve to provide a predetermined ratio of diluent to concentrate as delivered to the mixer.
The invention also contemplates a method of dispensing a post-mix beverage, which method comprises the steps of providing a reservoir of beverage concentrate; fluid coupling an inlet to a pair of piston pumps of a disposable pump unit to beverage concentrate in the reservoir; and fluid coupling an outlet from the pair of piston pumps to a mixer. Also included are the steps of connecting a pump drive to the disposable pump unit to operate the piston pumps; controlling the pump drive to reciprocate pistons of the pair of piston pumps of the disposable pump unit to pump beverage concentrate from the inlet to the pair of piston pumps to the outlet from the pair of piston pumps; delivering beverage concentrate from the outlet from the piston pumps to a mixer; and fluid coupling diluent for the beverage concentrate from a supply of diluent through a control valve to the beverage concentrate being delivered to the mixer to introduce diluent to the concentrate. Further included is the step of controlling operation of the pump drive and the control valve so that a predetermined ratio of diluent to beverage concentrate is delivered to the mixer.
The foregoing and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a dispenser in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a twin barrel syringe pump for use in the invention; and
FIG. 3 is an exploded diagram of a concentrate reservoir, pump and mixing element for use in a dispenser of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of a beverage dispenser 1 connected to a diluent supply 2 , which may be a supply of mains water. When the diluent enters the dispenser it is cooled in a cooling unit 3 to the required temperature for a beverage, commonly in the region of about 35° F. to 43° F. The cooling unit 3 may be a water bath heat exchanger or other type of cooling technology known in the art, such as a cold plate. An electronic controller 4 receives signals from a diluent flow measurement device (not shown) that may be part of a control valve 5 through which passes cooled diluent from the cooling unit 3 . Electronic controller 4 operates both the control valve 5 and a pump drive 6 in a manner to bring together cooled diluent and juice concentrate in a predetermined ratio for being mixed together and dispensed as a beverage. Situated within or attached to dispenser 1 is a disposable concentrate unit 7 . The concentrate unit 7 comprises a concentrate reservoir 8 , a twin barrel piston pump cartridge 9 driven by the pump drive 6 and connected to and for receiving juice concentrate from the concentrate reservoir 8 , a diluent conduit 10 fluid coupled to an outlet from the control valve 5 for delivering cooled diluent to the concentrate unit 7 for introduction to juice concentrate delivered from the piston pump cartridge 9 , and a static mixer 11 for mixing the juice concentrate and diluent to form a homogeneous mixture.
FIG. 2 shows an output from the non-disposable pump drive 6 mechanically coupled to the twin barrel piston pump cartridge 9 . A contemplated embodiment of the twin barrel piston pump 9 comprises two syringe type pump cylinders or barrels 12 and 13 that have associated inlets 14 and 15 fluid coupled to juice concentrate in the concentrate reservoir 8 . The pump inlets 14 and 15 are provided with respective inlet check valves 16 and 17 that allow flow of concentrate from the concentrate reservoir 8 through the inlets into the pump barrels 12 and 13 , but prevent backflow of concentrate out of the barrels through the inlets. The barrels 12 and 13 also have associated outlets 18 and 19 fluid coupled to the static mixer 11 . The outlets 18 and 19 are provided with respective outlet check valves 20 and 21 that allow flow of concentrate from the barrels through the outlets to the static mixer 11 , but prevent a reverse flow of concentrate back through the outlets.
In operation of the concentrate pumping mechanism, a pair of rotary cams 22 and 23 is coupled to an output from the pump drive 6 for being rotated by the pump drive. The cams 22 and 23 are also coupled via interface means comprising associated piston or cam rods 24 and 25 to respective ones of a pair of plungers or pistons 26 and 27 disposed for reciprocation in respective cylinders 12 and 13 . Operation of the pump drive 6 therefore rotates the cams 22 and 23 to reciprocate the pistons 26 and 27 in both directions in the piston pump barrels 12 and 13 to thereby alternatively draw concentrate into the barrels through the check valves 16 and 17 and to eject fluid out of the barrels through the check valves 20 and 21 . The arrangement advantageously is such that the directions of reciprocation of the pistons 26 and 27 through the cylinders 12 and 13 are 180° out of phase, so that while the plunger 26 is being drawn back through the barrel 12 to draw fluid into the barrel through the inlet 14 and the check valve 16 , the plunger 27 is being driven forward through the barrel 13 to expel fluid from the barrel through outlet 19 and check valve 21 . The cams 22 and 23 may be rotated together at a constant speed but, preferably, the rate of rotation of each cam is independently controlled and the speed of rotation is modulated, so that the plungers 26 and 27 are withdrawn through the barrels 12 and 13 at a faster rate than they are driven forward through the barrels, thereby to enable whichever barrel 12 or 13 is not then dispensing fluid to be fully filled with fluid and ready to dispense before the barrel that is then dispensing fluid is at the end of its dispensing stroke. The result is that the twin barrel piston pump 9 delivers to the mixer 11 a substantially constant and uninterrupted output flow of concentrate during a beverage dispense cycle.
FIG. 3 shows a disposable liquid juice concentrate reservoir 28 that is connectable to a disposable twin barrel piston pump element or cartridge 29 . The pump element 29 includes a twin barrel piston pump 30 of a type heretofore described, for pumping the juice concentrate received from the reservoir 28 . A water inlet 31 through which a moderated flow of water is passed from the control valve 5 , provides for introduction of diluent to concentrate discharged from the pump 30 . The control valve 5 and the pump drive 6 are operated by the control electronics 4 in such manner as to provide, upstream of a mixer 32 , the bringing together of a predetermined constant ratio of diluent to juice concentrate, depending upon the particular beverage to be served by the dispenser 1 . The concentrate and water diluent are then flowed together through a static mixer 32 to provide a substantially homogeneous mixture of diluted concentrate which is dispensed into a receptacle in a conventional know manner. In the arrangement shown in this FIG. 3 the disposable twin barrel piston pump 30 has plunger extensions 33 removably connectable to a pump driver, such as the pump drive 6 . The reservoir 28 has an outlet 34 to which one or more inlets to the disposable pump element 29 are connected for receiving concentrate. The reservoir outlet 34 is provided with a protective cap or film (not shown) to cover and seal it during storage and transport.
It is appreciated that because the drive system reciprocates the pistons 26 and 27 alternately through their pumping strokes in the barrels 12 and 13 of the disposable twin barrel piston pump cartridge 9 , the pump provides a substantially constant and uninterrupted output flow of juice concentrate during a beverage dispense cycle. Also, because the juice concentrate flows primarily through the disposable concentrate unit 7 , which includes the disposable concentrate reservoir 8 , twin piston pump cartridge 9 and static mixer 11 , the juice concentrate comes into contact primarily with disposable parts, so that there are a minimum of non-disposable dispenser parts to be cleaned of juice concentrate, which provides for improved sanitation. When the reservoir of juice concentrate 8 is exhausted, the concentrate unit 7 is simply removed and replaced with a fresh concentrate unit having a full concentrate reservoir 8 , so there is no need to be concerned with cleaning the previously used concentrate reservoir 8 , twin barrel piston pump cartridge 9 and mixer 11 .
Advantageously, because the pump drive 6 is controllable to operate independently on the two pistons 26 and 27 of the disposable pump element 9 to enable the pump fill cycle to be performed in a shorter time than the pump discharge cycle, provision can be made for a desired amount of overlap in the pumping actions of the two pump barrels, so that there is substantially no perceptible change in concentrate output from the pump as the output flow changes from one barrel to the other. The rotary motion of the cams 22 and 23 as driven by the pump drive 6 is translated into linear motion of the pistons 26 and 27 , such that control of the motion of the pistons can be dictated by control of the relative individual speeds at which the cams are rotated. Alternatively, an arrangement is contemplated where outer ends of the piston rods 24 and 25 would ride on outer peripheral cam surfaces of the cams 22 and 23 , in which case the cams could be rotated at the same speed with the speed of fill and dispense of the barrels 12 and 13 of the pump element 9 then being controlled by the profile of the cam surfaces.
It is understood that the dispenser 1 has a user interface and can be programmed to operate the control valve 5 and the pump drive 6 to either dispense beverages of selected sizes or to accommodate a continuous pour mode in which the dispenser continuously dispenses a beverage until signalled to stop. Preferably, an input signal is provided to the control electronics 4 when a new concentrate unit 7 is installed with a full concentrate reservoir 8 , either by means of a user manually inputting a signal, for instance by pressing a reset button, or automatically by identification means on the concentrate unit, for instance an RFID tag on the concentrate reservoir and an associated reader in the dispenser 1 . The input signal would be used to initiate a drinks countdown, such that when there is only a specific amount of concentrate remaining, as determined by the size and number of drinks served, an indication is given to the operator that the concentrate will soon need replacing, with a second signal being sent to the operator when the concentrate reservoir is empty. These signals may take the form of warning lights of different colours or they could comprise a countdown of remaining drinks to be dispensed. In addition, control of the concentrate flow rate can initially be set in accordance with the parameters of the particular concentrate used. Such parameters may be stored in a memory of the control electronics 4 of the dispenser 1 or, alternatively, may be automatically input to the dispenser for each concentrate reservoir as it is installed, for example by means of data stored in a RFID tag or input by an operator manually or via a handheld device.
Further, while the invention has been described as having the concentrate reservoir 8 and disposable twin barrel piston pump cartridge be part of a single unitary component, i.e., the concentrate unit 7 , it is contemplated that the concentrate reservoir and disposable pump cartridge be supplied as two separate parts which are connected together either immediately prior to or during installation into the dispenser. Preferably, once the disposable pump cartridge 9 and juice concentrate reservoir 8 have been connected they cannot be disconnected, thus preventing reuse of the pump cartridge. However, should the pump cartridge and reservoir be capable of disconnection for reuse of the pump cartridge, then a limitation is placed on the number of times the pump cartridge can be reused.
While embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, various modifications and other embodiments thereof may be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. | Apparatus for dispensing a post-mix beverage is characterized by a beverage concentrate metering system comprising a reservoir of beverage concentrate, a disposable pump unit containing a pair of piston pumps and inlet and outlet valves from each piston pump. The inlet valves are coupled to the reservoir of beverage concentrate and the outlet valves are coupled to a mixer. A control valve introduces diluent to the concentrate intermediate the outlet valves and mixer and a reusable pump drive operates the piston pumps. The control valve and pump drive are operated by a control system in a manner such that a predetermined ratio of diluent to concentrate is delivered to the mixer. Downstream from the mixture the admixture of diluent and concentrate is dispensed as a beverage into a cup. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Adding liquids, such as water or water vapor, to the induction system of an internal combustion system is an idea which is in itself quite old. However, the comprehension of the full benefits to be obtained by proper regulation of the amount of added liquid (along with a proper amount of associated heat energy) at all conditions of engine operation have been lacking; and the prior art apparatus and techniques for adding liquid have been inadequate to fully accomplish all the desired results.
The engine needs different amounts of fluid at varying conditions of operation of the engine. The engine's need for fluid at any particular condition of operation is dependent on the amount of fluid which will produce the best engine operation at that condition. The best engine operation includes obtaining complete lean, clean combustion with the lowest emissions of HC, CO and NO x and best fuel economy without detonation, pre-ignition, or after fire (dieseling). The engine's need for fluid varies widely from no fluid at all under certain conditions of operation to amounts of fluid flow in the same order of magnitude of fuel flow at other conditions of engine operation. For example, the engine's need for fluid is zero at engine shut-off as no liquid can be permitted to flow into the engine when the engine is shut off. If the liquid flow into the engine were to be permitted at shut-off, corrosion and/or liquid lock will occur.
At normal, steady-state, low-speed idle, only a trace amount of fluid, or no fluid at all, is required to give optimum low idle emissions.
Increasing quantities of fluid proportionate to power are required as engine power is increased at each steady state point.
Under dynamic conditions, such as, for example, acceleration at high BMEP, an extra amount of fluid is required over and above operation at a steady state condition; and, in the case where the fluid is steam, the steam should be of a lower quality, that is, with a certain percentage of water droplets carried with the steam (in order to give maximum combustion cooling) to keep nitrous oxide emissions within satisfactory limits.
On deceleration, less fluid is required at each point in the deceleration than would be desired for operation at a steady state at any point (zero fluid at zero throttle deceleration).
The engine's need for fluid is also determined by limiting the fluid to an amount that will not hurt the combustion. For instance, in deceleration, if fluid is not limited, too much fluid can be introduced to cause the combustion to be poor. This will produce incomplete combustion and will cool the flame sufficiently that undesirable amounts of HC and CO will be produced. Engine efficiency can be seriously impaired. Hydrocarbon deposits also increase.
On acceleration, the engine's need for fluid is dependent on introducing the right amount of fluid to absorb, by its high specific heat plus latent heat of evaporization of liquid droplets included (water droplets in the case of steam) plus heat of dissociation, excess engine heat generation, which would otherwise go toward producing high combustion and surface peak temperatures and peak pressures at about top dead center (but this still must be done without introducing too much fluid so as to impair combustion with the undesirable effects noted above). By introducing the right amount of additional fluid, the energy is absorbed as energy in steam (in the case where the fluid is water) which is given back during the latter part of the cycle as expansion of the steam. This adds smoothly at favorable crank angle to the power stroke and torque of the engine. The right amount of additional fluid at this point, therefore, prevents hot spots and smooths the pressure and temperature and energy conversion.
Also, the right amount of fluid needs to be introduced to provide for engine cleanliness. The right amount of fluid will provide both clean combustion and removal of engine deposits.
Further, it is needed to inject the right amount of fluid and heat in order to heat and thereby to vaporize the fuel to give equal fuel-air ratio distribution and mass distribution between the cylinders. This gives maximum economy and lowest emissions.
Extra charge density can be provided by introducing fluid droplets in the fuel-air mixture charge at full throttle or high power operation. The fluid droplets, if introduced into the cylinder at the proper time before valve closure, cool the charge so as to increase the charge density before the valve closure, and thus, in effect, provide a form of supercharging.
Other inventors have not recognized these problems and have not implemented any control mechanism effective to produce the benefits which can be obtained by controlling the amount of added fluid and heat energy in response to engine need at each condition of operation of the engine.
Prior attempts to introduce fluids into the engine have relied primarily on intake manifold vacuum as the driving force to induce liquid flow. This has the disadvantage of having the greatest vacuum (and hence the larger driving force for liquid flow) at the conditions when the engine needs the least or no addition of liquid (throttle closed). In addition when the engine requires the greatest liquid flow (acceleration or heavy load) manifold vacuum is at a minimum. This present invention uses venturis, ejectors and vortex tubes in such combination to provide liquid flow when needed by the engine and not necessarily when most easily injected using intake manifold vacuum.
It is a primary object of the present invention to control the added amount of fluid and heat energy in relation to engine need at all conditions of operation of the engine to obtain the benefits as described above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a fluidic computer which provides the basic function of controlling the amount of fluid added, with the proper amount of heat from the exhaust gases, in response to the engine's need for the added fluid at each condition of operation of the engine.
The fluidic computer of the present invention accomplishes this control function with no moving parts.
The fluidic computer uses, as one input, the exhaust gas from the manifold near one cylinder. It also uses, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the additional inputs of PCV gases from the PCV valve outlet (preferably with the valve removed), liquid (in a particular embodiment, water) from a reservoir provided in the system, and atmospheric air.
In a preferred embodiment, the mixed liquid, exhaust gases, PCV gases, and air are admitted to the induction system of the engine at the PCV inlet below the butterfly valve.
The fluidic computer of the present invention utilizes the changing vacuum condition at the PCV inlet in combination with the changing exhaust gas pressure and temperature, to control the quantity and quality of the liquid and also to control (in proper relationship to the liquid) the amounts and proportions of each of the gases: exhaust, PCV, and air added. It achieves this control by means of a number of control variables provided by the fluidic computer system itself, and supplies the proper amounts of each of these inputs for each condition of engine operation.
A fundamental feature of the control system of the present invention is a variable impedance flow control mechanism. The control mechanism produces an impedance to flow through the mechanism which varies in a non-linear relationship to the pressure differential across the control mechanism.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention this flow control mechanism is a main or primary vortex chamber having an outlet connected to the PCV inlet and having inputs connected to two additional variable impedence flow control mechanisms.
In this particular embodiment, either a second liquid-exhaust gas vortex chamber or Venturi device is aligned with an air inlet for the first or main vortex chamber; and a third PCV-exhaust gas vortex chamber mixes air, PCV gases, and exhaust gases and then transmits these mixed gases to the main or primary vortex chamber through another inlet to that main vortex chamber.
In a specific embodiment, each of the variable impedance flow controls mechanisms incorporates a shaped inlet for providing a controlled choking of that inlet to further regulate the flow through the variable impedance flow control mechanism under varying conditions of engine operation. Each of these shaped inlets provides a control function which can be varied to match the overall control system to a particular engine.
The liquid-exhaust gas variable impedance flow control mechanism is also disposed in spaced relationship to the inlet of the main vortex chamber. The amount of controlled coupling and de-coupling between the outlet of this liquid-exhaust gas vortex chamber or Venturi and the inlet to the main vortex chamber provides two control functions. The amount of decoupling assists in providing a controlled amount of isolation of the suction exerted on the liquid introduced into the liquid vortex chamber or Venturi. The degree of coupling also provides a variable control on the amount of choking of the inlet to the main vortex chamber.
The inlets to the main vortex chamber and to the PCV-exhaust gas vortex chamber are interconnected by a cross tube to provide a reversal of choking effect on each of these inlets at a certain point in engine operation. The cross tube and the way in which it is associated with the two inlets provides a high degree of choking of each of the inlets at idle (to minimize or to totally eliminate the amount of liquid and to keep at a controlled amount the amount of PCV gases transmitted to the engine at idle and also to minimize the amount of exhaust flow at idle). When the engine accelerates above idle, the cross tube reverses the choking effect both to provide increased flow of exhaust gases to the PCV-exhaust gas vortex chamber and also to provide increased flow of air, liquid, and exhaust gases through the inlet of the main vortex chamber.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the control system also incorporates a variable impedance siphon break in the conduit transmitting liquid from the source to the liquid vortex chamber or Venturi. The variable impedance siphon break, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, is a vortex chamber which admits atmospheric air to the vortex chamber in relation to the amount of suction exerted on the outlet end of the liquid conduit disposed within the liquid vortex chamber or Venturi, but mixes the air with the fluid in the conduit in a non-linear relationship to the change of the amount of suction. That is, the variable impedance siphon break functions to discontinue liquid flow through the conduit at idle, because there is very little suction exerted on the outlet end of the liquid conduit at idle, and progressively mixes less air with the liquid in the conduit as the suction within the liquid vortex chamber or Venturi increases as the engine accelerates above idle.
The control system of the present invention uses the large number of control variables afforded, as noted above, to provide, in effect, a reversal of the amount of liquid and exhaust gas heat added in relation to decreasing vacuums at the PCV inlet so that no liquid is added at conditions of highest engine suction, idle, or deceleration, and also so that maximum amounts of liquid and exhaust gas heat are added (in proper combination with controlled amounts of added air and PCV gases) when the engine is operated at maximum power level.
The amount of exhaust gas heat, air, and PCV gases are properly controlled in relation to the amount of added liquid in a controlled relationship to meet the engine's need for each of these inputs at each condition of engine operation. The overall result of the combustion control system of the present invention is to produce improved engine combustion at each condition of operation, increased maximum power, improved fuel economy, and lower emissions and reduced octane requirement.
Combustion control systems having the structural features noted above and effective to function in the ways described above, constitute further, specific objects of the present invention.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the principles thereof and what are now considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention, embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used, and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING VIEWS
FIG. 1 is an elevation view, partly in cross section to show details of construction, of a combustion control system incorporating a vortex device and constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is taken along the line and in the direction indicated by the arrows 1--1 in FIG. 3.
FIG. 2 is a cross section view taken along the line and in the direction indicated by the arrows 2--2 in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a view taken along the offset line 3--3 and taken also in the direction indicated by the arrows 3--3 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a tube extending between the inlet of the air vortex chamber and the inlet of the exhaust vortex chamber. This tube utilizes the ram pressure of the pressure in the inlet of the air vortex chamber for aiding rotation set up in the cone of the inlet of the exhaust vortex chamber to aid the spinning in the inlet cone of the exhaust vortex chamber at idle thereby to reduce the amount of the exhaust that enters the exhaust vortex chamber at idle. This tube shown in FIG. 3 acts in an opposite way as the power goes up in the exhaust manifold pressure to cause the higher exhaust gas pressure both to stop the spinning in the exhaust vortex chamber entrance and also to lessen the spinning in the air vortex chamber inlet.
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a prior art type of siphon break and is included for a comparison to the variable impedance siphon break shown in the FIG. 1 embodiment. The FIG. 4 prior art type of siphon break does not offer the benefits of the variable impedance siphon break shown in the FIG. 1 embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a side elevation view, partly in cross section to show details of construction, like FIG. 1 but incorporating a Venturi construction for the liquid inlet to the air vortex chamber rather than a liquid vortex chamber construction like the FIG. 1 embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of a modified construction for imparting spin to the exhaust gases entering the Venturi construction of the FIG. 5 embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A combustion control system incorporating a vortex device and constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 21 in FIG. 1.
The system 21 is constructed to inject a mixture of liquid vapor, or in some cases liquid droplets, air, exhaust gases and PCV gases through an opening 23 which is the existing PCV entrance (positive crankcase ventilation) to the manifold below the carburetor butterfly 25.
As used in this specification, PCV gases means the gases produced by positive crankcase ventilation.
The major components of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 comprise an air vortex chamber 27, a liquid vortex chamber 29, an exhaust gas and PCV gas vortex chamber 31, a liquid reservoir 33, a siphon break 35.
In a particular embodiment, the smallest vortex chamber is the vortex chamber 29, which is about one-half the diameter of the vortex chamber 31, and the vortex chamber 31 is two-thirds the diameter of the vortex chamber 27.
Engine exhaust gases are conducted from an outlet fitting 37 connected to the exhaust gas manifold 39 of the engine immediately adjacent to one of the cylinders, so as to obtain the highest exhaust gas temperatures. These exhaust gases are conducted through a conduit 41 to a branched fitting 43 which provides one conduit 45 for conducting a portion of the exhaust gases to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 and which provides a second conduit 47 for conducting some of the exhaust gases to the liquid vortex chamber 29.
In a preferred form of the invention, the vortex chambers are insulated by thermal insulation (indicated by the dashed outline in FIG. 1) to preserve the heat of the exhaust gases used in the vortex chambers.
The structural part of the system 21 containing the vortex chambers 27, 29 and 31 is preferably located as closely as possible to an exhaust valve in the exhaust manifold 39 to maximize the amount of heat which is transmitted to these vortex chambers.
The PCV gases are conducted to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 by means of a PCV fitting 49 connected to the rocker box cover of the engine in the normal manner. A tubular conduit 51 carries the PCV gases to a control orifice 53, and the control orifice 53 regulates the flow of the PCV gases to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31.
Bleed or additional air for combustion control is also admitted to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 through an opening 55 formed in a sidewall of the conduit 57 leading axially into the interior of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31.
Liquid from the reservoir 33 is conducted to the liquid vortex chamber 29 through a conduit 59. The liquid conducted through the conduit 59 can be, for example, water alone, or water plus one of the following: alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, upper cylinder lubricants, or solvents or other additives as desired.
The inlet end 61 of the conduit 59 is located within the interior of the liquid vortex chamber 29 on the axial center line of the liquid vortex chamber 29. The extent to which the end of the inlet tube 61 extends into the vortex chamber provides a control variable regulating the amount of suction exerted on the liquid inlet 61 of the conduit 59.
A second control parameter for regulating the amount of suction is the diameter of the inlet tube 61, particularly in relation to the overall diameter of the interior of the vortex chamber.
Thus, moving the inlet end 61 further into the interior of the vortex chamber 29 (upward as viewed in FIG. 1) increases the suction. In addition providing a smaller diameter for the inlet tube 61 increases the suction.
The purpose of the siphon break 35 is to disconnect the liquid reservoir 33 from the liquid vortex chamber 29 on three conditions--engine off, engine idle, and engine deceleration. The way in which the siphon break 35 performs these functions will be described in more detail below.
The siphon break 35 also provides another function. It aids in controlling the rate of increase of fluid flow in relation to increase of engine power, and this will also be described in greater detail below.
The siphon break 35 also serves as protection against liquid lock. When the engine is off, the siphon break 35 physically breaks the siphoning effect of the conduit 59 with respect to the liquid in the reservoir 33 so that no liquid can flow through the conduit 59 when the engine is off.
The present invention incorporates a number of additional protections against liquid lock.
The outlet end 61 of the conduit 59 is disposed within the liquid vortex chamber 29 at a level which is below the level of the PCV inlet 23 so that, even in the event of some failure of the siphon break 35, liquid cannot flow upward from the outlet end 61 to the inlet 23 when the engine is not operating.
Further, any liquid flowing through the conduit 59 in the event of the failure of the siphon break 35 has a large number of outlets so that it could never accumulate to a point where it could overflow into the opening 23. For example, the water flowing from the outlet 61 has a free path through the conduit 47 and conduit 41 to the interior of the exhaust manifold 39. The fluid also has a free outlet from the outlet end 61 through the conduit 62 and out the opening between the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the inlet 63 of the air vortex chamber 27. There are also outlets through the slots 67.
Air is admitted to the air vortex chamber 27 through a curved opening 63. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the curved opening 63 has a generally conical shape so that the diameter of the opening 63 decreases with nearness to the interior of the air vortex chamber 27.
The air comes into the opening 63 both through the space 65 between the outlet of the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the inlet to the curved opening 63 and also through slots 67 formed in the sidewall of the curved opening 63 and disposed tangentially to the inner surface of the curved opening 63 at the upper, inner end of each slot 67. See FIG. 3.
Air coming into the curved opening 63 is transmitted to the interior of the air vortex chamber 27 through a throat 69. The throat 69 comes in generally tangential to one side of the interior of air vortex chamber 27. See FIG. 2.
As illustrated in both FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, a branch conduit 71 interconnects the interior of the curved opening 63 with a tapered passageway 73 for conducting the exhaust gases from the conduit 45 to the interior of the exhaust vortex chamber 31.
The tapered passageway 73 has formed, at the upper end as viewed in FIG. 1, a throat 75 of minimum diameter at the point of connection to the interior of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31. This throat 75 is aligned tangentially with the interior of the vortex chamber 31 in the same way as the throat 69 is aligned tangentially with the interior of the vortex chamber 27.
The end 77 of the conduit 71 which connects to the tapered passageway 73 is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, connected tangentially to the inside surface of the passageway 73 for a control purpose which will be described in more detail below.
As also illustrated in FIG. 3 the other end 79 of the conduit 71 connected to the interior of the curved opening 63 is also aligned tangentially with the interior of that opening, but in opposition to the tangency of the slots 67, and the control purpose for this alignment will also be described in greater detail below.
The outlet of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 comprises a tapered tube 81 which extends completely into the interior of the air vortex chamber 27. The extent to which the outlet tube 81 extends into the interior of the air vortex chamber 27 provides a control parameter for regulating the amount of air and liquid introduced through the air vortex chamber 27 as the power of the engine increases depending upon the length of the tube 81. That is, to maximize the amount of air and liquid transmitted through the air vortex chamber 27, the length of the tube 81 is increased to give an ejector like action at the outlet of the vortex chamber 27, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The tube 81 may extend completely through the length of the air vortex chamber 27 so that the outlet end 83 is so disposed with respect to the outlet 85 of the air vortex chamber 27 as to give an ejector like action for increasing the flow through the air vortex chamber 27.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the outlet 85 is preferably formed as a true Venturi so that the outlet end is of an expanding shape so that a true Venturi action is provided to minimize restriction to flow through the opening 85 at all conditions of flow encountered in normal operation.
However, to increase the turbulence at the end of the outlet 85 of the air vortex chamber, the inside surface of the end of the outlet 85 can be formed with serrations or grooves 84 extending parallel to the axis of the outlet 85. These serrations or grooves can also be located at the minimum throat area of the exit Venturi 85 and serve to produce an ultrasonic wave form in the fluids flowing through this outlet.
The existing PCV opening 23 in the inlet manifold is a convenient point for introducing the mixture of air, liquid, exhaust gases, and PCV gases of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 for a number of reasons. This opening is present in most conventional automobile engines, it is easy to make a connection to, and the pressure below the butterfly valve 25 does have a relationship to the amount of additional air and liquid that it is desired to introduce through the opening 23 at the various engine operating conditions.
However, the relationship is an inverse relationship. That is, the highest vacuum below the butterfly valve 25 at the opening 23 exists at idle and the lowest vacuum exists at full throttle. At idle and at engine deceleration, it is desirable that no water or other liquid or liquid vapor be introduced; and the maximum amount of liquid and additional air should be introduced through the opening 23 at full throttle. Thus, the relationship between the pressure differential across the air vortex chamber 27 produced by various conditions of engine operation is inversely related to the amount of materials to be injected through the opening 23 at the various engine operating conditions.
It is a general principle of operation of a vortex chamber that the flow through the vortex chamber varies as the square root of the pressure differential across the vortex chamber. The effect of the vortex chamber 27, by itself, and disregarding for the moment the configured inlet 63 to the vortex chamber, is therefore to reduce the effect of the pressure differential across the vortex chamber in relation to the flow through the vortex chamber by a factor which can be as great as 5:1 or even somewhat greater, depending upon the actual amount of the vacuum below the butterfly valve 25.
A vortex chamber is capable of offering a greater impedance to a given flow than other simple flow restrictions because it induces additional pressure drop by rotational flow. It presents, therefore an inherently more non-linear response than a nozzle or orifice. By feeding one vortex from another vortex, this effect may be compounded such that a small difference in flow may induce a very large change in flow resistance. Such is the case with the controlled vortex in converging passage 63 feeding vortex chamber 27.
The vortex chamber 27, again standing by itself, therefore acts as a variable impedance device whose impedance to flow increases with an increase in the differential across the vortex chamber.
The system 21 of the present invention also incorporates a fluidic valve at the entrance to the air vortex chamber 27 which also functions as a variable impedance device but whose impedance can be controlled and varied by the structural features incorporated in or associated with the entrance.
Thus, the fluidic valve formed at the entrance to the air vortex chamber 27 acts to further choke off flow, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, at idle and on engine deceleration to achieve substantially a complete cut off of flow through the air vortex chamber 27 under these conditions of engine operation.
The impedance of this fluidic valve is controlled by the slots 67 which increase the spinning effect to increase the choke effect as the pressure differential across the vortex chamber 27 increases.
The slots 67 thus act to increase the impedance with increasing pressure differentials (with increasing vacuum in the engine inlet manifold below the butterfly valve 25).
In the embodiment of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the branch conduit 71 are normally arranged to reduce the impedance of the fluidic valve at the inlet to the air vortex chamber 27 with increasing exhaust gas pressure produced by higher power levels of operation of the engine.
Thus, the liquid vortex chamber 29, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, injects the liquid and exhaust gases into the curved inlet 63 with a direction of spin that is opposite to the direction of spin produced by the slots 67; and the branch conduit 71 transmits pressurized exhaust gases from the conduit 43 to the curved inlet 63 in a direction of spin which is also opposite the direction of spin produced by the slots 67. The water vortex chamber 29 and the branch conduit 71 thus reduce the impedance of the fluidic valve at the inlet to the air vortex chamber 27 as the engine power increases and this tends to increase the amount of materials which flow through the air vortex chamber 27 as the engine power goes up, even though the vacuum below the butterfly valve 25 is decreasing as the engine power goes up.
It should be noted, however, that the direction of spin at the outlet of the liquid vortex chamber 29 can be aligned to be in the same direction as the direction of spin imparted by the slots 67 to provide an increased choking effect in the inlet 63 with increasing engine power if this is required for a particular engine application.
The main reversal effect of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 (that is the increase of injected liquid, air, exhaust gases and PCV gases with increased engine power and decreased vacuum below the butterfly valve 25) is however provided by the ejector effect of the outlet end 83 of the tube 81 at the outlet 85 of the air vortex chamber.
As the engine power goes up, the pressure of the exhaust gases transferred through the conduit 41 and the shaped inlet 73 to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 increases, and this increases the flow through the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31.
The shaped inlet 73 to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 in combination with the branch conduit 71 provides a step function change in the operation of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 to accomplish both a choking effect on the inlet to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 at idle and deceleration and at low rpm (to desirably restrict the flow of exhaust gas to the intake manifold under these conditions of engine operation) and also to remove the choking effect and thereby to permit increased flow through the exhaust gas vortex chamber at higher rpm all the way up to maximum power.
These results are produced as follows.
At idle and at low rpm and under deceleration conditions, the pressure at the end 79 of the branch conduit within the shaped opening 63 is enough greater than the pressure at the end 77 of the branch conduit within the inlet 73 so that the flow through the branch conduit 71 is from the opening 79 to the opening 77, and this causes the spin within the inlet 73 to cause a choking effect to restrict the flow of exhaust gases through this inlet 73 to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 at idle and below, for example at 900 rpm and below. As the exhaust gas pressure is increased, however, at higher engine rpms, the pressure at the end 77 becomes greater (between 900 and 1500 rpm) than the pressure at the end 79 so that the direction of flow of gases through the conduit 71 reverses; and this decreases the choking effect in the inlet 73 (while simultaneously decreasing the choking effect in the opening 63 also because of the direction of spin); and the effect on the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 is to permit a substantially increased amount of exhaust gases to flow into and through the vortex chamber 31. This in turn draws in more air through the air inlet opening 55, draws in a greater amount of PCV gases through the control orifice 53 and acts through the ejector effect at the outlet end 83 of the tube 81 to augment or draw more air and entrained liquid from the air vortex chamber 27 (providing the reversal effect with relationship to the decreasing vacuum below the butterfly valve 25 with increased engine power as described above).
The exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 in combination with the shaped inlet 73 and branch connector 71 thus provide the desired mode of operation of restricting the flow of exhaust gases and PCV gases to the engine at idle and deceleration.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the inlet 47 to the liquid vortex chamber 29 may also be provided with a tapered configuration as illustrated, and with an air bleed hole 48 which comes in tangentially to the tapered inlet. The combination of the tapered configuration and the tangential air bleed 48 further restricts the amount of exhaust gases admitted to the liquid vortex chamber 29 (and thus the air vortex chamber 27) at idle and on deceleration. This restriction on the inlet to the vortex chamber 29 also cuts down the amount of liquid which can flow out of the vortex chamber 29 at idle and on deceleration.
On acceleration, the increased pressure of the exhaust gases removes the choking effect by eliminating the swirling effect to provide the full, desired amount of liquid from the liquid vortex chamber 29 on acceleration.
The system 21 substantially reduces the amount of PCV gases transmitted through the inlet 23 at engine idle, deceleration, and low rpms (over what would be introduced without the choking effect of the shaped inlet 73) while permitting greater amounts of PCV gases to be transmitted through the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 to the inlet 23 at higher engine rpm and exhaust gas pressures; but the overall result is a substantially stabilized and moderate increase of PCV gas flow with increasing engine power over the entire range of engine operating conditions. This results from the combination of the choking and de-choking of the entrance 73 and the basic principle of operation of the vortex chamber 31 (which basic principle is to provide a mass flow which is related to the square root of the pressure differential across the vortex chamber).
The total flow through the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31, however, increases substantially with the increased exhaust gas pressures to produce an increased ejector effect at the outlet end 83 for providing increased mass flow of fluid through the air vortex chamber 27 with increased power levels of operation of the engine.
The stabilized effect on the regulation of the flow of the PCV gases produced by the system of the present invention permits the conventional, existing PCV valve to be eliminated, is desired; or the system 21 can be used with the conventional PCV valve in place.
The liquid vortex chamber 29 is, in most respects, effectively de-coupled from the curved entrance 63 to the air vortex chamber 27. This is achieved by the space 65 between the outlet of the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the entrance 63 and also by the effect of the slots 67 which, as described above, provide a spin which is in opposition to the direction of the materials flowing out of the liquid vortex chamber 29.
The slots 67 thus provide a substantial choke effect which effectively de-couples the liquid vortex chamber 29 under idle conditions, deceleration, and low rpm operation of the engine.
It should be noted, however, that the outlet of the liquid vortex chamber 29 can be utilized to produce an ejector effect, like the output end 83 of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31. The extent of this ejector effect is dependent upon the location of the outlet end 62 with respect to the curved opening 63. Thus, by extending the outlet end of the conduit 62 higher into the tapered opening 63, a greater ejector effect is obtained. Similarly by extending the end of tube 83 (discharge of vortex chamber 31) further into the throat 85 of the outlet to vortex chamber 27 a greater ejector effect may be obtained. These ejector effects can also be utilized to provide, in effect, a reversal of the mass flow through the air vortex chamber 27 with respect to the normal flow of material through the air vortex chamber 27 which would be produced by the pressure differential resulting from the changing vacuum conditions below the butterfly valve in the inlet manifold.
A further control parameter for controlling the mass flow of the material introduced through the opening 23 is obtained by making the outlet 85 in the shape of a Venturi having a smaller minimum diameter than the minimum diameter of the outlet of the air vortex chamber 27, so that the Venturi throat itself provides a choking effect on the outlet of the air vortex chamber 27. The choking effect, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, is made a variable choking effect by providing counter rotation for the materials flowing out of the outlet end 83 with respect to the materials flowing through the outlet of the air vortex chamber 27. That is, in a preferred embodiment, the directions of spin are opposite and changing mass flows provide changes in the choking effect. In another embodiment, the directions of spin can be in the same direction, but this provides less response of change in choking effect with changes in more flows, but it has the advantage of creating greater turbulence.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention at low power, the primary spin is provided by the spinning mixture from the outlet of the air vortex chamber 27, while at high power the primary spin is provided by the spinning mixture leaving the outlet 83 of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31.
At full power, it is desirable that the energies of these two rotating mixtures be balanced to minimize the choking effect. Therefore, the relative sizes of the inside diameter of the outlet tube 83 and the diameter of the outlet end 85 of the air vortex chamber 27 are so related that the mass flows and directions of spin of these two mass flows balance each other out.
The vortex chambers 27, 29, and 31 act in a beneficial way in conjunction with the pulsed, peaked characteristic of the exhaust gas pressure produced by picking up the exhaust gas pressure near the exhaust valve. This is, the pressure of the exhaust gas transmitted through the conduit 41, 45, and 47 varies in a cyclic way with alternate pressure peaks rather than remaining at a steady state, uniform pressure level at any given condition of engine operation. The vortex chamber provides a stabilizing, de-sensitizing effect because the flow through the vortex chamber is dependent upon the square root of the pressure differential across the vortex chamber, rather than being linearly proportional to the differential pressure across the vortex chamber.
The vortex chamber thus acts somewhat like a rectifier with respect to the pulses in the exhaust gas pressure.
In another embodiment of the present invention, as noted above, the two mass flows are permitted (as illustrated in FIG. 1) to spin in the same direction. While this provides an increased choking effect, it also provides increased turbulence of the flow going through the opening 23 and into the inlet manifold thereby to provide better mixing with the air and fuel. In this embodiment of the present invention, the other control parameters can be and are utilized to provide the desired relationship of increased liquid and injected air flow within increasing engine power levels. That is, there are enough control variables in the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 to permit the desired relationship of mass flows with changing suction below the butterfly valve 25 to be realized, even though the directions of spin at the outlets 83 and 85 are in the same direction.
For this particular embodiment of the present invention, the opening 85 need not be a Venturi, but can be a straight tubular opening since a choking effect and change in the choking effect is not relied on at this point.
In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the system 21 has been installed on a Dodge Dart slant six cylinder 225 cubic inch displacement engine.
In this embodiment, the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 incorporates the specific structural features having the dimensions and particular relationships described below.
The ported vent opening 23 has a diameter of 0.250 inch.
The minimum diameter of the exit Venturi 85 is 0.128 inch.
The diameter d-1 shown in FIG. 1 is 0.4375 inch; and, in this specific embodiment, the tube end 83 terminates at the location indicated by the diameter d-1 (rather than extending further into the outlet Venturi 85, as illustrated in FIG. 1). The tube 83 is 3/8 inch long, measured from the point at which it enters the vortex chamber 27 to the end of the tube.
The air vortex chamber 27 imparts a counterclockwise direction of spin to the air and liquid (as viewed from a direction looking from the back of the vortex chamber 27 toward the ported vent 23).
The maximum diameter d-2 of the air vortex chamber 27 is 0.575 inch. (See FIG. 2.)
The equivalent maximum diameter of the exhaust gas-PCV gas vortex chamber 31 is 0.45 inch.
The equivalent maximum diameter of the liquid vortex chamber 29 is 0.37 inch.
The diameter of the orifice 55 is 0.052 inch.
The diameter of the restricter 53 is 0.092 inch.
The minimum diameter of the throat 75 is 0.120 inch.
The inside diameter of the tube 83 is 0.215 inch.
The inside diameter of the tube 71 opening into the throat 73 is 0.08 inch.
The length of the space 65 between the housing for the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the inlet of the curve opening 63 is 0.04 inch.
The conduit 59 has a 1/32 inch inside diameter.
The slots 67 are 0.062 inch wide. There are twelve slots 67.
The inside diameter of the conduit 41 is 0.29 inch. The outside diameter of this conduit is 3/8 inch and the fitting 37 is a 3/8 inch flare pipe fitting the standard 1/8 inch fitting illustrated to enter into the sidewall of the exhaust manifold 39.
The conduit 59 has a 3/32 inch outside diameter and a 1/32 inch inside diameter. The inside diameter of the outlet 62 is 0.125 inch.
The minimum diameter at 69 is 0.165 inch.
The maximum width and depth of the slots 84 is approximately 0.02 inch.
The minimum diameter of the throat 47 is 0.116 inch. The inside diameter of the air hole 48 is 0.062 inch. The maximum diameter of the throat 47 is 0.25 inch.
The minimum diameter of the inlet 93 for the siphon break vortex chamber 35 is 0.055 inch. The maximum internal diameter of the chamber is 0.335 inch.
The inside diameter of the outlet 95 is 0.055 inch.
As noted above, a siphon break 35 is incorporated in the conduit 59 between the reservoir 33 and the outlets 61. The primary purpose of this siphon break is to prevent flow of liquid through the conduit 59 when the engine is is an off, idle, or decelerated condition of operation.
The siphon break 35 actually breaks the connection to prevent syphoning of fluid under these conditions of operation. The syphon break 35 includes a vortex chamber 91 having an air inlet 93 and an outlet 95 for introducing a variable amount of air into the conduit 59, depending upon an indirect relationship to the amount of vacuum seen by the outlet end 61 of the conduit 59.
Thus, at engine idle, there is little flow of exhaust gas through the conduit 47 and therefore almost no suction at the outlet end 61 of the conduit 59.
However, even though there is low suction around the outlet 61 at low power, there can be enough suction to produce some flow through the conduit 59 at idle, if the siphon break were not incorporated in the system 21.
The vortex chamber type siphon break 35 provides a variable impedance which makes the siphon break practical and useful for insuring the cut-off of liquid flow to the conduit 59 at low power.
This is best understood by reference to FIG. 4, showing a conventional, prior art type of siphon break, comprising just an opening 97 in a side wall of the conduit 59. With this prior art type of siphon break, the opening 97 must be made so small (to permit liquid to be siphoned through the conduit 59 during operation of the engine at high power levels) that the opening 97 could not provide any insurance against some flow of liquid through the conduit 59 at engine idle. The required small size of the opening 97 is also compounded by the capillary effect which can have the result of closing off the opening 97 by the capillary action of the fluid itself in the conduit 59.
In contrast, the siphon break 35 shown in FIG. 1 and incorporating a vortex chamber 91 utilizes a relatively large opening 95 opening into the conduit 59 and is effective to restrict air bleed into the conduit 59 at low vacuums or under conditions of engine operation at higher power levels, because the vortex chamber 91 provides a high enough impedance to flow of air from the inlet 93 to the outlet 95 effectively to block off enough of the air flow so that the ratio of air to liquid in the conduit 59 is a quite low ratio when the engine is operating at higher rpm.
Thus, at higher power levels, the exhaust gas pressure in the conduit 41 is higher, producing increased rates of flow through the water vortex chamber 29, and this in turn produces increased suction at the outlet 61. The increased higher suction at the outlet 61 provides a greater pressure differential across the vortex chamber 91 and increases the impedance to flow through the vortex chamber 91. This in turn decreases the amount of air in relation to the amount of liquid which is permitted to flow through the conduit 59. The vortex chamber siphon break 35 thus creates its own increased impedance to flow with increased pressure differential across the vortex chamber, which is the result that is desired for the siphon break 35 in this system.
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a combustion control system constructed in accordance with the present invention. The system 22 shown in FIG. 5 is like the system 21 shown in FIG. 1, but utilizes a Venturi construction 101 in place of the liquid vortex chamber 29 shown in the FIG. 1 embodiment.
The Venturi 101 comprises a throat 103 and an expanded outlet 105. The conduit 59 is connected to an opening 107 in the side wall of the Venturi throat 103.
Exhaust gases flowing through the conduit 110 and the throat 103 pull fluid through the opening 107 in accordance with the recognized principle of Venturi operation 101. This does not provide a variable impedance like the liquid vortex chamber 29 of the FIG. 1 embodiment, but instead provides a multiplier effect of increasing liquid flow through the conduit 59 with increased exhaust gas pressure and resultant flow through the Venturi throat 103.
The Venturi 101 thus provides less impedance at engine idle than does the water vortex chamber 29 for the same orifice sizes (so that a proper amount of de-coupling between the outlet 105 of the Venturi and the inlet 69 of the air vortex chamber 27 must be provided for), but the Venturi 101 does provide (because of the reduced impedance as compared to the vortex chamber) greater liquid flow at high engine power than does the water vortex chamber 29.
Further points of comparison between the operation of the liquid vortex chamber 29 of FIG. 1 and the Venturi 101 of FIG. 5 that are of interest include the following. The vortex chamber by its very nature tends to produce better mixing of fluid and gas than does the Venturi 101. The vortex chamber also tends to produce a hollow cone-shaped discharge in which the liquid droplets and vapor are distributed to the periphery of the cone while the interior tends to be substantially devoid of liquid droplets and filled only with gas (assuming that no tube-like extension on the outlet end of the vortex chamber is provided). The Venturi tends to provide a more homogeneous mixture of liquid droplets and vapor with gases than does the vortex chamber, and the Venturi 101 also tends to provide a somewhat greater ejector effect (again assuming that the vortex chamber does not incorporate any tube-like extension at the outlet end of the vortex chamber).
In the FIG. 5 embodiment illustrated, an optional spin chamber 108 has an inner surface aligned tangentially with the outlet 106 of a cross-over conduit 110. This produces a spin of gases at the inlet to the Venturi 101 as illustrated in FIG. 5. This spin produces greater impedance in the Venturi (as compared to a Venturi without the inlet spin) and the spin also provides greater control of the choking effect in the inlet 63.
FIG. 6 illustrates an inlet construction for the Venturi 101 having a multiple orifice disc 112 for imparting rotation to the gases flowing into the inlet of the Venturi.
In the FIG. 5 embodiment a modified construction of the innerconnecting tube 71 provides an increased degree of control. Thus, in the FIG. 5 embodiment, the ends 77 and 79 of the innerconnecting tube 71 are inclined at an angle so as to be opposed to the direction of incoming flow through the related inlets 73 and 63 rather than being aligned perpendicularly to such inlets as in the FIG. 1 embodiment. The controlling fluids flowing through the ends 77 and 79 thus oppose the flow being controlled through the inlets 73 and 63. The inertia of the controlling fluids opposes the inertia of the controlled fluids so that a greater control of the momentum is achieved than is the case when the openings 77 and 79 are aligned perpendicularly to the inlets 73 and 63.
In operation, the FIG. 5 construction provides a number of advantages.
The fluid flowing through the air inlet 63 is subjected to the velocity head of the fluid flowing through the tube 71 and out of the opening 79.
At idle the fluid flowing through the inclination of the tube end 79 permits some of the velocity head of the fluid flowing through the passageway 73 to be exerted through the tube 71 and against the inflowing exhaust gases in the passageway 73. This increases the effectiveness of the choking of the flow of exhaust gases at idle and deceleration.
The opposite condition occurs at increased power. As the exhaust gas pressure builds up and as the flow of exhaust gases increases, the velocity head of the exhaust gases is added to the static head, and this increased flow of gases through the tube 71 is introduced into the passageway 63 at an inclination so as to oppose the rotation and the flow of fluid through the passageway 63 at increased power levels of operation of the engine. This velocity head counteraction is in itself not desired, but the decrease of rotation compensates sufficiently to effectively open the throat 69; and the other mode of operation (the operation at idle and deceleration) of the angled opening 79 and 77 make this embodiment a useful construction.
This type of inclined, velocity head imposing construction can also be used to control other control elements, such as the other vortices and venturis.
The other structural components of the FIG. 5 embodiment, which bear the same reference numerals as the corresponding parts in the FIG. 1 embodiment, function in substantially the same way as described above in reference to the FIG 1. embodiment.
While not illustrated in the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention also incorporates an additional cross tube, like cross tube 71, extending from the inlet 73 to the inlet 63 for providing controlled choking and elimination of the controlled choking of each of those inlets when the engine accelerates from idle or deceleration to an acceleration condition or to operation at cruise or high power.
The present invention thus provides a large number of variables for control of the mixture of air, fluid, exhaust gases and PCV gases introduced through the opening 23; and by proper selection and combination of the various control variables the relative amounts and total flow of all the components of the mixture can be matched to engine need at all the various operating conditions of the engine from engine off, through start up, idle, acceleration, steady state, and deceleration.
The control variables include: the impedance to flow produced by each vortex chamber 27, 29, 31, and 35; the manner in which the outputs of each of these vortex chambers are combined (both in terms of amount of flow and direction of spin of the output flow); the amount of coupling or decoupling between the various vortex chambers (including specifically the ejector coupling between the air vortex chamber and the exhaust gas vortex chamber and also the ejector coupling between the liquid vortex chamber or Venturi and the inlet to the air vortex chamber); by the choking effect provided at the respective inlets of each vortex chamber; an interconnection between the inlet of the air vortex chamber and the inlet of the PCV gas vortex chamber for changing the choking effects of these inlets in dependence upon changes in conditions of engine operation; and the variable impedance siphon break 35 for controlling the ratio of liquid to air to the liquid vortex chamber and for controlling the cut-off of liquid at low power and for controlling the rate of rise (how steep the curve gets in relation to engine need).
The overall result of the system 21 is to provide a no moving part fluidic computer for controlling the total amount and proportions of the mixture admitted to the inlet manifold in relation to engine need at various conditions of operation of the engine.
The fluidic computer also provides control of the heat amounts and the turbulence of the mixture admitted to the engine.
The system 21 actually provides more control variables than are needed, and this in itself is of benefit because it provides flexibility in selecting the optimum combination of control variables for a particular engine installation.
While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims. | A combustion control system adds a fluid and heat energy to the air-fuel mixture of the induction system of an internal combustion engine in response to engine need to improve combustion, to increase power, to improve efficiency, and to reduce emissions.
The system incorporates fluidic control mechanisms which provide the control functions without any moving parts.
The system incorporates one or more variable impedance flow control mechanisms, each of which produces an impedance to flow through the control mechanism which varies in a controlled relationship to the pressure differential across the control mechanism.
In one embodiment, the main variable impedance control mechanism is a vortex chamber. The outlet of the vortex chamber is connected to the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) inlet to intake manifold downstream of the butterfly valve.
The vortex chamber has inputs for supplying air, the liquid, exhaust gases, and PCV gases for mixing within the vortex chamber. The incoming liquid, air, exhaust gases, and PCV gases are transmitted into the main vortex chamber by input constructions which, in themselves, provide for controlled regulation of both the relative proportions and total amounts of the incoming liquid and gases.
In a specific embodiment, the input constructions include a liquid-exhaust gas acceleration chamber for mixing liquid with exhaust gases and a PCV-exhaust gas vortex chamber for mixing exhaust gases with PCV gases and air and swirl producing devices for causing controlled choking of the inlets of one or more of the vortex chambers.
The system also incorporates a variable impedance syphon break in the line connecting the liquid source with the liquid-exhaust gas acceleration chamber. | 5 |
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a fluid-heating apparatus, such as an electric water heater, that can determine an operating condition of the apparatus, and a method of detecting a dry-fire condition and preventing operation of the fluid-heating apparatus when a dry-fire condition exists.
When an electric-resistance heating element fails in an electric water heater, the operation of the heater is diminished until the element is replaced. This can be an inconvenience to the user of the water heater.
SUMMARY
Failure of the electric-resistance element may not be immediate. For example, the element typically has a sheath isolated from an element wire by an insulator, such as packed magnesium oxide. If the sheath is damaged, the insulator can still insulate the wire and prevent a complete failure of the element. However, the insulator does become hydrated over time and the wire eventually shorts, resulting in failure of the element. The invention, in at least one embodiment, detects the degradation of the heating element due to a damaged sheath prior to failure of the heating element. The warning of the degradation to the element prior to failure of the element allows the user to replace the element with little downtime on his appliance.
A heating element generates heat that can be transferred to water surrounding the heating element. Water can dissipate much of the heat energy produced by the heating element. The temperature of the heating element rises rapidly initially when power is applied and then the rate of temperature rise slows until the temperature of the heating element remains relatively constant. Should power be applied to the heating element prior to the water heater being filled with water or should a malfunction occur in which the water in the water heater is not at a level high enough to surround the heating element, a potential condition known as “dry-fire” exists. Because there is no water surrounding the heating element to dissipate the heat, the heating element can heat up to a temperature that causes the heating element to fail. Failure can occur in a matter of only seconds. Therefore, it is desirable to detect a dry-fire condition quickly, before damage to the heating element occurs.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method of detecting a dry-fire condition of an electric-resistance heating element. The method includes applying a first electric signal to the heating element and detecting a first value of an electrical characteristic during the application of the first electric signal. The first electric signal is then disconnected from the heating element and a second electric signal, substantially different from the first electric signal, is applied to the heating element. The second electric signal is disconnected from the heating element and a third electric signal, substantially different from the second electric signal, is applied to the heating element. A second value of the electrical characteristic is detected during the application of the third electric signal, and a determination is made of the potential for a dry-fire condition based on the first and second values of the electrical characteristic.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a fluid-heating apparatus for heating a fluid. The fluid-heating apparatus includes a vessel, an inlet to introduce the fluid into the vessel, an outlet to remove the fluid from the vessel, a heating element, and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to apply a first electric signal to the heating element, read a first value of an electrical characteristic, apply a second electric signal to the heating element, the second electric signal being substantially different than the first electric signal, apply a third electric signal to the heating element, the third electric signal being substantially different than the second electric signal, read a second value of the electrical characteristic, determine whether a potential dry-fire condition exists based on the first and second values, and apply a fourth electric signal to the heating element if the potential dry-fire condition does not exist, the fourth electric signal being substantially different than the first third signal.
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partial exposed view of a water heater embodying the invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial exposed, partial side view of an electrode capable of being used in the water heater of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a partial block diagram, partial electric schematic of a first control circuit capable of controlling the electrode of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a partial block diagram, partial electric schematic of a second control circuit capable of controlling the electrode of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 5 is a partial block diagram, partial electric schematic of a third control circuit capable of controlling the electrode of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 6A is a chart of a temperature curve of the electrode of FIG. 2 submerged in water.
FIG. 6B is a chart of a temperature curve of the electrode of FIG. 2 exposed to air.
FIG. 7 is partial block diagram, partial electric schematic of a fourth control circuit capable of controlling the electrode of FIG. 2 and detecting a dry-fire condition.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the operation of the control circuit of FIG. 7 for detecting a dry-fire condition.
FIG. 9A is a chart of a resistance curve of the electrode of FIG. 2 submerged in water.
FIG. 9B is a chart of a resistance curve of the electrode of FIG. 2 exposed to air.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limited. The use of “including,” “comprising ” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. The terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings, and can include electrical connections or couplings, whether direct or indirect.
FIG. 1 illustrates a storage-type water heater 100 including an enclosed water tank 105 (also referred to herein as an enclosed vessel), a shell 110 surrounding the water tank 105 , and foam insulation 115 filling the annular space between the water tank 105 and the shell 110 . A typical storage tank 105 is made of ferrous metal and lined internally with a glass-like porcelain enamel to protect the metal from corrosion. However, the storage tank 105 can be made of other materials, such as plastic. A water inlet line or dip tube 120 and a water outlet line 125 enter the top of the water tank 105 . The water inlet line 120 has an inlet opening 130 for adding cold water to the water tank 105 , and the water outlet line 125 has an outlet opening 135 for withdrawing hot water from the water tank 105 . The tank may also include a grounding element (or contact) that is in contact with the water stored in the tank. Alternatively, the grounding element can be part of another component of the water heater, such as the plug of the heating element (discussed below). The grounding element comprises a metal material that allows a current path to ground.
The water heater 100 also includes an electric resistance heating element 140 that is attached to the tank 105 and extends into the tank 105 to heat the water. An exemplary heating element 140 capable of being used in the water heater 100 is shown in FIG. 2 . With reference to FIG. 2 , the heating element 140 includes an internal high resistance heating element wire 150 , surrounded by a suitable insulating material 155 (such as packed magnesium oxide), a metal jacket (or sheath) 160 enclosing the insulating material, and an element connector assembly 165 (typically referred to as a plug) that couples the metal jacket 160 to the shell 110 , which may be grounded. For the construction shown, the connector assembly 165 includes a metal spud 170 having threads, which secure the heating element 140 to the shell 110 by mating with the threads of an opening of the shell 110 . The connector assembly 165 also includes connectors 175 and 180 for electrically connecting the wire 150 to the control circuit (discussed below), which provides controlled power to the wire 150 . While a water heater 100 having the element 140 is shown, the invention can be used with other fluid-heating apparatus for heating a conductive fluid, such as an instantaneous water heater or an oil heater, and with other heater element designs and arrangements.
A partial electrical schematic, partial block diagram for one construction of a control circuit 200 used for controlling the heating element 140 is shown in FIG. 3 . The control circuit 200 includes a microcontroller 205 . As will be discussed in more detail below, the microcontroller 205 receives signals or inputs from a plurality of sensors or circuits, analyzes the inputs, and generates one or more outputs to control the water heater 100 . In one construction, the microcontroller 205 includes a processor and memory. The memory includes one or more modules having instructions. The processor obtains, interprets, and executes the instructions to control the water heater 100 . Although the microcontroller 205 is described as having a processor and memory, the invention may be implemented with other controllers or devices including a variety of integrated circuits (e.g., an application-specific-integrated circuit) and discrete devices, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Additionally, the microcontroller 205 and the control circuit 200 can include other circuitry and perform other functions not discussed herein as is known in the art.
Referring again to FIG. 3 , the control circuit 200 further includes a current path from a power supply 201 to the heating element 140 back to the power supply 201 . The current path includes a first leg 202 and a second leg 203 . The first leg 202 connects the power source 201 to a first point 206 of the heating element 140 and the second leg 203 connects the power source 201 to a second point 207 of the heating element 140 . A thermostat, which is shown as a switch 210 that opens and closes depending on whether the water needs to be heated, is connected in the first leg 202 between the power source 201 and the heating element 206 . When closed, the thermostat switch 210 allows a current from the power source 201 to the heating element 140 and back to the power source 201 via the first and second legs 202 and 203 . This results in the heating element 140 heating the water to a desired set point determined by the thermostat. The heating of the water to a desired set point is referred to herein as the water heater 100 being in a heating state. When open, the thermostat switch 210 prevents a current flow from the power source 201 to the heating element 140 and back to the power source 201 via the first and second legs 202 and 203 . This results in the water heater 100 being in a non-heating state. Other methods of sensing the water temperature and controlling current to the heating element 140 from the power source 201 are possible (e.g., an electronic control having a sensor, the microcontroller 205 coupled to the sensor to receive a signal having a relation to the sensed temperature, and an electronic switch such as a triac controlled by the microcontroller in response to the sensed temperature).
As just stated, the thermostat switch 210 allows a current through the heating element 140 when the switch 210 is closed. A variable leakage current can flow from the element wire 150 to the sheath 160 via the insulating material 155 when a voltage is applied to the heating element 140 . The variable resistor 215 represents the leakage resistance, which allows the leakage path. The resistance between the wire and ground drops from approximately 4,000,000 ohms to approximately 40,000 ohms or less when the heating element 140 degrades due to a failure in the sheath 160 . This will be discussed in more detail below.
The control circuit 210 further includes a voltage measurement circuit 220 and a current measurement circuit 225 . The voltage measurement circuit 220 , which can include a filter and a signal conditioner for filtering and conditioning the sensed voltage to a level suitable for the microcontroller 205 , senses a voltage difference between the first and second legs 202 and 203 . This voltage difference can be used to determine whether the thermostat switch 210 is open or closed. The current measurement circuit 225 senses a current to the heating element 140 with a torroidal current transformer 230 . The torroidal current transformer 235 can be disposed around both legs 202 and 203 to prevent current sense signal overload during the heating state of the water heater 100 , and accurately measure leakage current during the non-heating state of the water heater 100 . The current measurement circuit 225 can further include a filter and signal conditioner for filtering and conditioning the sensed current value to a level suitable for the microcontroller 205 .
During operation of the water heater 100 , the sheath 160 may degrade resulting in a breach (referred to herein as the aperture) in the sheath 160 . When the aperture exposes the insulating material 155 , the material 155 may absorb water. Eventually, the insulating material 155 may saturate, resulting in the wire 150 becoming grounded. This will result in the failure of the element 140 .
When the insulating material 155 absorbs water, the material 155 physically changes as it hydrates. The hydrating of the insulating material 155 decreases the resistance 215 of a leakage path from the element wire 150 to the grounded element (e.g., the heating element plug 165 and the coupled sheath 160 ). The control circuit 200 of the invention recognizes the changing of the resistance 215 of the leakage path, and issues an alarm when the leakage current increases to a predetermined level.
More specific to FIG. 3 , it is common in the United States to apply 240 VAC to the element wire 140 by connecting a first 120 VAC to the first leg 202 and a second 120 VAC to the second leg 203 . The thermostat switch 210 removes the first 120 VAC from being applied to the heating element 140 , thereby having the water heater 100 enter a non-heating state. However, as shown in FIG. 3 , the second 120 VAC through the second leg is still applied to the heating element 140 . As a consequence, a leakage current can still flow through the leakage resistance 215 . The voltage measurement circuit 220 provides a signal to the microcontroller 205 representing, either directly or through analysis by the microcontroller 205 , whether the thermostat switch 210 is in an open state, and the current measurement circuit 230 provides a signal to the microcontroller 205 representing, either directly or through analysis by the microcontroller 205 , the current through the circuit path including the leakage current. The microcontroller 205 can issue an alarm when the measured leakage current is greater than a threshold indicating the heating element 140 has a degrading sheath 160 . The threshold value can be set based on empirical testing for the model of the water heater 100 . The alarm can be in the form of a visual and/or audio alarm 250 . It is even envisioned that the alarm can be in the form of preventing further heating of the water until the heating element 140 is changed.
In another construction of the water heater 100 , the voltage measurement circuit 220 may not be required if the control of the current to the heating element 140 is performed by the microcontroller 205 . That is, the voltage measurement circuit 220 can inform the microcontroller 205 when the water heater 100 enters a heating state. However, in some water heaters, the microcontroller 205 receives a temperature of the water in the tank 105 from a temperature sensor and controls the current to the heating element 140 via a relay (i.e., directly controls the state of the water heater 100 ). For this construction, the voltage measurement circuit 220 is not required since the microcontroller knows the state of the water heater 100 .
In yet another construction of the water heater 100 , the microcontroller 205 (or some other component) may control the current measurement circuit 225 to sense the current through the heating element 140 only during the “off” state. This construction allows the current measurement circuit 225 to be more sensitive to the leakage current during the non-heating state.
Referring to TABLE 1, the table provides the results of eight tests performed on eight different elements. Each of the elements where similar in shape to the element 140 shown in FIG. 2 . The elements were 4500 watt elements secured in 52 gallon electric water heaters similar in design to the water heater 100 shown in FIG. 1 . Various measurements of the elements were taken during the tests. The measurements include the “Power ‘On’ Average Measured Differential Current”, the “Power ‘On’ Maximum Measured Differential Current”, the “Power ‘Off’ Average Measure Differential Current (ma)”, and the “Power ‘Off’ Maximum Measured Differential current.” Aperture were introduced to the sheath 160 of elements E, F, G, and H. The apertures resulted in the degradation of the insulating materials 155 . Measurements for the elements EFGH were taken while the insulators degraded. The data in TABLE 1 shows that the current measurements of elements with intact sheaths 160 taken during the “on” state (or heating state), overlap with the current measurements of elements with a damaged sheath 160 . For example, the element “Edge Hole G”, has a lower average current than the good element C and the good element D. In contrast, the current measurements made during the “off” state (or non-heating state) indicate a wide gap in current readings for an element with a damaged sheath 160 versus the element with an intact sheath 160 . For example, the lowest average current measured for a degraded sheath 160 , Edge Hole G at 12.5 ma, is over six times higher than the highest average current measured for an uncompromised element, i.e., Good D.
TABLE 1
DIFFERENTIAL CURRENT MEASUREMENTS
POWER “ON”
POWER “ON”
POWER “OFF”
POWER “OFF”
AVERAGE
MAXIMUM
AVERAGE
MAXIMUM
MEASURED
MEASURED
MEASURED
MEASURED
DIFFERNITAL
DIFFERENITAL
DIFFERNTIAL
DIFFERENTIAL
ELEMENT
CURRENT(ma)
CURRENT (ma)
CURRENT(ma)
CURRENT(ma)
GoodA
0.45
2.78
0.56
3.15
GoodB
3.78
4.19
0.15
1.72
GoodC
4.41
5.15
0.10
0.12
GoodD
8.38
9.73
2.07
2.90
Center
59.9
>407
218.8
>407
HoleE
Center
79.8
>407
144.3
378
HoleF
Edge
4.38
24.5
12.5
78.2
HoleG
Edge
9.44
14.7
13.8
15.2
HoleH
A partial electrical schematic, partial block diagram for another construction of the control circuit 200 A used for controlling the heating element 140 is shown in FIG. 4 . Similar to the construction shown in FIG. 3 , the control circuit 200 A includes the microcontroller 205 , the thermostat switch 210 A, the voltage measurement circuit 220 , and the current measurement circuit 225 . However, for the construction of the control circuit in FIG. 4 , the first leg 202 A of the circuit 200 A is connected to 120 VAC or 240 VAC and the second leg 203 A of the control circuit 200 is connected to ground. As further shown in FIG. 4 , the double pole thermostat switch 210 A is electrically connected between the current measurement circuit 225 and 120 VAC or 240 VAC. The operation of the control circuit 200 A for FIG. 4 is similar to the control circuit 200 for FIG. 3 . TABLE 2 demonstrates a comparison between a heating element 140 initially having no apertures and the element 140 having an aperture at the edge of the element 140 . As can be seen, TABLE 2 demonstrates a large difference in current between the degraded element and the good element during the non-heating state.
TABLE 2
DIFFERENTIAL CURRENT MEASUREMENTS DURING
POWER “OFF” CONDITION (240 VAC)
ELEMENT ID
Starting Current (mA)
Current at 1 Hour (mA)
Good
0.04 mA
0.15 mA
Center Hole
560 mA
693 mA
Before proceeding further, it should be understood that the constructions described thus far can include additional circuitry to allow for intermittent testing. For example and as shown in FIG. 2 , a second switch 255 controlled by the microcontroller 225 can be added to attach the power source 201 A to the heating element 140 when thermostat switch 210 A is open, allowing the microcontroller 225 to perform a leakage current calculation.
A partial electrical schematic, partial block diagram for yet another construction of the control circuit 200 B used for controlling the heating element 140 is shown in FIG. 5 . Similar to the construction shown in FIG. 3 , the control circuit 200 B includes the microcontroller 205 , a thermostat switch 210 B, the voltage measurement circuit 220 , and a current measurement circuit 225 B. However, for the construction of the control circuit 200 B in FIG. 5 , the arrangement and operation of the circuit 200 B shown in FIG. 5 is slightly different than the arrangement of the circuit 200 shown in FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 5 , the current measurement circuit 225 B includes a current resistive shunt 500 that is electrically connected between a 12 VDC (or 12 VAC) power supply 505 and the thermostat switch 210 B. The thermostat switch 210 B is controlled by the thermostat temperature sensor and switches between the 120 VAC (or 240 VAC) power source and the 12 VDC (or 12VAC) power supply 505 . The voltage measurement circuit 220 is electrically connected in parallel with the heating element to determine the state of the water heater 100 . The operation of the control circuit 200 B for FIG. 5 is somewhat similar to the control circuit 200 for FIG. 3 . However, unlike the control circuit 200 for FIG. 3 , when the control circuit 200 B moves to the non-heating state, the thermostat switch 210 B applies the voltage of the low-voltage power supply 505 to the heating element 140 . TABLE 3 demonstrates a comparison between a heating element 140 initially having no apertures and the element 140 having an aperture at the edge of the element 140 . As can be seen, TABLE 3 demonstrates a large difference in current between the degraded element and the good element during the non-heating state.
TABLE 3
DIFFERENTIAL CURRENT MEASUREMENTS DURING
POWER “OFF” CONDITION (12 VDC)
ELEMENT ID
Starting Current (mA)
Current at 1 Hour (mA)
Good
0.0 mA
0.0 mA
Center Hole
18 mA
18 mA
When the temperature in the water heater 100 drops below a predetermined threshold the water heater 100 attempts to heat the water to a temperature greater than the predetermined threshold plus a dead band temperature by applying power to the heating element 140 . The heating element 140 generates heat that can be transferred to water surrounding the heating element 140 . Much of the heat energy produced by the heating element 140 can be dissipated by the water. FIG. 6A illustrates the temperature of a heating element 140 following application of power to the heating element 140 and wherein the heating element 140 is surrounded by water. The temperature of the heating element 140 rises rapidly initially and then the temperature rise slows until the temperature of the heating element 140 remains relatively constant. The constant temperature maintained by the heating unit 140 can be below a temperature wherein the heating element 140 fails.
Should power be applied to the water heater 100 prior to the water heater 100 being filled with water or should a malfunction occur in which the water in the water heater 100 is not at a level high enough to surround the heating element 140 , applying power to the heating element 140 creates a condition known as “dry-fire.” As shown in FIG. 6B , during a dry-fire condition the heating element 140 heats up and, because there is no water surrounding the heating element 140 to dissipate the heat, continues to heat up to a temperature that causes the heating element 140 to fail. Failure of the heating element 140 during a dry-fire condition can occur in only a matter of seconds. It is, therefore, desirable to detect a dry-fire condition quickly, before damage occurs to the heating element 140 .
FIG. 7 illustrates a partial block diagram, partial schematic diagram of a construction of a fourth control circuit 600 that detects a dry-fire condition and prevents power from being applied to the heating element 140 when a dry-fire condition exists.
In some constructions, the control circuit 600 includes a relatively high-voltage power source (e.g., 120 VAC, 240 VAC, etc.) 201 B, a heating element 140 , a relatively low voltage power source (e.g., +12 VDC, 12 VAC, +24 VDC, etc.) 605 , a current sensing circuit 610 , a controller 205 , a temperature sensing circuit 615 , an alarm 620 , a normally open switch 625 , and a double-pole, double-throw relay 630
As shown in the construction of FIG. 7 , the normally closed (“NC”) contacts of the relay 630 are coupled to the high-voltage power source 201 B through switch 625 . The normally open (“NO”) contracts of the relay 630 are coupled to the low-voltage power supply 605 . The output contacts of the relay 630 are coupled to the heating element 140 . When the switch 625 is closed and power is not applied to the coil (indicated at 635 ) of the relay 630 , the relay 630 remains in a state wherein the normally closed contacts remain closed and high voltage is applied to the heating element 140 enabling the heating element 140 to generate heat. When power is applied to the coil 635 of the relay 630 , the relay 630 closes the NO contacts and +12VDC is applied to the heating element 140 . The voltage of the low-voltage power supply 605 can be selected such that the heating element 140 would not be harmed from prolonged exposure in a dry-fire condition.
In this construction, the controller 205 is coupled to the temperature sensor 615 and the current sensor 610 , and receives indications of the temperature in the water heater 100 and the current drawn from the low-voltage power supply 605 from each sensor respectively. The controller 205 is also coupled to the alarm 620 , the switch 625 , and the relay 630 .
FIG. 8 represents a flow chart of an embodiment of the operation of the control circuit 600 for detecting a dry-fire condition. When the water heater 100 is powered on (block 700 ), the controller 205 applies power (block 705 ) to the coil 635 of the relay 630 . This opens the NC contacts of the relay 630 and closes the NO contacts of the relay 630 . Closing the NO contacts of the relay 630 couples the low-voltage power supply 605 to the heating element 140 .
In some constructions, the controller reads (block 710 ), from the current sensor 610 , a first current being supplied by the low-voltage power supply 605 to the heating element 140 . Other constructions of the dry-fire detection system 600 can read other electrical characteristics (e.g., voltage via a voltage sensor) of the circuit created by the low-voltage power supply 605 and the heating element 140 .
Next, the controller 205 closes (block 715 ) the switch 625 and couples the high-voltage power supply 201 B to the NC contacts of the relay 630 . The controller 205 also removes (block 720 ) power from the coil 635 of the relay 630 . This opens the NO contracts of the relay 630 which decouples the low-voltage power supply 605 from the heating element 140 and closes the NC contacts of the relay 630 coupling the high-voltage power supply 201 B to the heating element 140 . Coupling the high-voltage power supply 201 B to the heating element 140 causes the heating element 140 to heat up. The controller 205 delays (block 725 ) for a first time period (e.g., three seconds).
Following the delay (block 725 ), the controller 205 applies (block 730 ) power to the coil 635 of the relay which opens the NC contacts of the relay 635 and decouples the high-voltage power supply 201 B from the heating element 140 . The first time period can be a length of time that allows the heating element 140 to heat up but can be short enough to ensure the heating element 140 does not achieve a temperature at which it can fail if a dry-fire condition were to exist. Applying power to the coil 635 of the relay 630 also enables the NO contacts of the relay 630 to close and couples the low-voltage power supply 605 to the heating element 140 .
The controller 205 delays (block 735 ) for a second time period (e.g. ten seconds). During the delay, the heating element 140 begins to cool. The rate at which the heating element 140 cools can be faster if the heating element 140 is surrounded by water. The controller 205 reads (block 740 ), from the current sensor 610 , a second current being supplied by the low-voltage power supply 605 to the heating element 140 . The controller 205 compares (block 745 ) the first sensed current to the second sensed current and determines if the second sensed current is greater than the first sensed current by more than a threshold. If the second sensed current is not greater than the first sensed current by more than the threshold, the controller 205 determines that a dry-fire condition does not exist and continues (block 750 ) normal operation.
If the second sensed current is greater than the first sensed current by more than the threshold, the controller 205 determines that a dry-fire condition exists and opens (block 755 ) the switch 625 . Opening the switch 625 ensures that the high-voltage power supply 201 B is decoupled from the heating element 140 and prevents the heating element from being damaged. The controller 205 then signals (block 760 ) an alarm to inform an operator of the dry-fire condition.
FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate the resistance of the heating element 140 at different points during the dry-fire detection process for a wet-fire condition ( FIG. 9A ) and a dry-fire condition ( FIG. 9B ). At block 720 , the high-voltage power is applied to the heating element 140 . The temperature of the heating element 140 rises which increases the resistance of the heating element 140 . After a delay (block 725 ) the high-voltage power is disconnected from the heating element 140 (block 730 ). In a wet-fire condition, FIG. 9A , the heating element 140 cools relatively rapidly causing the resistance of the heating element 140 to drop relatively rapidly to near the level of resistance of the heating element 140 prior to originally applying the high voltage as shown at block 740 .
Referring to FIG. 9B , the resistance of the heating element 140 in a dry-fire condition is similar to the resistance of the heating element 140 in a wet-fire condition ( FIG. 9A ) for blocks 720 to 730 . Following disconnection of the high-voltage power at block 730 the heating element 140 , in a dry-fire condition, retains more heat and has a higher resistance for a relatively longer period of time. Testing an electrical characteristic of a circuit including the heating element 140 as explained at block 740 results in, when a dry-fire condition exists, a relatively large differential between the first reading at block 710 and the second reading at block 740 .
The control circuit 600 can execute the dry-fire detection process once, when power is first applied to the water heater 100 , each time the temperature sensing circuit 615 indicates that heat is needed, or at some other interval. Other constructions of the control circuit 600 can execute the dry-fire detection process at other times where it is determined that the potential for a dry-fire condition exists (e.g., following a period of time wherein the heating element 140 has been coupled to the high power signal).
Thus, the invention provides, among other things, a new and useful water heater and method of controlling a water heater. Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims. | A fluid-heating apparatus for heating a fluid and method of operating the same. The fluid-heating apparatus includes a heating element for heating a fluid surrounding the heating element and a control circuit connected to the heating element and connectable to a power source. The control circuit is configured to determine whether a potential dry-fire condition exists for the heating element. The method includes applying a first electric signal to the heating element, detecting a first value of an electrical characteristic during the application of the first electric signal, applying a second electric signal to the heating element, applying a third electric signal to the heating element, detecting a second value of the electrical characteristic during the application of the third electric signal; and determining whether a potential dry-fire condition exists based on the first and second values. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ball stud subjected to a rust-inhibiting treatment.
2. Background Art
A ball joint is constituted to include a ball stud having a ball at one end of a rod-shaped stud, and a socket for fitting the ball of the ball stud. The ball stud is, for example, connected to other members in the following manner; the ball is tightly fitted through a resin sheet in the socket and the exposed portion of the stud protruding from the socket is covered with a covering and an externally threaded portion formed at the other end of the stud is fixed to other members. As a result, the ball stud usually has little exposed portion, and need not be rust-proofed. Thus, most ball studs have not been subjected to rust-inhibiting treatment.
In recent years, however, requirements for the specifications have risen to the level requiring rust-inhibiting treatment on the ball stud or at least on the stud portion protruding from the socket. It is conceived that the various rust-inhibiting means known in the prior art, such as means for applying rust-inhibiting paint only to the stud. In this case where the means is the rust-inhibiting paint, the application of the rust-inhibiting paint-exclusively to the stud portion is so difficult as to cause another problem that the ball has to be cleared of the rust-inhibiting paint. Thus, JP05-062726 U has disclosed a technique for continuously forming a resin film over the surface of the stud and the surface of the ball.
In the ball stud of JP05-062726 U, both the surface of the stud and the surface of the ball are continuously coated with a resin softer than that of the resin sheet (in JP05-062726 U referred to as bearing 2) to be fitted in the socket. It is disclosed that the resin film formed on the ball need not be removed to lower the cost for the manufacture. It is also disclosed that the resin film acting to inhibit the rust is softer than the resin sheet in the socket so that the sliding resistance to the ball can be lowered. It is also said that it is possible to improve the qualities of the ball joint constituted by assembling the ball stud with the socket, e.g., the torque transmissivity or the endurability of the ball joint.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The ball stud of JP05-062726 U, in which the resin film is formed continuously over the surface of the stud and the surface of ball, tends to have its resin film so thickened as cannot be neglected. Although the resin film improves the fastening torque of the externally threaded portion in the stud and the torque transmissivity of the ball joint, these improvements are based on the design considering the thickness of the resin film. This raises a problem that the thickness of the resin film has to be strictly managed in the manufacture process. It is, therefore, conceived that a metal plating film which can be thinner than the resin film is suitable for the rust-inhibiting solutions.
In order to confirm whether or not the rust-inhibiting treatment of the ball stud with the metal plating film was practical, therefore, prototypes were manufactured by forming a zinc-iron (ZnFe) plating film or a zinc-nickel (ZnNi) plating film continuously over the surface of the stud and the surface of the ball. The prototypes were measured on the rotary torques before the endurance tests (in which the ball studs assembled with the ball joints were rocked and rotated under a constant load and in a specified amplitude), the rotary torques after the endurance tests, transverse rigidities after the endurance tests and axial rigidities after the endurance tests. As a result, in all metal plating films, the rotary torques of the prototypes deviated the specification requirements after the endurance test and the some prototypes deviated the specification requirements before the endurance test. It has been found out that the deteriorations of the rotary torques were caused by the degraded surface roughnesses of the balls as a result of forming the metal plating films, and that the metal plating films formed on the balls had to be polished.
Next, focusing on the ball studs having the zinc-nickel films found comparatively satisfactory in the aforementioned test, other prototypes, in which the zinc-nickel plating films formed on the balls were polished, were manufactured. The prototypes were measured on the rotary torques before the endurance tests, the rotary torques after the endurance tests, the transverse rigidities after the endurance test and the axial rigidities after the endurance tests. As a result, the prototypes, in which the zinc-nickel plating films on the balls were not polished, satisfied the specification requirements in the transverse rigidities and the axial rigidities after the endurance tests. However, the prototypes, in which the zinc-nickel plating films formed on the balls were polished, deviated the specification requirements after the endurance tests. This is caused by that the zinc (Zn) was separated from the zinc-nickel plating film thinned by the polish so that the peeled zinc broke the resin sheet.
The zinc of the zinc-nickel plating film seems low in the adhering strength to the iron (Fe) of the main component of the ball stud, and may be separated when the ball of the ball stud rocks or rotates. It is, therefore, conceivable to adopt a metal plating film of another kind accompanied by no component separation. However, an excessively special metal plating film cannot be adopted, considering not only the performance but also the productivity and the cost of the ball stud. Therefore, the formation of the metal plating film over both the surface of the stud and the surface of the ball is practically difficult, which indicate that the metal plating film formed on the ball has to be completely removed.
From another perspective, the metal plating film is easily formed partially on the same members so that the trouble of peeling the metal plating film to be formed on the ball can be omitted by forming a film exclusively on the stud, for example. However, the partial metal plating film on the common metal member causes the problem of the so-called electrolytic corrosion, in which a potential difference is made at the boundary between the portions with and without the metal plating film thereby to develop rust easily. In the ball stud having the metal plating film only on the stud, therefore, the rust-proofing treatment for suppressing the rust development in the boundary of the metal plating film has been studied.
As a result of the study, a ball stud comprising a ball at one end of a rod-shaped stud, and a metal plating film formed on the surface of the stud, and a trivalent chromate film (or a thin film of chromate) continuously formed over both the surface of the metal plating film formed on the stud and the surface of the ball is developed. An externally threaded portion is also coated on its surface with both the metal plating film and the trivalent chromate film in case the externally threaded portion is formed in the ball stud.
The metal plating film prevents generation of red rust on the stud. The trivalent chromate film prevents generation of the red rust and the electrolytic corrosion in the metal plating boundary. Besides, the generation of white rust is prevented in case the metal plating film contains zinc. The trivalent chromate film is usually so thin as 1 micrometer or less so that it dos not obstruct the rocking motion or rotating motion of the ball even if it is formed on the ball surface. Moreover, the trivalent chromate film containing substantially no zinc hardly damages the ball, even if it comes off.
For the trivalent chromate film to become the upper layer, the metal plating film may be exemplified by any of a zinc plating film, a nickel plating film or a zinc-nickel plating film. These metal plating films are not especially limited in their kinds, because they are coated with the trivalent chromate film so that the white rust generation is prevented, as described above. Thus, the ball stud of this invention is advantageous in that the metal plating film can be properly selected while considering the rust-inhibiting requirement and the manufacturing cost of the stud.
The invention has an advantage to provide a ball stud satisfying a high rust-inhibiting requirement without deteriorating the original moving performance based on design values. Both the metal plating film and the trivalent chromate film are thinner than the resin film so that they hardly fluctuate the fastening torque of the externally threaded portion formed in the stud. Especially the trivalent chromate film is so thin that it does not damage the ball, even if it is peeled off, thereby to cause no performance degradation of the rocking motion or rotational motion of the ball. In addition, the trivalent chromate film has no outflow of chromium thereby to cause no problem of the environmental contamination. Thus, the invention can provide a ball stud satisfying the necessary and sufficient rust-inhibiting requirements without deteriorating the intrinsic motion performances and causing the environmental contamination.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partially broken front elevation showing one embodiment of a ball joint, with which a ball stud according to the invention is assembled; and
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the ball stud expressing a relation between a metal plating film and a trivalent chromate film.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the invention is described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially broken front elevation showing one embodiment of a ball joint 2 , with which a ball stud 1 according to the invention is assembled. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the ball stud 1 expressing a relation between a metal plating film 4 and a trivalent chromate film 5 . For conveniences of description, the metal plating film 4 and the trivalent chromate film 5 are shown thicker in FIG. 2 .
In the ball stud 1 according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 1 , the ball joint 2 is constituted in the following manner. In a metallic socket 21 disposed at one end of a joint bar 31 of a stabilizer link 3 , there is fitted a resin sheet 22 , which has an inner face patterning of the metallic socket 21 on its outer face and has an outer face patterning of the ball 11 of ball stud 1 on its inner face. The ball 11 is tightly fitted in the socket 21 through the above-said resin sheet 22 . A stud 12 is covered, at and below its upper flange portion 13 protruding from the socket 21 , with a rubber cover 23 . The stud 12 is externally threaded, as indicated by 14 , at its portion protruding from the cover 23 , and another part like a mounting bracket of a lower arm (not-shown) is connected to that externally threaded portion 14 .
In the ball stud 1 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 , the metal plating film 4 is formed on the upper half of the stud 12 namely, from the externally threaded portion 14 to the upper flange portion 13 for mounting the cover 23 , and the trivalent chromate film 5 is formed all over the stud 12 , namely, from the externally threaded portion 14 via the upper flange portion 13 to the ball 11 . In other words, the relatively thick two layered rust-inhibiting film composed of the metal plating film 4 and the trivalent chromate film 5 is formed on such an upper portion of the ball stud 1 as contains the upper flange portion 13 , and the relatively thin one layered rust inhibiting film containing the trivalent chromate film 5 is formed on such a lower portion of the stud 12 as contains the portion below upper flange portion including the ball 11 . The metal plating film 4 has a thickness of 6 micrometer to 15 micrometer, and the trivalent chromate film 5 has a thickness of about 1 micrometer at the most.
The metal plating film 4 and the trivalent chromate film 5 are formed by using various means previously known in the arts. For example, the metal plating film 4 is formed by holding the ball stud 1 on the sides of the ball 11 so that the ball stud 1 is inverted upside down (that is, in the position inverted from the position shown in FIG. 2 ), and the ball stud 1 is dipped in the plating liquid of the bath to the depth of upper flange portion. After the metal plating film 4 was formed, the ball stud 1 is dipped in its entirety in the chromate liquid thereby to form the trivalent chromate film 5 all over the entirety including the ball 11 . In the prior art adopting neither metal plating film 4 nor the trivalent chromate film 5 , the oil is applied to the entirety of the ball stud manufactured, considering the rust inhibition till the assembly. The ball stud 1 of the invention is advantageous in that it can be shipped as soon as the trivalent chromate film 5 is formed.
EXAMPLES
It was examined whether or not the ball stud according to the invention could satisfy the specification requirements and could achieve necessary and sufficient rust-inhibiting performances. For these examinations, Example 1 to Example 3 were manufactured and measured on the rotary torques before endurance tests (i.e., the tests, in which the ball studs assembled with the ball joints were rocked and rotated under constant loads in a specified amplitude), on the rotary torques after the endurance tests, transverse rigidities after the endurance tests and axial rigidities after the endurance tests. Example 1 to Example 3 were also measured on ball surface roughnesses, ball diameter variations, and thickness variations of resin sheets to fit the balls, both before and after the endurance tests.
Constitutions of Examples
In Example 1 to Example 3, the common metal plating film (i.e., the zinc-nickel film) and the common trivalent chromate film were formed on the ball stud having the contour shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . The used ball stud was made of SCM 435, and cut to integrate the ball having a diameter of 20 mm and the stud having a length of 67 mm (including the externally threaded portion). In Example 1 to Example 3, the zinc-nickel plating film having a thickness of 8 micrometer was formed to the upper flange portion to which the cover was mounted, and the trivalent chromate film having a thickness of 1 micrometer or less was formed on the entirety containing the ball. The resin sheet in the socket to fit the ball was made of polyacetal. In the endurance tests to be described hereinafter, the stabilizer links were constituted, as exemplified in FIG. 1 . The ball stud at one end (for example, the left one of stabilizer link in FIG. 1 ) was connected to a hydraulic tester generating vibration, and the rocking motions and the rotating motions were applied to the ball stud on the floating other end (for example, the right one of the stabilizer link in FIG. 1 ).
[Endurance Tests]
Endurance tests made on Example 1 to Example 3 are tabulated in Table 1. In Example 1, the endurance tests of loads of ±3.5 kN, a frequency of 10 Hz, rocking angles of ±20 degrees, rotary angles of ±30 degrees and a cycle number of 800,000 were executed under the condition of an ambient temperature of −30° C. In Example 2, the endurance tests of loads of ±2.0 kN, a frequency of 13 Hz, rocking angles of ±2 degrees, rotary angles of ±2 degrees and a cycle number of 3,000,000 were executed under the condition of an ambient temperature of 70° C. In Example 3, the endurance tests of loads of ±3.5 kN, a frequency of 10 Hz, rocking angles of ±20 degrees, rotary angles of ±30 degrees and a cycle number of 800,000 were executed under the condition of an ambient temperature of 70° C.
TABLE 1 Fre- Rocking Rotary Cycle Ambient Load quency Angle Angle Number Temp. Ex. 1 ±3.5 kN 10 Hz ±20 deg. ±30 deg. 800,000 −30° C. Ex. 2 ±2.0 kN 13 Hz ±2 deg. ±2 deg. 3,000,000 70° C. Ex. 3 ±3.5 kN 10 Hz ±20 deg. ±30 deg. 800,000 70° C.
[Specification Requirement Measurements]
Measurement results of the rotary torques before the endurance tests, the rotary torques after the endurance tests, the transverse rigidities after the endurance tests and the axial rigidities after the endurance tests made on Example 1 to Example 3 are tabulated in Table 2. Table 2 tabulates only the measured values of the ball stud on the rocking side (i.e., the ball stud at the other end of the floating stabilizer link) but not of the ball stud on the loading side (i.e., the ball stud at one end of the stabilizer link connected to the hydraulic tester). As a result of the measurements, it was confirmed that any of Example 1 to Example 3 sufficiently satisfied the specification requirements, and had no problem as products.
TABLE 2 Before Endurance Test After Endurance Test Rotation Rotation Transverse Axial Torque Torque Rigidity Rigidity Start Steady Start Steady ±0.2 kN ±1.0 kN ±0.2 kN ±1.0 kN Ex. 1 3.80 kN 2.50 kN 1.05 kN 0.95 kN 0.025 mm 0.100 mm 0.010 mm 0.030 mm Ex. 2 2.25 kN 2.10 kN 1.20 kN 1.15 kN 0.025 mm 0.110 mm 0.010 mm 0.030 mm Ex. 3 2.95 kN 2.35 kN 0.10 kN 0.55 kN 0.0035 mm 0.140 mm 0.020 mm 0.075 mm
[Ball Surface Roughness Measurements]
The ball surface roughnesses of the ball studs were measured to verify the variations of the trivalent chromate films in addition to the said endurance tests and the specification requirement measurements. Example 3 was not measured on the ball surface roughness of the ball on the loading side after the endurance tests, because troubles occurred during the endurance tests. The measuring method accords to JIS BB 0601. The measurement results are tabulated in Table 3. Although the numerical values were slightly dispersed in their increases or decreases, they were confined within the range to sufficiently satisfy the specification requirements, and no abnormal appearance was found. Thus, it was confirmed that any of Example 1 to Example 3 raised no problem as the products.
TABLE 3 Before After Endurance Test Endurance Test Ex. 1 Rocking Side 0.24 0.16 Loading Side 0.20 0.28 Ex. 2 Rocking Side 0.18 0.18 Loading Side 0.26 0.30 Ex. 3 Rocking Side 0.28 0.18 Loading Side 0.24 — Numerical Value: Ra
[Ball Diameter Variation Measurements]
Next, the variations of the ball diameters were measured. The measurement results are tabulated in Table 4. The measurements were made on the diameters of the balls in orthogonal directions of an X-direction and a Y-direction with a micrometer. Example 3 was not executed on the measurements of the ball diameters on the loading side after the endurance tests, because troubles occurred during the endurance tests. The measurement results are tabulated in Table 4. Although the numerical values were slightly dispersed in their increases or decreases, they were confined within the range to sufficiently satisfy the specification requirements, and no abnormal appearance was found. Therefore, it was confirmed that any of Example 1 to Example 3 raised no problem as the products.
TABLE 4 Before After Endurance Endurance Test Test X Y X Y Ex. 1 Rocking Side 20.013 20.017 20.019 20.018 Loading Side 20.024 20.022 20.021 20.021 Ex. 2 Rocking Side 20.009 20.024 20.018 20.008 Loading Side 20.018 20.018 20.014 20.013 Ex. 3 Rocking Side 20.004 20.008 20.006 20.003 Loading Side 20.011 20.013 — — Unit: mm
[Resin Sheet Thickness Variation Measurements]
In order to confirm the influences of the ball having the trivalent chromate film formed upon the resin sheet, on the other hand, measurements were made on the thickness variations of the resin sheet. The thicknesses of the resin sheet were measured at the intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction, i.e., in A-direction, B-direction, C-direction and D-direction with a micrometer. Example 3 was not executed on the measurements of the thicknesses of the resin sheets after the endurance tests, because troubles occurred during the endurance tests. The measurement results are tabulated in Table 5. Although the numerical values were slightly dispersed in their increases or decreases, they were confined within the range to sufficiently satisfy the specification requirements, and no abnormal appearance was found. Therefore, it was confirmed that any of Example 1 to Example 3 raised no problem as the products.
TABLE 5 Resin Sheet Thickness A B C D Ex. 1 Rocking Side 1.491 1.500 1.485 1.482 Loading Side 1.474 1.492 1.501 1.492 Ex. 2 Rocking Side 1.509 1.494 1.503 1.465 Loading Side 1.481 1.474 1.500 1.492 Ex. 3 Rocking Side 1.470 1.484 1.510 1.481 Loading Side — — — — Unit: mm
[Rust-Inhibiting Performance Evaluations]
Finally, saline solution atomization tests (JIS Z 2371) were executed to evaluate the rust-inhibiting performance, a main aim of the invention. Example 4 to be evaluated was equivalents of Example 1 which was not undergone the aforementioned endurance tests of Example 1. The saline solution atomization tests were also executed on the equivalent of Example 4 having no rust-inhibiting treatment, hereafter referred to as Comparison, for comparison. The testing conditions were: the specific gravity of the saline solution surface liquid of 1.03; the pH of 6.5; the exposure temperature in the atomization chamber of 35±2° C.; the atomization of 1.5 mL/80 cm 2 /hr; and the atomization period of continuing 1 hr. As a result, Example 4 was not found especially abnormal, but red rust was confirmed in Comparison. As a result of this experiment, the rust-inhibiting performance of Example 4 was confirmed. | A ball stud having a ball at one end of a rod-shaped stud. The ball stud comprises: a metal plating film formed on the surface of the stud; and a trivalent chromate film continuously formed over both the surface of the metal plating film formed on the stud and the surface of the ball, whereby rust is inhibited in the boundary of the metal plating film. An externally threaded portion is also coated, if formed in the ball stud, on its surface with the metal plating film and the trivalent chromate film. | 5 |
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. P2003-57570, filed on Aug. 20, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a monitoring system, and more particularly, to a system and a method for monitoring an Internet connection.
[0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art
[0005] Internet is a computer network for exchanging data according to a protocol called as a TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol). Internet services are mostly made between a client and a server. The client requests information and service and the server provides the client with the information and service requested by the client.
[0006] The service using the internet is widely used, the service including e-mail, telnet, FTP, usenet news, internet search, internet reply chat; IRC, bulletin board system; BBS, world wide web, online game, and a new service such as a service for broadcasting video or voice data in real time and a real-time meeting.
[0007] A web browser used on the Internet is a broadcasting receiver in a broadcasting field. The web browser provides information on the Internet to a user according to a request of the user. The user is easily and simply accessed to the World Wide Web by using the web browser. However, because the access to the World Wide Web is very easy, children and teenagers are also easily accessed to a harmful website. Therefore, a problem of affecting a bad influence to the children and teenagers is generated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a system and a method for monitoring an Internet connection that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a system suitable for monitoring an Internet connection for protecting children or teenagers from accessing to a harmful website, and a controlling method for the same.
[0010] Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
[0011] To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a system for monitoring Internet connections includes a computer configured to generating a request signal for a connection to a website, a server configured to output information of the website according to the request signal provided from the computer, and a monitoring terminal configured to receive the website information from the server, to display the website information, and to output a signal for controlling the connection to the website.
[0012] The computer is an Internet TV, an Internet refrigerator, or a PC. The request signal includes an IP address of the website, and a phone number or an IP address of the monitoring terminal.
[0013] The server stores information of websites accessed by the computer. The server also determines, based on selected options included in the request signal, whether to provide information of all websites accessed by the computer to the monitoring terminal, or to provide information of a restricted website only to the monitoring terminal.
[0014] The website information includes at least one of a domain name or an age limit of the website.
[0015] In another aspect of the present invention, a system for monitoring Internet connections, including a computer configured to generate a request signal for a connection to a website, a server configured to determine whether the website to be accessed is a restricted website according to website information included in the request signal, and to output the website information according to a result of the determination, and a monitoring terminal configured to display the website information received from the server, and to output a signal for controlling the connection to the website.
[0016] The server determines whether the website to be accessed is the restricted website, on the grounds of a word or text included in a data stream provided from the website, or on the grounds of the pre-stored information of websites.
[0017] The server transmits the website information to the monitoring terminal when the website to be accessed is determined to be the restricted website.
[0018] A method for monitoring Internet connections, including generating a request signal for a connection to a website and transmitting the request signal from a computer to a server, transmitting website information from the server to a monitoring terminal according to the request signal, displaying the website information provided from the server by the monitoring terminal, and controlling the website connection of the computer according to a command inputted by a user through the monitoring terminal.
[0019] The transmitting the request signal from the computer to the sever comprises reading the pre-stored information of websites.
[0020] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings;
[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram showing a structure of a monitoring system in accordance with the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram showing a structure of a display unit of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram showing a structure of a monitoring terminal of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart showing a process of selecting options related to an internet connection in accordance with the present invention;
[0026] FIGS. 5 a and 5 b illustrate a diagram showing a screen for selecting options related to the Internet connection;
[0027] FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram showing a process of admitting the Internet connection;
[0028] FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram showing an action of a monitoring terminal; and
[0029] FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram showing a display unit of a monitoring terminal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0030] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram showing an example of a system for monitoring a display unit in accordance with the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the system of the present invention includes a display unit 10 enabling Internet connection, a server 20 , and a monitoring terminal 40 . For example, the display unit 10 may be an Internet TV, an Internet refrigerator, and a personal computer (PC). The display unit 10 provides a signal for requesting a website connection through Internet to the server 20 according to a request of a user. The server 20 determines whether the website corresponding to the connection request signal is restricted or not, and if the website is restricted, sends a message to the monitoring terminal 40 for notifying that the user attempted access to the restricted website. The server 20 includes a database 21 for storing information of a previously registered display unit. The display unit 10 is connected to a corresponding website according to a reply signal of the monitoring terminal 40 provided through Internet.
[0032] As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the display unit 10 includes a controller 11 , a system processor 12 , a memory 13 , a communication module 14 , and a web browser. The controller 11 is a microprocessor for controlling a general function of the display unit 10 . The controller 11 controls various actions such as an Internet search, data transmission and reception according to the request of the user inputted through a keyboard, a mouse, or a remote controller. After running a networking program, the controller 11 performs an Internet search and data transmission and reception through the communication module 14 according to a command of the user for an Internet connection, and displays researched or received data on the screen.
[0033] The system processor 12 is a main memory device including an operating system (O/S) such as Window or Unix, and various protocols are needed for Internet connection, for example, TCP/IP, PPP (Point to Point Protocol), MIME (Multi purpose Internet Mail Extension), HTTP (Hyper Text Transmission Protocol), and HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).
[0034] The monitoring terminal 40 is a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone and a PDA. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the monitoring terminal 40 includes a data transmitter-receiver 41 for transmitting/receiving data to/from an external device, a key input unit 44 for inputting the command of the user, a displaying member 43 for displaying data received through the data transmitter-receiver 41 , or the command inputted through the key input unit 44 and a processed result corresponding to the request inputted through the key input unit 44 , and a controller 42 for controlling the data transmitter-receiver 41 for transmitting and receiving data to the external device or to the display unit 10 according to the request of the user.
[0035] A method for controlling the system of the present invention is as follows. FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart showing a process of selecting options related to an Internet connection in accordance with the present invention. First of all, the display unit 10 and a manager of the display unit (such as the parents of the user) need to be registered to the server 20 . The manager goes through formalities for applying for a membership on a corresponding site of the server 20 . For example, member information such as a name, an ID, a password and an address is inputted, and an IP address of the corresponding display unit 10 is entered.
[0036] When opening the membership of the manager is finished, the display unit 10 downloads a program for controlling the Internet connection from the server 20 . The controller 11 of the display unit 10 stores the downloaded program and URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information of the server 20 in the memory 13 .
[0037] The manager installs the Internet-connection controlling program to the display unit 10 . The display unit 10 determines whether the manager is a member previously registered on the server when the manager is accessed to a “set menu” provided by the controlling program. For example, the display unit 10 displays a password input screen (S 11 ) so as to compare the password inputted by the manager with the password on the server 20 (S 12 ).
[0038] If the manager is a registered member, the display unit 10 displays the set menu on the screen as illustrated in FIG. 5 (S 13 ). The manager selects/sets (S 14 ) options related to the Internet connection and monitoring by using the set menu. For example, the manager can select a function of the server 20 for transmitting information of the suite to the monitoring terminal only when a user is accessed to an adult site, an obscene site, a violent site and a suicidal site, or can select a function of the server 20 for transmitting information of all sites accessed by the user in real time. In addition, the manager inputs the phone number or the IP address of the monitoring terminal 40 by using the set menu, and stores in the memory 13 . The manager is able to access to the set menu through a password input process and to set on or off the function of controlling the Internet connection of the display unit 10 by using the set menu.
[0039] FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram showing a process of admitting Internet connection. After the manager selects/sets the options, if the user inputs (S 20 ) the IP address or a domain name of the website for an access to a particular website, the display unit 10 , on the grounds of URL information stored in the memory 13 , is automatically connected to the server 20 , and a connection request signal is transmitted (S 21 ) to the server 20 , the connection request signal including the address or the domain name of the inputted website, the selected option information, and the phone number of the monitoring terminal 40 . The controller 11 of the display unit 10 reads the option information from the memory 13 and provides the information to the server 20 .
[0040] The server 20 confirms the option information provided from the display unit 10 and transmits the data to the monitoring terminal 40 according to the option information. For example, according to the option information, the server 20 transmits a connection request message along with the information of all websites to which the user wants to access, or the restricted website information and the connection request message, only when the user tries to access to the restricted website, to the monitoring terminal 40 .
[0041] Only if the restricted website is monitored, the server 20 determines whether the website accessed by the user is restricted, or determines a corresponding age limit on the website. The server 20 , based on the domain name, or based on a text or word included in a stream provided from the website, determines whether the website accessed by the user is the restricted website. If a restricted text or word is included in the domain name or the stream, the server 20 determines the website as a restricted site. The server 20 , based on the information of the websites stored in the DB 21 , may also determine whether the website accessed by the user is restricted. The DB 21 stores fields of contents provided by the websites and information related to obscenity and harmfulness of the websites. When the website accessed by the user is the restricted website, the server 20 transmits a message together with the telephone number of the monitoring terminal 40 to a server 30 of a communication server, the message for notifying tat the user tries to access to the restricted website, and transmits related website information to the communication server 30 . The related website information may include the age limit. The communication server 30 then transmits (S 30 ) the received message to the monitoring terminal 40 corresponding to the received phone number.
[0042] FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram showing an action of the monitoring terminal 40 . As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the monitoring terminal 40 receives (S 40 ) the website information and the connection request message from the server 20 . The monitoring terminal 40 then displays (S 41 ) the connection request message to the display unit 43 . In this instance, the website domain name is displayed together with the connection request message. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8 , the monitoring terminal 40 displays the message, “The PC is trying to access to http://usplayboy.net.” The monitoring terminal 40 includes a button for approving the connection and a button for rejecting the connection. When the manager wants detailed information of the website, the monitoring terminal 40 may provide related website information received from the server 20 to the manager. The related website information includes a field of contents provided by the website, and information related to obscenity and harmfulness of the website.
[0043] When the manager selects (S 42 ) “Rejection” for rejecting the display unit 10 from being connected to http://usplayboy.net, the monitoring terminal 40 transmits (S 43 ) a “Rejection” response of the manager to the server 20 . Referring to FIG. 6 , the server 20 receivers (S 50 ) a response signal of the manager from the monitoring terminal 30 , and transmits (S 51 ) the received response signal to the display unit 10 .
[0044] The display unit 10 understands (S 60 ) the response signal through the server 20 . If the response of the manager is “Approval,” the display unit 10 is connected (S 62 ) to the website. Contrary to above, if the response of the manager is “Rejection,” the display unit 10 displays (S 61 ) a message notifying that the connection request is rejected. When the user inputs another website address to the display unit 10 , the process aforementioned is repeated.
[0045] As mentioned above, the system in accordance with the present invention enables the parents or the manager to monitor the internet use of children because the information of the website desired to be accessed is provided to the monitoring terminal 40 of parents or a manager. Moreover, the children are protected from being accessed to a harmful website because the parents or the manager determines whether the children are connected to the Internet.
[0046] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. | Disclosed is a system for protecting children or teenagers from a harmful website, the system comprises a computer configured to generating a request signal for a connection to a website, a server configured to output information of the website according to the request signal provided from the computer, and a monitoring terminal configured to receive the website information from the server, to display the website information, and to output a signal for controlling the connection to the website. | 7 |
GOVERNMENT LICENSE
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for Governmental purposes without the payment of any royalities thereon or therefore.
PRIOR APPLICATIONS
This application is a division of U.S. pat. application Ser. No. 536,125 filed Dec. 24, 1974 now U.s. Pat. 3,969,549 patented July 13, 1976.
This invention pertains to a method of preserving paper and more particularly to a method of neutralizing the acidity of paper and buffering it to the alkaline side to improve its permanence.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Certain early papers have lasted for over a thousand years and many papers made during the Middle Ages are still in excellent condition. Such paper made in the Middle Ages is still good and is expected to last for centuries, but modern paper becomes brittle and disintegrates within 5 to 75 years. The investigations of Barrow as reported in Permanence/Durability of the Book, Barrow Research Laboratories, Richmond, Va., 1963, and others have established that acid paper has a short life whereas paper which has a pH of 7 or slightly above will remain supple and not appear to age by discoloration.
Paper has been made on the acid side since the early years of the 19th century when the use of rosin/alum sizing was introduced. Even today, the major portion of the paper produced is of this acid sized paper. Libraries, therefore, are filled with books in which the paper is degrading at a rather rapid rate into a brittle, yellow dust. The Library of Congress itself has an estimated 6 million books which are already in such condition that they should not circulate and with minor exceptions the whole collection of the Library of Congress should be neutralized and buffered to halt degradation. For the Library of Congress alone, that would be 3,000 tons of books that require emergency treatment. The Library of Congress is not alone, and this same condition exists in almost every library of the United States and most foreign countries where the paper is manufactured with an acid sizing treatment. This phenomenum is easily observed in the Patent Office itself by viewing the degradation of the patents within the shoes. As one conducts a search, one finds that the patents become yellow and brittle as one proceeds back in date order to patents that are 25 years old and older.
Many methods have been devised for neutralizing the acid nature of paper, but most of these entail an individual or small batch treatment of paper in various solvents. Such prior methods and an improved small batch method itself are discussed in our co-pending application, Ser. No. 447,120 entitled "IMPROVED METHOD OF DEACIDIFYING PAPER" filed Feb. 28, 1974, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,356. These first methods, such as the one suggested by Barrow and discussed in our co-pending application, utilized various methods of dipping or spraying the buffering agent onto the paper. Such solvent and aqueous treatments are not adaptable to a mass method and may often leave a book warped and the paper cockled. With solvent based treatments, one must carefully test the materials to avoid destroying or damaging the inks and color values of prints contained within the books. All of these methods, both aqueous and solvent methods, can often be damaging to leather, plastic, or other binding materials as are commonly used to produce and bind modern books.
Some methods for the use of a volatile buffering or neutralizing agent have previously been suggested. Several volatile phosphorous compounds which are alkaline have been suggested, although these compounds are extremely toxic and would not be primarily useful in such a process unless the toxicity imparted to the paper impregnated with such material could be controlled or would not be a problem. Various persons have experimented with variations of the volatile/alkaline/nitrogen compounds such as ammonia and its related amines. Work on neutralization and buffering, using a vapor, has been reported by Langwell in U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,611, issued Oct. 14, 1969. In the Langwell method, an impregnated sheet or powder is interleaved between the pages of a book to be preserved and said book is stored for a period time to allow the penetration of the pages with the base material. The material itself is described as a non-deliquescent salt of a reaction product of a normally liquid mono-amine and an acid. The salts are usually acetates and carbonates of cyclohexylamine, diisopropylamine, piperdine, morpholine, or various butylamines. The method described by Langwell, of course, suffers from the problem that the amine will have a tendency to dissipate from the neutralized book over a period of time, allowing the natural acid conditions of the book and the atmosphere to return.
Kusterer, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,353, issued Nov. 21, 1972, described an impregnation of paper with hexamethylenetetramine wherein the hexamethylenetetramine is produced by reacting ammonia and formaldehyde in gaseous form to impregnate the paper. Kusterer, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,958, issued Nov. 13, 1973, discloses a method of impregnating and neutralizing paper by exposing it to gaseous morpholine.
Another vapor method of treating paper is shown by Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,055, issued July 11, 1972. Smith does not neutralize the paper itself in a vapor method, but instead uses an alcoholic solution of magnesium methoxide to neutralize the paper and then introduces ethylene oxide, which is a well knwon fumigant agent, to fumigate the books against vermin and to improve the aging characterstics of the treated paper.
The Langwell paper deacidification has been discusssed by Dupuis, et al. in Restaurator, Volume I, No. 3, pp. 149-164, of 1970. The use of such compounds as the cyclohexylamine and morpholine suffer from the problem that the compounds themselves have an unpleasant odor and have a tendency to exude from the treated volumes over the course of time until they are totally dissipated. The various amines leave an unpleasant odor which is detrimental to their use.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The method of deacidifying and buffering paper which is our invention is intended to remove the problems of other vapor deacidifying techniques and provide in general for a method adaptable to large scale deacidification and buffering of books which will not entail individual handling each page or volume to accomplish the deacidification.
It is therefore an object of this invention that paper be uniformly neutralized.
It is a further object of this invention that paper should be buffered as close to a pH of 7 as possible on the alkaline side since higher pH values may cause tinting or changes in the color of inks and art work and yellowing of the paper made from ground wood.
An additional object of this invention is that paper should be given an alkaline reserve of a base material which is the equivalent of about 3% calcium carbonate as has been described in our co-pending application, 447,120, now U.S. Pat. 3,898,356, referred to hereinabove.
Another object of this invention is to provide a treatment which penetrates books and masses of books in a reasonable period of time.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a treatment wherein the alkaline agent impregnated in the paper is "fixed" to the paper and will not dissipate therefrom.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a treatment which will leave the paper odor-free and not visibly cause color changes or materially effect inks or other materials within the paper or the bindings of the volume of paper.
In addition, an object of this invention is that the treated paper should be essentially non-toxic to humans.
Other objects of this invention will become apparent in the following description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention contemplates a process of neutralizing the acidity of paper and buffering it on the alkaline side to improve its permanence. The method also contemplates either in the primary treatment or in a secondary treatment imparting vermin protection and destruction of existing vermin within the paper. The method in particular contemplates treatment of paper as it exists in books without causing any material damage to existing bindings, printing inks, or illustrations. This invention generally contemplates a method of deacidifying and buffering paper based on cellulosic fiber by impregnating the paper with the vapors of a volatile organo-metallic compound wherein said compound is capable of being hydrolyzed or decomposed to a base material. The preferred compounds are those organometallic compounds which will form a colorless solution of such metal alkyl compound, preferably aklyl compounds of lithium, aluminum, magnesium, gallium, zinc, and possibly cadmium, tin and antimony, although these past three are less satisfactory, because they can form highly colored sulfides in contact with contaminated atmospheres. The metal compounds may exist alone or in mixtures or combinations such as aluminum/magnesium/alkyl compounds and alkali or alkaline earth metal compounds.
The preferred metal alkyl compounds are those characterized by low air and moisture stability and a reasonably high vapor pressure. Most preferred are compounds with a vapor pressure of at least 1 mm Hg at the temperature of use. Such compounds include in part:
a. aluminum trialkyl wherein the alkyl group is a lower alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons. The metal alkyl compounds may be in the form of an etherate;
b. lithium alkyl wherein the alkyl is lower alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons. This class of compounds provides good protection when used in a dip or spray process, but is not a preferred choice because of low volatility. Some beryllium alkyl compounds meet the criteria for vapor phase action but are generally too toxic for use where the end product will be in close contact with persons, and
d. zinc, gallium and cadmium alkyls wherein the alkyl is lower alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons. Cadmium compounds tend to be toxic.
The most preferred compounds for use in the invention are diethylzinc, dimethylzinc, trimethyl-aluminum, tri-n-propylaluminum, tri-n-butylaluminum, tri-ethyl aluminum, di-n-propyl zinc, di-n-butyl-zinc, diisobutyl zinc.
The important criteria for the organo-metallic compound is: (1) that it be relatively volatile, whether at atmospheric pressure or under reduced pressure, at temperatures up to about 150° C.; (2) that it not cause discoloration of the paper, and (3) that it not interact significantly to damage inks or materials usually found in books, (4) that it be readily reactive with acids, and preferably also with alcohols and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose.
The organo-metallic compounds useful in this invention are not stable when in contact with the atmosphere and will decompose on contact with water vapor. The compounds are generally pyrophoric. The organo-metallic compound also probably reacts to form reaction products with the cellulose of the paper itself. These are later hydrolyzed by alcohol or moisture to deposit a weak base in the paper.
The essence of the invention is that the organometallic compound reacts with cellulose and is later hydrolyzed off using water or alcohol to deposit zinc or other metal oxide or hydroxide in situ. If it didn't react, the organometallic compound would be pulled out on further pumping or flushing with inert gas. However, we note that the novelty of the method does not depend on this explanation.
The fast degradation of cellulose occurs when it is on the acid side and amounts to hydrolysis or scission of the hemi-acetal bonds, and cutting of the chain.
On the alkaline side, degradation is much slower and probably proceeds by oxidation. Hydrogen and other peroxides form. Their attack on cellulose is catalyzed by transition metal compounds, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper. Oxidation of cellulose alcohol to carbonyl groups leaves the cellulose unstable and prone to color change. There are a number of anticatalysts for the oxidation, including magnesium compounds at pH values above 9.5 which are reported to stabilize H 2 O 2 and iodide compounds which are reported to rapidly decompose H 2 O 2 .
The most preferred of the organo-metallic compounds are the lower alkyl compounds of zinc, and in particular diethyl zinc and dimethylzinc. These compounds react readily with the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose. The reaction product will hydrolyze in the presence of moisture to regenerate the cellulose and form zinc oxide. Zinc oxide is an innocuous paper-loading material which is already widely used in copying papers.
In general, the method of this invention entails placing the paper or documents to be treated in a vacuum chamber, reducing the pressure of said chamber, and maintaining a low pressure until the effluent from the chamber is substantially devoid of water vapor. It is preferred that the books themselves be essentially or substantially dry when they are treated so that the cellulose organo-metallic compound will form under controlled conditions. After the chamber is evacuated and or flushed with a non-reactive gas, an organo-metallic compound may be introduced either directly as a vapor or saturated into a neutral or non-reactive gas. Such gases as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or inert gases such as argon are useful for this purpose. The organo-metallic compound may also be introduced as a liquid and subsequently volatilized in the chamber. The paper is allowed to remain in contact with the organo-metallic vapors for time sufficient for the vapors to penetrate and impregnate the papers present in the chamber. The particular time necessary for said impregnation will vary depending on the volume of material being treated, the size of the vacuum chamber, the porosity of the paper or other material and other variables which are easily discernible to a person of ordinary skill in the art. After the paper has been sufficiently exposed to the organo-metallic vapors, the excess reactive vapor is removed by a vaccum pump to a condenser, or the vapor chamber is flushed with a neutral or non-reactive gas. Then a nonreactive gas containing a quantity of moisture or other reactive material is introduced into the chamber. The addition of the reactive material to the gas may be efficiently done by such techniques known to persons of ordinary skill in the art as bubbling carbon dioxide, nitrogen or another non-reactive gas through water, alcohol, or other reactant sufficiently to saturate the gas. Sufficient water vapor or reactive materials should be introduced into the vacuum chamber to interact with the available organo-metallic material. The exact amounts are determined by the usual calculation known to one of skill in the art based on the weight of the gas used.
After sufficient time has elapsed for a complete interaction in situ between the organo-metallic compound and the reacting agent, such as water vapor, alcohol, or ammonia, the chamber is flushed with air to remove any toxic or flammable products and returned to atmospheric conditions and the treated paper removed from the chamber.
A number of reactions occur when the cellulose paper is treated with diethylzinc as an example of a organo-metallic compound.
a. The diethylzinc reacts with any residual moisture in the paper.
(C.sub.2 H.sub.5)2 Zn + H.sub.2 O → (C.sub.2 H.sub.5)ZnOH + C.sub.2 H.sub.6 ↑
(c.sub.2 h.sub.5) znOH + H.sub.2 O → C.sub.2 H.sub.6 ↑ + Zn(OH).sub.2
this deposits the alkaline Zn(OH) 2 in the paper.
b. The diethylzinc reacts with the hydroxyl groups on cellulose (cell).
Cell OH + (C.sub.2 H.sub.5) Zn → Cell OZn(C.sub.2 H.sub.5) + C.sub.2 H.sub.6 ↑
when moisture or alcohol meets the reacted cellulose in the second step of the reaction, the zinc is hydrolyzed off as follows:
Cell O Zn--(C.sub.2 H.sub.5) + 2H.sub.2 O → Cell OH + Zn(OH).sub.2 + C.sub.2 H.sub.6 ↑
this deposits alkaline Zn (OH) 2 in the paper.
c. Aldehyde groups are well known to cause color change and rapid degradation in cellulose. Diethylzinc reacts with these to produce stable alcohols, as follows:
Cell CHO + (C.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.2 Zn → Cell CH.sub.2 OH + Zn(OH).sub.2 + C.sub.2 H.sub.6
[cell] 2 C═O + (C 2 H 5 ) 2 Zn → [cell] 2 ═CHOH + Zn(OH) 2 +C 2 H 6
these reactions change cellulose from an unstable to a stable material, one showing good color retention.
The acid present in the paper is neutralized by a typical reaction of the metal alkyl compound with an active hydrogen.
AlR.sub.3 + 3HX → AlX.sub.3 + 3RH
where R is a lower alkyl, particularly those lower alkyl groups wherein the end side product RH is a gas.
In a large scale or commercial operation, a particular advantage of this process is that volumes to be treated are packed into a non-reactive container at the Library. It is only necessary that the boxes be readily permeable to the vapors of the organic material. The boxes are then sealed at the Library, transported to the treatment center, and stored there preferably in a dry room to help reduce any ambient moisture which would be occluded in the packing boxes or the volumes themselves. The volumes in the packing box or other carrier are treated in vacuum chambers such as the ones utilized in the space program which are able to treat 5,000 or more volumes at one time. After treatment, the books can be returned to the Library in the original container. This has the advantage of reducing the amount of handling of the books and reducing security problems since the books themselves need be handled only by the Library personnel.
The treating times may vary from less than one hour with treating agents of high vapor pressure such as dimethylzinc to 24 hours or more with treating agents of very low vapor pressure such as tri-n-butylaluminum.
In general low temperatures are desirable, preferably room temperature, due to the great difficulty in uniformly heating a large mass of books to insure uniform penetration and reaction.
The organometallic compounds may be used alone or in mixtures and may be diluted with unreactive solvents such as ether, heptane, or xylene. It is important that the vapor pressure of the solvent is not greatly lower than that of the organometallic agent at the temperature of treatment, to insure that an adequate vapor concentration of the organometallic agent is obtained. In the case of diethylzinc, octane is a satisfactory diluent. The use of diluted agents provides increased safety in the handling of the agent. At concentrations of 10 to 15% diethylzinc in octane, the pyrophoric nature of the diethylzinc is restrained, and while the dilute solution may smoke vigorously, it generally does not ignite spontaneously. However, the solution must be handled carefully, as it is still extremely flammable. The organometallic agents require protective clothing and equipment in handling as they cause very serious skin burns even in the dilute solutions, and the vapors and smoke are irritating to the lungs and eyes.
The limits on the process are set by the physical properties of the materials involved. Thus, the maximum temperature used must be below the decomposition temperatures of the components of the books and papers and the decomposition temperature of the organometallic treating agent. An exposure of paper to temperatures above 150° C will result in significant deterioration of the paper in a few hours so this in general represents the upper limit of temperature. However, most organometallics used in this process have decomposition temperatures lower than this, which will effectively lower the upper operating limit to that of the decomposition temperature of the organometallic treating agent. In the case of diethylzinc, this decomposition begins at about 120° C, or slightly below its boiling point at atmospheric pressure.
The preferred upper operating limit is about 80° C which will provide an adequate margin of safety.
The pressure used in the treatment is limited by the vapor pressure of the organometallic treating agent and the length of time permissible for treatment. The pressure must be low enough to insure adequate volatilization of the treating agent and provide a reasonable vapor concentration. Thus pressures below about 1 to 2 mm of mercury absolute will require unreasonably long treating times, and the upper pressure limit is substantially atmospheric pressure, although there is no reason why superatmospheric pressures could not be used if suitable vapor concentrations could be maintained. In general, a minimum vapor pressure of about 1 mm at the temperature employed is necessary for impregnation in a reasonable time, but it is preferred that the vapor pressure of the organometallic be at least 10 mm in the treating chamber.
A typical treatment is described. The apparatus is a heated vacuum chamber with a reflex condenser and a pump which can be operated at 0.05 mm of mercury absolute pressure. Dry nitrogen or dry carbon dioxide is provided for purging the equipment.
The material to be deacidified is weighed and placed in the chamber and heated to 60° C while evacuating to a pressure of less than 0.1 mm of mercury absolute. When the material hs dried to the point that the pressure remains steady for 20 minutes with the pump shut off (this also insures against leaks) the treatment is begun. Any moisture in the books and papers being treated in volatized under the temperature and pressure utilized, otherwise it would inhibit the penetration of the agent, causing reaction to take place in the outer sheets and edges of the objects being treated leaving the center unchanged in acidity or inadequately treated unless the treatment is prolonged and a large excess of the treating agent is employed. In any case, such excess moisture leads to uneven distribution of the alkaline reserve imparted to the paper by the treatment, and is thus undesirable. It is advantageous to heat the books and papers slightly to prevent condensation.
The organometallic compound (in this case, diethylzinc) is injected into the chamber, avoiding contact of the liquid with the paper. The diethylzinc volatizes under the conditions of heat and low pressure. An amount of diethylzinc is used sufficient to leave about 3% of zinc oxide in the weight of books and papers charged, or about 47 grams of diethylzinc for each kilogram of paper or books.
Neutralization of the paper is extremely rapid and is accomplished in a few minutes but exposures of 30 minutes to several hours are necessary for complete reaction to achieve a reasonable alkaline reserve in the paper or books.
After treatment, the chamber is purged with dry nitrogen and any excess of the treating agent destroyed with a small amount of alcohol or water. This treatment also hydrolyzes the cellulose organo-metallic compound and deposits zinc oxide in situ. The chamber can then be opened and the book safely removed. Any residue of alcohol or diluent vapor left in the books diffuses away rapidly, particularly if the books are left in a current of air for a few hours after being removed from the chamber. Alternatively, the books can be subjected to a second evacuation in the chamber to remove the vapors.
With this method, papers have been impregnated with zinc oxide at levels ranging from 0.5% to as much as 9.6%. Typical examples of impregnation obtained in a single treatment with nine different papers in a one-hour exposure to diethylzinc are shown in Table I. From the table, it can be seen that all the papers were effectively deacidified and given an alkaline reserve of zinc oxide. The papers vary significantly in the amount of zinc oxide absorbed, which is attributed to variation in the porosity and composition of the papers. Greater concentrations of zinc oxide can be achieved by longer or multiple exposures and higher concentrations of diethylzinc vapor in the treating chamber.
Pure diethylzinc vapor was found not to harm paper in the method of this invention.
TABLE I______________________________________Impregnation of Papers with Diethyl ZincVapor Phase-One Hour Treatment pH Before After % Zinc Oxide Treat- Treat- in Paper AfterPaper ment ment Treatment______________________________________Newsprint 5.4 7.8 0.89Offset Paper (LCIB) 5.8 7.9 2.02Made Rite Offset 5.6 8.2 1.48Whatman Filter Paper #1 6.6 8.1 0.94100% Rag Ledger (GPO#773) 6.2 8.0 1.37Old Book Paper (Rag) 5.3 8.1 0.79 Published 1820Berestoke Text (Handmade) 4.7 7.6 1.42Crane's Distaff Linen, 5.2 7.7 0.54 Antique LaidMead Bond 5.9 7.7 0.82______________________________________
Several of the ipregnated papers were subjected to accelerated aging tests in both the dry and humid ovens to demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatment in preserving the paper.
Table II shows the effect of the treatment on accelerated aging in the dry oven at 100° C. The newsprint apparently was not improved by the treatment when tested in the dry oven, but the Mead Bond and the offset paper show substantial gains in fold retention as a result of the treatment. The brightness was not affected by the treatment at this level of impregnation. Higher levels of impregnation do result in improved brightness.
TABLE II__________________________________________________________________________Diethyl Zinc Vapor Phase Treatment of PaperEffect on Accelerated Aging CharacteristicsDry Oven Aging-100° C Characteristics Equivalent MIT Folding Years Endurance* BrightnessPaper Aging Control Treated Control Treated__________________________________________________________________________Newsprint Zero-Start 118 135 54 53 67 Years 2.3 3.2 -- -- 117 Years 1.5 1.7 40 41Mead Bond Zero-Start 465 476 84 83 67 Years 64 274 77 77 117 Years 25 92 75 76Offset Gov't Zero-Start 604 652 76 75Printing Office 67 Years 207 432 71 71JCP-A60 117 Years 20 252 70 70__________________________________________________________________________ *1/2 Kg load.
The results for the humid oven aging are shown in Table III. Surprisingly the treatment shows up quite well on newsprint in the humid aging oven. The other two papers also show the significant retention of fold endurance in humid oven aging as they did with the dry oven aging.
TABLE III__________________________________________________________________________Diethyl Zinc Vapor Phase Treatment of PaperEffect on Accelerated Aging CharacteristicsHumid Oven Aging-90° C, 50% R. H. Characteristics Equivalent MIT Folding Years Endurance* BrightnessPaper Aging Control Treated Control Treated__________________________________________________________________________Newsprint Zero-Start 118 135 54 53 67 Years 3.5 60 41 45 117 Years 0.6 36 36 41Mead Bond Zero-Start 465 476 84 83 67 Years 92 134 77 78 117 Years 54 122 75 74Offset Gov't Zero-Start 604 652 76 75Printing Office 67 Years 240 441 72 69JCP-A60 117 Years 145 315 70 68__________________________________________________________________________ *1/2 Kg load.
We do not know exactly why the newsprint shows the difference in aging characteristics between the dry and humid aging oven. However, since the low humidity existing in the dry aging oven would not be experienced in normal aging except for a library in desert areas, it is believed that the treatment will be beneficial even for newsprint under all reasnable storage conditions. In the humid oven there appears to be some slight loss in brightness for the treated offset paper but the Mead bond is unaffected in brightness and the newsprint actually shows a significant improvement. The diethlzinc vapor-phase treatment thus gives a true mass vapor-phase deacidification effective for a mild bulk treatment of books, not only to neutralize acidity but also to produce a significant alkaline reserve in the books with little or no loss of brightness.
Although the main thrust of the method described herein is the advantages of using these compounds in vapor form for mass treatment, it should also be recognized that these compounds are useful in organic solvents for individual treatment methods known in the art, such as dipping and spraying.
It is also recognized that additional treatments can be accomplished on paper simultaneously with or following the treatment with the organo-metallic compound, particularly the paper can be exposed to various vapors which will impart protection against vermin such as fungi, insects, etc. This vermin treatment can be affected by exposing the paper to the vapors of ethylene oxide as is known in the art or to the vapors of various compounds such as those reported in the Sporicidal Effects of Vapors of Ring Polychlorinated Pyrimidines; study of physical factors effecting toxicity; Geshon and Parmagaiane, Transactions of New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 25, pp. 638-645, April, 1963.
Zinc oxide has been used as a fungistat in paints for may years, and it will function similarly in paper. Further, the vapors of the organo-metallics are toxic to many forms of vermin, thereby providing a side benefit during treatment, although the spore forms of some bacteria appear to be resistant and would require treatment with another agent such as ethylene oxide for complete sterilization of the books and papers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Now having generally described the method of this invention in general terms, the following examples are set forth to more particularly illustrate the invention.
EXAMPLE 1
16 sheets of a 60-lb bond paper and 16 sheets of newsprint, 81/2 × 11 inches, were placed in a treating chamber as described above and dried by heating to 68° C, while evacuating to a pressure of 0.1 Torr. After three hours, the pressure stabilized at 0.1 Torr and this pressure held for twenty minutes with the pump shut off. Then 20 ml of a 15% solution of diethylzinc in octane was injected into the treating chamber. The pressure rose immediately to about 90 Torr and reflux was noted from the condenser at the top of the chamber. Treatment was continued for 41/2 hours at a pressure of 88-90 Torr and a temperature of 68-70° C. At the end of this period, the heat was shut off and the apparatus cooled to about 60° C, at which time the apparatus was returned to atmospheric pressure with dry nitrogen, and 4 ml of methanol was injected to destroy any excess diethylzinc. After 10 minutes, the reactor was opened and the treated sheets removed. The results are shown in Table IV.
TABLE IV______________________________________ TreatedBond Paper Untreated Sheet #1 Sheet #16 (Top of Pile) (Center of Pile)pH 5.3 7.7 7.65% ZnO 0 0.81 0.62Newsprint Sheet #17 Sheet #32 (Center of pile) (Bottom of Pile)pH 4.85 7.65 7.65% ZnO 0 0.58 0.81______________________________________
This shows the excellent penetration obtained in the impregnation.
Accelerated aging tests in the dry oven at 100° C indicated that the life of the bond paper was more than doubled by the treatment. As mentioned previously, little change in the estimated life of the newsprint was noted in the dry oven tests as a result of the treatment. However, in the humid oven tests, at 90° C and 50% R. H., the fold endurance retention of the newsprint was increased four times by the treatment (from 100 years to 430 years). The bond paper again showed a doubling of its retention of folding endurance under the humid aging conditions as a result of the treatment (242 years to 475 years).
EXAMPLE 2
A book segment measuring 19 cm × 7.5 cm × 4 cm thick with pages having pH of 5.0 to 5.6 and acidity of about 40 meq/Kg was placed in the treating chamber in a closed position. The weight of the book was 462 g. before drying. The book was dried in the treatment chamber for 4 hours at 65° C while evacuating to a pressure of 0.07 Torr. At this time, no further water could be drawn off from the book and the pressure stabilized. Then 65 ml of a 28% solution of diethylzinc in octane was injected, raising the pressure to 85 Torr. Slow reflux of the treating solution was maintained for 51/2 hours keeping the temperature at 66°-69° C and the pressure at 85-86 Torr. At the end of this time, the reactor was cooled and backpressured with dry nitrogen to atmospheric pressure. The reactor was then purged with slightly damp nitrogen for 2 hours to destroy excess diethylzinc. The reactor was then opened and the book removed. Indicator tests with a pH pencil taken on pages 2, 59, 130, 451, 670, and 951 (last page) showed that the book was completely deacidified, with a slightly alkaline pH from the edge of the page clear to the spine. Tests of three pages taken from the front, center, and 3/4 through the book showed pH measurements of 7.38, 7.35, and 7.35 respectively and zinc oxide contents of 0.36%, 0.38% and 0.39% respectively showing the excellent penetration and even distribution obtained. The brightness of the pages averaged 65.8 for the pages of the book before treatment and 64.6 for the pages after treatment, a negligible change for such a treatment. There was no change in folding endurance of the sheets as a result of the treatment. Since this book still had its covers, and with tightly closed, it is obvious that the penetration and neutralization is extremely effective and will not require the books to be opened for treatment.
EXAMPLE 3
16 sheets of newsprint 81/2 × 11 and 16 similar sheets of offset paper JCP-A60 obtained from the Government Printing Office, weighing 61 and 66.6 g respectively before drying were carefully dried in a vacuum oven. After drying the sheets weighed 47.2 g (newsprint) and 62.9 g (offset).
The dried sheets of the two papers were placed in the treatment chamber in a single pile, and the chamber was heated to 60° C internal temperature while reducing the pressure in the chamber to 0.1 Torr. After 2 hours, to allow the paper to come to temperature equilibrium with the chamber, the pressure in the chamber was raised to 85 Torr with dry nitrogen, and 20 ml of a 25% solution of diethylzinc in octane was added to the bottom of the chamber, avoiding contact with the paper. Under these conditions, the octane and diethylzinc mixture boiled, filling the chamber with vapor. A condenser at the top of the chamber condensed the vapor and returned the condensate directly to the boiling solution in the bottom of the chamber, maintaining an effective concentration of diethylzinc vapor in the chamber.
The chamber was maintained at a temperature of 60° to 66° C and a pressure of 85 Torr for 1.5 hours, with a slow but steady reflux from the condenser during this time. The heat was then shut off and the chamber cooled, repressurized to atmospheric pressure and purged with slightly moist nitrogen for three hours to destroy any excess diethylzinc.
The papers were removed, the chamber drained to remove the residual octane and the slight octane residues evaporated to prepare the chamber for a second treatment.
The papers were returned to the chamber and the impregnation was repeated with another 20 ml of 25% diethylzinc solution following the above procedure. The newsprint from the first exposure averaged 0.75%, and 1.61% ZnO after the second exposure. The offset paper averaged 0.8% and 1.5% ZnO for the single and double exposures respectively. Thus, the amount of zinc oxide deposited may be increased by multiple exposures. The properties of the double treated paper, compared to those of the untreated controls, are shown in Table V.
TABLE V______________________________________ MIT FOLD Endurance Alkalinity Bright- 1/2 Kg load pH Meg/Kg ness MD* CB**______________________________________JCP-A60 Offset paper, 1135± 420±control (untreated) 5.4 -- 72.5 240 116JCP-A60 Offset paperdouble treated withDEZ 7.7 88 73.5 839± 364± 224 139Newsprint, Control 193± 31±(Untreated) 5.1 -- 54.4 58 11Newsprint, double 199± 59±treated with DEZ 7.7 88 52 27 25______________________________________ (±figures after MIT fold values are standard deviations) *Folds machine direction **Folds cross direction
It can be seen from these tests that the papers were completely deacidified and left with a significant alkaine reserve, with no serious detrimental affects, even with the double treatment. After accelerated aging tests for 3, 6 and 12 days, the following results (Table VI) were observed on the treated and control papers.
TABLE VI______________________________________Dry Oven Aging at 100° 3 days 6 days 12 days MD* MIT Bright MIT Bright MIT Bright Fold ness Fold ness Fold ness______________________________________JCP-A60 Off-set paper, un-treated con-trol 354 69.3 203 69.6 33 68Double DEZTreatment 657 71.0 322 69.8 205 66Newsprint,Untreated 7 46 3 42.6 0.5 35controlDouble DEZTreatment 46 43 10 42.0 1.6 40Humid Oven Aging at 90° C & 50% R. H. 3 days 6 days 12 days MD MIT Bright MIT Bright MIT Bright Fold ness Fold ness Fold ness______________________________________JCP-A60 Off-set paper, un-treated con-trol 641 70.4 391 69.2 130 68Double DEZTreatment 701 70.0 652 66 337 64Newsprint,Untreated 54 46.1 8 44 0.9 38ControlDouble DEZTreatment 65 46.2 48 42 41 40______________________________________ *Folds machine direction
It can be easily seen that the double treatment has resulted in a substantial retention of folding endurance compared with the untreated controls. Even the newsprint shows a slight benefit from the double treatment in the dry aging tests, and both papers show a very great benefit in the humid aging tests.
EXAMPLE 4
Newsprint and JCP-A60 offset papers were impregnated with diethylzinc in a single exposure following the procedure outlined in Example 3 up to the point where the heat was turned off. At this point, the treatment chamber was cooled and repressurized slowly with gaseous ammonia. This has the dual advantage of destroying the excess diethylzinc and of converting the zinc compound deposited in the paper to an amine complex which improves the distribtion of the zinc in the paper.
Surprisingly, the combination of zinc and ammonia was effective in retaining significant folding endurance in newsprint when exposed to dry oven accelerated aging as shown below in comparison with untreated control. The other paper also showed increased permanence as a result of the treatment, the results of which are as shown in Table VII.
TABLE VII______________________________________Dry Oven 0 3 6 12 Fold,MDNewsprint Days / Days / Days / Days / 36 Days Untreated control 193 7 3.3 1.6 0Newsprint Treated with DEZ&NH.sub.3 134 56 18 3.1 1.0JCP-A60 Untreatedcontrol 1135 354 203 38 1.5JCP-A60 Treatedw/ DEZ & NH.sub.3 1012 644 411 271 10.2Humid OvenNewsprint Untreated control 193 54 8.4 0.9 0Newsprint Treated with DEZ & NH.sub.3 134 81 94 51 18JCP-A60 Untreatedcontrol 1135 641 391 130 3.1JCP-A60 Treatedw/ DEZ & NH.sub.3 1012 475 479 303 59______________________________________
EXAMPLE 5
Vapor Treatment with Trimethyl Aluminum
A packet of papers 81/2 × 11 inches in size consisting of 36 sheets of 50 lb. basis wt. offset paper with a total weight of 150 grams was placed in the treatment chamber and dried under vacuum at 65° C. After 5 hours the pressure had dropped to 0.1 Torr, indicating substantial dryness. Then 5 ml of trimethyl aluminum was injected into the chamber, taking care that none contacted the paper in the liquid state. Litle change in pressure or temperature was noted, but reflux from the condenser started immediately. Reflux was continued for two hours, after which the heat was shut off, the reactor cooled, and the pressure returned to atmospheric by back filling with nitrogen. The excess triethylaluminum was destroyed with a few ml of methanol, and the papers removed. A comparison of the papers before and after treatment is shown in Table VIII.
TABLE VIII______________________________________ Before Treatment After Treatment______________________________________pH 6.0 7.2Acidity 10 meq/Kg 0.4 meq/Kg alkalinityFold EnduranceMD 718 730CD 483 617Brightness 76.1 75.0______________________________________
It can be seen that the paper was completely deacidified by the treatment, and a small amount of alkaline reserve instilled.
EXAMPLE 6
A packet of four different papers, a 70 lb. kraft paper, newsprint, rag handsheets, and 50 lb. offset paper, total weight 70.6 g, was placed in the chamber and evacuated at room temp (25° C) for six hours to a pressure of 0.1 Torr. At this time a stable pressure was established. Then 10 grams of diethylzinc was added, which raised the pressure to 15 mm. Slight reflux was obtained from the condenser on the chamber. The condenser was operated at 10° C while the chamber was maintained at 25° C and 15 Torr pressure. After 5 hours there was no further evidence of reflux or liquid in the chamber. The chamber was backfilled with nitrogen to atmospheric pressure and purged. There was no evidence of excess diethylzinc in the purge gas effluent. The chamber was then opened and the papers removed. The papers analyzed as shown in Table VIII.
TABLE VIII__________________________________________________________________________ Kraft Newsprint Rag Handsheets OffsetType of paper Untrt. Trt. Untrt. Trt. Untrt. Trt. Untrt. Trt.__________________________________________________________________________pH 4.85 8.0 5.2 8.2 4.80 8.2 5.4 8.4Acidity 24 meq -- 38 meq -- 20 meq -- 36 meq -- /Kg /Kg /Kg /Kg% ZnO -- 2.68 -- 2.99 -- 3.28 -- 3.69__________________________________________________________________________
It can be seen from these data that a substantial alkaline reserve of zinc oxide has been built up on the papers, ranging from 2.68 to 3.69%, and the pH has been raised to the level of 8.0 to 8.4, a highly desirable result.
Although the preferred method of this invention is to use the metal alkyl in vapor form, the compounds may be applied by dipping or spraying in an organic solvent.
EXAMPLE 7
"Writing Paper, suitable for Offset, G.P.O. No. 21056 and Property 6926, 4.4 lbs. per 500, 8 × 101/2 inch sheets were soaked for 10 minutes in a 15% solution of diethylzinc in heptane. The sheet was then drained under nitrogen and following this exposed to room conditions. There was a small temperature rise, approximately 1° C, as the diethylzinc hydrolyzed. The paper was air dried and stored for two weeks. Samples were then exposed for 12 days in the 100° C dry oven. This gives aging equivalent to 100 years under ambient conditions. Samples were also exposed for 12 days in the 90° C, 50% relative humidity oven to check the effect of moisture vapor which is, of course, present in normal aging.
The paper samples were conditioned according to TAPPI standards and tested for pH, brightness and MIT folding endurance. The results are shown in Tables IX and X.
TABLE IX______________________________________ Folding Endur- pH Brightness ance (1/2 kg)______________________________________Control 6.8 70 345Control 12 days 100° C oven 5.0 60 12Control 12 days 90° C, 50%R.H. 4.6 61 14TABLE XAs treated 7.6 68 --As treated, 12 days100 ° C oven 6.9 62 120As treated, 12 dayshumid oven 7.1 56 200______________________________________
The treatment has, as can be seen from the tables, kept the pH around neutral during the aging period. Brightness has dropped somewhat but is not seriously down. Folding endurance is made 10 times better by the treatment in the dry oven sample and 14 times better for the humid oven sample.
The results were slightly better for the humid oven. This will be observed to be true in the subsequent examples. Evidently the moisture film present on the fiber allows the acid present to migrate to the metal oxide for neutralization. This cannot happen so readily in the dry oven.
EXAMPLE 8
The procedure of example 7 as repeated using 7.5% diethylzinc in heptane for dipping the paper. The results are shown in Table XI.
TABLE XI______________________________________ Folding Endur- pH Brightness ance (1/2 kg)______________________________________As treated 7.8 71 --As treated, 12 days 7.1 64 104100° C ovenAs treated, 12 days 7.1 60 134humid oven______________________________________
The results in Table XI are to be compared to those of the control in Table IX. Again, the treatment has held the pH around neutral although the control went acid in the ovens. Folding endurance is 8.7 times better than the control in the dry oven samples and 9.6 times better in the humid oven samples.
EXAMPLE 9
The procedure of example 7 was repeated, dipping the paper in a 3.7% solution of diethylzinc in heptane. The results are shown in Table XII.
TABLE XII______________________________________ Folding Endur- pH Brightness ance (1/2 kg)______________________________________As treated 7.8 69 --As treated, 100° Coven 7.3 64 97As treated, 90° C,50% RH oven 7.2 60 159______________________________________
Even the lower amount of diethylzinc has satisfactorily deacidified and buffered the papers. The pH has again been held at neutrality during oven aging, in contrast to the control which went to the acid side. Brightness of the treated samples is quite satisfactory. Folding endurance is 8 times that of the conrol for the 100° C oven and 11 times that for the humid oven.
EXAMPLE 10
The experiment of example 7 was repeated using 3.7% diethylzinc in heptane and newsprint. Results are shown in Tables XIII and IVX.
TABLE XIII______________________________________Newsprint Folding Endur- pH Brightness ance (1/2 kg)______________________________________Control 6.6 52 39Control, 100° oven 4.5 37 2Control, humid oven 4.2 35 1TABLE IVXNewsprintAs dipped 8.0 59 --As dipped, 100° C oven 7.3 43 3As dipped, humid oven 7.2 46 73______________________________________
Again, the lower concentration of diethylzinc has kept the samples neutral over the oven aging period. Brightness, in this experiment, is substantially improved over the control. Folding endurance has not been helped in the 100° C dry oven, but in the humid oven a remarkably good effect has been obtained, in which fold is actually almost twice as good as the unaged control.
The 7.5 and 15% solutions of diethylzinc showed similar behavior to the 3.7% with newsprint.
EXAMPLE 11
The procedure of example 7 was repeated, dipping the writing paper of that example into a solution of di-n-butyl magnesium, triethyl aluminum complex at 5% concentration. The results are shown in Table XV.
TABLE XV______________________________________ Folding Endur- pH Brightness ance (1/2 kg)______________________________________As treated 8.6 70 --As treated, 100° C oven 9.3 62 56As treated, 50% RH, 7.5 62 6090° C oven______________________________________
In this treatment, the pH has risen slightly, but not enough to harm the brightness. Folding endurance improvement over the control in the aging ovens remains good.
The experiment was repeated using higher concentrations of the complex. The 15% solution, in one case, concentrated by migration during drying and scorched the paper during hydrolysis. This was prevented by prehydrolyzing the sample in ethyl alcohol. | This invention relates to solutions of selected organo-metallic compounds ssolved in an organic solvent which are useful for deacidifying a cellulose fiber paper. The paper is treated by means well known in the art, such as dipping or spraying. The organo-metallic compounds useful in this invention are compounds which may be rapidly hydrolyzed to an alkaline material such as lower alkyl compounds of lithium, aluminum, magnesium, gallium, zinc, and mixtures of these compounds. The organic solvent is a liquid which will not react with the organo-metallic compound, dissolve inks, or cause discoloration of other materials usually found in and around printed matter. After the paper is impregnated with the solution the organo-metallic compound remaining on the paper is hydrolyzed to an alkaline material. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application claims priority from, and the benefit of the filing date of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/091,565.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates to a rain gutter system with multiple parts with the ability to snap together to form a complete roof edge and gutter assembly or roof edge and fascia assembly.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Gutter systems have been the principal means by which water and small debris suspended in the water is carried off the roof of a building or other similar structures. The water runs off the slanted portion of a roof and typically enters a narrow trough which horizontally spans the edge of the roof. The trough, commonly known as a gutter, collects the water and is positioned such that the water is diverted toward one end of the gutter.
[0004] Downspouts are typically attached to the gutters at the end where the water is diverted. The downspouts are perpendicular to the gutters and usually reach from the bottom wall of the gutter to the ground. Water flows down the downspouts and flows out an open end near ground level. The water may be further diverted which allows a builder to strategically redirect rain water away from the foundation of a building.
[0005] Rain gutters may be constructed of a variety of materials including but not limited to galvanized steel, painted steel, copper, painted aluminum, PVC (and other plastics), concrete, stone, and wood. The material chosen is dependent on the function of the structure as well as the supporting members associated with the gutter system.
[0006] In addition to the actual gutter and downspout, several improvements have been made to gutter systems over the years. One of the most widely used improvements is the gutter guard. The guard overlays the open top side of the gutter and is a screen or shield. The screen prevents leaves and other debris from entering the trough shaped interior of the gutter. Certain gutter guards are incorporated into a complete gutter system such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,399 while others allow existing gutters to be fitted with guards such as those disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0069594.
[0007] The improvements as related to gutter guards have improved the functionality of gutter systems, specifically in preventing larger debris from entering the trough of the gutter system and clogging of the downspouts. The need for supporting a heavier, more durable, and more aesthetically pleasing gutter system is still needed in the art. The present invention allows such improvements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention utilizes a roof segment to anchor a rain gutter system with a snap on decorative molding. In the alternative, the roof segment can be used to anchor a fascia cover system and a similar snap on decorative molding. The roof segment comprises a substantially planar surface that may be attached to a standard roof of a home or other structure. The roof segment is attached via nails or screws and a roof edge is able to accommodate roofs with different pitches. The roof segment contains a semicircular extension which forms an open “C-like” configuration on the underside of the structure.
[0009] A gutter body contains a front wall, a back wall and a bottom. The back wall comprises a circular extension complementary to the “C-like” structure of the roof segment. The circular extension may be slid within the “C-like” structure and the roof piece then supports the weight of the gutter body and maintains the gutter body in place.
[0010] Other structures located on the back wall assist in the positioning of the gutter system and maintaining the system on the structure building. One of these structures is an integral soffit channel capable of receiving a standard soffit projecting from a house or similar structure. In addition to the soffit channel, the outer surface of the back wall contains a number of projecting teeth which engage the fascia of a house. The teeth also serve as a means for visually aligning the gutter body; however, the teeth primarily add overall strength to the gutter body.
[0011] The front wall of the gutter body comprises a top edging and a bottom edging designed to connect the decorative molding piece. The decorative molding contains grooves complementary to the top and bottom edging such that the molding may be snapped into place. Once snapped into place the molding is maintained in position. Additionally the outer surface of the front wall may contain an alignment tongue to assist in aligning separate gutter systems.
[0012] A gutter guard spanning from the top of the front wall to the upper portion of the back wall may be attached to the gutter system. The gutter guard comprises a bent edge which is received in a slot located on the inner surface of the back wall. The second edge of the guard rests upon the upper surface of the decorative molding. Once in place the guard keeps debris out of the gutter portion of the system and prevents clogging.
[0013] In addition to the gutter guard, the system may also contain an alternate gutter bottom which may be attached to the system. The alternate gutter bottom effectively reduces the depth of the system while allowing the different placements of downspouts.
[0014] Similar to the gutter system a second embodiment of the invention contains a roof piece and a decorative molding. Instead of containing a gutter body, the second embodiment has a fascia cover. The fascia cover contains the same basic structures of the back wall of the gutter system. The decorative molding may therefore be snapped into place on the fascia cover.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description, taken together with the drawings wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a front perspective of the roof segment.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a front perspective of the gutter body.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a front perspective of the decorative member.
[0019] FIG. 4 is a front perspective of the leaf guard.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a front view of the alternate gutter bottom.
[0021] FIG. 6 is a front perspective of the gutter assembly with gutter guard, decorative member and alternate gutter bottom.
[0022] FIG. 7 is a front perspective of the fascia cover.
[0023] FIG. 8 is a front perspective of the fascia cover system with the decorative member.
[0024] FIG. 9 is a depiction of the gutter system on the roof of a house.
[0025] FIG. 10 is a front perspective of the concealed end cap.
[0026] FIG. 11 is a front perspective of the exposed end cap.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] Now referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts a roof segment 100 . The roof segment comprises a planar surface 102 having a top edge 104 and a drip edge 106 . The top edge 104 is preferably tapered at the top, which allows a better transition to roof shingles (not shown). The planar surface 102 further comprises a first surface 108 and a second surface 110 . The second surface 110 contains a socket element 112 depending from the second surface 110 . In the preferred embodiment, the socket element 112 is C-shaped. The first surface 108 contains at least one screw starter groove 114 which aids in the attachment of the roof segment 100 to the edge of the roof of a typical house or other structure requiring a gutter system.
[0028] Now referring to FIG. 2 , a gutter body 120 is detailed. The gutter body 120 comprises the primary structures of a front wall 122 , a back wall 124 , and a floor 126 . The walls 122 , 124 and floor 126 cooperate to form the gutter body 120 having an open top 127 and two open sides 129 . The back wall 124 further comprises an upper portion 128 . The upper portion 128 comprises a ball joint 130 . The back wall 128 also contains alignment teeth 132 . An outer surface 134 of the back wall 128 has two extensions 136 protruding at a substantial perpendicular to the back wall 128 . Together the extensions 136 form a soffit channel 138 . The back wall 128 also comprises an inner surface 140 which further comprises a gutter guard cavity 142 defined by a guard. retainer tab 144 which extends from the inner surface 140 . Although a variety of angles may be adequate, the preferred embodiment has an angle between thirty and 60 degrees. The inner surface 140 also contain a first screw boss cavity 146 defined by a socket-like extension 148 extending from the inner surface 140 . The cavity 146 is preferably round and able to receive a standard screw.
[0029] Again referring to FIG. 2 , the front wall 122 comprises an inner surface 150 and an outer surface 152 . The outer surface 152 has a top 154 and a bottom 156 . The top 154 comprises an upper screw boss cavity 158 defined by a socket-like extension 160 extending from the outer surface 152 . Preferably the socket-like extension 160 comprises an upper decorative member retainer tab 162 . The outer surface 152 further comprises an alignment tab 164 located between the top 154 and bottom 156 , preferably at midway down the outer surface 152 . The bottom comprises a lower screw boss cavity 166 defined by a second socket-like extension 168 extending from the outer surface 152 . The socket-like extension 168 comprises a lower decorative member retainer tab 170 slightly depending from the extension 168 . The lower decorative member retainer tab 170 may instead extend from the outer surface 152 preferably near the bottom 156 .
[0030] Now referring to FIG. 3 , a decorative member 180 comprises a face 182 , a first end 184 and a second end 186 . The face 182 may be an infinite number of shapes but preferably resembles the shape of crown molding. In addition to the infinite number of shapes, the face may be painted in an infinite number of colors. The first end 184 comprises an upper groove 188 . The groove 188 runs the length of the first end 184 . The upper groove 188 may be a cavity formed by two projections depending from the first end 184 or from a cavity formed by hollowing out a portion of the first end 184 . The preferred embodiment utilizes a combination of the two methods. The first end 184 further comprises a support tab 190 for a gutter guard 200 , shown in FIG. 3 . The second end comprises an extension 192 . The extension 192 contains a projection 194 running the length of the second end 186 . The extension 192 further comprises a lower groove 196 formed by the projection 194 and the extension end 196 .
[0031] Now referring to FIG. 4 , a gutter guard 200 is depicted. The gutter guard 200 comprises a front side 202 and a back side 204 . The gutter guard 200 further comprises an upper surface 206 and a lower surface 208 ; both surfaces 206 and 208 are preferably perforated to allow liquid to pass through the gutter guard 200 and into the gutter body 120 , shown in FIG. 2 . The gutter guard 200 is substantially planar except for a bent edge 210 that is substantially perpendicular to a main body 212 .
[0032] FIG. 5 shows an alternate gutter bottom 220 comprising a substantially planar portion 222 and two depending segments 224 . The depending segments 224 are substantially perpendicular to the planar portion 222 .
[0033] Now referring to FIG. 6 , the components detailed in FIGS. 1-5 are shown in an assembled gutter system 250 . After the roof segment 100 is attached to a standard house roof via screws or nails started in the screw starter groove 114 , the gutter body 120 is slid within the socket element 112 of the roof segment 100 . The ball joint 130 is fashioned such that it may be received within the socket element 112 and be retained within the socket element 112 even after the gutter system 250 is hung on the roof of a house. The ball joint 130 is able to swivel within the socket element 112 which allows the gutter system 250 to then adjust to different roof pitches ranging from 0:12 to 14:12. The soffit of a house is positioned within. the soffit channel 138 further leading to the stability of the gutter system 250 on the roof. Once the system 250 is hung on the roof, the preferred embodiment has the alignment teeth 132 positioned against the subfascia of the house. A drip edge 106 of the roof segment 100 extends slightly over the back wall 124 so water and debris is better directed into the open top 127 .
[0034] Again referring to FIG. 6 , the optional features of the gutter system 250 may be seen attached to the gutter body 120 . First, the decorative member 180 is selectively attached to the gutter body 120 . The upper decorative member retaining tab 162 engages the upper groove 188 of the decorative member 180 . The decorative member 180 is flexible enough such that the second end 186 may be manipulated over the lower decorative member retainer tab 170 . The lower decorative member retaining tab 170 is held within the lower groove 196 and abuts the projection 194 . The decorative member 180 is then secured on both ends and attaches in a snap-on type fashion.
[0035] Again referring to FIG. 6 , the gutter guard 200 is attached by sliding the bent edge 210 within the gutter guard cavity 142 . The front side 202 of the gutter guard 200 then may rest upon the support tab 190 of the decorative member 180 . Once the gutter guard 200 is secured on both sides it is held in place by the guard retainer tab 144 and the support tab 190 . To further maintain the gutter guard 200 in place, a screw may be utilized to secure the support tab 190 to the front side 202 of the gutter guard 200 .
[0036] The last optional piece, the alternate gutter bottom 220 is shown in FIG. 6 attached to the gutter body 120 . The alternate gutter bottom 220 is positioned in the gutter body 120 such that the planar surface 222 is substantially parallel with the floor 126 and the depending segments 224 are abutting and in parallel with the back wall 124 and the front wall 122 . The alternate gutter bottom 220 may be used in the gutter system 250 selectively when a raised bottom is necessary for a variety of reasons. The alternate gutter bottom may be secured by utilizing standard screws which go through the depending segments 224 and the walls 122 , 124 .
[0037] FIG. 7 depicts a fascia cover 300 comprising a first end 302 , a second end 304 , a first surface 303 and a second surface 305 . The second surface 305 of the fascia cover 300 has many of the same structure as the back wall 124 of the gutter body 120 as depicted in FIG. 2 . The fascia cover 300 further comprises a ball joint 306 , alignment teeth 308 and a soffit channel 316 . The first surface 303 comprises structures similar to the front wall 122 of the gutter body 120 as depicted in FIG. 2 . The first surface 303 specifically comprises an upper retainer tab 310 and a lower retainer tab 312 which both extend from the first surface 303 . The first surface 303 comprises two screw bosses 312 .
[0038] Now referring to FIG. 8 fascia cover system 400 is shown. Also referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 and FIG. 7 , the fascia cover system is comprised of the roof segment 100 , the decorative member 180 and the fascia cover 300 . After the roof segment 100 is attached to a standard house roof via screws or nails started in the screw starter groove 114 , the ball joint 306 is slid within the socket element 112 of the roof segment 100 . The ball joint 306 is fashioned such that it may be received within the socket element 112 and be retained within the socket element 112 even after the fascia cover system 400 is hung on the roof of a house. The soffit of a house is positioned within the soffit channel 316 further leading to the stability of the fascia cover system 400 on the roof. Once the system 400 is hung on the roof, the preferred embodiment has the alignment teeth 308 positioned against the fascia of the house.
[0039] Again referring to FIG. 8 , the decorative member 180 is selectively attached to the fascia cover 300 . The upper retainer tab 310 engages the upper groove 188 of the decorative member 180 . The decorative member 180 is flexible enough such that the second end 186 may be manipulated over the lower retainer tab 312 . The lower retainer tab 312 is held within the lower groove 196 and abuts the projection 194 of the decorative member 180 . The decorative member 180 is then secured on both ends and attaches in a snap-on type fashion.
[0040] Now having described the gutter assembly 250 and the fascia cover system 400 , FIG. 9 demonstrates the gutter assembly on a roof 500 . The roof segment 100 may be seen connected to the roof 500 . Furthermore, the back wall 124 is depicted abutting fascia 502 . The soffit channel 138 is shown engaging soffit 504 . The overall strength of the structure provided by the roof segment, the aligning teeth 132 and the extensions 136 allow heavier more durable materials such as steel or extruded aluminum.
[0041] Now referring to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 , show a concealed end cap 600 and an exposed end cap 700 , respectively. The concealed end cap 600 comprises a first surface 602 and a second surface 604 . The preferred embodiment contains four holes 606 which correspond to the screw boss cavities of the gutter body 120 in FIG. 2 . The concealed end cap 600 can be attached to the gutter body 120 by use of screws (not shown) which enter the holes 606 . The second surface 604 is thus abutting the gutter body 120 shown in FIG. 2 . The concealed end cap 600 is typically utilized wherein the end of the gutter body 120 would abut a potion of the house and not be visible to a person on the ground. An exposed end cap 700 is detailed in FIG. 11 and contains similar structures to the concealed end cap 600 . The exposed end cap 700 comprises a first surface 702 and a second surface 704 . The preferred embodiment contains four holes 706 which correspond to the screw boss cavities of the gutter body 120 in FIG. 2 . The exposed end cap 700 can be attached to the gutter body 120 by use of screws (not shown) which enter the holes 606 . Depending on which open side 129 of the gutter body 120 of FIG. 2 is being capped by the exposed end cap 700 , either the first surface 702 or the second surface 704 will be abutting the gutter body 120 . The exposed end cap 700 comprises a decorative edge 710 which can be of any shape. The shape of the decorative edge 710 preferably matches the shape of the face 182 of the decorative member 180 shown in FIG. 3 . The exposed end cap 700 is utilized when the end of the gutter body 120 would be visible to a person on the ground.
[0042] Having thus described the invention in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various revisions can be made to the preferred embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is my intention, however, that all such revisions and modifications that are evident to those skilled in the art will be included within the scope of the following claims. | An improved gutter system which utilizes an anchored roof segment. The roof segment allows the attachment of a gutter body or a fascia cover via a ball and socket type joint. In order to make the system more aesthetically pleasing, a decorative molding of any color or shape may be attached to the front wall of the gutter body or the fascia cover. Preferably the decorative member resembles a crown molding commonly used in the construction industry; however, an infinite number of profiles are possible and only depend on the designer of the decorative member. | 4 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a roll control system for a motor vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
EP-A-1103395 discloses a vehicle roll control system in which a pair of directional valves and a pressure control valve are used to control the movement of the piston of hydraulic actuators associated with the front and rear axles of a motor vehicle. WO-A-03/093041 discloses a vehicle roll control system in which a pair of pressure control valves and a directional valve are used to control the movement of the piston of hydraulic actuators associated with the front and rear axles of a motor vehicle. In both cases, each hydraulic actuator has a first fluid chamber positioned on one side of the piston, and a second fluid chamber positioned on the other side of the piston. The first fluid chambers of the front and rear hydraulic actuators receive hydraulic fluid at substantially the same pressure; and the second fluid chambers of the front and rear hydraulic actuators receive hydraulic fluid at substantially the same pressure. WO-A-2005/108128 discloses a roll control system in which the control means for the hydraulic circuit is capable of providing fluid pressure to the first fluid chamber of the front hydraulic actuator which is different from the fluid pressure provided to the first fluid chamber of the rear hydraulic actuator; and/or is capable of providing fluid pressure to the second fluid chamber of the front hydraulic actuator which is different from the fluid pressure provided to second fluid chamber of the rear hydraulic actuator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to provide a roll control system which is an improvement to the above mentioned arrangements.
A vehicle roll control system in accordance with the present invention is characterised by the features specified in claim 1 .
In one embodiment of the present invention, the control means for the hydraulic circuit is capable of providing fluid pressure to the second fluid chamber of the front hydraulic actuator which is substantially the same as the fluid pressure provided to the second fluid chamber of the rear hydraulic actuator; and is capable of providing fluid pressure to the first fluid chamber of the front hydraulic actuator which is different from the fluid pressure provided to first fluid chamber of the rear hydraulic actuator.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the control means for the hydraulic circuit is capable of providing fluid pressure to the second fluid chamber of the front hydraulic actuator which is different from the fluid pressure provided to the second fluid chamber of the rear hydraulic actuator; and is capable of providing fluid pressure to the first fluid chamber of the front hydraulic actuator which is substantially the same as the fluid pressure provided to first fluid chamber of the rear hydraulic actuator.
The present invention provides a system which allows an aggressive roll control strategy and balance strategy which leads to improvements in motion, turning, and stability (braking in turn at high speed). The present invention also provides continuous control between right turn and left turn.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—
FIG. 1 is a schematic presentation of a vehicle incorporating a vehicle roll control system in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the front and rear portions of the vehicle roll control system shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the first arm of the vehicle roll control system shown in FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the second arm, hydraulic actuator (shown in cross-section) and lever arm of the vehicle roll control system shown in FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the hydraulic and electrical control circuit of the vehicle roll control system shown in FIG. 1 when the directional valve and pressure relief valves are de-actuated or in their fail-safe mode;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a first alternative hydraulic and electrical control circuit of the vehicle roll control system shown in FIG. 1 when the directional valve and the pressure relief valves are de-actuated or in their fail-safe mode;
FIG. 7 is a view of a portion of a vehicle roll control system in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a view of a portion of a vehicle roll control system in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a cross-section view of the hydraulic actuator of the vehicle roll control system of FIG. 8 ;
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of hydraulic actuator for the vehicle roll control system of FIG. 8 ; and
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a further alternative embodiment of hydraulic actuator for the vehicle roll control system of FIG. 8 .
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1 , a vehicle 10 is shown schematically and comprises a pair of front wheels 12 each rotatably mounted on an axle 14 , a pair of rear wheels 16 each rotatably mounted on an axle 18 , and a shock absorbing system 20 associated with each wheel. A portion 22 of a vehicle roll control system in accordance with the present invention is associated with the front wheels 12 , and a portion 24 of the vehicle roll control system in accordance with the present invention is associated with the rear wheels 16 . The portions 22 , 24 are substantially the same but with modifications made solely to allow fitting to the vehicle 10 .
Referring in more detail to FIGS. 2 to 4 , the portion 22 of the vehicle roll control system for the front of the vehicle comprises a torsion bar 26 , a first arm 28 , a second arm 30 , a lever arm 32 , and a hydraulic actuator 34 . The torsion bar 26 is mounted on the vehicle by a pair of resilient mounts 36 in conventional manner to extend longitudinally between the wheels 12 . The first arm 28 ( FIG. 3 ) is fixed at one end 38 by a splined connection 40 to the torsion bar 26 . The other end 42 of the first arm 28 is connected to the axle 14 of one of the front wheels 12 by a tie rod 43 . The second arm 30 ( FIG. 4 ) is rotatably mounted at one end 44 on the torsion bar 26 by way of a bearing 46 . The other end 48 of the second arm 30 is connected to the axle 14 of the other front wheel 12 by a tie rod 49 . The first and second arms 28 , 30 extend substantially parallel to one another when the vehicle is stationary, and substantially perpendicular to the torsion bar 26 .
The lever arm 32 ( FIG. 4 ) is fixed at one end 50 to the torsion bar 26 by a splined connection 52 substantially adjacent the one end 44 of the second arm 30 and the bearing 46 . The lever arm 32 extends substantially perpendicular to the torsion bar 26 to a free end 54 . The front hydraulic actuator 34 ( FIG. 4 ) extends between, and is connected to, the free end 54 of the lever arm 32 and the other end 48 of the second arm 30 . The front hydraulic actuator 34 comprises a housing 56 which defines first and second fluid chambers 58 , 60 separated by a piston 62 which makes a sealing sliding fit with the housing. As shown in FIG. 4 , the housing 56 is connected to the other end 48 of the second arm 30 , and the piston 62 is connected to the free end 54 of the lever arm 32 by a piston rod 64 which extends through the second fluid chamber 60 . It will be appreciated that these connections may be reversed. The fluid chambers 58 , 60 contain hydraulic fluid and are fluidly connected to fluid lines 66 , 68 respectively. The portion 24 of the vehicle roll control for the rear of the vehicle is substantially the same, but with the components (which are primed) having a different layout. The rear hydraulic actuator 34 ′ is substantially the same as the front hydraulic actuator 34 .
The hydraulic and electrical control circuit of the vehicle roll control system of FIGS. 1 to 4 is shown in FIG. 5 . The hydraulic circuit includes a fluid pump 80 , a fluid reservoir 81 , a directional valve 82 , a first pressure relief valve 83 , a second pressure relief valve 84 , a third pressure relief valve 85 , and a pressure control valve 99 . The directional valve 82 has six ports 87 - 92 . The first pressure relief valve 83 has three ports 93 - 95 . The second pressure relief valve 84 has three ports 96 - 98 . The third pressure relief valve 85 has three ports 96 ′- 98 ′. The pressure control valve 99 is fluidly connected between the pump 80 and the reservoir 81 . Fluid filters may be positioned after the pump 80 and/or before the reservoir 81 .
The directional valve 82 has a first port 87 fluidly connected to the first port 93 of the first pressure relief valve 83 ; a second port 88 fluidly connected to the first port 96 of the second pressure relief valve 84 ; a third port 89 fluidly connected to the first port 96 ′ of the third pressure relief valve 85 ; a fourth port 90 fluidly connected to the first chamber 58 ′ of the rear actuator 34 ′ by way of fluid line 66 ′; a fifth port 91 fluidly connected to the first chamber 58 of the front actuator 34 by way of fluid line 66 ; and a sixth port 92 fluidly connected to the second chambers 60 , 60 ′ of the front and rear actuators 34 , 34 ′ by way of fluid lines 68 , 68 ′. The directional valve 82 is solenoid actuated, and has a de-actuated state (shown in FIG. 5 ) in which the first, second, third and sixth ports 87 - 89 , 92 are fluidly isolated from one another; and the fourth and fifth ports 90 , 91 are fluidly connected. In the actuated state of the directional valve 82 , the first and sixth ports 87 , 92 are fluidly connected; the second and fifth ports 88 , 91 are fluidly connected; and the third and fourth ports 89 , 90 are fluidly connected. In an alternative arrangement, the directional valve 82 may be hydraulically actuated by first and second pilot (on/off) valves (not shown).
The second port 94 of the first pressure relief valve 83 is fluidly connected to the pump 80 . The third port 95 of the first pressure relief valve 83 is fluidly connected to the reservoir 81 . In the de-actuated state of the first pressure relief valve 83 (shown in FIG. 5 ), the first port 93 is fluidly connected to the third port 95 , and the second port 94 is fluidly isolated. In the actuated state of the first pressure relief valve 83 , the first port 93 is fluidly connected to the second port 94 , and the third port 95 is fluidly isolated.
The second port 97 of the second pressure relief valve 84 is fluidly connected to the pump 80 . The third port 98 of the second pressure relief valve 84 is fluidly connected to the reservoir 81 . In the de-actuated state of the second pressure relief valve 84 (shown in FIG. 5 ), the first port 96 is fluidly connected to the third port 98 , and the second port 97 is fluidly isolated. In the actuated state of the second pressure relief valve 84 , the first port 96 is fluidly connected to the second port 97 , and the third port 98 is fluidly isolated.
The second port 97 ′ of the third pressure relief valve 85 is fluidly connected to the pump 80 . The third port 98 ′ of the third pressure relief valve 85 is fluidly connected to the reservoir 81 . In the de-actuated state of the third pressure relief valve 85 (shown in FIG. 5 ), the first port 96 ′ is fluidly connected to the third port 98 ′, and the second port 97 ′ is fluidly isolated. In the actuated state of the third pressure relief valve 85 , the first port 96 ′ is fluidly connected to the second port 97 ′, and the third port 98 ′ is fluidly isolated.
The first, second and third pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 are preferably solenoid actuated as shown in FIG. 5 . Alternatively, the pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 may be hydraulically actuated by first and second pilot (on/off) valves (not shown).
The pump 80 may be driven by the vehicle engine and hence continuously actuated. Alternatively, the pump 80 may be driven by an electric motor or any other suitable means, either continuously, or variably. The pressure control valve 99 is actuated to adjust the fluid pressure in the hydraulic system between a predetermined minimum pressure and a predetermined maximum pressure. The pressure control valve 99 is also actuated to adjust the pressure differential between the first and second chambers 58 , 58 ′, 60 , 60 ′ of the hydraulic actuators 34 , 34 ′ respectively (when the directional valve 82 and pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 are also actuated as required).
The electrical control circuit includes an electronic and/or computerised control module 70 . The control module 70 operates the fluid pump 80 , the directional valve 82 , the pressure control valve 99 , and the pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 , when required. The control module 70 actuates the valves 82 - 85 , 99 dependent on predetermined vehicle conditions which are determined by signals from one or more sensors, such as a first pressure sensor 76 (which detects the fluid pressure associated with the second chambers 60 , 60 ′ of the hydraulic actuators 34 , 34 ′), a second pressure sensor 77 (which detects the fluid pressure associated with the first chamber 58 of the front hydraulic actuator 34 ), a third pressure sensor 75 (which detects the fluid pressure associated with the first chamber 58 ′ of the rear hydraulic actuator 34 ′), a lateral g sensor 74 (which monitors the sideways acceleration of the vehicle), a steering sensor 72 (which monitors the steering angle of the front wheels 12 ), a vehicle speed sensor 78 , and/or any other relevant parameter.
If the control module 70 detects that roll control is required (due, for example, to cornering of the motor vehicle 10 ), the control module determines if the module has to generate a force F, F′ which acts on the piston rods 64 , 64 ′ respectively to extend the front and/or rear actuators 34 , 34 ′, or to compress the front and/or rear actuators, in an axial direction. In the present invention, the force F on the front actuator 34 may be different from the force F′ on the rear actuator 34 ′ dependent on the actuation of the pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 ; and the value of the pressure differential is set by the pressure control valve 99 .
In this arrangement, the roll control system can be operated in a number of different modes when the directional valve 82 is actuated and the pressure control valve 99 is actuated. The various modes are determined by the actuation or de-actuation of the pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 . For example, for actuators 34 , 34 ′ in compression, with a neutral bias, the first pressure relief valve 83 is actuated, and the second and third pressure relief valves 84 , 85 are de-actuated. In compression with a front bias, the first and third pressure relief valves 83 , 85 are actuated. In compression with a rear bias, the first and second pressure relief valves 83 , 84 are actuated. For actuators 34 , 34 ′ in extension, for neutral, front or rear bias, the second and third pressure relief valves 84 , 85 are actuated and the first pressure relief valve 83 is de-actuated, with the pressure levels provided by valves 84 and 85 being adjusted respectively to provide the required bias. In all of the above modes, the value of any pressure differential is control by the pressure control valve 99 and the pressure relief valves 83 , 84 , 85 , and the pressure from the pressure control valve 99 should be greater than or equal to the pressure from the pressure relief valves 83 - 85 . This arrangement provides improvement management of the compression or expansion of the hydraulic actuators, and hence provides improved roll control of the vehicle.
An alternative hydraulic and electrical control circuit of the vehicle roll control system of FIGS. 1 to 4 is shown in FIG. 6 . The hydraulic circuit includes a fluid pump 480 , a fluid reservoir 481 , a directional valve 482 , a first pressure relief valve 483 , a second pressure relief valve 484 , and a pressure control valve 499 . The directional valve 482 has eight ports 485 - 492 . The first pressure relief valve 483 has three ports 493 - 495 . The second pressure relief valve 484 has three ports 496 - 498 . The pressure control valve 499 is fluidly connected between the pump 480 and the reservoir 481 . Fluid filters may be positioned after the pump 480 and/or before the reservoir 481 .
The directional valve 482 has a first port 485 fluidly connected to the fluid pump 480 ; a second port 486 fluidly connected to the first port 493 of the first pressure relief valve 483 ; a third port 487 and a fourth port 488 fluidly connected to the first port 496 of the second pressure relief valve 484 ; a fifth port 489 fluidly connected to the first chamber 58 ′ of the rear actuator 34 ′ by way of fluid line 66 ′; a sixth port 490 fluidly connected to the first chamber 58 of the front actuator 34 by way of fluid line 66 ; a seventh port 491 fluidly connected to the second chamber 60 ′ of the rear actuator 34 ′ by way of fluid line 68 ′; and an eighth port 492 fluidly connected to the second chamber 60 of the front actuator 34 by way of fluid line 68 . The directional valve 482 is solenoid actuated, and has a de-actuated state (shown in FIG. 6 ) in which all of the ports 485 - 492 are fluidly isolated. In the actuated state of the directional valve 482 , the first and eighth ports 485 , 492 are fluidly connected; the second and seventh ports 486 , 491 are fluidly connected; the third and sixth ports 487 , 490 are fluidly connected; and the fourth and fifth ports 488 , 489 are fluid connected. In an alternative arrangement, the directional valve 482 may be hydraulically actuated by first and second pilot (on/off) valves (not shown).
The second port 494 of the first pressure relief valve 483 is fluidly connected to the pump 480 . The third port 495 of the first pressure relief valve 483 is fluidly connected to the reservoir 481 . In the de-actuated state of the first pressure relief valve 483 (shown in FIG. 6 ), the first port 493 is fluidly connected to the third port 495 , and the second port 494 is fluidly isolated. In the actuated state of the first pressure relief valve 483 , the first port 493 is fluidly connected to the second port 494 , and the third port 495 is fluidly isolated.
The second port 497 of the second pressure relief valve 484 is fluidly connected to the pump 480 . The third port 498 of the second pressure relief valve 484 is fluidly connected to the reservoir 481 . In the de-actuated state of the second pressure relief valve 484 (shown in FIG. 6 ), the first port 496 is fluidly connected to the third port 498 , and the second port 497 is fluidly isolated. In the actuated state of the second pressure relief valve 484 , the first port 496 is fluidly connected to the second port 497 , and the third port 498 is fluidly isolated.
The first and second pressure relief valves 483 , 484 are preferably solenoid actuated as shown in FIG. 6 . Alternatively, the pressure relief valves 483 , 484 may be hydraulically actuated by first and second pilot (on/off) valves (not shown).
The pump 480 may be driven by the vehicle engine and hence continuously actuated. Alternatively, the pump 480 may be driven by an electric motor or any other suitable means, either continuously, or variably. The pressure control valve 499 is actuated to adjust the fluid pressure in the hydraulic system between a predetermined minimum pressure and a predetermined maximum pressure. The pressure control valve 499 is also actuated to adjust the pressure differential between the first and second chambers 58 , 58 ′, 60 , 60 ′ of the hydraulic actuators 34 , 34 ′ respectively (when the directional valve 482 and pressure relief valves 483 , 484 are also actuated as required).
The electrical control circuit includes an electronic and/or computerised control module 70 . The control module 70 operates the fluid pump 480 , the directional valve 482 , the pressure control valve 499 , and the pressure relief valves 483 , 484 , when required. The control module 70 actuates the valves 482 - 484 , 499 dependent on predetermined vehicle conditions which are determined by signals from one or more sensors, such as a first pressure sensor 76 (which detects the fluid pressure associated with the second chamber 60 ′ of the rear hydraulic actuator 34 ′), a second pressure sensor 77 (which detects the fluid pressure associated with the first chambers 58 , 58 ′ of the front and rear hydraulic actuators 34 , 34 ′), a third pressure sensor 75 (which detects the fluid pressure associated with the second chamber 60 of the front actuator 34 ), a lateral g sensor 74 (which monitors the sideways acceleration of the vehicle), a steering sensor 72 (which monitors the steering angle of the front wheels 12 ), a vehicle speed sensor 78 , and/or any other relevant parameter.
If the control module 70 detects that roll control is required (due, for example, to cornering of the motor vehicle 10 ), the control module determines if the module has to generate a force F, F′ which acts on the piston rods 64 , 64 ′ respectively to extend the front and/or rear actuators 34 , 34 ′, or to compress the front and/or rear actuators, in an axial direction. In the present invention, the force F on the front actuator 34 may be different from the force F′ on the rear actuator 34 ′ dependent on the actuation of the pressure relief valves 483 , 484 ; and the value of the pressure differential is set by the pressure control valve 499 .
In the arrangement of FIG. 6 , the roll control system can be operated in different modes when the directional valve 482 is actuated and the pressure control valve 499 is actuated. For example, for actuators 34 , 34 ′ in compression, for a neutral or front bias, the first pressure relief valve 483 is actuated and the second pressure relief valve 484 is de-actuated, with the first pressure relief valve 483 being adjusted to provide the required neutral or front bias. For rear bias, the first and second pressure relief valves 483 , 484 are actuated. For actuators 34 , 34 ′ in extension, for neutral, front or rear bias, the first and second pressure relief valves 483 , 484 are actuated, with the pressure levels provided by valves 483 and 484 being adjusted respectively to provide the required bias. In all of the above modes, the value of any pressure differential is control by the pressure control valve 499 and the pressure relief valves 483 , 484 and the pressure from the pressure control valve 499 should be greater than or equal to the pressure from the pressure relief valves 483 , 484 . This arrangement provides improvement management of the compression or expansion of the hydraulic actuators, and hence provides improved roll control of the vehicle.
In a preferred arrangement of FIG. 6 , the cross-sectional area of the first fluid chamber 58 of the front hydraulic actuator 34 described above is substantially double the cross-sectional area of the piston rod 64 of the hydraulic actuator, when considered on a radial basis, whereas the cross-sectional area of the first fluid chamber 58 ′ of the rear hydraulic actuator 34 ′ described above is not double the cross-sectional area of the piston rod 64 ′ of the hydraulic actuator, when considered on a radial basis. Such an arrangement provides the same output force from the hydraulic actuator in either direction, using the same fluid pressure.
The above-described embodiments operate in substantially the same way, but provide different hydraulic circuit arrangements for their respective fail-safe modes, as illustrated in the drawings. Also, the selection is dependent on the type of hydraulic actuator that is used. Further, the connection of the front and rear actuators to the hydraulic circuit of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 may be reversed.
In the present invention, in the above embodiments, the valves of the hydraulic circuit are actuable to provide substantially the same fluid pressure to the first or second respective fluid chamber of each hydraulic actuator, whilst applying a different fluid pressure to the second or first respective fluid chamber of each hydraulic actuator.
The present invention is also applicable for use with a vehicle roll control system, the front portion 122 of which is as shown in FIG. 7 and the rear portion of which is substantially identical to the front portion. In this embodiment in accordance with the present invention, the front portion 122 comprises a torsion bar 126 , a first arm 128 , and a hydraulic actuator 134 . The first arm 128 is fixed at one end 138 to one end 140 of the torsion bar 126 . The other end 142 of the first arm 128 is connected to one of the shock absorbers 120 . The hydraulic actuator 134 has a piston rod 164 which is fixed to the other end 187 of the torsion bar 126 . The housing 156 of the actuator 134 is connected to the other shock absorber 120 . The hydraulic actuator 134 is substantially the same as the actuator 34 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 , and has a fluid line 166 connected to a first fluid chamber inside the housing, and another fluid line 168 connected to a second fluid chamber inside the housing. The first and second fluid chambers inside the housing 156 are separated by a piston secured to the piston rod 164 . The fluid lines 166 , 168 for each hydraulic actuator are connected to a hydraulic circuit as shown in FIG. 5 , which is controlled by a control circuit as shown in FIG. 5 , or the arrangement shown in FIG. 6 . The roll control system is operated in substantially the same manner as that described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 , or FIG. 6 .
The present invention is also applicable for use with a vehicle roll control system as shown in FIG. 8 . In this third embodiment in accordance with the present invention, the front portion 222 of the system comprises a torsion bar 226 , a first arm 228 , a second arm 228 ′, and a hydraulic actuator 234 . The rear portion of the system is substantially identical. The first arm 228 is fixed at one end 238 to one end 240 of the torsion bar 226 . The other end 242 of the first arm 228 is connected to one of the shock absorbers 220 . The second arm 228 ′ is fixed at one end 238 ′ to the other end 287 of the torsion bar 226 . The other end 242 ′ of the second arm 228 ′ is connected to the other shock absorber 220 ′. The torsion bar 226 is split into first and second parts 290 , 292 , respectively. The first and second parts 290 , 292 of the torsion bar 226 have portions 294 , 296 , respectively, which are axially aligned. The axially aligned portions 294 , 296 are connected by a hydraulic actuator 234 .
The hydraulic actuator 234 , as shown in FIG. 9 , comprises a cylindrical housing 256 which is connected at one end 239 to the portion 294 of the first part 290 of the torsion bar 226 . The actuator 234 further comprises a rod 241 positioned inside the housing 256 , extending out of the other end 243 of the housing, and connectable to the portion 296 of the second part 292 of the torsion bar 226 . The rod 241 has an external screw thread 249 adjacent the housing 256 . Balls 251 are rotatably positioned in hemispherical indentations 253 in the inner surface 255 of the housing 256 adjacent the screw thread 249 . The balls 251 extend into the screw thread 249 . The rod 241 is slidably and rotatably mounted in the housing 256 at the other end 243 by way of a bearing 259 positioned in the other end 243 . This arrangement allows the rod 241 to rotate about its longitudinal axis relative to the housing 256 , and to slide in an axial direction A relative to the housing. A piston chamber 261 is defined inside the housing 256 . The rod 241 sealing extends into the piston chamber 261 to define a piston rod 264 , and a piston 262 is secured to the end of the piston rod inside the piston chamber. The piston 262 makes a sealing sliding fit with the housing 256 and divides the chamber 261 into a first fluid chamber 258 and a second fluid chamber 260 . The first fluid chamber 258 is fluidly connected to fluid line 266 , and the second fluid chamber 260 is fluidly connected to fluid line 268 .
The fluid lines 266 , 268 are connected to a hydraulic circuit as shown in FIG. 5 , which is controlled by a control circuit as shown in FIG. 5 , or the arrangement shown in FIG. 6 . The roll control system 222 is operated in substantially the same manner as that described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 , or FIG. 6 .
An alternative arrangement for the hydraulic actuator of FIG. 9 is shown in FIG. 10 . In this alternative embodiment, the actuator 334 comprises a cylindrical housing 356 which is connected at one end 339 to the portion 294 of the first part 290 of the torsion bar 226 . The actuator 334 further comprises a rod 341 positioned inside the housing 356 , extending out of the other end 343 of the housing, and connectable to the portion 296 of the second part 292 of the torsion bar 226 . The rod 341 has an external screw thread 349 adjacent the housing 356 . Balls 351 are rotatably positioned in hemispherical indentations 353 in the inner surface 355 of the housing 356 adjacent the screw thread 349 . The balls 351 extend into the screw thread 349 . The rod 341 is slidably and rotatably mounted in the housing 356 at the other end 343 of the housing by way of a bearing 359 positioned in the other end. The rod 341 makes a sliding guiding fit with the inner surface 355 of the housing 356 at its end 341 ′ remote from the second part 292 of the torsion bar 226 . This arrangement allows the rod 341 to rotate about its longitudinal axis relative to the housing 356 , and to slide in an axial direction A relative to the housing. First and second fluid chambers 358 , 360 are defined inside the housing 356 . The rod 341 makes a sealing fit with the inner surface 355 of the housing 356 by way of seal 371 to define a piston 362 . The first fluid chamber 358 is positioned on one side of the piston 362 , and the second fluid chamber 360 is positioned on the other side of the piston. A seal 369 is positioned adjacent the bearing 359 . A portion 364 of the rod 341 defines a piston rod which extends through the second fluid chamber 360 . The first fluid chamber 358 is fluidly connected to fluid line 366 , and the second fluid chamber 360 is fluidly connected to fluid line 368 . The fluid lines 366 , 368 are fluidly connected with one of the hydraulic circuits shown in FIG. 5 or 6 to actuate the actuator 334 .
A further alternative arrangement of hydraulic actuator 334 ′ is shown in FIG. 11 . In this further alternative embodiment, the actuator 334 ′ is substantially the same as the actuator 334 shown in FIG. 10 , but without the sliding guiding fit of the free end 341 ′ of the rod 341 with the housing 356 .
In the preferred arrangement described above, a hydraulic actuator is provided for both the front of the vehicle and the rear of the vehicle, and these hydraulic actuators are substantially the same. In an alternative arrangement, the hydraulic actuator for the front of the vehicle may be a different type to the hydraulic actuator for the rear of the vehicle.
In any of the roll control systems described above, the hydraulic actuator may include a check valve (not shown, but preferably mounted in the piston) which allows flow of hydraulic fluid from the first fluid chamber to the second fluid chamber only when the fluid pressure in the first fluid chamber is greater than the fluid pressure in the second fluid chamber. With such an arrangement, the second fluid chamber can be connected to a reservoir during servicing of the actuator to bleed air from the hydraulic fluid. Also, the presence of the check valve reduces the risk of air being sucked into the second fluid chamber should the fluid pressure in the second fluid chamber fall below the fluid pressure in the first fluid chamber, and provides further improvements in ride comfort. | A vehicle roll control system for a vehicle having a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels each rotatable on an axle, comprising a front hydraulic actuator attached to the front torsion bar; a rear hydraulic actuator attached to the rear torsion bar; and control means connected to the front and rear hydraulic actuators and controlling the operation thereof on detection of a predetermined vehicle condition; wherein each front and rear hydraulic actuator comprises a housing, a piston making a sealing sliding fit inside the housing to define a first fluid chamber and a second fluid chamber, and a piston rod connected to the piston and extending through the second fluid chamber and out of the housing; wherein the control means acts on detection of the predetermined vehicle condition to apply a fluid pressure to the first fluid chambers of the front and rear hydraulic actuators and to apply a fluid pressure to the second fluid chambers of the front and rear hydraulic actuators; and wherein the control means comprises a source of fluid pressure, a fluid reservoir, a pressure control valve fluidly connected between the pressure source and the reservoir, a directional valve fluidly connected between the pressure control valve and the hydraulic actuators, and at least two pressure relief valves fluidly connecting the directional valve to the pressure source or the reservoir; wherein the pressure relief valves are actuated to create a pressure differential between the first fluid chambers whilst maintaining the second fluid chambers at substantially the same pressure or to create a pressure differential between the second fluid chambers whilst maintaining the first fluid chambers at substantially the same pressure. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a gutter cover and in particular, to a gutter cover that can be applied to a number of different types of eavestrough systems and is designed to produce a water sheeting effect as the rain water moves across the gutter cover.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In many situations, eavestroughing systems are a significant maintenance problem with respect to the accumulation of seeds, sticks and leaves that fall from adjacent trees. It is known to retrofit such eavestrough systems with a perforated mesh of a metal or plastic which is basically supported in the eavestrough at or slightly below the edge of the eavestrough. Such perforated eavestrough covers are effective in some situations, however, the perforations allow some debris to pass therethrough and depending upon the particular environment, these perforated eavestrough covers are not satisfactory. Leaves and sticks can also become lodged in the perforations and cause further difficulties. Often such perforation covers reduce the problem associated with debris accumulation in the eavestrough but may require cleaning of the covers themselves from accumulated debris.
[0003] A different approach for eavestrough covers is to use a solid cover and provide the cover with a rounded transition section positioned adjacent the front edge of the eavestrough. Water due to surface tension, tends to follow the rounded transition whereas debris tends to be discharged off the eavestrough cover. Below the rounded transition is a series of gaps for allowing the water to enter the eavestrough. With these systems there are no perforations on the upper surface and thus, the accumulation of debris on the cover is significantly reduced.
[0004] The present invention relates to improvements in eavestrough solid covers and to disperse of rivulets of water which are formed on the roof. Such rivulets are effectively disbursed to form a sheet like water layer on the eavestrough cover. This sheet like layer more closely follows the rounded transition contour of the eavestrough cover and directs water into the eavestrough while separating debris from the water. In addition, the present invention is directed to a system which can be secured in a quick and effective retrofit manner to a number of different eavestrough systems of different materials.
[0005] The invention is also directed to an efficient method for producing the solid eavestrough gutter cover.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] An eavestrough gutter cover according to the present invention is made of an extruded plastic material and comprises a cover segment, a rounded transition edge, and an undercut angled section joining with a perforated pass through portion located beneath the covered segment. The perforated pass through portion allows water to freely pass therethrough. The perforated pass through portion includes an integral resilient clip sized for securing of the gutter cover to an eavestrough edge or to an upper fastening portion of an eavestrough hook.
[0007] The eavestrough gutter cover is designed for use on many plastic eavestrough systems that include what is referred to as a hidden hook. The hidden hook engages the inside front edge of the eavestrough and is effectively hidden from view by the eavestrough. These hooks typically include an upper flange for engaging an eavestrough cover and retaining an eavestrough cover. The present eavestrough gutter cover has the resilient clip for securing to such hooks. In addition, the resilient clip is somewhat oversized to define a significant recess therebehind. This recess is designed for accommodating the rolled or folded edge of a metal eavestrough. With aluminum eavestroughing systems, the gutter cover directly engages the inside rolled edge of the eavestrough.
[0008] In a preferred aspect of the eavestrough gutter cover, the resilient clip extends below the pass through portion.
[0009] In a further aspect of the invention, the resilient clip includes an upwardly and outwardly angled return ramp formed to one side of the pass through portion.
[0010] In yet a further aspect of the invention, the ramp terminates at a position below the rounded transition edge and at a forward position inwardly of the rounded transition edge.
[0011] In a further aspect of the invention, the covered segment includes a textured upper surface adjacent the rounded transition edge that serves to slow water runoff, break up rivulets, and improve flow of water runoff around the transition edge for collection and discharge through the pass through portion of the gutter cover.
[0012] In yet a further aspect of the invention, the covered segment includes in a generally central position across the width thereof, an integral hinge allowing the cover segment when installed to have an angled section joining a horizontal section with the horizontal section separating the angled section from the rounded transition edge. This serves to further slow the water prior to the water encountering the transition edge. The slowing of the water and the textured upper surface will also serve to spread any rivulets of water.
[0013] In yet a further aspect of the invention, the resilient clip includes an oversized recess located behind a narrow forward slot that when forced open includes a memory function urging the resilient clip to return towards the narrow forward slot position and thus secure the resilient clip to a component inserted therein.
[0014] The resilient clip is preferably installed on metal eavestrough by first inserting an end portion of the clip onto the eavestrough and then progressively insert the edge of the eavestrough into the clip along the length of the gutter cover.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the eavestrough cover secured above a plastic eavestroughing system;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view from underneath showing the gutter cover and the trapezoidal ports and “C” clip fastening arrangement;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the eavestrough gutter cover and the textured upper surface thereof;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the extension die;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the gutter cover as outputted from the extension die;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the gutter cover passing through a first preformer;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the gutter cover downstream of the first preformer being embossed;
[0023] FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of the gutter cover passing through a second preformer with an angled transition added adjacent the “C” clip;
[0024] FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of the gutter cover passing through a calibrator completing the forming of the transition segment adjacent the “C” clip;
[0025] FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view through the calibrator cooling tank;
[0026] FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of the gutter cover after the calibrator; and
[0027] FIG. 12 illustrates the final punching operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0028] The gutter cover 2 shown in FIG. 1 has a cover segment 4 which extends across the top of the eavestrough and partially extends under the shingles of the roof as shown at 5 . The rounded transition 6 merges with the cover 4 at a forward edge of the eavestrough 100 with the undercut angled section 8 located beneath the rounded transition 6 . Water passes over the cover segment 4 as it leaves the roof 9 and effectively spreads out and slows on the cover segment 4 . The water then follows the rounded transition whereas debris such as leaves and sticks will merely fall outside of the eavestrough. The undercut angled section 8 directs the water downwardly and rearwardly.
[0029] The perforated pass through portion 10 is provided at the base of the undercut angled section 8 and allows the water to leave the gutter cover and enter the eavestrough 100 . The perforated pass through as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 have a series of alternating trapezoidal sections 15 such that the walls 17 between adjacent perforations 15 are at an angle. In this way, water that passes along the undercut angled section 8 will encounter a perforation and will have a tendency to pass through the eavestrough gutter cover and into the eavestrough. The water either encounters the top edge of a perforation 15 or leaves the angled wall 17 .
[0030] The integral resilient clip 14 is located at a front edge of the eavestrough cover 2 and is designed for engaging a rearwardly extending flange 101 of the plastic hidden eavestrough hook 102 as shown in FIG. 1 . Adjacent a front edge of the gutter cover and above the resilient clip 14 is the ramp edge 18 . The ramp edge 18 is preferably parallel outwardly angled relative tot he angled section 8 of the final product. This provides easier access for the eventual pending operation. This serves to partially stiffen the upper arm 24 of the resilient clip and to also act as a last barrier for any water which has not been discharged through the perforated pass through portion 10 . As can be appreciated, due to surface tension and a capillary action, water will pass around the rounded transition 6 and this desirable property allows the redirection of water towards the perforated section 10 . This same surface tension can result in some water clearing the perforated pass through portion 10 . The ramp edge 18 further slows any water and acts as a final deterrent whereby water is directed to the perforated pass through 10 .
[0031] The lower arm 26 of the resilient clip includes a weakened portion 29 forming an integral hinge point 28 . This runs the length of the eavestrough cover. The resilient clip 14 is designed to have sufficient strength for engaging and being retained by the hidden eavestrough hook 102 where these eavestrough hooks are spaced every several feet along the front edge of the eavestrough. In addition, the resilient clip is designed to be inserted over a folded or rolled inside edge of a metal eavestrough such as a rolled aluminum eavestrough. As shown in FIG. 1 , the resilient clip 14 is oversized for engaging a rolled edge of a metal eavestrough, such as aluminum eavestrough commonly used in new construction installation and for retrofit applications. The resilient clip 14 is relatively strong and for insertion on the metal eavestrough, it is more convenient to initially insert the clip at one end of the eavestrough cover and progressively apply the clip to the edge by moving along the eavestrough cover. The clip is forced open and includes an integral return bias due to memory of the clip.
[0032] The cover segment 4 includes a textured upper surface 29 ( FIG. 3 ) formed during the forming process of the gutter cover. An embossing operation applies a textured surface which is recognizable by touch but is relatively minimal. The textured surface varies approximately 2.8 to 3.6 microns.
[0033] It has been found that a typical roofing system is designed to direct water away from the edge of the roof and often the rain water strikes the gutter cover in rivulets. These rivulets have a significant flow and the water is somewhat concentrated in the rivulets as it strikes the gutter cover. This flow of rainwater off the roof also tends to bring with it leaves, seeds and other debris. It is important with the eavestrough gutter cover to provide a system where debris does not accumulate in the eavestrough, however, this must be balanced with the ability of the system to effectively direct the water towards the eavestrough system. It has been found that the texturing of the upper surface of the gutter cover acts to disperse the rivulets and cause a sheeting action of the water across the gutter cover. This serves to improve the properties of the water flowing around the rounded transition 6 and also serves to slow the water as it travels across the cover. In some conditions, certain debris may remain on the gutter cover temporarily, however, it will blow off or flow off, depending upon the particular circumstances. Thus, it is desirable to slow the water flow and improve the redirection of the water flow around the rounded transition and rearwardly and downwardly towards the eavestrough. At the base of the angled section 8 , it is desirable for the water to not encounter any portion of the plastic cover so it can enter the eavestrough located below this perforated portion. The angling of the perforation walls and the minimal size of any connecting walls 17 assures more water enters the eavestrough.
[0034] It has been found that this gutter cover is effective with many different eavestroughing systems including conventional rolled metal eavestroughing systems as well as plastic/vinyl systems. In many eavestroughing systems about a house, there may be a particular area where leaf accumulation within the eavestrough is a problem. The solid vinyl gutter cover in the present invention can easily be applied to the sections of the eavestrough having such problems.
[0035] The gutter cover sections are sold in lengths of 1.8 inch increments and can easily be cut to the required length. Any obstructions such as hooks, for example, in a metal eavestrough, can be accommodated merely by cutting out a portion of the clip of the gutter cover. At corners, it is preferable to provide a 45 degree miter. The thin gauge of the plastic gutter cover makes it very easy to cut either with a saw or with a razor knife.
[0036] FIG. 4 shows the extrusion die 150 used to initially extrude the eavestrough cover 2 . The die 150 includes a semi circular gap 152 whereby the gutter cover is extruded in a shape corresponding to about two thirds of a circular pipe. This partial circular shape allows better balancing of the extrusion process and thus allows faster extrusion of the solid gutter cover. After the initial extrusion, the gutter cover goes through a series of steps to apply the textured surface and to effectively impart the desired shape to the gutter cover. These progressively alter the semi circular type shape to the generally flat final shape of FIG. 12 . One of the significant problems associated with extruding of the gutter cover is the ability to maintain the shape of the resilient clip 14 .
[0037] As shown in FIG. 4 , a cooling pipe 160 is associated with the gutter cover immediately downstream of the extrusion die 150 and this cooling pipe serves to maintain the separation and shape of the upper arm 24 and lower arm 26 and the clip 14 . This pipe 160 removes heat from the extruded product as it is positioned within the resilient clip and serves to maintain this initial shape. This cooling pipe extends a certain distance downstream of the die until sufficient heat has been removed that the arms of the resilient clip are still resilient but the tendency of the clip to collapse on itself has been removed. An air flow is provided through the pipe and discharged out the end of pipe 160 into the length of the clip.
[0038] The gutter cover subsequently passes through a series of steps including first and second performers to partially flatten the eavestrough cover and progressively form the transition edge. FIGS. 4 through 12 illustrate the process.
[0039] The semi-circular shape of the product extruded from die 150 is required to go through a number of transitional steps to produce the product as finally shown in FIG. 12 . The “C” clip 14 has a tendency to collapse upon itself and the cooling pipe 160 effectively separates the upper arm 24 from the lower arm 26 and maintains the shape of the clip. The product as it exits the die 150 , depending upon the particular material, may be at a temperature of approximately 350° F. and the plastic is very soft and somewhat flowing. The cooling pipe 160 starts to remove heat from the “C” clip while maintaining the desired shape thereof. In addition, as the product exits the die, additional air may be provided to partially cool the remaining portion of the gutter cover as shown by the air outlet 165 .
[0040] FIG. 6 shows the gutter cover passing through a first preformer 170 where the semi-circular product is partially flattened but remains in an arc shape. The preformer 170 has a particular slot 172 which acts as a guide for the desired shape and the preformer 170 is water cooled. The preformer does have a significant clearance with respect to the product but it does impart the general shape as shown in FIG. 6 . Heat is continuing to be removed from the product between the extrusion die 150 and the preformer 170 . Downstream of the first preformer is an embossing arrangement comprising a support roller 180 provided on the lower surface of the gutter cover and a textured embossing roller 182 engaging the upper surface of the gutter cover. The embossing roller 182 effectively embosses a large portion of the upper surface of the gutter cover but does not engage the resilient clip 14 .
[0041] The purpose of the embossing roller is to texture the upper surface to effect dispersion of the water and evening of the water flow across the surface of the gutter cover. The textured surface also improves water adhesion as water passes around the rounded transition for discharge through the trapezoidal ports. Preferably, the textured surface stops at the trapezoidal ports. The embossing roller and the support roller 180 are both water cooled and are quite effective in removing heat from the gutter cover. The more significant problem is trying to remove heat from the resilient clip and keep it within a reasonable temperature range relative to the cooler portion of the gutter cover contacted by the embossing roller and support roller. The product leaving the embossing roller may be in the order of 150° F. to 200° F.
[0042] Although the gutter cover has passed through the embossing rollers, the gutter cover is relatively flat and it is necessary to form the transition edge of the gutter cover. A second preformer 190 is shown in FIG. 8 and forms the angled section 8 and what will become the rounded transition 6 . Again the preformer 190 is water cooled and the product defining slot 192 is slightly oversized relative to the gutter cover. This is important as the embossed surface 19 is to be maintained.
[0043] In FIG. 9 , the calibrator 200 is shown which is used to impart the final shape and dimensions to the product. The calibrator 200 includes a vacuum arrangement engaging the lower surface of the gutter cover but the top surface is not subject to a vacuum which would provide more accuracy with respect to the gutter cover. Such a top vacuum would draw the surface 19 into engagement with a calibrator 200 and seriously reduce the embossed surface 19 provided on the upper surface of the gutter cover.
[0044] FIG. 10 shows a section through the calibrator with a series of vacuum ports 210 provided on the lower surface of the calibrator while the top surface of the gutter cover is not subject to a vacuum. The calibrator 200 connects to and forms part of the cooling tank 230 having a water level 232 slightly above the upper surface of the gutter cover. Some leakage of water along the upper surface of the gutter cover is shown as 234 , however, the movement of the gutter cover through the calibrator avoids any water on the upper surface at the inlet to the calibrator. The gutter cutter is discharged to the tank below the water level and the product is finally cooled. The final shaping does impart a hinged line 240 which allows bending of the cover adjacent a roof side edge necessary to form a transition between the angled roof and a more flat surface of the gutter cover used to slow the water.
[0045] FIG. 11 shows the final shape of the gutter cover with the exception that the trapezoidal ports 15 have not been formed in the cover. At the base of the undercut angled section 8 , a punch 300 can enter through the gap 302 to effect the formation of the ports provided at the base of the angled section 8 . The gap 302 tapers inwardly but has a sufficiently large mouth to allow the punch 302 to enter the gap and effect the formation of the ports. Typically, two punches are used at a time for forming two ports with the gutter cover progressively moving through a punching station. Preferably, one of these punches is not operated at a position where the gutter cover is to be cut. Typically, the gutter cover is provided in a certain length, such as three or four feet, and at a cut position, one of the trapezoidal ports 14 is not punched and this provides an end section to each of the two gutter cover pieces.
[0046] As outlined above, a significant problem encountered in manufacturing this product is effecting heat removal in a controlled manner to reduce or eliminate distortion. The embossing rollers remove a large amount of heat while the clip area remains at a higher temperature. Additional cooling air is directed to the clip portion which is not in contact with the embossing rollers. The process reduces the temperature differential across the width of the gutter cover to avoid warpage.
[0047] The gutter cover is progressively altered in shape by first and second performers that are water cooled. As can be appreciated, once the textured surface has been applied to the gutter cover any precise sizing of the gutter cover downstream of the embosser, such as common in double sided vacuum arrangements, would remove this desired textured surface. In the final forming shape carried out at the calibrator 200 , the calibrator is associated with a water tank 230 and there is some water weepage along the calibrator to provide the necessary seal for vacuum forming. A vacuum source is provided at the bottom of the die, however, the top surface does not have vacuum ports supplied thereto in order to maintain the textured surface. Thus, the water in the tank 230 is above the surface of the gutter cover. The water level in the tank is adjusted to maintain the seal of the final calibrator with the gutter cover while avoiding water flow through the die. The water on the upper surface of the gutter cover in the die effectively provides the vacuum seal. In this way, the part can be sized and shaped to its final shape and shown in the drawings while maintaining the textured upper surface.
[0048] The final part after leaving the final sizing die is passed through a water bath and effectively cooled. The gutter cover then continues to be punched and cut in a cutting and punch station. Typically, two perforations are cut at the same time and thus, a gutter cover of a length of 1.8 inch increments has a series of punching steps as it moves through the device. Two punches are used at a cut transition, one of the punches does not strike. This provides a solid section and this solid section is then cut to provide a strong end portion.
[0049] As can be appreciated, the present method extrudes a generally semi circular type product with a resilient clip at one end thereof. This product is then partially straightened and embossed on a substantial portion of the width of the product as part of the manufacturing process. The angled section is then imparted to the product with the clip at an exposed end thereof. Subsequent steps are taken to effect final forming of the product through a die in a manner to impart a reversed transition of the angled section while defining a progressively opening gap in an undercut portion. This progressively opening portion is located below the rounded transition and is necessary to allow effective punching of the gutter cover to form the perforated pass through section. The punches used to form the perforated section are of a trapezoidal shape with these trapezoidal shapes partially overlapping to form angled bridging sections. These angled bridging sections are maintained to a minimum and are disposed at alternate angles whereby water flow around the rounded transition will encounter a perforation.
[0050] It has been found that the particular gutter cover works effectively and can be manufactured in a cost effective manner.
[0051] The formation of the spring clip and the large cavity between the upper and lower arms is possible due to effective heat removal immediate downstream of the extrusion die. Heat is typically removed from this clipped portion by means of the initial copper pipe as well as the direction of air to this section. The heat from the remaining portion of the gutter cover is removed by contact with the embossing rollers and contact with the various performers, all of which are water cooled.
[0052] In the discussion of the angled walls of the perforated section, the angled walls improve the amount of water entering the trough. These angled walls 17 also have the purpose of acting as a brace or support edge for the front clip and serve to connect the front clip to the remaining portion of the cover. This bracing serves to provide sufficient strength to maintain the shape of the cover and avoid sagging between eavestrough hooks which may be present or effective support between the front edge of the eavestrough and where the cover is supported beneath the shingles. As can be appreciated, the bracing strength is balanced against the ability of the system to direct water into the eavestrough.
[0053] Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. | A gutter cover according to the present invention is an extruded plastic component having a cover segment sized to extend generally across an eavestrough and merge with a rounded transition edge, said rounded transition edge joining with an undercut angled section extending rearwardly and positioned partially below the cover segment. The undercut angled section joins with a perforated pass through allowing water to pass through said cover segment at a position below and inwardly of the rounded transition edge, perforated pass through merges with an integral resilient clip having a securing cavity sized for resiliently engaging an upper outer edge of an eavestrough or for engaging a securing flange of an eavestrough hook. The gutter cover can be used with many existing vinyl or metal eavestrough systems. A particular method for producing the gutter cover is also disclosed. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus, and more particularly to a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus in which a plurality of followers contact with a rotating disk cam, thereby reciprocating each piston connecting with each corresponding follower.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a clothes washing machine is utilized to automatically perform a series of washing, rinsing, and dehydrating processes, in which clothes, water, and a predetermined amount of detergent are put into a washing tub, and swirling water strikes clothes.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the typical clothes washer in which a water supply valve 12 is provided at the top rear portion of a housing 10, and a water basket 20 is placed in the housing 10. A shower ring 22 is formed at an upper portion of the housing 10, into which water is supplied from the water supply valve 12. A washing tub 30 is provided in the water basket 20, and is comprised of a cylindrical base 32, and a cylindrical body 34 placed on the base 32. Inlet opening 32a are formed at an inner portion of the base 32 opposite to each other, and the body 34 is comprised of a plurality of panels 34a, each panel having plural penetrated openings 34b, through which water passes back and forth between the washing tub 30 and the water basket 20. A balancer 36 is provided at the top portion of the body 34, and an outlet opening 36a is formed at the lower portion of an inner circle of the balancer 36 in a similar arrangement as the inlet opening 32a.
Each guide filter 40 is provided on an inner surface of the body 34 opposite to each other. The guide filter 40 has a water passage 40a which channelize the inlet opening 32a of the base 32 and the outlet opening 36a of the balancer 36. A filter unit 42 is provided at an exit of the outlet opening 36a. A pulsator 60 is rotatably assembled at a center of the base 32, which is rotated by a gear mechanism 52 receiving a driving force of a motor 50. A plurality of water spouting openings 62 are formed along a periphery of the pulsator 60, plural blades 64 are formed at a lower surface of the pulsator 60, and a bubble generator 70 is installed at a lower portion of the water basket 20.
In a washing machine having the above configuration, when the washing mode is selected by a user, the pulsator 60 is rotated by an operation of the gear mechanism 52, of which a driving force is supplied from the motor 50. A cyclone water flow occurs in the washing tub 30 owing to the rotation of the pulsator 60, and the water flow in the pulsator 60 is discharged through the spout opening 62 above the pulsator 60, thereby enabling the water flow to spout. Bubbles generated by the bubble generator 70 are further supplied during the above occurrence, thereby continuing the washing mode. Furthermore, the water in the washing tub 30 is supplied toward the inlet opening 32a by the rotation of the pulsator 60, and reaches the outlet opening 36a through the water passage 40a. The water drops into the washing tub 30 through the outlet opening 36a, thus producing the shower water flow.
In a conventional clothes washer, rotation of a pulsator and bubble are utilized in the washing mode, and water pumped to a top or a middle portion of the washing tub strikes clothes in the washing tub. However, since swirling water caused by the rotation of the pulsator, bubbles, and aquatic bursts occurs only at the top portion or the middle portion of the clothes, little washing force is applied to the lower portion or the side portion of the clothes. This causes inefficient washing in respect of all the clothes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus for improving the washing efficiency of the washer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus for sufficiently performing anti-twisting/tangling operation of clothes.
In order to achieve the above objects of the present invention, a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus comprises
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will be more clarified by describing a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a vertical elevational view of a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plane view of the rotational force conversion apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a piston assembly utilized in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a rotational force apparatus as another embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a vertical elevational view of the clothes washer according to a prior art; and
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a washing tub shown in FIG. 5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Hereafter, the invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus. The clothes washer 100 is comprised of a housing 102, a water basket 104 provided in the housing 102 for containing water, and a washing tub 106 rotatably provided in the water basket 104. A base 108 is provided at the lower portion of the washing tub 106, and a flange 110 is integrally formed at the base 108. The flange 110 is detachably assembled with a driving shaft 114 of a gear mechanism 112 that is connected with a motor 111 (shown by dashed lines) for operating the clothes washer, and further a pulsator 160 is fixed to the driving shaft 114 to generate a water flow. A balancing ring 103 is assembled with a top of the washing tub 106 to balance the washing tub 106 during the rotation of the washing tub 106.
Specially, in the present embodiment of the invention, a rotational force conversion apparatus is further equipped that is connected with the gear mechanism 112 enabling high pressure water to strike the clothes.
As one component of the rotational force conversion apparatus, a cam 170 is provided under the pulsator 160 in a horizontal manner, and has a plurality of convex portions 172 and concave portions 174 having almost circular arc which are formed alternatively along a periphery of the cam 170. In the drawings, the convex portion 172 and the concave portion 174 provided total four, but the total number is unlimited.
A plurality of pumping chambers 180 are provided at a bottom of the washing tub 106 in a radial manner to the shaft 114. It is more preferable that a traversal cross section of the pumping chamber 180 has a circular shape. An opening 182 is horizontally formed at one end of the pumping chamber 180 proximal to the pulsator 160, and an opening 184 is vertically formed at another end of the pumping chamber 180. It is preferable that the opening 184 is maximally distanced from the opening 182. Four evenly arranged pumping chambers 180 are illustrated in the drawing, but the number of pumping chambers is changeable as required.
As shown in FIG. 3, a piston assembly 190 is reciprocatingly arranged in the pumping chamber 180, and has a head 192 at one end of which a rod 194 is provided for moving through the opening 182. An elastic member 200 encircles the rod 194, thus enabling the rod 194 to remain in an initial position, that is, no compression force in the pumping chamber 180 occurs the piston assembly 190 when the cam 170 is contacted with the concave portion 174. It is preferable that the elastic member is shaped with a coil spring. A tappet roller 210 is provided at the end of the rod 194 proximal to the pulsator 160, and is rotatably arranged by a shaft 212. The tappet roller 210 is constantly in direct contact with the cam 170 by execution of the expanding coil spring 200.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, a lever 220 is provided between the cam 170 and the rod 194 of the piston assembly 190 for lengthening a reciprocated range of the piston assembly 190, which is hinged by a pin 222 which is fixed approximately at a middle portion of the lever 220. One end of the lever 220 proximal to the rod 194 is coupled with the rod 194 by engagement of the pin 224, and another end of the lever 220 distanced from the rod 194 has the rotatable tappet roller 210 being constantly indirect contact with the cam 170 by execution of the expanding coil spring 200. An elastic member, e.g., torsion spring, for springing back the lever 120 to the initial position is arranged at the shaft 222 of the lever 220 instead of the coil spring 200 which is mounted on the rod 194 of the piston assembly 190.
In the drawing, the pumping chamber 180 is horizontally arranged adjacent to the pulsator 160, but the pumping chamber 180 may be vertically positioned. In that case, periphery of the cam 170 is extended outward and upward to contact with the tappet roller 210 of the piston assembly 190. Furthermore, the opening 184 of the pumping chamber 180 can be extended near the water passage of the guide filter (not shown).
The clothes washer having the rotational force conversion apparatus according to the present invention constructed as above is operated as below.
The clothes are put in the washing tub 106 and a washing mode is selected. Then water via the supply valve 101 is supplied to the shower ring 118. The water in the shower ring 118 drops into the washing tub 106 through the inner periphery of the shower ring 118, which generates a shower water stream. The water in the washing tub 106 flows to the water basket 104 through a plurality of openings (not shown), and water is contained in the water basket 104.
As the motor 111 operates, the simultaneous operation of the gear mechanism 112 starts, thus causing the pulsator 160 to be rotated, and generating a cyclone water flow. The water is subjected to centrifugal force at the area under the pulsator 160, and is discharged through the spouting opening 162 above the pulsator 160, thereby enabling the water flow to spout. Bubbles generated by the bubble generator 115 are further supplied to the above occurrence, thereby continuing the washing mode.
The rotation of the driving shaft 114 is performed at the same time that the cam 170 is rotated and reciprocation of the piston assembly 190 is executed along the rotation of the cam 170. That is, during the rotation of the cam 170 the tappet roller 210 contacted with the concave portion 174 of the cam 170 initially is moved to the position of contacting with the convex portion 172 of the cam 170, thus advancing the piston assembly 190 toward the end of the pumping chamber 180 distal to the pulsator 160, i.e., the opening 184. Adversely, the condition of the tappet roller 210 contacting with the convex portion 172 changes to that contacting with the concave portion 174, thus retracting the piston assembly 190 to the initial position by execution of the elastic member 200, i.e., the coil spring or the torsion spring. The tappet roller 210 rotates around the shaft 212 in smooth contact with the cam 170, enabling the piston assembly 190 to smoothly reciprocate.
During the continuous reciprocation of the piston assembly 190, the water contained in the pumping chamber 180 is discharged through the opening 184 owing to the pumping process of the pumping chamber 180, thus generating a so-called strong spouting water flow. Clothes near the bottom of the washing tub 106 are raised toward the upper portion of the washing tub 106, and effectively struck by the spouting water flow.
In the case of FIG. 4, in which the additional lever 220 is provided between the rod 194 and the cam 170, since the lever 212 is hinged centering at the shaft 212 by rotation of the cam 170 and the piston 190 reciprocates along the hinged movement of the lever 212, the movement range of the piston assembly 190 lengthens relatively, causing a stronger spouting water flow than that illustrated in FIG. 1.
If the opening 184 of the pumping chamber 180 is located near the water passage of the guide filter (not shown), the volume of water supplied via the water passage 142 increases, thus causing the shower flow dropping from the shower ring 118 into the washing tub 106 to be more powerful. Even if the water contained in the washing tub 106 is in a lower level, the water disposed near the bottom portion of the washing tub 106 enters into an inlet opening (not shown) and is further supplied to the shower ring 118 via the guide filter (not shown), finally dropping into the washing tub and avoiding any reduction in washing efficiency.
According to the present invention as described above, since the pumping operation of the pumping chamber assists in the rotation of the pulsator while in the washing mode, water having strong pressure and washing force is concentrically supplied toward the bottom and the periphery of the clothes, thus accomplishing the washing rapidly and raising the washing efficiency.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | In a clothes washer having a rotational force conversion apparatus, the rotational force conversion apparatus comprises a disk cam formed on a driving shaft, a plurality of followers contacted with the disk cam and each having a coil spring which enables the follower to be in constant contact with the disk cam. | 3 |
The present invention is directed to a self-terminating electrical connector, and more specifically to a self-terminating printed circuit board receptacle that will terminate itself in its characteristic impedance when a mating plug is disengaged therefrom.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As the frequencies, clock speeds, and data rates increase in the field of telecommunications, it is no longer acceptable to allow the output port of a printed circuit board (pcb) receptacle connector to remain unterminated. The presence of an unterminated connector allows signals to radiate therefrom, causing interference in other circuits within the device. Previous practice entailed termination of the pcb connector with an external termination. This technique was expensive, required stocking of additional inventory, was time-consuming and could be neglected. Therefore, it was determined that the availability of a self-terminating connector would be advantageous.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receptacle connector that will terminate itself in its characteristic impedance when a mating plug is disengaged therefrom.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the inventive self-terminating circuit board receptacle in the unmated/terminated position;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the inventive receptacle connector mated with a mating plug, and in the unterminated mode.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the inventive self-terminating electrical connector adapted to conduct an electrical signal when mated to mating connector, and terminate said signal by providing an appropriate impedance upon disengagement of the mating connector. The inventive connector comprises connector body 1 having front body face 2 formed as a connector port, and rear body face 3 being adapted to connect to a coaxial signal source. Mounted coaxially within, and electrically isolated from conductor body 1 by insulator 14, there is provided center conductor 4. Terminating resistor 5 having a first resistor face 6 and a second resistor face 7 is mounted within connector body 1. Second resistor face 7 is maintained in conductive contact with connector body 1, preferably through washer 8 and wave washer 9. Wave washer 9 compensates for tolerance buildup, and can be held in place by cap 10.
In conductive contact with first resistor face 6, there is provided conductive spring 11 having first spring end 12 and second spring end 13. Conductive spring 11 maintains conductive contact with first resistor face 6 through second spring end 13. First spring end 12 is provided with a sloped surface and is movable between a first spring position, in which first spring end 12 is in conductive contact with center conductor 4, and a second spring position, in which contact between first spring end 12 and center conductor 4 is interrupted.
Coaxially mounted on center conductor 4, proximal to front body face 2, there is further provided slidable plunger 15, formed of an insulative material. Plunger 15 is formed with sloped mating surface 16 which mates with first spring end 12. Plunger 15 is slidably movable, against the force of conductive spring 11, between a forward position and a rearward position, movement of plunger 15 being limited in the forward direction by a first stop that can comprise shoulder 17, and, in a rearward direction by the length of mating plug insulator.
As shown in FIG. 2, insertion of a mating connector A into connector body 1 through front body face 2 causes electrical contact between connector body 1 and the mating connector body of the mating connector, as well as between center conductor 4, and the mating center conductor of the mating conductor. Insertion further causes rearward movement of plunger 15, whereby sloped mating surface 16 forces first spring end 12 to the second spring position wherein contact between first spring end 12 and center conductor 4 is interrupted.
Withdrawal of mating connector A from first body face 2 of connector body 1 interrupts electrical contact between connector body 1 and the mating connector body, and between center conductor 4 and the mating center conductor. Withdrawal further allows forward movement of plunger 15 under force of conductive spring 11, to the forward position, whereby sloped mating surface 16 withdraws and allows movement of first spring end 12 to the first spring position in which contact between first spring end 12 and center conductor 4 is re-established. When rear body face 3 is connected to the coaxial power source, an impedance signal is thereby established between connector body 1 and center conductor 4 thus eliminating all signals emanating from the receptacle connector.
While only fundamental novel features of the invention, as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, specifically, a pcb connector have been expressly described, it is understood that the invention is adaptable for use with all types and series of connectors, and that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated, and in its operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore the intention of Applicants that the invention be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. | A printed circuit board receptacle connector that terminates itself in its characteristic impedance when a mating plug is disengaged therefrom. | 7 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/401,252, filed on Sep. 23, 1999, which is, in turn, a continuation of provisional application No. 60/101,758, filed on Sep. 25, 1998.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention deals with a unitary removable barrier for installation in a cylindrical water line for temporarily blocking the passage of water through the line. When plumbing a structure such as a house intended to carry water, the structure goes through several waste line tests to confirm the integrity of the various plumbing joints. This requires temporarily blocking the waste line so that the water lines within the structure can be filled and leakes detected. The present invention involves an improved means of temporarily blocking the water waste line in order to create a suitable water head to conduct such testing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] When plumbing a structure such as a house, the structure is subjected to at least two different waste water tests. A first test is intended to determine the integrity of the water lines at ground or slab by filling the structure's waste lines with water to create a pressure head. A second test is conducted at “top-out” meaning that, after the structure is vented and tubs, sinks and other fixtures are installed, the waste lines are again filled with water to create yet another pressure head. Under pressure, the various lines are inspected for leakage prior to the installation of sheetrock which would obviously mask the detection of any leakage.
[0004] As background, plumbers are required to “stub out” or create an external waste line outlet two or three feet from the permimeter of the structural foundation. The “stub out” line is typically capped off in order to run the above-described water tests. There are a variety of currently available caps designed to accomplish this task. For example, a plumber may employ a rubber cap with a stainless steel band. However, a rubber cap is prone to being blown off of the “stub out” if subjected to sufficient water head pressure. In order to prevent this from occurring, the plumber will oftentimes drive a wooden stake in front of the rubber cap. This entails a good deal of additional effort and is not particularly effective in preventing blow-off. As an alternative, a plumber may glue the plastic test cap to the “stub out” which can be knocked off after the test has been conducted. However, this requires applying and setting a suitable adhesive which obviously must later be removed once the test has been completed. At removal, the plumber is likely to get quite wet as the water head pressure is released. There are additional problems associated with caps employed at “sub out.” For example, when a sewer line to the street or septic is about to be connected, the plumber is oftentimes not the party responsible for making the connection. If someone else makes the connection who is unfamiliar with this process, the cap will be cut off or otherwise removed releasing the water head within the structure perhaps prematurely before the plumber has had an opportunity to check the structure for leaks. Even if the plumber is the part responsible for connecting the sewer line to the “stub out,” he may still be forced to release his test and then recap the line after the connection has been made thus requring that the water head be restablished. This is time-consuming and also is a waste of water. Ideally, the plumber would like to maintain a water head throughout the sheetrock process so that any accidental nailing into the waste line would be visible by observing water leakage.
[0005] In addition to the above, once the sewer has been connected, it is traditional for the plumber to return to the project to reset his waste lines at which point a plumber employs a wye, a one-eighth bend and a clean-out plug at the point where the sewer has been connected. A plumber typically employs a long test ball which is inserted into the one-eighth bend and wye and is inflated at the appropriate position. The test ball is intended to temporarily block the waste line to again create a suitable pressure head within the structure. However, these test balls are extremely expensive and by reducing pressure within the test ball, they can be removed and oftentimes stolen from the job site. Further, they can inadvertently lose air, slip down the line and cause a major stoppage which must be dealt with by excavating and exposing the sewer line. The air balls, which exhibit external ribs, crack after repeated usage and tend to leak under tests. Leakage from the side wall of the test ball as well as from its air stem obviously result in water leakage to the sewer and reduction of water head thus reducing the effectiveness of the test.
[0006] One way of dealing with this issue has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,501. The invention disclosed in the '501 patent is to a disk-shaped sealing device which is molded as an integral, unitary piece. The sealing device comprises a circular disc and an angled flange extending outwardly and upwardly from the perimeter of the circular disc. The disc-shaped device fits snugly within a barrel of a plastic fitting such that the circular disc is coaxially received in the barrel of the plastic fitting and the angled flange mates with and lies against a bevel in the barrel of the plastic fitting. A lug extends donwardly from the circular disc whereby first and second elongate grooves are formed in one of the surfaces of the disc. It is taught that the disc-shaped device can be ripped out of the barrel of the fitting so as to remove the device in its entirety from the fitting by pulling on the lug and ripping the circular disc along the first and second grooves in a spiral ripping motion that ultimately pulls the circular disc and the angled flange from the fitting.
[0007] Although the invention disclosed in the '501 patent constitutes a dramatic improvement over devices of the prior art described above, it, itself, is notwithout its limitations. Specifically, the disc-shaped sealing device must be employed only in a waste line which will accept an angled flange. As such, the device cannot be used when a water line is provided with a consistent and uniform interior diameter throughout its length. In addition, the disc-shaped sealing device must, itself, be sealed to the receiving ledge or flange of a waste line to ensure that the disc remains in sealing engagement with the water line during tests. This requires either the use of a glue or wax to ensure that the disc-shaped sealing device remains in place. It is hypothesized that these limitations have prevented the device described in the ' 501 patent from being universally accepted in the plumbing trade.
[0008] It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a means of temporarily blocking a “stub out” or water line which can effectively and temporarily prevent passage of water through the wase line thus creating a suitable pressure head within the structure while being easily removable from the waste line and while addressing all of the drawbacks recited above.
[0009] These objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention is directed toward a unitary removable barrier for installation in a cylindrical water line to selectively block the water line to the passage of water therethrough. The unitary removable barrier is composed of a one-piece body having at least one cylindrical section having at least one cross-sectional area, longitudinal axis and sized to receive an upstream pipe and downstream pipe of the water line. The upstream pipe and downstream pipe are captured by said at least one cylindrical section either frictionally or by use of stainless steel bands. The unitary removable barrier includes a disc molded as a unitary structure with said at least one cylindrical section which is characterized as being of circular circumference and which completely blocks the water line when in place. The disc is provided with a diameter which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and which is selectively removable from the cylindrical section both from the upstream pipe and downstream pipe thus removing the barrier to the water line.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a unitary removable barrier of the present invention.
[0012] [0012]FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the unitary removable barrier of FIG. 1.
[0013] [0013]FIG. 3 is a side cross sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] [0014]FIGS. 4A and 4B are similar in view of FIG. 3 showing a further variation whereby magnets are employed to help retrieve pull cords used to remove the removable barrier after use.
[0015] [0015]FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of yet another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] In referring to FIG. 2, pipes 21 and 22 comprise “sub out” or “clean out lines” which, as noted, extends from a house or other structure for connection to a sewer or septic line. In a first embodiment, the present invention is in the form of coupling 10 for placement between and to capture pipes 21 and 22 by frictionally receiving them within cylindrical section 11 . In other words, the outer diameter of pipes 21 and 22 approximate inner diameter of cylindrical section 11 although the present invention contemplates the use of any well-known clamping means such as stainless steel bands 51 (FIG. 3) to ensure a watertight snug fit between cylindrical section 11 and pipes 21 and 22 along longitudinal axis 20 .
[0017] The unitary removable barrier is composed of rubber, plastic or any moldable material. It is molded as a unitary article whereby a cylindrical section 11 and planar disc section 12 are of a single piece. In this regard, it is preferred that the planar face of disc 12 is substantially perpendicular to longitudinal axis 20 passing through upstream and downstream cylindrical water line 21 and 22 . Again, as previously noted, as one embodiment, unitary removable barrier 10 is sized such that the inside diameter is cylindrical section 11 is to frictionally receive water lines 21 and 22 along longitudinal axis 20 .
[0018] Planar disc 12 is intended to be removable when no longer needed to block the waste line under test. This is accomplished by providing first tab 13 and second tab 33 molded as unitary elements long the upstream face and downstream face of planar disc 12 , respectively. The first and second tabs provide contact surfaces for pulling planar disc 12 along circumferential score line 14 to selectively remove the planar disc through either the upstream pipe or downstream pipe while employing cords 6 or 7 (FIG. 2). Although not shown, the planar disc can be withdrawn from the water through a wye or tee traditionally fabricated within such a line. Removal of disc 12 is carried out when hydraulic testing of the plumbing system of structure is no longer required. As such, when disc 12 is removed, the waste water line as established by pipes 21 and 22 is opened providing a free water path for the structure.
[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is noted that upon the removal of planar disc 12 , a portion of the disc remains as defined by a ledge 15 of planar disc material. Ledge 15 is sized such that inner diameters 24 and 25 of cylindrical lines 21 and 22 , respectively, coincide with the inner circumference of ledge 15 so that an uninterrupted substantially uniform inner pipe diameter is created thus minimizing any adverse effect that the present invention would otherwise have on the free flow of water through the subject waste line. Stated differently, when planar disc 12 is removed from cylindrical section 11 , ledge 15 of the planar disc remains providing a circular opening with cylindrical section 11 substantially equal to inside diameters 24 and 25 of upstream and downstream pipes 21 and 22 .
[0020] To summarize, although others have taught the use of removable blocking means to selectively prevent water from passing through a waste line in order to hydraulically test the plumbing of a structure, there have been no prior attempts to construct such an element which works as conveniently and which provides less obstruction as the invention disclosed herein and which is readily removable from both the upstream and downstream sides of the barrier. The present invention requires no gluing, waxing or other sealing means to attach the removable blocking disc to the waste water line. Further, in the embodiment show in FIGS. 1 and 2, upon its removal, the disc provides the line with an opening substantially equal to the inside diameter of the line itself. As such, there represents little or no obstruction to the line upon removal of the disc.
[0021] In a second embodiment, reference is made to FIG. 3. In this instance, it is commonplace, for example, to provide PVC pipe 41 , eminating from a structure, to act as a wasteline for connection to PVC pipe 42 of a different, in this instance, larger diameter. In such an installation, coupling 49 , again composed of a unitary molded article, is provided with upstream cylindrical section 43 of a first (smaller) diameter and a downstream cylindrical section 44 of a second (larger) diameter. Cylindrical sections 43 and 44 are connected by diagonally extending side wall 49 as shown.
[0022] As in the previous embodiment, cylindrical sections 43 and 44 of unitary article 40 can be sized to frictionally capture pipes 41 and 42 , respectively, along longitudinal axis 50 , thus obviating the need for any further coupling means. However, any suitable capturing device can further be employed such as stainless steel bands 51 to ensure a water tight and secure fitting.
[0023] Again, as in the previous embodiment, unitary removable barrier 45 molded as a unitary article to cylindrical sections 43 and 44 and transitional section 49 remains in place during test but is selective removable after a suitable water pressure test has been conducted. In doing so, pull cords 47 and 48 , appended to molded tabs 13 and 33 is drawn through a wye or tee (not shown) traditionally found within the typical water waste line. The same groove or score line 14 shown in FIG. 1 can be fabricated within disc 45 circumferentially extending from tabs 13 and 33 along the side wall defined by cylindrical section 44 . As such, planar disc 45 can be removed either upstream or downstream of such barrier.
[0024] As noted in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, PVC pipes 41 and 42 do not abut one another although, ideally, pipe 42 is caused to abut removable disc 45 . As such, the unitary removable barrier 40 as depicted in FIG. 3 acts to retain pipes 41 and 42 in a pre-determine orientation whereby void space 55 remains between the end of each pipe length.
[0025] As noted once the subject hydraulic testing has been completed, a user would pull on either cords 47 or 48 to remove the subject disc 45 . However, in the field, it is not always convenient to insure that the terminal ends of the cords remain external to the waste lines. When such cords fall back into the waste line, it can be inconvenient to recapture them for later use. In dealing with this issue, it is proposed that magnet 60 be attached to a pull cord such as pull cord 48 (FIG. 4A) which can reside loosely upon disc 45 until needed. When the user intends to remove disc 45 after testing, pull cord 48 can be drawn from disc 45 by use of an externally applied magnet 62 (FIG. 4B).
[0026] Another variation of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 5. In this instance, planar disc 73 is again shown with tabs 74 and 75 for its possible removal either upstream or downstream of planar disc 73 after hydraulic testing of the waste line via pull cords 77 and 78 , respectively. In this instance, however, cylindrical side walls fit internally of pipe 71 making for a much more compact orientation than that shown in FIG. 3. The unitary removable barrier still acts as a coupling for connecting pipes 71 and 72 , but acts as a male member to pipe 71 and female member to pipe 72 . | A unitary removable barrier for installation in a cylindrical water line to selectively block the water line to passage of water therethrough. The unitary removable barrier is composed of a single piece body having at least one cylindrical section sized to receive upstream and downstream pipes of the water line. A unitary planar disc molded with the cylindrical section is of a circular circumference and which completely blocks the water line but which is selectively removable from the cylindrical section thus removing the barrier to the passage of the water through the line. Tabs are provided on both the upstream and downstream sides of the planar disc to facilitate its removal from either the upstream pipe or downstream pipe. | 5 |
This application is a National Stage filing based on PCT/EP2010/002026, filed Mar. 30, 2010, and which claims priority to German Patent Application No. DE 20 2009 005 927.8, filed Apr. 21, 2009.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a centrifugal clutch having a rotor and having a clutch component, wherein at least one centrifugal weight is arranged on the rotor so as to be movable relative to the rotor, and is designed such that below a predetermined rotational speed of the rotor, the centrifugal weight is arranged spaced apart from the clutch component on the rotor in a first position such that the rotor is freely rotatable relative to the clutch component, and above the predetermined rotational speed of the rotor, said centrifugal weight performs a movement relative to the rotor under a centrifugal force into a second position such that the centrifugal weight produces mechanical non-positive engagement between the rotor and the clutch component. The invention also relates to a fall arrester, in particular climbing protection runner, which runs, in accompaniment with a person to be secured, on a movable or fixed guide which serves as a safety device, in particular a safety rail, climbing protection ladder or safety rope, having a centrifugal clutch.
2. Description of Related Art
A centrifugal clutch serves for the automatic rotational-speed-dependent production of a non-positive connection between a rotor and a clutch component. In certain applications, the centrifugal clutch must be very small with regard to the installation space requirement, and simultaneously be able to transmit high forces between the rotor and the clutch component. Such applications are for example fall arresters or climbing protection runners with an automatic fall arresting function. In the case of conventional centrifugal clutches, the transmission of force is realized in that the centrifugal force pushes corresponding centrifugal weights radially outward against a housing until the contact pressure generates adequate frictional engagement. For this purpose, both a high rotational speed and also a certain diameter are necessary in order to generate sufficient centrifugal force and also accommodate sufficient mass in the centrifugal weights. Since the clutch for a fall arrester must however be particularly small, there is a conflict of aims.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is based on the object of improving a centrifugal clutch of the above-stated type such that reliable non-positive engagement between the rotor and the clutch component is obtained even with small geometric dimensions and at low rotational speeds.
Said object is achieved according to the invention by means of a centrifugal clutch of the above-stated type, and by means of a fall arrester of the above-stated type. Advantageous refinements of the invention are described in the claims.
In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a centrifugal clutch comprising: a rotor; a clutch component having a first toothing; at least one centrifugal weight arranged on the rotor so as to be movable relative to the rotor, such that below a predetermined rotational speed of the rotor, the centrifugal weight is spaced apart from the clutch component in a first position such that the rotor is freely rotatable relative to the clutch component, and above the predetermined rotational speed of the rotor, the centrifugal weight performs a movement relative to the rotor under a centrifugal force into a second position such that the centrifugal weight produces mechanical non-positive engagement between the rotor and the clutch component, the centrifugal weight including a second toothing such that, above the predetermined rotational speed, the first toothing and the second toothing mesh with one another and thereby produce a positive connection between the rotor and the clutch component.
The centrifugal clutch may include the second toothing formed on a surface, which faces toward the clutch component above the predetermined rotational speed, of the centrifugal weight. The first toothing may be formed on a wall, which faces toward the centrifugal weight, of the clutch component. The first toothing and the second toothing may also be of identical design.
The centrifugal clutch may have a spring element for forcing the centrifugal weight in the direction of the first position. The rotor may include a bore in which the spring element is arranged. The bore may be perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the rotor.
The centrifugal weight may comprise a ring segment of the rotor. The clutch component may radially surround the rotor. The centrifugal weight may be supported on at least one surface of the rotor, the at least one surface being arranged in a plane parallel to a longitudinal axis of the rotor.
In a second aspect, the present invention is directed to a fall arrester, which runs, in accompaniment with a person to be secured, on a movable or fixed guide which serves as a safety device, climbing protection ladder, or safety rope, having a centrifugal clutch, including the centrifugal clutch of the aforementioned type.
The invention will be explained in more detail herein below with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a centrifugal clutch according to the invention in a perspective view;
FIG. 2 shows the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 1 in a side view;
FIG. 3 shows a detail view of the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 1 in a perspective view;
FIG. 4 shows a detail view of the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 2 in a side view;
FIG. 5 shows a detail view of the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 2 in a partially sectional illustration;
FIG. 6 shows a side view of a clutch component of the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 1 in the form of a housing;
FIG. 7 shows the clutch component according to FIG. 6 in a perspective view;
FIG. 8 shows a detail view of the region A of FIG. 6 ;
FIG. 9 shows a rotor of the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 1 in a perspective view;
FIG. 10 shows the rotor according to FIG. 9 in a front view;
FIG. 11 shows the rotor according to FIG. 9 in a side view;
FIG. 12 shows the rotor according to FIG. 9 in a further side view;
FIG. 13 shows a centrifugal weight of the centrifugal clutch according to FIG. 1 in a perspective view;
FIG. 14 shows the centrifugal weight according to FIG. 10 in a side view;
FIG. 15 shows the centrifugal weight according to FIG. 10 in a plan view; and
FIG. 16 shows the centrifugal weight according to FIG. 10 in a front view.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In a centrifugal clutch of the above-stated type, it is provided according to the invention that the centrifugal weight has a first toothing and the clutch component has a second toothing, in such a way that, above the predetermined rotational speed, the first toothing and the second toothing mesh with one another and thereby produce a positive connection between the rotor and the clutch component.
This has the advantage that, using a geometrically small centrifugal clutch with a small installation space requirement, it is possible to transmit particularly high forces between the rotor and the clutch component, and to obtain an effective non-positive and positive connection, even at low values for the predetermined rotational speed of the rotor.
The first toothing is expediently formed on a surface, which faces toward the clutch component above the predetermined rotational speed, of the centrifugal weight.
In one preferred embodiment, the second toothing is formed on a wall, which faces toward the centrifugal weight, of the clutch component.
Particularly effective non-positive engagement with toothings which mesh with one another in a flush manner is obtained by virtue of the first toothing and the second toothing being of identical design.
Secure hold of the centrifugal weight in or close to the first position below the predetermined rotational speed of the rotor is obtained by virtue of a spring element being provided which forces the centrifugal weight in the direction of the first position. The rotor preferably has a bore in which the spring element is arranged. The bore is for example formed perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the rotor.
A particularly functionally reliable embodiment is obtained by virtue of the centrifugal weight being formed as a ring segment of the rotor.
A clamping, positive connection between the rotor and the clutch component through an oblique plane is obtained by virtue of the centrifugal weight being supported on at least one, in particular two surfaces of the rotor, said surface being arranged in a plane parallel to a longitudinal axis of the rotor.
In a fall arrester of the above-stated type, it is provided according to the invention that the centrifugal clutch is designed as described above.
This has the advantage that a fall arrester is provided which has small dimensions while at the same time having a highly effective fall arresting mechanism.
The preferred embodiment of a centrifugal clutch according to the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 comprises a rotor 10 , a clutch component 12 and a centrifugal weight 14 . The embodiment with only one centrifugal weight is merely an example. It is also possible for two, three or more centrifugal weights to be provided in the manner of the centrifugal weight 14 illustrated and described below, in particular so as to be distributed uniformly over the circumference of the rotor 10 . The clutch component 12 is designed as a housing with an inner wall 16 which completely surrounds the rotor 10 . A toothing 18 is formed on an inner side, which faces toward the rotor 10 , of the inner wall 16 . Furthermore, a bore 20 for receiving a spring element 22 , for example a helical spring, is formed in the rotor 10 .
As can be seen in particular from FIGS. 9 to 11 , the rotor 10 is cut out over a predetermined axial length in the region of a ring segment 24 . Said predetermined axial length of the ring segment cutout 24 substantially corresponds to an axial length of the inner wall 16 of the clutch part 12 , or is slightly shorter.
As can be seen in particular from FIGS. 13 to 16 , the centrifugal weight 14 is designed so as to substantially correspond to the ring segment cutout 24 of the rotor 10 . In this way, the centrifugal weight 14 fits into the ring segment cutout 24 of the rotor 10 such that, when the centrifugal weight 14 is arranged in a first position relative to the rotor 10 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 , at a side 26 , which faces toward the inner wall 16 of the clutch part 12 , of the centrifugal weight 14 , the dimensions of the centrifugal weight 14 in the radial direction with respect to the rotor 10 remain within an outer circumference of the rotor 10 in the region of the ring segment cutout 24 of the rotor 10 . In other words, the centrifugal weight 14 inserted into the ring segment cutout 24 of the rotor 10 does not project beyond the rotor 10 in the radial direction when the centrifugal weight is situated in the first position illustrated for example in FIG. 4 .
A first toothing 28 is formed on the side 26 of the centrifugal weight 14 . Said first toothing 28 substantially corresponds to the second toothing 18 of the clutch component 12 . In the first position, the first and second toothings do not mesh with one another, such that the rotor 10 is freely rotatable within the clutch component 12 .
The centrifugal weight 14 is mechanically connected to the rotor 10 via the spring element 22 . Said spring element 22 is elastically deformable and is arranged and designed so as to force the centrifugal weight 14 radially in the direction of the first position. In other words, the spring element 22 is preloaded under tension. In this way, the centrifugal weight 14 is situated in or close to the first position as long no force acts on the centrifugal weight 14 in the radial direction or a small force acts on the centrifugal weight 14 in the radial direction, which force is smaller than the restoring force of the spring element 22 at the location of the centrifugal weight in a second position spaced apart from the first position, wherein the second position will be explained in more detail below. With increasing rotational speed, as a result of rotation of the rotor 10 , an ever increasing centrifugal force acts on the centrifugal weight 14 in the radial direction away from the first position toward a second position (not illustrated) of the centrifugal weight 14 , in which the centrifugal weight 14 abuts against the inner wall 16 of the clutch component 12 and the first and second toothings 28 , 18 mesh with one another. Since it is the case that, with increasing elongation of the spring element 22 in the radial direction, the restoring force of the spring element 22 also increases, the movement of the centrifugal weight 14 in the radial direction does not take place abruptly from the first position into the second position when a certain rotational speed of the rotor 10 is reached, but said movement rather takes place in a continuous fashion with increasing rotational speed of the rotor 10 . Here, the rate of change of the rotational speed determines how suddenly or abruptly the movement of the centrifugal weight 14 in the radial direction takes place. When, at a predetermined rotational speed of the rotor 10 , the centrifugal force is equal to or greater than the force, which has a restoring action radially in the direction of the first position, of the spring element 22 at the location of the second position of the centrifugal weight 14 , the centrifugal weight 14 has moved in the radial direction into the second position under the action of the centrifugal force, and the first toothing 28 and the second toothing 18 mesh with one another. This produces a positive connection between the rotor 10 and the clutch component 12 , wherein as a result of the not only frictional connection, such as is provided in conventional centrifugal clutches, it is possible by means of the positive connection for high forces to be transmitted between the rotor 10 and the clutch component 12 substantially independently of the rotational speed of the rotor 10 as long as the rotational speed is above the predetermined rotational speed.
As is illustrated in FIG. 8 by way of example for the second toothing 18 , the first and second toothings 28 , 18 have a predetermined flank angle 30 of for example 70° to 90°, in particular 80°, or a flank half-angle 32 of for example 35° to 45°, in particular 40°. Furthermore, the first and second toothings 28 , 18 have a flank length 35 of for example 0.5 mm to 2 mm, in particular 1 mm.
The design of the centrifugal weight 14 as a ring segment of the rotor 10 yields two contact surfaces 34 , which are oblique with respect to a longitudinal axis of the bore 20 , between the centrifugal weight 14 and the ring segment cutout 24 of the rotor 10 . Said contact surfaces 34 define planes in space which are in each case parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bore. The centrifugal weight 14 moves on one of said oblique contact surfaces 34 , depending on the direction of rotation of the rotor 10 , during the transition from the first position into the second position. This has the effect that, when the centrifugal weight 14 abuts against the inner wall 16 of the clutch component 12 , the pressure force of the centrifugal weight 14 against the inner wall 16 of the clutch component 12 resulting from the centrifugal force is not aligned perpendicular to the inner wall 16 of the clutch component 12 over the entire region of meshing of the first toothing 28 into the second toothing 18 or over the entire side 26 of the centrifugal weight 14 . On account of increased friction between flanks, which are abutting against one another, of the toothings 28 , 18 , this results in clamping of the meshing of the first and second toothings 28 , 18 with one another. This advantageously has the effect that, in the event of even a slight exceedance of the predetermined rotational speed or activation speed of the rotor 10 at which the centrifugal force is equal to or greater than the force, which has a restoring action radially in the direction of the first position, of the spring element 22 at the location of the second position of the centrifugal weight 14 , intense non-positive engagement is realized between the rotor 10 and the clutch component 12 on account of the positive connection between the rotor 10 and clutch component 12 by means of the intermeshing toothings 28 , 18 in conjunction with the respective oblique contact surface 34 . In this way, it is possible to construct a small centrifugal clutch which produces a non-positive and positive connection already at a low rotational speed and in the event of a slight exceedance of the predetermined rotational speed or activation rotational speed of the rotor 10 .
As can be seen in particular from FIGS. 13 to 16 , the centrifugal weight 14 likewise has a bore 36 which is aligned with the bore 20 in the rotor 10 . The spring element 22 is arranged so as to extend into the bore 35 of the centrifugal weight 14 .
While the present invention has been particularly described, in conjunction with the specific preferred embodiment(s), it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of the foregoing description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will embrace any such alternatives, modifications, and variations as falling within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is: | A centrifugal clutch having a rotor, a clutch component, and at least one centrifugal weight movable relative to the rotor. When the rotational speed of the rotor is below a predefined value, the centrifugal weight is in a first position and at a distance from the clutch component so that the rotor can rotate freely relative to the clutch component and, when the rotational speed of the rotor is above a predefined value, the centrifugal weight executes a movement relative to the rotor under a centrifugal force into a second position so that the centrifugal weight produces a mechanical force fit between the rotor and the clutch component. The centrifugal weight has first toothing and the clutch component a second toothing so that the first toothing, above the predefined rotational speed, engages into the second toothing, establishing a form-locking connection between the rotor and the clutch component. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to devices for protecting electrical equipment and installations against overvoltages, notably transient overvoltages due to lightning, overloads or short circuits.
[0002] The present invention more particularly relates to a device for protecting an electric installation against overvoltages, overload and short-circuits, including at least two main electrodes between which an electric arc is able to form, as well as a device for breaking the electric arc extending, considering the direction of propagation of the electric arc, between an upstream end and a downstream end and having, at its upstream end, an entry area for the arc, at which the electric arc penetrates inside the breaker device, the breaker device including, positioned at its upstream end, insulating means against the return of the electric arc, structurally designed and laid out so as to allow the electric arc to enter the breaker device while forming an obstacle against the exit of the electric arc, in order to avoid that the electric arc, once located inside the breaker device, escapes from the breaker device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] There are different categories of devices capable of interrupting a current, notably a current of standard frequency (50 Hertz) of strong intensity. Indeed, a distinction is made between devices allowing an electrical installation to be protected against overloads or short-circuits, of the circuit breaker type, and devices allowing an electrical installation to be protected against overvoltages, of the lightning arrester or surge suppressor type.
[0004] Such protection devices are generally fitted with a current breaking device (or breaker chamber). In the case of circuit breakers, this breaker device is intended to provide breaking of short-circuit currents. In the case of lightning arresters with spark gaps, the breaker device is intended to provide immediate extinction of the currents.
[0005] The breaker device is generally formed by a plurality of splitting plates in metal, mounted in parallel so as to break down the electric arc into small elementary arcs in order to increase the arc voltage and provide breaking of the current. The known breaker devices intrinsically have a predetermined current-breaking power corresponding to the maximum value of the current which they are able to extinguish.
[0006] Thus, it is seen that when the intensity values of the current are larger than those recommended for a given breaker device, the electric arc may, after having penetrated into the breaker device, escape from the latter and be formed again outside, for example, by using the shortest path between one of the main electrodes and the end of the splitting plates.
[0007] Such a phenomenon is particularly detrimental to the protection device in that it has the effect of interrupting the current breaking attempt. Additionally, this phenomenon may occur several times during a rather short time interval. The electric arc may thus enter into the breaker device, exit therefrom and then again enter therein until the apparatus is destroyed without having managed to interrupt the follow or short-circuit current.
[0008] In order to find a remedy to these drawbacks, when larger current-breaking powers are required, it is known to increase the number of splitting plates, to place several protection devices in series or in parallel, or even to resort to complementary mechanisms for physically breaking the electric arc. Nevertheless, all these solutions have a certain number of drawbacks in particular related to their often difficult application, and to the fact that they lead to significant increase in the bulkiness of the protection devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Accordingly, the features provided by the present invention finds a remedy to the different drawbacks listed earlier and proposes a novel device for protecting an electrical installation against overvoltages, overloads or short-circuits, for which the current breaking power is enhanced.
[0010] Another feature of the present invention proposes a novel device for protecting an electrical installation against overvoltages, overloads or short-circuits, the bulkiness of which is limited.
[0011] Another feature of the present invention proposes a novel device for protecting an electrical installation against overvoltages, overloads or short-circuits, the structure of which is particularly adapted to the case of currents of strong intensity.
[0012] Another feature of the present invention proposes a novel device for protecting an electrical installation against overvoltages, overloads or short-circuits, with its manufacturing being particularly simple.
[0013] The features provided by the present invention are achieved by means of a device for protecting an electrical installation against overvoltages, overloads or short-circuits, including at least two main electrodes between which an electric arc is able to form, as well as an electric arc breaker device extending, considering the direction of propagation of the electric arc, between an upstream end and a downstream end and having, at its upstream end, an entry area for the arc, at which the electric arc penetrates inside the breaker device, the breaker device including, positioned at its upstream end, insulating means against the return of the electric arc, structurally designed and laid out so as to allow the electric arc to enter the breaker device while forming an obstacle against the exiting of the electric arc, so as to prevent the electric arc, once located inside the breaker device, to escape from the breaker device, wherein the insulating means are formed by one or several flexible strips, in an insulating material, laid out in order to form a partial insulating barrier between the electrodes and the upstream end.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and emerge in more detail upon reading the description, with reference to the drawings, given as purely illustrative and non-limiting, wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a protection device against overvoltages according to the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a side view of a first exemplary embodiment of a breaker device for the protection device according to the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a front view of the breaker device of FIG. 2 ;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a top view of the breaker device of FIG. 2 ;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a front view of another exemplary embodiment of a breaker device for the protection device according to the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a side view of another exemplary embodiment of a breaker device for the protection device according to the present invention; and
[0021] FIG. 7 is a side view of another exemplary embodiment of a breaker device for the protection device according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] The protection device of an electrical installation against overvoltages, overloads or short-circuits according to the present invention, is intended to protect a piece of equipment or an electrical installation. The expression “electrical installation” refers to any type of apparatus or network likely to be subject to voltage perturbations, notably transient overvoltages due to lightning or even to overloads, notably overload or short-circuit currents. Such devices may consist of spark gap lightning arresters or surge suppressors provided with a follow current breaker device or of circuit breakers provided with a short-circuit current breaker device.
[0023] In the description, the interest is more particularly focused on a protection device against overvoltages of the spark gap lightning arrester type, but of course the present invention applies to breakers.
[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates a protection device 1 according to the present invention advantageously formed by a spark gap lightning arrester. The protection device 1 comprises, advantageously mounted within an insulating casing 20 , at least first and second electrodes 2 , 3 , which may form, as is illustrated in FIG. 1 , two main electrodes of the spark gap lightning arrester. Both of these electrodes 2 , 3 are maintained at a distance from each other and separated by a lamella 4 in a dielectric material with which striking an electric arc 5 between the electrodes 2 , 3 may be improved and better controlled. This so-called upstream portion of the device is the area for striking the electric arc 5 .
[0025] In the case of a circuit breaker, the electrodes are formed by two contacts, for example, a fixed contact and a mobile contact maintained in physical contact with each other in order to provide the electrical connection. In this case, the electric arc is formed between both contacts when the mobile contact moves away from the fixed contact to provide the electrical disconnection.
[0026] According to the present invention, and as is illustrated in FIG. 1 , the protection device 1 includes an electric arc breaker device 6 for breaking the electric arc 5 .
[0027] In a particularly advantageous way, the breaker device 6 is formed by an assembly of splitting plates 7 in an electrically conducting material, for example, in metal, positioned in parallel and at a distance from each other. The splitting plates 7 are advantageously maintained at a distance from each other by supporting strips 8 in an electrically insulating material.
[0028] According to the present invention, the breaker device 6 extends, considering the direction of propagation F of the electric arc 5 , between an upstream end 6 A and a bottom end 6 B. As this is illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 , the breaker device 6 at its upstream end 6 A, has an entry area E for the electric arc, at which the electric arc 5 penetrates inside the breaker device 6 . Thus, before penetrating into the breaker device 6 , the electric arc 5 propagates along the direction of propagation F, within a divergent space 9 extending between the electric arc striking area and the breaker device 6 . The divergent space 9 is advantageously delimited by the electrodes 2 , 3 , and preferentially filled with air.
[0029] According to an essential feature of the present invention, the breaker device 6 includes, at its upstream end 6 A, insulating means 10 against the return of the electric arc 5 . These insulating means 10 are structurally designed and laid out so as to allow the electric arc 5 to enter the breaker device 6 while forming an obstacle against the exiting of the electric arc 5 so as to prevent the electric arc, once located inside the breaker device 6 , from escaping from the breaker device.
[0030] The insulating means 10 are adapted in order to prevent the electric arc 5 from propagating backwards, along a direction opposite to its normal propagation direction F, so that once the electric arc is broken down into a plurality of elementary arcs within the breaker device 6 , the electric arc 5 cannot form again outside the breaker device 6 , notably in the divergent space 9 .
[0031] The anti-return insulating means 10 , therefore, operate as a hoop net, and the anti-return insulating means 10 are built and positioned relatively to the splitting plates 7 on the one hand, and to the electrodes 2 , 3 on the other hand, so as to substantially reduce the likelihood that the electric arc 5 escapes from the breaker device 6 . By the design of the protection device 1 according to the present invention, it is, therefore, possible to notably improve its current-breaking power for breaking the short-circuit current.
[0032] The insulating means 10 according to the present invention should actually provide an answer to a new problem which is that of letting the electric arc 5 penetrate inside the protection device 6 while limiting the likelihood that the electric arc exits and does not form again outside the breaker device 6 .
[0033] Advantageously, the insulating means 10 are laid out so as to form a partial insulating barrier between the electrodes 2 , 3 and the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 . The expression “partial insulating barrier” not only refers to physical barriers in an electrically insulating material, but also to not necessarily physical barriers, for example, to electrically insulating barriers, capable of preventing the formation of an electric arc between the electrodes 2 , 3 and the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 .
[0034] Advantageously, the splitting plates 7 extend, considering the direction of propagation F of the electric arc 5 , between a front end 7 A and a distal end 7 B. The front ends 7 A and the distal end 7 B are substantially located on the same level as the upstream 6 A and downstream ends 6 B of the breaker device 6 . In a more particular exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the splitting plates 7 are each provided with a notch 11 at least partly separating each splitting plate 7 into two distinct branches 7 C, 7 D. Thus, when the splitting plates 7 are assembled so as to form the breaker device 6 , the notches 11 form a groove 12 , the shape of which, e.g., a V-shape, is specifically designed to attract the electric arc 5 towards the inside of the breaker device 6 . In this way, the entry area E for the electric arc 5 , substantially coincides with the groove 12 .
[0035] According a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the insulating means 10 are laid out so as to physically, at least partially, close the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 , thereby forming a physical insulating barrier between the electrodes 2 , 3 and the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 .
[0036] In an even more preferred way, the insulating means 10 are laid out so as to cover in totality the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 located around, for example, on either side of the entry area E for the electric arc 5 . The insulating means 10 may thereby be positioned, as is illustrated in FIG. 3 , on either side of the groove 12 so that they will cover the front end 7 A of the branches 7 C, 7 D of the splitting plates 7 .
[0037] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the insulating means 10 may be formed by one or several rigid strips (not shown) for example, positioned on either side of the groove 12 so as to cover the front end 7 A of the splitting plates 7 . The rigid strips then preferably extend along a plane substantially perpendicular to the direction of propagation F of the electric arc 5 , and coplanar with the plane formed by the front ends 7 A of the splitting plates 7 .
[0038] The rigid strips may advantageously be perforated with a plurality of ports in order to provide air flow between the divergent space 9 and the breaker device 6 .
[0039] Preferentially, the rigid strips will, through one of their faces, contact the front ends 7 A of the splitting plates 7 , and will preferentially be sealably supported upon the splitting plates.
[0040] In a still more preferential way, the insulating means 10 are formed by caps 13 positioned on either side of the groove 12 and designed so that, in their functional position, they cover the front end 7 A of one or more splitting plates 7 .
[0041] As is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the caps 13 are preferentially formed by a substantially elongated strip 14 , intended to cover the front end 7 A with several splitting plates 7 , and from which an edge 15 is extended, laid out and oriented so that when the cap 13 is in its functional position, the edge 15 will naturally cover the upper edge 12 A of the groove 12 .
[0042] Preferentially, the edge 15 of the cap 13 is adapted in order to substantially penetrate inside the groove 12 when the cap 13 is in its functional position ( FIG. 3 ).
[0043] In a still more preferential way, and as is illustrated in FIG. 3 , the cap 13 has a substantially U-shaped section so as to cover the end of the branches 7 C, 7 D of the splitting plates 7 , thereby substantially conforming to the shape of the branches 7 C, 7 D.
[0044] According to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 , the caps 15 include teeth 16 positioned at a distance from each other, preferably at regular intervals, and adapted in order to be housed between two consecutive splitting plates 7 when the cap 13 is in its functional position. With the teeth 16 , it is thereby possible to prevent the splitting plates 7 at their front ends 7 A from deforming and notably moving closer to each other, while improving the insulation properties of the caps 13 .
[0045] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention (not shown in the figures), the insulating means 10 are advantageously made of the same material as the casing 20 of the protection device 1 , the casing 20 including the main electrodes 2 , 3 on the one hand, and the breaker device 6 on the other hand.
[0046] In this case, the shape of the inner surface of the casing 20 is adapted, for example, upon manufacturing the casing 20 by moulding, in order to exhibit relief structures capable of forming the insulating means 10 .
[0047] The insulating means 10 and/or the casing 20 may advantageously be made from a rigid material capable of withstanding the temperature of the arc, for example, injected plastic with good temperature resistance, and even more preferentially epoxy resin or ceramic.
[0048] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 5 , the insulating means 10 are advantageously formed by one or several preferably flexible and adhesive strips 17 . The strips 17 are advantageously laid out so as to cover in totality the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 located around the entry area E for the arc. As is illustrated in FIG. 5 , the strips 17 are located on either side of the groove 12 so as to advantageously cover the front ends 7 A of the splitting plates 7 , notably of the branches 7 C, 7 D, thereby forming caps 13 with an edge 15 , substantially penetrating inside the grove 12 , similar to the exemplary embodiments described earlier.
[0049] Advantageously, the strips 17 are made in a temperature-resistant insulating material and are notably resistant to the temperature of the arc. Preferentially, the strips 17 are made from a glass fabric coated on one of its faces with an adhesive of the thermosetting silicone type, so as to provide excellent thermal and mechanical strength.
[0050] The strips 17 preferably include a sticky portion allowing the strip(s) 17 to be attached onto the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 , by adhesion.
[0051] In a particularly advantageous way, the sticky portion of the strips 17 will thus intimately conform to the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 .
[0052] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 , the insulating means 10 do not form a physical barrier between the electrodes 2 , 3 , and the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 , but an immaterial electrically insulating barrier.
[0053] According to another exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 , the insulating means 10 are advantageously formed by an electrically insulating coating 18 deposited on substantially the whole surface of the terminal portion 7 E, located towards the front end 7 A, of one or several splitting plates 7 . The coating 18 is advantageously positioned so as cover the terminal portion 7 E. With the coating 18 , it is possible to significantly increase the distance over which the electric arc should travel to form again outside the breaker device 6 . The presence of the coating 18 , therefore, has the effect of reducing the likelihood that the electric arc does not form again between the main electrodes 2 , 3 , outside the breaker device 6 .
[0054] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 7 , the insulating means 10 are formed by insulating plates 19 located on either side of the groove 12 and interposed between two successive splitting plates 7 so as to extend towards the outside of the breaker device 6 , beyond the front end 7 A of the splitting plates 7 .
[0055] With the insulating plates 19 , it is also possible to prevent the electric arc from escaping outside the breaker device 6 by increasing the distance over which the electric arc has to travel, to form again outside the breaker device 6 , between the main electrodes 2 , 3 .
[0056] According an even more preferential exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the breaker device 6 includes, at its downstream end 6 B, an insulating screen 30 positioned so as to at least partly cover the downstream end 6 B of the breaker device 6 , so as to prevent the electric arc 5 from escaping from the breaker device 6 after the electric arc has crossed the breaker device, for example once ( FIG. 1 ).
[0057] In this preferential exemplary embodiment, the insulating means 10 have a crucial role in that after having crossed the breaker device 6 along the direction of propagation F, the electric arc 5 will “rebound” on the insulating screen 30 , and again leave in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of propagation F, towards the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 . In such a configuration, the applicant noticed that the electric arc 5 preferentially moved up along the branches 7 C, 7 D of the splitting plates 7 and much more infrequently at the central portion 12 B of the groove 12 .
[0058] In this preferential exemplary embodiment, the insulating barrier formed by the insulating means 10 , provides a notable reduction in the likelihood that the electric arc can escape at the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 , thereby preventing the electric arc 5 from forming again between the main electrodes 2 , 3 .
[0059] The operation of the protection device 1 according to the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-7 .
[0060] During operation, when an overvoltage exceeding a predetermined threshold value occurs, notably as a result of a lightning impact, an electric arc 5 is established between both main electrodes 2 , 3 , which allows the lightning current to flow to ground. This electric arc 5 then moves up to the breaker device 6 into which the electric arc penetrates at the entry area E, substantially located in the same plane as the groove 12 . The electric arc 5 is then broken down into a plurality of elementary arcs in order to increase the arc voltage of the current relatively to the mains voltage and to limit the intensity of the currents drained by the protection device. The elementary electric arcs move towards the downstream end 6 B of the breaker device 6 until they encounter the insulating screen 30 . A “rebound” phenomenon then occurs, and the elementary electric arcs again leave in the direction opposite to the initial direction of propagation F of the electric arc 5 , towards the upstream end 6 A of the breaker device 6 . According to the most likely operating mode, the elementary electric arcs move towards the branches 7 C, 7 D and more specifically along the latter up to their front end 7 A. They are then trapped by the insulating means 10 , which prevent the electric arc 5 from forming again outside the breaker device 6 .
[0061] The protection device 1 according to the invention, therefore, has an improved current-breaking power for breaking the short-circuit current or the follow current, as compared with the devices of the prior art, and this by limiting the likelihood that the electric arc, once located inside the breaker device and broken down into a plurality of elementary arcs, escapes from the breaker device in order to form again outside the latter between the main electrodes.
[0062] By the presence of the insulating means 10 , the protection device according to the present invention has a current-breaking power multiplied by at least two as compared with devices from the prior art.
[0063] The invention finds one aspect of its industrial application in the design, the manufacturing and the use of protection devices against overvoltages, overloads, or short-circuits. | A protective device for an electrical installation, having at least two electrodes between which an electric arc can form, and a device for interrupting ( 6 ) the arc, extending between an upstream end ( 6 A) and a downstream end ( 6 B), with an entry region (E) for the arc at the upstream end ( 6 A) thereof, at which point the arc enters the breaker device ( 6 ). The breaker device ( 6 ) has an insulation means ( 10 ) which permit the arc to enter the breaker device ( 6 ) while forming an obstacle to reaching the exit for the arc. The insulation means ( 10 ) are formed by one or more flexible ribbons which form a partial insulation barrier between the electrodes and the upstream end ( 6 A). The invention further relates to overload and short-circuit protection devices. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically dispensing tennis balls, and in particular, to a vending machine for dispensing cans of tennis balls.
Presently it is a common practice for employees of tennis facilities to sell tennis balls directly to patrons. However, this practice is inefficient and inconvenient for patrons, particularly in busy facilities, where the wait to obtain tennis balls may be long. Similarly, consumers who play tennis on remote public tennis courts typically have to purchase tennis balls at locations other than the tennis court sites. The practice of providing for the purchase of tennis balls at tennis facilities or at other locations for use at remote tennis courts is both time consuming and expensive for the tennis facilities, whose employees must provide such service to its patrons. As well, the practice of purchasing tennis balls at locations other than tennis court sites is time consuming and inconvenient for consumers.
Dispensing machines have been developed for a variety of articles, such as beverages and canned foods. Typically, such machines deliver articles along a generally serpentine track or chute to a dispensing space. For example, Beesley, U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,118, discloses a storing and dispensing apparatus having a serpentine chute along which containers of food are stored and fed by gravity to a dispensing space. The apparatus of Beesley includes a plurality of storage cells which are adjustable to accommodate different container sizes. Similarly, Negishi et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,590, discloses a dispensing machine having a serpentine track interconnecting a loading space with a dispensing space, and having means for adjusting the track for different sized articles.
Other dispensing machines have been developed which store cylindrical or spherical objects in a hopper area, and deliver them to a dispensing space along a simple track. See, Garvin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,669 and Bock, U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,847. Several dispensing machine improvements have been directed to improved means for dispensing cylindrical objects one at a time to a dispensing space. For example, Rockola et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,945, discloses a solenoid operated vend and feed gate, while Moss et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,179 disclose an improved device employing a pair of spaced, rotatable disc-like structures which rotate in concert to release one cylindrical product at a time from a shelf or track.
A drawback of these dispensing machines, however, is that they are designed for canned goods which are relatively short in length. Although some machines are adjustable within a given range, they remain unsuitable for larger and longer cylindrical containers.
Accordingly, while dispensers have long been known for various articles such as canned foods and beverages, the need continues to exist for an economical means for storing and dispensing tennis balls which will provide quick, easy, and efficient sales to patrons of tennis facilities and remote public tennis court sites.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention satisfies that need by providing an apparatus for dispensing tennis ball containers for use at sports and tennis facilities and tennis court sites. The apparatus includes a hopper for storage of numerous tennis ball containers, a serpentine track for further storage and transfer to an outlet, and a dispensing means for releasing the tennis ball containers one at a time from the track. The apparatus of the present invention further includes a housing enclosing the hopper, serpentine track and dispensing means.
The hopper of the present invention is designed for easy access for restocking. Further, both the hopper and the serpentine track are designed to promote organized discharge of tennis ball containers placed therein.
The serpentine track, also referred to simply as the track, includes two segments. The first segment tilts at a slight angle as it extends downward from the hopper. This slight angle prevents rapid shifting and jamming of tennis ball containers in the hopper as they enter the upper, first end of the track. The tennis ball containers move by force of gravity down the track. From the first segment they move through a turn and into a more steeply inclined second segment, where the tennis ball containers encounter the dispensing means adjacent to the outlet, second end of the track.
The dispensing means operates to dispense tennis ball containers, preferably, one at a time. In the dispensing means, a discharge lever and a stop lever operate in timed coordination between first and second positions to alternately interrupt the movement of tennis ball containers on the track, and release ones of the containers to a dispensing bin.
The housing of the present invention preferably includes a dispensing bin at the outlet, second end of the track, into which tennis ball containers are dispensed from the track, a consumer access door, and a bin gate to inhibit tampering. The housing also includes means for actuating the dispensing means which is operable by the insertion of money. Preferably, the front cover of the housing is mounted along one edge to swing open for front access to the hopper, track and dispensing means, and to permit servicing of the means for actuating. The overall size of the present invention is moderate, and the apparatus may be mounted on a stand, or placed on a counter or other supporting structure.
Once tennis ball containers are loaded into the hopper and track, operation of the present invention to dispense a tennis ball container begins by actuating the dispensing means with money. The stop lever then moves from its first position, where it allows free movement of tennis ball containers in the track, to its second position, where it interrupts the movement of one or more tennis ball containers to be retained in the track. Meanwhile, the discharge lever retracts from its first position, where it interrupts the movement of tennis ball containers to be dispensed, to its second position, where it allows a tennis ball container to be dispensed to exit from the track. Thereafter, the discharge lever returns to its first position to interrupt the movement of the next tennis ball container to be dispensed, and the stop lever returns to its first position, allowing the tennis ball containers to again freely move in the track. The tennis ball containers then advance and fill the space made available between the stop lever and discharge lever by the dispensed container. The tennis ball container preferably is released from the track into a dispensing bin, where the consumer may remove it for use.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention in the preferred embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention with the housing removed.
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention with the right side panel of the housing removed.
FIG. 4 is a partial front elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention with the housing removed to show the track and means for discharging tennis ball containers.
FIG. 5 is a partial rear elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention with the housing removed to show the track, and the motor cut away to show the arrangement of the first and second eccentric stub shafts, first and second shafts, and the means for discharging tennis ball containers.
FIG. 6 is a detail side elevational view of the dispensing means of the present invention with the discharge lever and stop lever in their first positions.
FIG. 7 is a detail side elevational view of the dispensing means of the present invention with the discharge lever and stop lever in their second positions.
FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of the housing structure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with the present invention, apparatus 10 for dispensing tennis ball containers 12 is provided for use at sports and tennis facilities. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus 10 includes a hopper 14 for storage of numerous tennis ball containers 12 shown in phantom, a serpentine track 16 providing further storage as well as conveyance to an outlet, and a dispensing means 18 for releasing the tennis ball containers 12 one at a time from the track 16. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus 10 includes a housing 20 and is preferably mounted on a stand 22.
With reference to FIG. 2, the hopper 14 preferably has a generally rectangular shape defined by a front panel 24, back panel 26, opposing side panels 28, 30 and a bottom panel 32. A top panel (not shown) is not necessary, although one may be provided. Front panel 24 preferably includes a first aperture 34 through which tennis ball containers 12 may be passed to stock the hopper 14. The width of first aperture 34 is less than the length of a tennis ball container 12 while its height, at minimum, must be sufficient to permit manipulation of tennis ball containers 12 therethrough. Preferably, first aperture 34 extends substantially down the length of the front panel 24, as shown in FIG. 2, to facilitate restocking. However, first aperture 34 could be placed in back panel 26, or one of side panels 28, 30 for restocking hopper 14. Alternatively, first aperture 34 could be eliminated completely and restocking accomplished through the top of hopper 14. Referring now to FIG. 3, the bottom panel 32 preferably includes a second aperture 36 through which tennis ball containers 12 pass into track 16. At least a portion of bottom panel 32 is slightly inclined to urge tennis ball containers 12 therein towards second aperture 36. The hopper 14 is designed to store sufficient tennis ball containers 12 so that restocking need take place only at reasonable intervals. Preferably, hopper 14 has a depth of six tennis ball container diameters, and a height of five tennis ball containers, as shown in FIG. 3.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, track 16 extends from an upper, first end 38 where tennis ball containers enter from second aperture 36, to an outlet, second end 40, where tennis ball containers 12 are discharged. Track 16, defined by opposing, generally parallel first and second walls 42, 44 and side walls 46, 48, is designed to tilt at a slight angle as it extends downward from the hopper 14, preferably about 10 degrees from horizontal. This slight angle prevents rapid shifting of tennis ball containers 12 in the hopper 14 and related jamming, as the tennis ball containers 12 enter the upper, first end 38 of the track 16. The tennis ball containers 12 move by force of gravity down the track 16, through a turn, and into a segment more steeply inclined, preferably at substantially 30 degrees. The tennis ball containers 12 continue therethrough whereupon they encounter the dispensing means 18 adjacent to the second end 40 of the track 16. As shown in FIGS. 2-5, track 16 further includes first and second slots 52, 54 in first and second walls 42, 44, respectively.
The dispensing means 18 operates to dispense tennis ball containers 12 one at a time from the second end 40 of track 16. Referring to FIGS. 2-7, dispensing means 18 includes a discharge lever 56 and a stop lever 58 which operate in timed coordination between first and second positions to alternately interrupt the movement of tennis ball containers 12 in the track 16.
As best shown in FIG. 4, discharge lever 56 is generally U-shaped, and is inverted so that the opposite ends thereof may be rotatably attached to a first, preferably fixed, shaft 50. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, discharge lever 56 includes a discharge plate 60 which is attached generally between the opposite ends of the discharge lever 56, and which extends laterally from the discharge lever 56, as seen in FIG. 3. Discharge lever 56 is rotatable between a first and second positions to extend or retract the discharge plate 60 through the first slot 52 into and out of the path of the tennis ball containers 12. FIG. 6 shows discharge lever 56 in its first position, with discharge plate 60 interrupting the path of tennis ball containers 12 and restraining a tennis ball container 12 which is to be next dispensed. FIG. 7 shows discharge lever 56 in a second position, with discharge plate 60 retracted, allowing the tennis ball container 12 previously restrained to be dispensed.
As best shown in FIG. 5, stop lever 58 is also generally U-shaped, and is inverted so that the opposite ends thereof may be rotatably attached to the first shaft 50. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, stop lever 58 includes a stop plate 62 which is attached generally between the opposite ends of the stop lever 58, and which extends laterally from the stop lever 58, as seen in FIG. 3. Stop lever 58 is rotatable between first and second positions to extend or retract the stop plate 62 through the second slot 54 into and out of the path of the tennis ball containers 12. FIG. 6 shows stop lever 58 in its first position, with stop plate 60 retracted from the path of tennis ball containers 12. FIG. 7 shows stop lever 58 in a second position, with stop plate 62 extended into the path of tennis ball containers 12 to restrain a tennis ball container 12 which is to be next dispensed, allowing the preceding tennis ball container 12 to be dispensed.
The dispensing means 18 further includes means for reciprocating discharge lever 56 and stop lever 58 in a cycle between their respective first and second positions, in timed relation, so that they alternately interrupt the movement of the tennis ball containers 12 in the track 16, and at least one of them controls the movement of the tennis ball containers 12 at all times. The means for reciprocating may also be referred to as means for swinging.
The means for reciprocating is variously shown in FIGS. 2-7. Referring to FIG. 5, the means for reciprocating includes first and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b, respectively, rotatably mounted in first and second bearings 68a, 68b, respectively, for rotation about an axis of rotation 72. The ends of second shaft 64 are attached to first and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b so that second shaft 64 rotates eccentrically in housing 20 (not shown). Such eccentric rotation is produced by mounting the central axis 73 of second shaft 64 off-set from the axis of rotation 72. Second shaft 64 and first and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b may, alternatively, be made as one piece. First and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b include first and second end faces 70a, 70b, respectively, facing outward. Shown in FIGS. 2-3 and 5-7, means for reciprocating further includes a pair of first lever arms 74a, 74b extending from opposite sides of the discharge lever 56 to the first and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b, respectively. One end of each of the first and second lever arms 74a, 74b is rotatably connected to the discharge lever 56, for example by bolt, pins or cam followers, while the opposite end of each is similarly connected to first and second end faces 70a, 70b of eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b. Lever arms 74a, 74b are connected off-set from the axis of rotation of eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b, preferably by first and second cam followers 76a, 76b, respectively. As first and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b rotate, lever arms 74a, 74b thereby cause discharge lever 56 to reciprocate. Similarly, the means for reciprocating further includes a pair of second lever arms 78a, 78b extending from opposite sides of the stop lever 58 to shaft 64. Shaft 64 extends through the second lever arms, and preferably through bushings therein, to permit rotation of shaft 64. Thus, as shaft 64 rotates through an eccentric path, lever arms 78a, 78b cause stop lever 58 to reciprocate. First and second lever arms 74a, 74b, and 78a, 78b, are thus moved through respective reciprocating paths to provide coordinated action of discharge lever 56 and stop lever 58 and produce the results here indicated. The cam followers and bushings are made in a manner known in the art.
The means for reciprocating further includes a drive means for rotating the first and second eccentric stub shafts 66a, 66b, and second shaft 64. Referring to FIGS. 5-7, the drive means includes an electric stepper motor 82 adapted to provide a source of rotary power, such as motor drive shaft 80 having a motor drive pulley 81, a pulley 84 attached to the second eccentric stub shaft 66b, and a drive belt 86 connecting the source of rotary power at motor 82, i.e. drive shaft 81 via motor drive pulley 81, to the pulley 84.
The drive means of the present invention may be actuated by various means for actuating, to rotate the first and second eccentric drive shafts 66a, 66b, and second shaft 64 through a revolution, and to thereby cycle the discharge lever 56 and stop lever 58 through their first and second positions to dispense a tennis ball container 12. Such means for actuating, shown representatively in part in FIG. 1, preferably includes a money actuated control circuit 106, as known in the art, which may be actuated by coins or bills to generate a control signal to actuate motor 82.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 8, the present invention further includes a dispensing bin 88, located adjacent to the second end 40 of the track 16, to receive tennis ball containers 12 dispensed from track 16. A gate means for closing the second end of the track 16 is further provided above dispensing bin 88. The gate means comprises a bin gate 90 rotatably mounted to swing along one edge in housing 20, and a consumer access door 89 mounted to swing inward to allow access to dispensing bin 88. Bin gate 90 is connected at its opposite side edges to consumer access door 89 by first and second link arms 91a, 91b. As shown best in FIG. 3, in its normal or "at rest" position, bin gate 90 is positioned upward and access door 89 maintained closed by first and second bias springs 93a, 93b. So positioned, bin gate 90 allows a tennis ball container 12 to pass unimpeded into dispensing bin 88. As shown in phantom in FIG. 3, when access door 89 is swung inward to remove a tennis ball container 12 dispensed into dispensing bin 88, bin gate 90 simultaneously swings downward and blocks the outlet, second end 40 of track 16 to inhibit tampering.
Housing 20 encloses and supports the various components of the present invention. As indicated generally in FIG. 8, housing 20 includes support frame 92, top housing panel 94, bottom housing panel 96, side housing panels 98, 100, front housing panel support frame 101, front housing panel 102 and rear housing panel 104. As noted above, dispensing bin 88, access door 89, and bin gate 90 are preferably supported by housing 20, and more specifically, by front housing panel support frame 101. At least a portion of the money operated control circuit 106 is also disposed in front housing panel 102, and supported by front housing panel support frame 101. Front housing panel 102 is supported on front housing panel support frame, and is preferably removable by swinging out and away by means of a hinge 108. Hinge 108 connects one edge of front housing panel 102 and front housing panel support frame 101 to support frame 92 supporting the remainder of housing 20, and is sufficiently strong to support the components disposed in front housing panel 102. Front housing panel 102 may thereby be used to provide access to restock hopper 14 through first aperture 34 with tennis ball containers 12, to collect money from and maintain the money operated control circuit 106, as well as to maintain the dispensing means 18 and other related components. A key lock (not shown) of a type known in the art may be used to lock the front panel 102 to the remainder of housing 20 and secure the contents of apparatus 10. The top, side, and rear housing panels, 94, 98 and 100, and 104, respectively, are also preferably secured by removable fasteners (not shown) to permit access, as needed, to components of the apparatus 10 of the present invention.
As further shown in FIG. 1, a removable advertisement panel 110 may be provided on the front, rear, or side housing panels 102, 104, 98, 100, such as a plastic, cardboard, or other rigid or semi-rigid panel material, retained by conventional means, such as tabs and slots, removable connectors, frames, and the like. Such advertisement panels 110 are preferably removable only from the inside of housing 20. By way of illustration, a front advertisement panel 110a, covering half of the front housing panel 102, and a side advertisement 110b, covering most of side housing panel 100, are shown. Smaller or larger, and multiple advertising panels, may be variously placed on housing 20.
In operation, insertion of money into the means for actuating actuates electric motor 82 of the drive means to begin the cycle for dispensing of a tennis ball container 12. As motor 82 begins to cycle through one revolution, the stop lever 58 moves from its first position, where it allows free movement of tennis ball containers 12 in the track 16, to its second position, where it interrupts the movement of one or more tennis ball containers 12 to be retained in the track 16. Meanwhile, the discharge lever 56 retracts from its first position, where it interrupts the movement of tennis ball container 12 to be dispensed to its second position, where it allows the tennis ball container 12 to be dispensed to exit from the track 16. At least one of the discharge lever 56 or stop lever 58 is interrupting the path of tennis ball containers 12 at all times. After a tennis ball container 12 exits from the track 16, the discharge lever 56 returns to its first position to interrupt the movement of the next tennis ball container 12 to be dispensed, and the stop lever 58 returns to its first position, allowing the tennis ball containers 12 to again freely move in the track 16.
While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for purposes of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the apparatus disclosed herein may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims. For example, the dispensing means 18 may be arranged so that discharge lever 56 and stop lever 58 provide for two or more tennis ball containers 12 to be dispensed from track 16. By way of further example, other housing panels may be hinged for improved access to the housing from various directions. | An apparatus for dispensing tennis balls is provided having a hopper for storing tennis ball containers, a serpentine track, and a dispensing device for releasing tennis ball containers from the serpentine track. A housing of moderate size supports the various components of the apparatus, and preferably includes a money operated actuator to actuate the dispensing device, and a dispensing bin in a removable front housing panel. The apparatus may be mounted on a stand and used as a free standing unit, or placed on a counter. | 6 |
This is a national stage of PCT/SG04/000260 filed Aug. 26, 2004 and published in English.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for ultrasonic vibrations-assisted machining and refers particularly, though not exclusively to apparatus for ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining of metals such as steel and stainless steel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining has several important advantages. One important advantage flows from the friction reducing action, which arises when the cutting edge or point of the tool separates from the work during each vibration cycle and which introduces an ultrasonic pumping action. This pumping action allows transmission of cooling fluids to all areas of the workpieace area. The cooling fluid may be air.
Normal machining has an accuracy of greater than 5 μm and uses ordinary machine tools. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining was introduced in the 1960s to provide advantages over normal machining. The expected advantages have not been realized, however, as it did not increase tool life nor improve surface finish. Also, cutting efficiency is low as the cutting speed must be less than the vibration speed.
Since 1980, ultra-precision machining was developed to meet the demands of fabricating complicated optics. A diamond tool bit is the only tool bit that can be used to generate an optical mirror surface finish. However, a diamond tool bit cannot be used on steel due to the strong chemical reaction between the diamond and the steel. The chemical reaction causes graphitization of the diamond.
With prior art systems, the vibration horn is clamped at two static node points of the vibration wave as shown in FIG. 1 . The diamond tool bit is mounted on the free end of the vibration horn. To achieve a mirror surface finish, the induced lateral vibration of the horn in the radial direction must be significantly reduced.
For the prior art method of the vibration horn with two static clamping points, there is some distance from the lower static node point to the free end where the tool bit is mounted. In such a case, the point at the free end has reduced stiffness in the lateral/radial direction and lateral vibration in the lateral/radial direction can easily be induced.
To increase the lateral stiffness, the diameter of the horn is increased and, in turn, the power of the ultrasonic vibration generator is also increased. Therefore, the overall size of the apparatus is increased. Furthermore, the operational temperature of the device increases due to the larger power, and is easily damaged due to the higher temperature. Also, lateral (or radial) vibration damages the tool bit. It also causes deeper cuts and therefore lower quality surface finish. Such lateral radial vibrations are normally of the order of 4 μm.
To prevent excessive tool wear, a two stage process has been proposed using electroless nickel plating or coating on a workpiece before machining when fabricating optical mold inserts for the injection molding of plastic lenses. However such methods have many disadvantages. Also, they are not capable of manufacturing moulds with high durability as the nickel tends to lift off the steel workpiece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect there is provided an apparatus for ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining, the apparatus comprising: an ultrasonic transducer for generating ultrasonic waves in a vibration horn; a first clamp on the vibration horn at a static node of the ultrasonic waves; and a second clamp between the first clamp and a lowermost end of the vibration horn. The second clamp comprises a linear bearing for reducing vibration of the vibration horn in a direction laterally of the vibration horn, and allowing vibration of the vibration horn in the direction of a longitudinal axial of the vibration horn.
The linear bearing may be axially spaced from the first clamp by less than half a wavelength of the ultrasonic waves.
According to a second aspect there is provided apparatus for ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining, the apparatus comprising: an ultrasonic transducer for generating ultrasonic waves in a vibration horn; a first clamp on the vibration horn at a static node of the ultrasonic waves; and a second clamp between the first clamp and a lowermost end of the vibration horn. The second clamp is axially spaced from the first clamp by less than half a wavelength of the ultrasonic waves.
The second clamp may comprise a linear bearing for reducing vibrations of the vibration horn in a direction laterally of the vibration horn and allowing vibration of the vibration horn in the direction -of a longitudinal axis of the vibration horn.
For both aspects, the second clamp may be generally U-shaped and may comprise an upper clamp, a lower clamp, and an intermediate portion between the upper clamp and the lower clamp. The upper clamp and the lower clamp may be radially adjustable relative to the linear bearing.
The second clamp may be removably and adjustably mounted in a mounting block. The first clamp may be removably attached to the mounting block. The mounting block may be removably and adjustably mounted on a tool post. The tool post may comprise: an upper portion, a lower portion, a gap between the upper portion and the lower portion, and an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the gap.
The apparatus may further comprise a tool bit releasably secured to the vibration horn at the lowermost end thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the present invention may be fully understood and readily put into practical effect, there shall now be described by way of non-limitative example only preferred embodiments of the present invention, the description being with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a prior art apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment; and
FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross sectional view of a preferred form of linear bearing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
To refer to FIG. 1 , there is shown a prior art apparatus 8 . Here, there is an ultrasound transducer 10 with a vibration horn 12 . These are mounted to a mounting block 14 by upper clamp 16 and lower clamp 18 . The tool bit 20 is at the lowermost end of the vibration horn 12 . The ultrasound transducer 10 produces sound waves 22 at, for example, 40 KHz. The waves have maximum amplitude at ultrasound transducer 10 , and at tool bit 20 to maximize the movement of tool bit 20 . To hold the vibration horn 12 in place, and to prevent unwanted radial (or lateral) movement, the vibration horn 12 is secured to mounting block 14 by upper clamp 16 and lower clamp 18 . Clamps 16 , 18 are located at static node points 24 to allow them to function without interfering with the operation of tool bit 20 . However, that means there is inherently a gap between lower clamp 18 and tool bit 20 . This allows unwanted motion to occur at tool bit 20 , the unwanted vibration being induced by vibration horn 12 .
To now refer to FIGS. 2 and 3 , there is shown apparatus 28 according to a preferred embodiment. Here, there is a tool post 30 having an upper post 30 and a lower post 34 with a gap 36 therebetween. An adjusting knob 38 on a threaded shaft (not shown) is used to adjust gap 36 to enable the apparatus 28 to be correctly aligned and positioned.
An ultrasound transducer 40 is provided with a vibration horn 68 . The ultrasound transducer 40 produces vibration waves 44 in the axial direction of vibration horn 68 . The waves 44 are at their maximum amplitude 98 at ultrasound transducer 40 and at tool bit 50 mounted at the lowermost end of vibration horn 68 . The waves 44 have a single static node 46 . At static node 46 is provided a clamping ring 42 . In this way clamping ring 42 holds the vibration horn 68 . Between static node 46 and maximum amplitude 48 at tool bit 50 is a linear bearing 52 . Linear bearing 52 allows vibration in the direction of the longitudinal axis of vibration horn 68 , but minimizes vibration in the radial (or lateral) direction of vibration horn 68 .
Linear bearing 52 is attached to mounting block 62 by a U-shaped bearing mounting 54 that has an upper clamp 56 and a lower clamp 58 joined by an intermediate portion 60 . Intermediate portion 60 is removably and adjustably mounted to mounting block 62 . Mounting block 62 is removably and adjustably mounted to tool post 30 .
Upper clamp 56 and lower clamp 60 each is split, and each has a gap 64 . A tightening screw 66 is used to control the clamping force by clamps 56 , 58 on linear bearing 52 . In this way the radial/lateral vibration of vibration horn 68 can be adjusted, and controlled.
The linear bearing 52 may be of any known construction such as, for example, the linear bearing known as “KUGELBUCHSE” available from Hiwin Technologies Corp of Glenview, Ill., USA. Such a linear bearing 52 is schematically shown in FIG. 4 . It has an outer casing 70 with a gap 72 therein. The casing 70 is normally of a metal such as, for example, steel, and is preferably relatively thin. Within casing is a cylindrical body 74 in which are rotatably mounted a plurality of balls 76 . The cylindrical body 74 is preferably of plastics material. The balls 76 are preferably of a metal such as, for example, steel and are held in body 74 in the manner of a snap fit. Balls 76 project beyond inner 78 and outer 80 surfaces of body 74 . The gap 72 allows clamps 56 , 58 to lighten on casing 71 and thus increase the clamping by body 74 on vibration horn 68 .
In this way the vibration horn 68 may be of reduced axial length as the distance between static node points 24 is removed. Also, the axial distance between the clamping by clamp 42 and linear bearing 52 is preferably less than half the wavelength of waves 44 . The lowermost clamping location (by lower clamp 58 ) is preferably adjacent the tool bit 50 . However, it may be at any location on horn 68 . Therefore, vibration horn 68 may be made with a reduced diameter as it does not require the relatively high structural strength of prior art vibration horn 12 . For example, the lower clamp 58 may be in the range 3 to 15 mm from tool bit 50 , preferably 10 mm. By having the vibration horn 68 of shorter axial length, and of smaller radius, the power required for ultrasound transducer 40 can be reduced. This reduces heat generation at tool bit 50 . Also, it enables the apparatus to be used with high precision machines.
By way of example, ultrasound transducer 40 may be at 40 KHz and the vibration amplitude may vary within the range 0 to 24 μm, preferably 2 to 4 μm, depending on the cutting parameters. The cutting speed may be less than 10 meters per minute, with a depth of cut and feedrate being less than 10 micrometers and 10 micrometer per revolution, respectively. The lateral/radial, and random, vibration may be in the range 0.1 to 0.2 μm. Steel may therefore be machined to a mirror finish with an Ra<8 nm.
Furthermore, the productive life of tool bit 50 may be lengthened due to reduced graphite formation as a result of the reduced temperature. Increases in tool bit life of up to 600 times have been experienced.
The workpiece may be of any size, but for sizes greater than 40 mm in diameter a higher frequency and/or a lengthy machining time may result. Workpiece sizes down to 10 μm in diameter have been able to be machined. Workpieces may be of any suitable material such as, for example: glass, glass for lenses, steel, stainless steel, magnetizable stainless steel, moulding/tooling steel, and so forth.
Whilst there has been described in the foregoing description preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the technology concerned that many variations or modifications in details of design or construction may be made without departing from the present invention.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
8 —prior art apparatus
10 —ultrasound transducer
12 —vibration horn
14 —mounting block
16 —clipper clamp
18 —lower clamp
20 —tool bit
22 —waves
24 —static node points
26 —maximum amplitude locations
28 —apparatus of embodiment
30 —tool post
32 —upper part of 30
34 —lower part of 30
36 —gap between 32 & 34
38 —adjusting knob
40 —ultrasound transducer
42 —clamping at static node
44 —waves
46 —static node
48 —maximum amplitude
50 —tool bit
52 —linear bearing
54 —bearing mounting (U-shaped)
56 —upper clamp
58 —lower clamp
60 —intermediate portion
62 —mounting block
64 —gap in 56 , 58
66 —tightening screw
68 —vibration horn
70 —casing
72 —gap in 70
74 —body
76 —balls
78 —inner surface of 74
80 —outer surface of 74 | Apparatus for ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining, the apparatus comprising an ultrasonic transducer for generating ultrasonic waves in a vibration horn; first clamp on the vibration horn at a static node of the ultrasonic waves; and a second clamp between the first clamp and a lowermost end of the vibration horn. The second clamp comprises a linear bearing for reducing vibration of the vibration horn in a direction laterally of the vibration horn, and allowing vibration of the vibration horn in the direction of a longitudinal axial of the vibration horn. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an arrangement for the control of thread tension in a spool creel having several spool holders each provided with a brake rotor working with a braking element that is adjustable by a tensioning lever carrying a roller; wherein the roller and lever is biased by the departing thread to take up an angular position dependent upon thread tension and net weight.
Such arrangements which are presently in the marketplace have the advantage that the force exercised by the braking band automatically decreases as the wind diameter of each spool is reduced. The weight distribution on the tensioning lever is predetermined and thus also the thread tension exercised by the creel spools on the threads.
2. Description of Related Art
The creel arrangements presently on the marketplace (compare for example, DE OS 19 18 161) have the advantage that the braking force exercised by the braking arrangement is automatically decreased when the wind diameter on the spools is reduced. The weight distribution on the tensioning level is predetermined and thus also the thread tension exercised upon the threads taken from the creel.
From DE PS 88 3 727, it is known to provide electromagnetic brakes to all spool holders to drive all magnets in parallel switching and to alter the activation current by a common setting arrangement. In this way, the entire tension from the various creels can be changed during operation and, at switch-off, a rapid braking action can be obtained by raising the braking force. This gives rise however to a loss of individual control of the tension of the individual spools.
It is also known to provide pneumatic biasing arrangements to thread brakes (DE GM 80 25 217) in which the biasing for a plurality of thread brakes in a spool creel can be centrally set and controlled.
Swiss Patent 358 043 describes a thread brake in which a braking platelet acts upon the threads by means of a pneumatic cylinder piston assembly whose pressure is set from a central control point.
British Patent 1 071 190 discloses the provision of a brake shoe to a spool which under the influence of a pressure means, can be forced against a rotating braking surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is providing an arrangement for the control of thread tension in a spool creel in which the thread tension for the entire array as well as for individual spool holders can be achieved.
In accordance with the illustrative embodiments demonstrating features and advantages of the present invention, there is provided an arrangement for controlling tension of threads in a spool creel having a plurality of spool holders. This arrangement has a plurality of controllers. These controllers are simultaneously settable by fluid pressure. Each of the controllers are coupled to a different corresponding one of the spool holders. Each of the controllers has a brake rotor and an adjustable, tension responsive, braking element coupled to the brake rotor. The arrangement also has a tensioning lever coupled to the braking element for biasing it. The tensioning lever has a roller adapted to engage and be biased by the threads. This tensioning lever is operable to occupy an angular position dependent upon thread tension and weight. Also included is a biasing arrangement adapted to be activated by fluid pressure and connected to the tensioning lever, each of the tension levers being simultaneously settable by the fluid pressure.
By employing such apparatus an improved tension control is achieved in a creel arrangement wherein each spool holder is provided with a fluid pressure sensitive biasing arrangement, which influences the tensioning lever and wherein the fluid pressure is controllable in common for all the biasing arrangements.
The force generated by the preferred biasing arrangement operates in addition to the weight force on the tensioning lever, whereby the thread tension is also altered. This change can be centrally set so that the thread tension can be determined for the entire creel.
When the warping machine served by the creel is shut off, the braking force throughout the entire creel can be increased so that a quick braking action is possible. Since the biasing arrangement operates by fluid pressure, it can influence the tensioning lever without hindering the swinging action of the tension lever necessary for the control procedure.
Preferably, the biasing arrangement is formed by a piston/cylinder assembly. Piston cylinder arrangements can, by maintenance of the fluid pressure, readily follow the swinging movement of the tensioning lever by changing their length. Also using a pneumatic drive at the same time prevents contamination of the threads by the pressurizing substance. Each spool holder need only be connected to a conduit providing the necessary pneumatic pressure.
Preferably, the tensioning lever in the total working area subtends an angle A to the horizontal plane of more than 45°. Also the working elevation angle of the biasing arrangement attached to the tensioning lever should preferably subtend an angle B of less than 45°. In particular, it is preferred that the angle A should be in the range of 60° to 80° and the angle B in the range of 30° to 40°. In this manner, the force component exercised by the biasing arrangement on the tensioning lever is substantially equal in the entire control range since the angle B is minimally altered.
In a preferred modification the biasing arrangement furthermore operates on a brake shoe, which is provided to a further rotating braking surface. This brake shoe is applied only under higher fluid pressures to a further braking surface, which can cause the braking to occur rather rapidly at the shut down of the warping machine.
Advantageously, the braking shoe can be held by the tensioning lever. This gives rise to a rather simple mode of construction with few additional parts. Furthermore, the tensioning lever ensures that the braking shoe on restart of the warping machine is removed from contact with the further braking surface and therefore no locking can occur.
The brake rotor may advantageously be a brake drum wherein the braking element is a braking band contactable therewith and tensionable by the tensioning lever.
In a preferred alternative, the brake rotor is a braking disc of electro-conductive material and the braking element is a magnetic system, which is displaceable by the tensioning lever into a position more or less covering the braking disc. In particular the magnetic system can comprise a permanent magnet adjacent one of a pair of legs straddling the braking disc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above brief description as well as other objects, features and advantages of the present invention may be illustrated by the preferred embodiments as set forth in the drawings described below, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic, side elevational view of two spool holders having a tension controlling arrangement, in accordance with principles of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment that is an alternate of the control arrangement shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 3; and
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the magnetic system of the braking arrangement of FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A spool holder 1 is attached to the creel by socket 2. Mounted on holder 1 is a rotatable spool 3 wound with thread. In the operating example, a bolt 25 serves to connect spool 3 to the braking drum 4 to prevent relative rotation. Thus spool 3 is non-rotatably connected with braking drum 4, which has braking surfaces on an inside circumference and an outside circumference thereof.
A braking band 5 lies on the outer circumference of drum 4. Drum 4 and the equipment described hereinafter for controlling the braking band 5 are referred to as a controller. The braking band 5 is connected at one end to an immovable pin 6 and at the other end via spring 7 to the fixedly supported tensioning lever 8.
The threads 9 taken from the circumference of the spool 3 are first led over fixedly supported roller 10 and then looped around a further roller 11 which is attached to the free end of tensioning lever 8 and finally via eyelet 12 is led to an adjacent machine, for example, a warping machine.
The mass of the tensioning lever 8 in combination with the portions attached thereto exercise a clockwise turning moment thereon. A turning moment in the opposite direction is exercised by the tension of the thread 9. If the thread tension is too great, the tensioning lever moves from position B to position A, whereby the braking force exercised by the braking band 5 is diminished. The spool 3 can thus rotate more rapidly, which reduces thread tension so tensioning lever 8 again moves from position A toward the direction of position B. This eventually brings lever 8 to an equilibrium setting where the thread is taken off at exactly the desired tension.
A pneumatic biasing arrangement 13 is connected to tensioning lever 8. This comprises a fixedly supported cylinder 14 and a piston 15 (a piston and cylinder assembly) which is connected to the tensioning lever 8 by means of a hinge pin 16. While tensioning lever 8 is oriented at angle A (illustrated with the Greek reference character, alpha) of 60° to 80° from the horizontal, the biasing arrangement 13 is oriented at an angle B (illustrated with the Greek reference character, beta) of 30° to 40° from the horizontal in the thread direction.
Furthermore, hingedly attached to tensioning lever 8 via pin 29, is brake shoe 17 (shown in phantom), which operates in conjunction with a braking surface on the inner circumference of braking drum 4. When the tensioning lever 8 is swung beyond position B, an additional braking effect is brought into play, since pin 29 brings the braking shoe 17 into contact with the internal braking surface of drum 4.
One of two pressure means 18 and 19 (shown herein as plenums) can be selected via a switching valve 20 for connection to a conduit system 21. System 21 is operatively connected to all the biasing arrangements 13 in the entire creel. A pressure pump 22 pressurizes the first pressure means 18 by means of a pressure regulator 23 to a predetermined working magnitude of pressure. Second pressure means 19 is likewise pressurized through pressure regulator 24 to a predetermined braking magnitude of pressure. The working magnitude of pressure may lie, for example, in the order or magnitude of two bars in order to support the operation of the mass of tensioning lever 8. Thus when the working pressure of conduit system 21 is increased, the thread tension in the entire creel is raised.
By altering the working pressure by assistance of regulator 23, the thread tension can be adjusted as desired. The braking pressure may, for example, lie in the range of eight bar so that the braking shoe 17 remains in contact with the appropriate braking surface and thus a rapid braking of the spools on the creel can occur.
Switching valve system 30 has connecting sections 31 and 33 and blocking chamber 32, which does not permit passage of fluid. When the adjacent machine is operating, a signal is sent via input means 41 to make section 31 operative and connect pressure means 18 to conduit system 21. When the said machine is shut off, a signal is sent via input means 42 to make section 33 operative and connect pressure means 19 to conduit system 21, thus driving the major braking system of shoe 17 to the internal braking surface of drum 4.
There is also a plurality of further possibilities. The tensioning lever 8 can be biased by an additional weight (not shown). This weight can be changed. The weight can also be attached to another lever arm (not shown) angularly displaced relative to the tensioning lever.
The alternate embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 corresponds substantially to that illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Identical parts have the same reference numbers throughout the Figures. FIG. 5 is a detailed schematic view of the magnetic system of FIGS. 3 and 4.
An important difference in this alternate embodiment is the replacement of the friction brake (braking band 5 of FIGS. 1 and 2) with an electromagnetic brake. For this purpose, tensioning lever 8 is rigidly connected with a transverse lever arm 26, which carries at its free end a magnetic system 27. This system 27 surrounds braking disc 28, which is attached to brake drum 4 and is made from electrically conductive material, suitably aluminum. When the tensioning lever 8 is swung, the brake disc 28 covers the braking system 27 more or less (see arrow 29).
The magnetic system 27 comprises a U-shaped carrier 30 with two legs 31 and 32. Leg 32 carries a permanent magnet 33. Lever arm 26 is shown in two settings. In the completely engaged setting (lined in full), system 27 exercises a stronger braking force, but in the retracted setting (lined in phantom), system 27 exercises a lesser braking force.
The magnetic system 27 brakes by generating eddy currents in braking disc 28. The more disc 28 is covered by system 27, the greater the braking effect. Also with this construction, by the activation of the biasing arrangements of all the braking arrangements the thread tension can be globally altered, while by pressing the brake shoe 17 to the brake drum 14 a rapid braking can be obtained. | The arrangement controls thread tension in a spool creel with a brake rotor (brake drum 4) for each spool holder (1). A braking element (brake band 5) operates therewith and is biasable by a tensioning lever (8) which takes an angular setting dependent upon the thread tension and the force of gravity. A fluid pressure activated biasing arrangement 13 influences the tensioning lever 8 at each spool holder 1. The fluid pressure is commonly adjustable for all of the biasing arrangements 13. In this manner a general changing of the thread tension can be combined with control of individual thread tension. | 3 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a multilayer wiring board including a via that connects signal lines (transmission lines) of different layers.
BACKGROUND ART
As a structure for mutually connecting wiring patterns which are located in desired layers of a board having two or more wiring layers, there is a structure called a through hole or a via (or via hole). Particularly, a structure to connect inner layers of a multilayer board using a hole is called a via.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a multilayer board including a via. FIG. 1 shows a four-layer structure including layer 1 which is ground layer 11 , layer 2 which is signal line 12 , layer 3 which is signal line 13 , and layer 4 which is ground layer 14 . Via 15 connects the signal lines of layer 2 and layer 3 . Meanwhile, signal line 12 is connected to, for example, a high-frequency amplifier, and signal line 13 is connected to, for example, an antenna.
Generally, a via is formed of a complicated shape, and impedance mismatching occurs in a connecting part between a signal line having a constant line width and a via. For this reason, it is known that signal transmission characteristics, particularly, at the time of high-frequency driving deteriorate. That is, the reflection and attenuation of a signal occurs in the connecting part between the signal line and the via.
In this respect, PTL 1 proposes a method for improving the electrical characteristics of the via structure. For example, PTL 1 proposes a method for performing pseudo-coaxialization on vias provided in the vertical direction of an insulating board, using a plurality of ground layers lined up on the insulating board located in the vicinity of the vias. In addition, PTL 1 proposes a multilayer board including stacked layers and having a structure in which coaxial via holes spaced apart at regular intervals are formed in the vicinity of the vias by laser processing, and the coaxial via holes are connected to a power supply and ground layer.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2 , PTL 1 proposes a multilayer wiring board in which insulating layers each formed using a resin insulating film and wiring layers each formed using a conductor film are alternately stacked one on top of another. This multilayer wiring board includes via holes which are connected to signal transmission wiring and via holes which are independently formed in the vicinity of the vias coaxially on concentric circles separated at a regular interval by the insulating layer without being connected to a signal wiring layer, a power supply and a ground layer, and are buried in the insulating resin layer.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
PTL 1
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-060351
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
However, in the technique disclosed in PTL 1 mentioned above, there remain problems in that the structure is complicated and in that the processing is not easy.
An object of the present invention is to provide a simple-structure and easily-processable multilayer wiring board in which impedances are matched in a via connecting part.
Solution to Problem
A multilayer wiring board according to an aspect of the present invention includes a signal line; and a ground layer including a pattern formed at a position facing a portion of the signal line, the pattern being not covered with a metal film.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
According to the present invention, impedances can be matched in a via connecting part, using a simple-structure and easily-processable configuration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a multilayer board including a via;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wiring structure including via holes disclosed in PTL 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a wiring structure including a via according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a ground layer of FIG. 3 ;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a signal line including a general λ/4 transformer;
FIGS. 6A to 6C are plan views each illustrating a ground layer on which a circular pattern is formed;
FIGS. 7A to 7D are plan views each illustrating a ground layer on which an elliptical pattern is formed;
FIGS. 8A to 8D are plan views each illustrating a ground layer on which a rectangular pattern is formed;
FIGS. 9A and 9B are plan views each illustrating a ground layer on which a cut circular pattern is formed;
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a wiring structure including a via according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;
FIGS. 11A and 11B are plan views each illustrating a ground layer on which a through hole is formed;
FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating a wiring structure according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
FIG. 13 is a plan view illustrating another wiring structure according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a plan view illustrating still another wiring structure according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a plan view illustrating a wiring structure having a land pattern before impedance adjustment;
FIG. 16 is a plan view illustrating a wiring structure having a land pattern according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;
FIG. 17 is a plan view illustrating another wiring structure having a land pattern according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention; and
FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a wiring structure including a via according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, in the embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the redundant description thereof will be omitted.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a wiring structure including a via according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the wiring structure of FIG. 3 , a four-layer structure including ground layer 101 (layer 1 ), signal line 102 (layer 2 ), signal line 103 (layer 3 ) and ground layer 104 (layer 4 ) is shown. Via 105 connects signal line 102 of layer 2 and signal line 103 of layer 3 .
FIG. 4 shows a plan view of ground layer 101 of FIG. 3 . Ground layer 101 is formed at a position where a circular ring-shaped pattern not covered with a metal film such as copper foil (shown by diagonal lines in the drawing) faces the via.
FIG. 5 shows a general λ/4 transformer. In FIG. 5 , in order to match impedances between Z1 and Z2, the λ/4 transformer having impedance characteristic Zt is inserted into the signal line.
In contrast, in FIG. 4 , in a connecting part between signal lines 102 and 103 and via 105 impedances can be matched by forming the circular ring-shaped pattern on ground layer 101 . That is, impedance matching can be realized without using the λ/4 transformer with which the line width shown in FIG. 5 is changed. In addition, electric lines of force are concentrated on via 105 , and thus it is possible to reduce a radiation loss of electromagnetic waves radiated from the circular ring-shaped pattern. Further, impedance matching in via connecting part 105 can be realized by simple processing such as the formation of a pattern on a ground layer.
The present invention is not limited to the circular ring-shaped pattern shown in FIG. 4 . As shown in FIG. 6A , even when a metal film within a ring is a circular C-shape pattern which is connected to a portion of a ground and the ring, and a circular reverse C-shape pattern shown in FIG. 6B , the same effect mentioned above is obtained. Further, as shown in FIG. 6C , even when the metal film within the ring is a pattern formed by cutting the circular ring connected to the ground into two pieces in two different places of the ring, the same effect mentioned above is obtained.
In addition, the present invention may have an elliptical ring-shaped pattern shown in FIG. 7A without being limited to a circle. Meanwhile, as is the case with the circular shape of FIGS. 6A to 6C even in a case of the elliptical ring shape, an elliptical C-shape pattern shown in FIG. 7B , an elliptical reverse C-shape pattern shown in FIG. 7C , and a 2-cut pattern of an elliptical ring shown in FIG. 7D may be used, and the same effect mentioned above is obtained.
Further, the present invention may have a rectangular ring-shaped pattern shown in FIG. 8A without being limited to a circle and an ellipse. Meanwhile, as is the case with the circular shape of FIG. 6 even in a case of the rectangular ring shape, a rectangular C-shape pattern shown in FIG. 8B , a rectangular reverse C-shape pattern shown in FIG. 8C , and a 2-cut pattern of a rectangular ring shown in FIG. 8D may be used, and the same effect mentioned above is obtained.
In addition, the 2-cut pattern of the circular ring shown in FIG. 6C may be a 3-cut pattern shown in FIG. 9A and a 4-cut pattern shown in FIG. 9B . However, it is preferable that the shape of the cut pattern be symmetric with respect to a line.
In addition, when the circular ring-shaped pattern shown in FIG. 4 is defined as a 0-cut pattern, and a 1-cut pattern is defined as the C-shape pattern shown in FIG. 6A or 6 B, the pattern can be expanded to an n-cut pattern (n is an integer equal to or greater than 0). Meanwhile, it is preferable that the shape of the 1-cut pattern in FIGS. 6A to 6C , 7 A to 7 D, and 8 A to 8 D be vertically symmetric with respect to the plane of the drawing.
Here, when impedances in the ring-shaped pattern and the C-shape pattern (regardless of the shape) are compared with each other, these impedances are different from each other. This is attributed to the fact that in the ring-shaped pattern, the metal film and the ground within the ring are equal to C-shape binding, and in the C-shape pattern, the metal film and the ground in the inside of the pattern are equal to L-type binding because they are connected to each other using a thin line width.
As stated above, according to Embodiment 1, the ring-shaped pattern not covered with the metal film is formed at a position facing the via in the ground layer, and thus it is possible to simplify the configuration and to match impedances in the connecting part between the signal line and the via. In addition, it is possible to reduce a radiation loss of electromagnetic waves radiated from the ring portion.
Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, although the limitation of the pattern on the ground layer of layer 1 is described, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The pattern may be formed on the ground layer of layer 4 in addition to the ground layer of layer 1 . The pattern formed on the ground layer of layer 1 and the pattern formed on the ground layer of layer 4 may be combined optionally.
(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a wiring structure including a via according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the wiring structure in FIG. 10 , ground layer 201 (layer 1 ) is formed at a position where a rectangular through hole faces a portion of via 105 and signal line 102 . One side of the through hole along signal line 102 has a length of λ/4. The formation of the through hole shown in FIG. 10 in ground layer 201 is equivalent to a pseudo change in the signal line, and thus impedances can be matched between the signal line and the via.
The present invention is not limited to the rectangular through hole shown in FIG. 10 . As shown in FIG. 11A , the same effect mentioned above is obtained with a protruding through hole formed of two contiguous rectangular through holes each having a different width and a length of a side along the signal line equal to a length of λ/4. Meanwhile, regarding the direction of the protruding through hole layer 2 , the direction of a rectangular portion having a small width can be adjusted in accordance with the impedance of layer 3 . Therefore, there is the same effect as inserting a general multistage transformer into the signal line, and impedances can be matched with a wider-band signal.
In addition, even with a tapered through hole having a height equal to a length of λ/4 along the signal line as shown in FIG. 11B , the same effect mentioned above is obtained.
According to Embodiment 2, in the ground layer, the through hole having a length of λ/4 along the signal line is formed at a position facing a portion of the via and the signal line, and thus impedances can be matched in the connecting part between the signal line and the via.
Meanwhile, the ground layer in which the through hole in the present embodiment is formed and the ground layer on which the pattern in Embodiment 1 is formed may be combined optionally. In addition, in the present embodiment, the length of one side of the through hole is described as λ/4 in FIGS. 10 , 11 A and 11 B. However, even when the length of one side is equal to or greater than λ/32 and equal to or less than λ/2, the same effect can be obtained.
(Embodiment 3)
In Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, a case has been described in which impedance mismatching in the via is eliminated, whereas in Embodiment 3 of the present invention, a case will be described in which impedance matching is performed in the signal line rather than the via.
FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating a wiring structure according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In FIG. 12 , in ground layer 401 , an elliptical through hole is formed at a position facing a portion of signal line 102 . The elliptical through hole has a length equal to or greater than λ/36 and equal to or less than λ/2 in a long-axis direction, and overlaps signal line 102 .
In this manner, the formation of the elliptical through hole in ground layer 401 is equivalent to a pseudo change in the signal line, and thus impedances can be matched in the signal line. In addition, the ground layer is located as the upper layer of the signal line. Therefore, even after the signal line is installed, impedances can be adjusted just by adjusting the size of the through hole.
The present invention is not limited to the elliptical through hole illustrated in FIG. 12 . As shown in FIG. 13 , rectangular through holes may be continuously provided on both sides of the long axis of an ellipse. However, the width of each of the rectangular through holes is set to be smaller than the line width of the signal line. Here, as shown in FIG. 13 , when the length of a portion of the long axis of the ellipse overlapping signal line 102 is defined as b, and the lengths up to rectangular ends adjacent to the portion of the long axis of the ellipse are defined as a and c, respectively, the relationship of a+c>b is to be satisfied. Thereby, it is not necessary to accurately design the length of b, so that design costs can be reduced.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the elliptical through hole shown in FIG. 12 . As shown in FIG. 14 , the through hole may have a semi-elliptical shape obtained by cutting out the upper half of the ellipse. The semi-elliptical through hole overlaps a portion of the width of the signal line. In FIGS. 12 and 13 , an example is shown in which impedance is adjusted by adjusting the length of the ellipse in a long-axis direction (x-axis direction in the drawing). On the other hand, in FIG. 14 , an example is shown in which impedance is adjusted by adjusting the length of the ellipse in a short-axis direction (y-axis direction in the drawing). Here, although the semi-elliptical shape obtained by cutting out the upper half of the ellipse is shown by way of example, the amount of cutting out is not limited to a half, and varies depending on the amount of the adjustment of the impedance.
Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which the shapes of the through hole are elliptical and semi-elliptical, but the present invention may employ a circular shape or a rectangular shape without being limited to the shapes described in the present embodiment.
(Embodiment 4)
In Embodiment 4 of the present invention, a case will be described in which impedance matching in the signal line is performed in the ground layer on which a land pattern is formed. Meanwhile, the land pattern is used to dispose a leg for further stacking components or a plurality of boards on a board in which the ground layer is formed.
FIG. 15 is a plan view illustrating a wiring structure having a land pattern before impedance adjustment. In FIG. 15 , land pattern 502 is formed on ground layer 501 , and a through hole is formed in the vicinity of land pattern 502 . FIG. 15 shows a state where a portion of the through hole overlaps signal line 102 .
FIG. 16 is a plan view illustrating a wiring structure having a land pattern according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. In ground layer 501 , a through hole expanded with respect to the through hole of FIG. 15 is formed in the vicinity of land pattern 502 . A portion of the through hole overlaps signal line 102 in a large area compared to the case with the through hole of FIG. 15 . In this manner, the through hole is expanded, and signal line 102 and ground layer 501 are separated from each other, thereby allowing impedance to be adjusted.
The present invention is not limited to the through hole illustrated in FIG. 16 . As illustrated in FIG. 17 , an elliptical through hole may be provided continuously with the through hole of FIG. 15 , In this case, the elliptical through hole and signal line 102 overlap each other, and signal line 102 and ground layer 501 are separated from each other, thereby allowing impedance to be adjusted.
(Another Embodiment)
FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a wiring structure including a via according to another embodiment of the present invention. The wiring structure in FIG. 18 includes signal line 302 (layer 3 ) connected to via 301 , ground layer 304 (layer 2 ) having circular through hole 303 formed at a position facing via 301 , and metal film 305 (layer 1 ) that covers through hole 303 of ground layer 304 .
Providing the metal film as layer 1 makes it possible to increase the length of a path in which the via connecting part and the ground are bound to each other. Specifically, most of electromagnetic wave components which are not radiated by reducing the size of the through hole are bound to the metal film, and the metal film is bound to the ground in a transverse direction because of its thickness. However, the comprehensive degree of binding can be reduced by going through the metal film.
Meanwhile, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the through hole is equivalent to a pattern not covered with the metal film.
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-289371, filed on Dec. 28, 2011, including the specification, drawing and abstract, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
The multilayer wiring board according to the present invention can be applied to a communication apparatus that processes a high-frequency signal, or the like, for example.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
101 , 104 , 201 , 304 , 401 , 501 Ground layer
102 , 103 , 302 Signal line
105 , 301 Via
303 Through hole
305 Metal film
502 Land pattern | Provided is a multilayer wiring board, wherein impedance matching can be achieved in a via connection section by means of a configuration, which has a simple structure, and which can be easily processed. In the multilayer wiring board including a ground layer ( 401 ) of a layer ( 1 ), and a signal line ( 102 ) of a layer ( 2 ), an elliptical through hole is formed in the ground layer ( 401 ), said through hole being at a position facing a part of the signal line ( 102 ). The elliptical through hole overlaps the signal line ( 102 ) by a length of lambda/36-lambda/2 in the long axis direction, Impedance of the signal line ( 102 ) can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the through hole. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a waferizing apparatus and to a knife useful in waferizing apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Waferizing apparatus, that is apparatus to produce wafers from wood for use in the production of wafer board, are extremely well known. They resemble wood chippers in appearance but differ in the product they are designed to produce. Chippers cut wood across the grain to produce chips for the production of wood pulp. Waferizers cut the wood substantially parallel to the grain to produce wafers or flakes.
Waferizing apparatus generally comprises a large rotating disc or drum mounted on a driven shaft. The disk or drum has openings formed in it. On one surface is mounted a carrier for the waferizing knives which are disposed in the openings of the passageways. The knives are located in position by clamps contacting their planar surfaces. Clamps are usually located in position by bolting through into a threaded insert located within a recess in the carrier, on the surface of the carrier remote from the clamps. The knife typically has a counter knife disposed beneath it, that is against the carrier, and the knife and counter knife are bolted in position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,744 issued Aug. 31, 1982 indicates the prior art although that patent is specifically concerned with the provision of a reactor guide means on a side of the passageway through the disc, opposite the cutter knife.
As the disc rotates the knives, which project from the outer surface, that is beyond the clamps and the carrier, cut through wood pieces that are pressed against the carrier so that they may be converted to wafers.
The condition of the waferizer knives is extremely important and their grinding is very important if good wafer quality is to be achieved. Wafers are generally only about 0.025" thick and there is therefore little margin for poor knife grinding. A typical wafer board plant employs two persons grinding, honing and rebabbitting the knives. These are skilled activities in a plant that requires few other skills.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention therefore seeks to simplify waferizing apparatus by providing a disposable knife and by greatly simplifying the securing, and thus replacement, of the cutting knives.
Accordingly, in a first aspect the present invention is waferizing apparatus having a rotatable disc, upon which are fixed carriers, spaced openings between the carriers; and matching spacings in the disc; a knife associated with each opening; a knife clamp bolted to the carrier to clamp each knife in position and comprising resilient means urging each knife clamp inwardly against the carrier to clamp each knife in position in the apparatus and expandable means expandable to separate the clamp and the carrier to permit removal of each knife.
In a further aspect the invention is a waferizing knife comprising an elongate body; serrations on each longitudinal edge of the elongate body, the serrations comprising projections and recesses; cutting edges formed on each projection. The projections on one edge may be staggered in relation to those on the other edge or they may be opposite each other.
DRAWINGS
Aspects of the invention are illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a detail of a prior art waferizer;
FIG. 2 is also a detail of the prior art showing particularly the knife location;
FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate disposable knives according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4--4 in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a section through the apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 illustrates a detail of the FIG. 5 apparatus; and
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating the prior art, they show a waferizing apparatus having a disc 2 and rotatable carrier 4 with spaced openings 6 extending through them. There is a knife 8 associated with each opening 6 clamped to the carrier 4. The disc 2 is mounted on a rotatable shaft 10 carried by bearings 12. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the disc 2 rotates so that knives 8 are brought into contact with a piece of wood--see FIG. 5.
As shown particularly in FIG. 2 the knife clamp arrangement typically comprises a clamp 14 having an inclined surface 16 to abut the knife 8. The knife 8 is mounted on a counter knife 18 located in position by bolts 20. A clamping bolt 22 engages threaded member 24 received within a recess 26 in the carrier 4. A pin 28 is provided to prevent rotation of the threaded member 24. By tightening bolts 22 into threaded members 24 the clamp 14 is forced into contact with the assembly of the knife 8 and the counter knife 18 to clamp the knife assembly to the carrier 4.
All of the above is conventional in the art.
The present invention seeks to simplify greatly first the mounting of the knives and, secondly, the maintenance of the knives.
As illustrated particularly in FIG. 3a the knife 30 according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an elongate body having serrations on longitudinal edges. The serrations comprise projections 32 and recesses 34. As shown particularly in FIG. 4 cutting edges 36 are formed on each projection 32 and the projections on one edge may be staggered in relation to those on the other edge, as shown in FIG. 3a, or aligned, as in FIG. 3b.
In a waferizing apparatus an A knife is a knife with cutting edges or projections 32 extending to the outer edge of the knife and with a recess 34 at the inner edge, adjacent the center of the disc. A B knife is the opposite arrangement. In a B knife there is a recess at its outer end and a cutting edge at its innermost end. Thus the FIG. 3a embodiment has both A and B type knives. Taking the right hand side of FIG. 3a as the outermost edge, the lower edge of the knife is an A knife and the upper edge is a B knife. It can be seen that rotation about the longitudinal axis of the knife changes an A knife to a B knife and vice versa.
In the FIG. 3b embodiment, depending on which edge is outermost, the knife remains an A knife or a B knife when rotated about its longitudinal axis.
In both embodiments, that of FIG. 3a and that of FIG. 3b, the cutting edges are on opposite thickness faces, as shown especially in FIG. 4, so that a cutting edge is properly presented when the knife is rotated about its longitudinal axis. Typically the knives will be arranged so that A and B knives are in alternate knife pockets. When the knives are dull the machine is stopped and each blade rotated to bring a sharp edge into use. On rotation of each knife about its longitudinal axis the FIG. 3a knives each change from A to B or B to A to maintain the alternate arrangement of A and B knives. The FIG. 3b embodiment remains an A knife or a B knife.
The knife of FIGS. 3a and 4 is particularly suitable for use with the apparatus of FIGS. 5 and 6 although such a knife can also be used in a conventional waferizer. However the apparatus according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, is particularly advantageous in that it greatly simplifies the location of the knife 30 and decreases the time and effort required to change knives.
In FIGS. 5 and 6 the same reference numerals are used, where appropriate, as in FIGS. 1 and 2. It should also be noted that FIG. 5 shows the use of a reactor knife or guide 38 on an opposite side of the passageway 6 from the knife 30. This is an extremely useful feature of a wood waferizing apparatus and is the subject of the above U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,744. It forms no part of the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 the apparatus of the present invention has resilient means in the form of disc springs 40, also known as Belleville washers, located in a plurality of recesses 41, only one of which is shown in each of FIGS. 5 and 6, in the carrier 4, remote from the clamping members 14. The recesses 41 in the carrier are such that without the Belleville washers 40 the threaded member 24, and the receiving bolt 22, can move freely in the recess 26, in a direction longitudinal to the bolt 22. The presence of pin 28 prevents its rotation within the recess 26. When bolts 22 are tight the Belleville washers 40 urge each clamp 14 inwardly against the carrier 4 to clamp each knife 30 in position in the apparatus.
The apparatus also includes expandable means in the form of a hydraulic hose 42 that is expandable to separate the clamping members 14 and the carrier 4 to permit removal of each knife 30. The removal position, that is the expanded position of the hydraulic hose 42, is shown in FIG. 6. Hydraulic fluid is pumped into and from the hydraulic hose 42 using a conventional hydraulic pump (not shown). The hose 42 is located between the clamping member 14 and the carrier 4 so that expansion of the hydraulic hose 42 tilts the clamp, against the urging of the Belleville washers 40, outwardly to the FIG. 6 position.
In contrast to the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the apparatus according to the present invention includes a spring pin 50 and a knife gauge bar 52 engaging the spring pin 50. The knife gauge bar 52, engaged on the spring pin 50, acts to control the projection of the knife 30 from the face of the waferizer above the carrier 4, and thus, of course, the wafer thickness. The arrangement is such that by changing the gauge bar 52 for a narrower or wider bar the projection of the knife 30 can be changed. The arrangement is simple to operate. When the knife 30 is removed the gauge bar 52 can be disengaged from the spring pin 50 and a different gauge bar inserted. The gauge bar 52 forms a seat for the recessed parts 34 of the knives 30.
To use the apparatus of the present invention first, with the apparatus at rest, a double-edged knife 30 as shown in FIG. 3a or 3b is selected, the appropriate gauge bar and the apparatus moved to the FIG. 6 position, that is hydraulic fluid is pumped into the hydraulic hose 42 to move the clamping members 14 outwardly, against the urging of the Belleville washers 40, which tend to move threaded member 24, and thus the bolt 22 and thus the clamp 14, inwardly, that is forcing the clamp 14 against the carrier 4. The gauge bar and the knife 30 are placed in position and hydraulic pressure then released so that the FIG. 5 position is assumed. That is in the absence of hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic hose 42 the Belleville washers force the threaded member 24 inwardly, acting on bolt 22 and thus on clamp 14, to force the knife 30 into position against the counter knife 18.
The apparatus is used as in FIG. 5. That is a log 44, supported on surface 46 is cut by rotation of the disc in conventional manner. It will be appreciated that FIG. 5 shows a merely diagrammatic arrangement of the wood 44 and its support surface 46. As indicated the apparatus is used precisely as the prior art waferizer.
When the knife 30 is dulled the apparatus is stopped and hydraulic pressure then applied to the hose 42, so that the clamping member 14 tilts to the FIG. 6 position. The disposable knife 30 is removed from the apparatus, the apparatus is blown clear of dust, shavings and the like, the blade 30 is turned and replaced in the space between the counter knife 18 and the clamp 14. If necessary a fresh gauge bar may be inserted. Hydraulic pressure is released and the waferizer is then ready to use. Two, three or four knife assemblies can be pressurized at any one time. That is two, three or four knives 30 can be changed at any one time.
Once the blade 30 has been dulled on both sides it can simply be thrown away, thus eliminating the time-consuming and expensive practise of grinding, honing and rebabbitting.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show a further embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 the same reference numerals are used, where appropriate, as in FIGS. 5 and 6. However the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 differs from that of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 by the means to receive a fluid. In the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 the means to receive a fluid comprises a manifold 43 communicating with a recess 41. Threaded member in the recess is formed as a piston fit within the recess 41. To facilitate such a fit the piston may be provided with a piston ring, for example an O-ring, at its periphery. Pin 28 is present to prevent rotation of the threaded member within the recess 41. FIG. 7 illustrates the clamp position. FIG. 8 the unclamped position with fluid pressure applied. The means to apply fluid pressure may be a pump, as in the FIGS. 5 and 6 embodiment and, again, is not shown. The apparatus is provided with a steel washer and an elastic washer to seal the recess from infiltration of dirt and water.
The lock position is shown as FIG. 7. In that position no fluid pressure is applied through the manifold 43 and the Belleville washers 40 act against threaded member to clamp the knife 30 and the counter-knife 18 in position. However when hydraulic pressure is applied, the piston in the form of a threaded member 24 is moved inwardly in recess 41 as shown in FIG. 8. The knife may then be removed.
In use as a waferizer the apparatus is used precisely as in the previous embodiment.
The present invention thus provides a disposable, double-edged knife that produces excellent wafers and yet does not necessitate expensive grinding and sharpening. Furthermore the knife is particularly suitable for the apparatus of the present invention because of the simple and efficient means of locating the knife and, in particular, the speed with which knives can be changed in the illustrated apparatus. | A waferizing apparatus having a rotatable disc. There are knife carriers mounted on the disc with spaced openings between the carriers. Openings in the disc correspond to the openings in the carrier and there is a knife associated with each opening. A knife clamp is bolted to the carrier to clamp each knife in position. Each knife clamp is urged resiliently inwardly against the carrier to clamp each knife in position in the apparatus. An expandable device can expand to separate the clamp and the carrier to permit removal of each knife. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 2014-097364 filed in Japan on May 9, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This invention relates to a method for preparing a monomer useful as a starting reactant for functional, pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals. The monomer is useful for the preparation of a polymer which is used as a base resin to formulate a radiation-sensitive resist composition having high transparency to radiation of wavelength 500 nm or less, especially 300 nm or less, typically KrF, ArF or F 2 laser radiation, and improved development properties.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] To meet the demand for higher integration density and operating speed of LSIs, the effort to reduce the pattern rule is in rapid progress. The wide-spreading flash memory market and the demand for increased storage capacities drive forward the miniaturization technology. As the advanced miniaturization technology, manufacturing of microelectronic devices at the 65-nm node by the ArF lithography has been implemented in a mass scale. Manufacturing of 45-nm node devices by the next generation ArF immersion lithography is approaching to the verge of high-volume application. The candidates for the next generation 32-nm node include ultra-high NA lens immersion lithography using a liquid having a higher refractive index than water in combination with a high refractive index lens and a high refractive index resist film, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography of 13.5 nm wavelength, and double patterning version of the ArF lithography, on which active research efforts have been made.
[0004] Besides the positive tone resist by alkaline development, a highlight is recently put on the negative tone resist by organic solvent development. It would be desirable if a very fine hole pattern, which is not achievable with the positive tone, is resolvable through negative tone exposure. To this end, a positive resist composition featuring a high resolution is subjected to organic solvent development to form a negative pattern. An attempt to double a resolution by combining two developments, alkaline development and organic solvent development is under study.
[0005] As the ArF resist composition for negative tone development with organic solvent, positive ArF resist compositions of the prior art design may be used. Such pattern forming processes are described in Patent Documents 1 to 6.
[0006] These patent documents disclose resist materials for organic solvent development comprising a copolymer of hydroxyadamantane methacrylate, a copolymer of norbornane lactone methacrylate, a copolymer of methacrylate having acidic groups including carboxyl, sulfo, phenol, thiol and other groups substituted with two or more acid labile groups, and a copolymer of methacrylate having a cyclic acid-stable group ester, and pattern forming processes using the same.
[0007] The ester unit having a carboxyl group protected with an acid labile group is one of predominant constituent units of base resins in currently available chemically amplified resist compositions. Patent Document 7 discloses a positive resist comprising units of hydroxyadamantane methacrylate having a hydroxyl group protected with a tertiary alkyl group. Also, Patent Document 8 discloses formation of a negative pattern via organic solvent development, using a base resin comprising those units having a hydroxyl group protected in acetal or tertiary ether form as the sole acid labile unit.
[0008] Polymerization units having such an acid labile group are important as constituent units of the base resin in the current chemically amplified resist compositions. In addition, polymerization units having an adhesive group are also important for forming patterns at high resolution when considered from the standpoints of dissolution contrast and acid diffusion control. These polymerization units include methacrylic compounds having lactone units of butyrolactone, valerolactone, norbornanelactone or cyclohexanelactone skeleton, and sultone units. Among others, adhesive units having butyrolactone skeleton which is a 5-membered lactone are mainly used, with a focus placed on α-methacryloyloxy-γ-butyrolactone and α-methacryloyloxy-γ-butyrolactone skeletons.
[0009] Patent Documents 9 and 10 disclose methods for the preparation of β-methacryloyloxy-γ-butyrolactone compounds having a substituent on lactone ring, and their use as resist material.
CITATION LIST
[0010] Patent Document 1: JP-A 2008-281974
[0011] Patent Document 2: JP-A 2008-281975
[0012] Patent Document 3: JP-A 2008-281980
[0013] Patent Document 4: JP-A 2009-053657
[0014] Patent Document 5: JP-A 2009-025707
[0015] Patent Document 6: JP-A 2009-025723
[0016] Patent Document 7: JP 4631297
[0017] Patent Document 8: JP-A 2011-197339
[0018] Patent Document 9: WO 2013/183380
[0019] Patent Document 10: JP-A 2001-033971
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
[0020] The above-mentioned β-(meth)acryloyloxy-γ-butyrolactone compounds are widely used as the constituent unit of a resist base resin. Many problems including stability of compounds, careful handling of starting reactants, difficulty of treatment, expense, and special reactor setup must be solved before the compounds can be produced on an industrial scale. There is a need for an industrial method of preparing β-(meth)acryloyloxy-γ-butyrolactone compounds in a stable manner and large scale.
[0021] An object of the invention is to provide a method for preparing a monomer which is useful to constitute an adhesive unit of a base resin so that a photoresist composition comprising the base resin may display improved performance properties such as dissolution contrast, controlled acid diffusion and low roughness in both alkaline development and organic solvent development.
[0022] The inventors have found that when reaction involving rearrangement of (meth)acryloyloxy group is utilized, β-(meth)acryloyloxy-γ-butyrolactone compounds and β-(meth)acryloyloxy-γ-valerolactone compounds can be prepared via a few steps in high yields without forming an intermediate in the form of β-hydroxylactone or β-halolactone and without a need for a special reactor.
[0023] Further, when a polymer derived from the monomer is used as adhesive unit of a base resin in a resist composition, the resist composition is effective not only in forming positive patterns by conventional alkaline development, but also in image formation via positive/negative reversal by organic solvent development, offering improved performance properties such as pattern collapse resistance, high dissolution contrast, acid diffusion control, and low roughness.
[0024] In one aspect, the invention provides a method for preparing a monomer having the general formula (1), comprising the steps of reacting a compound having the general formula (9) with a base or a metal selected from Group 1A, 2A and 2B metals to form a metal enolate reagent, and reacting the metal enolate reagent with an acyloxyketone compound having the general formula (8).
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 is hydrogen, methyl or trifluoromethyl; R 2 is hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom; R 3 and R 4 are each independently hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 3 and R 4 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached; R 5 and R 6 are each independently hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 5 and R 6 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached; R 7 and R 8 are each independently hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 7 and R 8 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached; X 1 is a C 1 -C 10 alkylene group which may have an ether, ester, lactone ring or hydroxyl, or a C 6 -C 10 arylene group; m is 0 or 1; in case of m=0, R 2 may bond with R 5 or R 6 to form a ring with the carbon atoms to which they are attached; in case of m=1, R 2 may bond with R 7 or R 8 to form a ring with the carbon atoms to which they are attached; k 1 is 0 or 1; X c is hydrogen or halogen; and R a is a straight or branched C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group.
[0025] In another aspect, the invention provides a method for preparing a monomer having the general formula (1), comprising the steps of reacting a compound having the general formula (9) with a base or a metal selected from Group 1A, 2A and 2B metals to form a metal enolate reagent, reacting the metal enolate reagent with an acyloxyketone compound having the general formula (8), isolating the resulting intermediate having the general formula (12), and lactonizing the intermediate.
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 to R 8 , X 1 , m, k, X c , and R a are as defined above.
[0026] Preferably, the acyloxyketone compound having formula (8) is prepared by reaction of a haloketone compound having the general formula (4) with a carboxylic acid salt compound having the general formula (5).
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 , R 2 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , X 1 , m and k 1 are as defined above, X a is halogen, and M a is Li, Na, K, Mg 1/2 , Ca 1/2 or substituted or unsubstituted ammonium.
[0027] Also preferably, the acyloxyketone compound having formula (8) is prepared by reaction of an alcohol compound having the general formula (6) with an esterifying agent having the general formula (7).
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 , R 2 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , X 1 , m and k 1 are as defined above, X b is halogen, hydroxyl or —OR b , and R b is methyl, ethyl or a group having the formula (11):
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 , X 1 and k 1 are as defined above, and the broken line denotes a valence bond.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0028] The inventive monomer is useful as a starting reactant for functional, pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals. The monomer is particularly useful for the preparation of a polymer which is used as a base resin to formulate a radiation-sensitive resist composition having high transparency to radiation of wavelength 500 nm or less, especially 300 nm or less, and improved development properties. When a polymer derived from the inventive monomer is used as base resin in a resist composition, the resulting resist composition is improved in resist properties such as pattern collapse resistance, high dissolution contrast, acid diffusion control, and low roughness in either of positive tone pattern formation by conventional alkaline development and image formation via positive/negative reversal by organic solvent development.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0029] In the disclosure, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The notation (Cn-Cm) means a group containing from n to m carbon atoms per group. In the chemical formulae, the broken line denotes a valence bond.
[0030] The abbreviations and acronyms have the following meaning.
[0031] EUV: extreme ultraviolet
[0032] PAG: photoacid generator
[0033] Mw: weight average molecular weight
[0034] Mn: number average molecular weight
[0035] Mw/Mn: molecular weight distribution or dispersity
[0036] GPC: gel permeation chromatography
[0037] PEB: post-exposure bake
[0038] LWR: line width roughness
[0039] It is understood that for some structures represented by chemical formulae, there can exist enantiomers and diastereomers because of the presence of asymmetric carbon atoms. In such a case, a single formula collectively represents all such isomers. The isomers may be used alone or in admixture.
[0040] First, the monomer to be prepared by the inventive method is described. The monomer has the general formula (1).
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 is hydrogen, methyl or trifluoromethyl. R 2 is hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom. R 3 and R 4 are each independently hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 3 and R 4 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached. R 5 and R 6 are each independently hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 5 and R 6 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached. R 7 and R 8 are each independently hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 7 and R 8 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached. X 1 is a C 1 -C 10 alkylene group which may have an ether moiety, ester moiety, lactone ring or hydroxyl moiety, or a C 6 -C 10 arylene group. The subscript m is 0 or 1. In case of m=0, R 2 may bond with R 5 or R 6 to form a ring with the carbon atoms to which they are attached. In case of m=1, R 2 may bond with R 7 or R 8 to form a ring with the carbon atoms to which they are attached. The subscript k 1 is 0 or 1.
[0041] In formula (1), typical examples of the straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group represented by R 2 to R 8 include straight, branched or cyclic alkyl groups such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, 2-ethylhexyl, n-octyl, norbornyl, tricyclodecanyl, and adamantyl; alkenyl and alkynyl groups such as vinyl, allyl, ethynyl and propargyl; aryl groups such as phenyl and naphthyl; and aralkyl groups such as benzyl. When the monovalent hydrocarbon group contains a heteroatom, suitable heteroatoms include nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. Examples of the monovalent hydrocarbon group containing a heteroatom are shown below.
[0000]
[0042] When a pair of R 3 and R 4 , R 5 and R 6 , or R 7 and R 8 bond together to form a ring, examples of the ring are shown below.
[0000]
[0043] In formula (1), X 1 is a C 1 -C 10 alkylene group which may have an ether moiety, ester moiety, lactone ring or hydroxyl moiety, or a C 6 -C 10 arylene group, examples of which are shown below.
[0000]
[0044] Illustrative, non-limiting examples of the monomer having formula (1) are shown below.
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 3 is as defined above.
[0045] Now the method for preparing a monomer having formula (1) is described. The method of the first embodiment is defined as comprising the steps of reacting a compound having the general formula (9) with a base or a metal selected from Group 1A, 2A and 2B metals to form a metal enolate reagent, and reacting the metal enolate reagent with an acyloxyketone compound having the general formula (8).
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 to R 8 , X 1 , k 1 , and m are as defined above. X c is hydrogen or halogen. R a is a straight or branched C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group.
[0046] The method of the second embodiment is defined as comprising the steps of reacting a compound having the above formula (9) with a base or a metal selected from Group 1A, 2A and 2B metals to form a metal enolate reagent, reacting the metal enolate reagent with an acyloxyketone compound having the above formula (8), isolating the resulting intermediate having the general formula (12), and lactonizing the intermediate.
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 to R 8 , X 1 , k 1 , m, and R a are as defined above.
[0047] More particularly, the monomer having formula (1) may be prepared according to the reaction scheme shown below.
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 to R 8 , X 1 , k 1 , and m are as defined above. X a is halogen. X b is halogen, hydroxyl or —OR b , wherein R b is methyl, ethyl or a group having the formula (11):
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 , X 1 and k 1 are as defined above, and the broken line denotes a valence bond. X c is hydrogen or halogen. M a is Li, Na, K, Mg 1/2 , Ca 1/2 or substituted or unsubstituted ammonium. M b is a metal. R a is a straight or branched C 1 -C 10 monovalent hydrocarbon group.
[0048] The method for preparing a monomer according to the above reaction scheme is described below.
[0049] Step (i) is a reaction of halo-ketone compound (4) with carboxylic acid salt compound (5) to form cyclization precursor (8). The reaction may readily run by a well-known procedure. The carboxylic acid salt compound (5) may be any of commercially available carboxylic acid salt compounds such as carboxylic acid metal salts. Alternatively, a corresponding carboxylic acid such as methacrylic acid or acrylic acid and a base are added to a reaction system where a carboxylic acid salt compound is formed therefrom. An appropriate amount of carboxylic acid salt compound (5) used is 0.5 to 10 moles, more preferably 1.0 to 3.0 moles per mole of halo-ketone compound (4). If the carboxylic acid salt compound is less than 0.5 mole, a large fraction of the reactant is left unreacted, with a substantial drop of yield. More than 10 moles of the carboxylic acid salt compound may be uneconomical because of an increase of material amount and a lowering of pot yield. In the alternative where a carboxylic acid salt compound is formed in situ from a corresponding carboxylic acid and a base, examples of the base used herein include amines such as ammonia, triethylamine, pyridine, lutidine, collidine, and N,N-dimethylaniline; hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, and tetramethylammonium hydroxide; carbonates such as potassium carbonate and sodium hydrogencarbonate; metals such as sodium; metal hydrides such as sodium hydride; metal alkoxides such as sodium methoxide and potassium tert-butoxide; organometallic compounds such as butyl lithium and ethylmagnesium bromide; and metal amides such as lithium diisopropylamide, which may be used alone or in admixture. An appropriate amount of the base used is 0.2 to 10 moles, more preferably 0.5 to 2.0 moles per mole of the corresponding carboxylic acid. If the base is less than 0.2 mole, a large fraction of the carboxylic acid may become waste, which is uneconomical. More than 10 moles of the base may promote side reactions, with a substantial drop of yield.
[0050] A solvent may be used for the reaction of step (i). Suitable solvents include hydrocarbons such as toluene, xylene, hexane and heptane; chlorinated solvents such as methylene chloride, chloroform, and dichloroethane; ethers such as diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran and dibutyl ether; ketones such as acetone and 2-butanone; esters such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate; nitriles such as acetonitrile; alcohols such as methanol and ethanol; aprotic polar solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide and dimethyl sulfoxide; and water, which may be used alone or in admixture. To the reaction system, a phase transfer catalyst such as tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate may be added. An appropriate amount of the phase transfer catalyst added is 0.0001 to 1.0 mole, more preferably 0.001 to 0.5 mole per mole of halo-ketone compound (4). Less than 0.0001 mole of the phase transfer catalyst may fail to exert catalytic effect whereas more than 1.0 mole may be uneconomical because of the increased catalyst cost.
[0051] The esterification reaction may be carried out preferably at a temperature in the range from −70° C. to approximately the boiling point of a particular solvent used. While an appropriate reaction temperature may be selected in accordance with other reaction conditions, a temperature in the range from 0° C. to approximately the boiling point of a particular solvent used is especially preferred. Since substantial side reactions may occur at elevated temperatures, it is crucial in achieving high yields to carry out the reaction at a temperature as low as possible within the range where reaction proceeds at a practically acceptable rate. It is desired for higher yields that the reaction time be determined by monitoring the progress of reaction by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) or gas chromatography (GC). The reaction time is usually about 30 minutes to about 40 hours. The precursor (8) may be recovered from the reaction mixture by ordinary aqueous work-up. If necessary, it can be purified by any standard technique such as distillation, recrystallization or chromatography.
[0052] Another route, step (ii) is a reaction of alcohol compound (6) with esterifying agent (7) to form cyclization precursor (8). The reaction may readily run by a well-known procedure. The preferred esterifying agent (7) is an acid chloride of formula (7) wherein X b is chlorine, or a carboxylic anhydride of formula (7) wherein X b is —OR b , and R b is a group having formula (11):
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 , X 1 , and k 1 are as defined above. When an acid chloride such as methacrylic acid chloride or methacryloyloxyacetic acid chloride is used as esterifying agent (7), the reaction may be conducted in a solventless system or in a solvent (e.g., methylene chloride, acetonitrile, toluene or hexane) by adding alcohol compound (6), acid chloride, and a base (e.g., triethylamine, pyridine or 4-dimethylaminopyridine) in sequence or at the same time, and optional cooling or heating. An appropriate amount of the acid chloride used is 0.5 to 10 moles, more preferably 1.0 to 3.0 moles per mole of alcohol compound (6). An amount of the base used is preferably at least 0.5 moles per mole of alcohol compound (6) so that the base may also serve as solvent, and more preferably 1.0 to 5.0 moles per mole of alcohol compound (6). When a carboxylic anhydride such as methacrylic anhydride or methacryloyloxyacetic anhydride is used as esterifying agent (7), the reaction may be conducted by heating alcohol compound (6) and carboxylic anhydride in a solvent (e.g., toluene or hexane) in the presence of an acid catalyst and optionally removing water resulting from reaction out of the system. An appropriate amount of the carboxylic anhydride used is 1 to 5 moles per mole of alcohol compound (6). Examples of the acid catalyst used herein include mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid and perchloric acid and organic acids such as methanesulfonic acid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid and benzenesulfonic acid.
[0053] An appropriate amount of esterifying agent (7) used is 1 to 10 moles, more preferably 1 to 5 moles per mole of alcohol compound (6). Less than 1 mole of esterifying agent (7) is short for the progress of reaction so that a large fraction of alcohol compound (6) may be left unreacted, with a substantial drop of yield. More than 10 moles of the esterifying agent (7) may be uneconomical because of an increase of material amount and a lowering of pot yield.
[0054] The esterification reaction may be carried out preferably at a temperature in the range from −70° C. to approximately the boiling point of a particular solvent used. While an appropriate reaction temperature may be selected in accordance with other reaction conditions, a temperature in the range from 0° C. to approximately the boiling point of a particular solvent used is especially preferred. Since substantial side reactions may occur at elevated temperatures, it is crucial in achieving high yields to carry out the reaction at a temperature as low as possible within the range where reaction proceeds at a practically acceptable rate. It is desired for higher yields that the reaction time be determined by monitoring the progress of reaction by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) or gas chromatography (GC). The reaction time is usually about 30 minutes to about 40 hours. The precursor (8) may be recovered from the reaction mixture by ordinary aqueous work-up. If necessary, it can be purified by any standard technique such as distillation, recrystallization or chromatography.
[0055] Step (iii) is to obtain monomer (1) in one-pot through reaction of a corresponding ester of formula (9) wherein X c is hydrogen or halo-ester of formula (9) wherein X c is halogen with a base or metal to form a metal enolate reagent, effecting nucleophilic addition reaction of the enolate to the ketone site of acyloxy-ketone compound (8), forming intermediate (10) and then intermediate (11).
[0056] Examples of the base used herein include, but are not limited to, metal amides such as sodium amide, potassium amide, lithium diisopropylamide, potassium diisopropylamide, lithium dicyclohexylamide, potassium dicyclohexylamide, lithium 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine, lithium bistrimethylsilylamide, sodium bistrimethylsilylamide, potassium bistrimethylsilylamide, lithium isopropylcyclohexylamide, magnesium diisopropylamide bromide; alkoxides such as sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, lithium methoxide, lithium ethoxide, lithium tert-butoxide, and potassium tert-butoxide; inorganic hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, barium hydroxide, and tetra-n-butylammonium hydroxide; inorganic carbonates such as sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogencarbonate, lithium carbonate, and potassium carbonate; metal hydrides such as boran, alkylboran, sodium hydride, lithium hydride, potassium hydride, and calcium hydride; alkyl metal compounds such as trityl lithium, trityl sodium, trityl potassium, methyl lithium, phenyl lithium, sec-butyl lithium, tert-butyl lithium, and ethylmagnesium bromide. The metal used herein is selected from Group 1A, 2A and 2B metals such as lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and zinc. It is noted that reaction using halo-ester and zinc is known as Reformatsky reaction. Among others, Reformatsky reaction is preferred because of possible preparation and handling of metal enolate reagent under mild temperature conditions and a high selectivity of reaction at the ketone site of acyloxy-ketone (8).
[0057] The Reformatsky reaction may be conducted by a well-known procedure. Since the previous preparation of Reformatsky reagent may invite a drop of yield and by-product formation, a procedure of simultaneously adding dropwise halo-ester compound (9) and cyclization precursor or ketone (8) to a suspension of metallic zinc is preferred. It is believed that if Reformatsky reagent has been pre-formed, the Reformatsky reagent is consumed by reaction with the reactant, halo-ester compound (9), resulting in a drop of yield. An appropriate amount of cyclization precursor (8) used is 0.5 to 10 moles, more preferably 0.8 to 3.0 moles per mole of the reactant, halo-ester compound (9). If precursor (8) is less than 0.5 mole, a large fraction of the reactant may be left unreacted, with a substantial drop of yield. More than 10 moles of precursor (8) may be uneconomical because of an increase of material amount and a lowering of pot yield. Likewise, in the embodiment wherein ester (9) wherein X c is hydrogen is reacted with a base to form a metal enolate reagent, which is subjected to reaction with precursor (8), an appropriate amount of cyclization precursor (8) used is 0.5 to 10 moles, more preferably 0.8 to 3.0 moles per mole of the reactant, ester (9). An appropriate amount of the base or metal used is 0.8 to 5 moles, more preferably 0.8 to 2.0 moles per mole of ester (9). If the base or metal is less than 0.8 mole, a large fraction of the reactant is left unreacted, with a substantial drop of yield. More than 5 moles of the base or metal may be uneconomical because of an increase of material amount and a lowering of pot yield. The reaction may be conducted in a solvent. Suitable solvents include hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylene, hexane, and heptane; chlorinated solvents such as methylene chloride, chloroform, and dichloroethane; ethers such as diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, and dibutyl ether; nitriles such as acetonitrile; alcohols such as methanol and ethanol; aprotic polar solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide and dimethyl sulfoxide; and water, which may be used alone or in admixture. Particularly in the case of Reformatsky reaction, the preferred procedure is by dissolving zinc in a solvent and admitting halo-ester (9) to the solution, the solvent being selected from ethers such as ethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran and dibutyl ether and hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylene, hexane and heptane.
[0058] For the above reaction, an appropriate reaction temperature may be selected in accordance with other reaction conditions. A temperature in the range of 30 to 80° C. is preferred because full reaction may not take place at lower temperature whereas side reactions may become noticeable at higher temperature. The reaction time is determined as appropriate for yield improvement by monitoring the reaction process by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) or gas chromatography (GC). The reaction time is usually about 30 minutes to about 2 hours because long-term aging allows for anionic polymerization to invite a drop of monomer yield. In step (iii), basically, a series of reactions run from addition intermediate (10) such that intermediate (11) forms via rearrangement of ester site, and lactonization ensues to form the desired monomer (1). Monomer (1) may be recovered from the reaction mixture by ordinary aqueous work-up. If necessary, the monomer may be purified by standard techniques like distillation, recrystallization and chromatography.
[0059] When a bulky ester such as tert-butyl ester is used as ester (9), the reaction of step (iii) may terminate at the stage of intermediate (10). This is undesirable for the one-pot synthesis of monomer (1) because a drop of yield, difficulty of purification and other problems arise. In this case, the problems may be overcome by isolating hydroxy-ester (10′) and subjecting it to acid treatment. For example, monomer (1) is obtained from cyclization precursor (8) according to the following reaction scheme.
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 to R 8 , X 1 , X c , k 1 , m, R a , and M b are as defined above.
[0060] Like step (iii), step (iv) is addition reaction of acyloxy-ketone compound (8) and ester compound (9) with the aid of a base or metal. Preferably Reformatsky reaction is utilized. Reaction may be carried out under the same conditions as in step (iii). Once the reaction terminates at the stage of intermediate (10), hydroxy-ester compound (10′) may be isolated from the reaction mixture by ordinary aqueous work-up. If necessary, the compound may be purified by standard techniques like distillation, recrystallization and chromatography.
[0061] Step (v) is acid treatment of hydroxy-ester compound (10′) into the desired monomer (1). Step (v) is carried out by diluting hydroxy-ester compound (10′) with a solvent, adding an acid, heating and stirring the mixture for reaction. Suitable solvents include hydrocarbons such as toluene, xylene, hexane and heptane; chlorinated solvents such as methylene chloride, chloroform, and dichloroethane; ethers such as diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran and dibutyl ether; ketones such as acetone and 2-butanone; esters such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate; nitriles such as acetonitrile; alcohols such as methanol and ethanol; aprotic polar solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide and dimethyl sulfoxide; and water, which may be used alone or in admixture. Notably, the reaction may also be conducted in a solventless system.
[0062] Suitable acids include mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid and perchloric acid, organic acids such as methanesulfonic acid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, and benzenesulfonic acid, and Lewis acids such as boron trifluoride, trimethylsilyl triflate, aluminum chloride, magnesium chloride, iron chloride, zinc chloride, and titanium chloride. An appropriate amount of the acid used is 0.001 to 5 moles, more preferably 0.01 to 0.5 mole per mole of the reactant, hydroxy-ester compound (10′). Less than 0.001 mole of the acid may invite an economic disadvantage because of a slow reaction rate and longer reaction time. More than 5 moles may incur side reactions due to strong acidity, with a drop of yield.
[0063] For the acid treatment, an appropriate reaction temperature may be selected in accordance with other reaction conditions. In most cases, a temperature of 40 to 70° C. is preferred because reaction does not take place at lower temperatures. The reaction time is determined as appropriate for yield improvement by monitoring the reaction process by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) or gas chromatography (GC). The reaction time is usually about 2 hours to about 1 day. At the end of reaction, monomer (1) may be recovered from the reaction mixture by ordinary aqueous work-up. If necessary, the monomer may be purified by standard techniques like distillation, recrystallization and chromatography.
[0064] The monomer thus obtained is used to form a polymer. Specifically, a polymer comprising recurring units having the following formula may be synthesized by dissolving the inventive monomer and an optional monomer(s) having a polymerizable double bond in an organic solvent, adding a radical polymerization initiator thereto, and effecting heat polymerization.
[0000]
[0000] Herein R 1 to R 8 , X 1 , k 1 , and m are as defined above.
[0065] Examples of the organic solvent which can be used for polymerization include toluene, benzene, tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, dioxane, cyclohexane, cyclopentane, methyl ethyl ketone, and γ-butyrolactone (GBL). Examples of the polymerization initiator used herein include 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), 2,2′-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), dimethyl 2,2-azobis(2-methylpropionate), benzoyl peroxide, and lauroyl peroxide. Preferably the system is heated at 50 to 80° C. for polymerization to take place. The reaction time is 2 to 100 hours, preferably 5 to 20 hours.
[0066] The resulting polymer may be advantageously used as base resin in chemically amplified positive and negative resist compositions. In forming patterns using these resist compositions, any well-known methods may be used.
Example
[0067] Examples, Reference Examples and Comparative Examples are given below by way of illustration and not by way of limitation. The abbreviation “pbw” is parts by weight. For all polymers, Mw and Mn are determined versus polystyrene standards by GPC using tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent.
Synthesis of Monomers
[0068] A series of monomers and ketone compounds as monomer precursor were synthesized according to the following formulation.
Example 1
Synthesis of Monomers 1, 2 and 3
[0069]
Example 1-1
Synthesis of Monomer 1
[0070] In a nitrogen atmosphere, 79.2 g of zinc powder was dissolved in 660 mL of THF. Then 4.93 g of 1,2-dibromoethane and 1.86 g of trimethylsilyl chloride were added to the solution, which was heated and stirred for activating zinc. To the activated zinc-THF solution, a mixture of 200.8 g of Ketone 1, which had been prepared by a well-known method, 182.7 g of ethyl 2-bromopropionate, and 330 mL of THF was added dropwise at 45° C., followed by heating and stirring at 45° C. for 2 hours. Under ice cooling, 530 g of 10% aqueous hydrochloric acid was added. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by distillation, obtaining 132.1 g of Monomer 1 (yield 63%, isomer ratio 61:39).
Example 1-2
Synthesis of Monomers 2 and 3
[0071] Monomer 1 obtained in Example 1-1, 132 g, was added to a mixture of 65 g of ethyl acetate and 200 g of hexane. Recrystallization at −10° C. gave 68.2 g of Monomer 2 (isomer ratio 97:3). By concentrating the mother liquid under reduced pressure and purifying by silica gel column chromatography, 45.7 g of Monomer 3 was obtained (isomer ratio 100:0).
Monomer 2
[0072] melting point: 76.0-76.3° C.
[0073] boiling point: 69° C./10 Pa
[0074] IR (D-ATR): ν=2981, 2962, 2942, 1780, 1768, 1708, 1634, 1475, 1447, 1379, 1331, 1302, 1254, 1212, 1178, 1165, 1152, 1127, 1102, 1063, 1032, 1010, 947, 870, 817, 721, 658, 564 cm −1
[0075] 1 H-NMR (600 MHz in DMSO-d 6 , only major isomer):
[0076] δ=1.12 (3H, d), 1.61 (3H, s), 1.83 (3H, s), 2.89 (1H, q), 4.24 (1H, d), 4.72 (1H, d), 5.69 (1H, s), 5.96 (1H, s) ppm
Monomer 3
[0077] boiling point: 69° C./10 Pa
[0078] IR (D-ATR): ν=2983, 1785, 1716, 1637, 1449, 1389, 1333, 1309, 1286, 1220, 1169, 1146, 1131, 1096, 1055, 1014, 940, 863, 814, 652 cm −1
[0079] 1 H-NMR (600 MHz in DMSO-d 6 ):
[0080] δ=1.15 (3H, d), 1.45 (3H, s), 1.85 (3H, s), 3.07 (1H, q), 4.42 (1H, d), 4.48 (1H, d), 5.71 (1H, s), 6.04 (1H, s) ppm
Example 2
Synthesis of Monomer 4
[0081]
[0082] In a nitrogen atmosphere, 92.4 g of zinc powder was dissolved in 800 mL of THF. Then 5.53 g of 1,2-dibromoethane and 1.92 g of trimethylsilyl chloride were added to the solution, which was heated and stirred for activating zinc. To the activated zinc-THF solution, a mixture of 178.1 g of Ketone 1, 241.6 g of ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate, and 400 mL of THF was added dropwise at 50° C., followed by heating and stirring at 50° C. for 1.5 hours. Under ice cooling, 584 g of 10% aqueous hydrochloric acid was added. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by distillation, obtaining 156.2 g of Monomer 4 (yield 58%).
[0083] boiling point: 75° C./10 Pa
[0084] IR (D-ATR): ν=2982, 2940, 1785, 1717, 1637, 1485, 1468, 1395, 1380, 1328, 1304, 1286, 1233, 1159, 1141, 1118, 1102, 1024, 944, 843, 814, 659 cm −1
[0085] 1 H-NMR (600 MHz in DMSO-d 6 ):
[0086] δ=1.14 (3H, s), 1.18 (3H, s), 1.50 (3H, s), 1.84 (3H, s), 4.45 (1H, d), 4.71 (1H, d), 5.69 (1H, s), 5.98 (1H, s) ppm
Example 3-1
Synthesis of Monomer 5
[0087]
Example 3-1-1
Synthesis of Ketone 2
[0088] In a nitrogen atmosphere, 200 g of acetoin and 269.2 g of methacrylic anhydride were dissolved in 1,000 mL of THF. At room temperature, 212 g of triethylamine was added dropwise to the solution, which was stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by distillation, obtaining 212.7 g of Ketone 2 (yield 74%).
[0089] boiling point: 63° C./900 Pa
[0090] IR (D-ATR): ν=2988, 2932, 1717, 1638, 1452, 1360, 1329, 1309, 1162, 1094, 1047, 1009, 945, 861, 815, 657 cm −1
[0091] 1 H-NMR (600 MHz in DMSO-d 6 ):
[0092] δ=1.36 (3H, d), 1.89 (3H, s), 2.13 (3H, s), 5.09 (1H, q), 5.74 (1H, m), 6.09 (1H, m) ppm
Example 3-1-2
Synthesis of Monomer 5
[0093] In a nitrogen atmosphere, 33.9 g of zinc powder was dissolved in 250 mL of THF. Then 2.3 g of 1,2-dibromoethane and 0.9 g of trimethylsilyl chloride were added to the solution, which was heated and stirred for activating zinc. To the activated zinc-THF solution, a mixture of 82.0 g of Ketone 2, 98.5 g of ethyl 2-bromopropionate, and 150 mL of THF was added dropwise at 55° C., followed by heating and stirring at 55° C. for 1.5 hours. Under ice cooling, 227 g of 10% aqueous hydrochloric acid was added. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by silica gel column chromatography, obtaining 53.1 g of Monomer 5 (yield 48%, isomer ratio 57:32:11:0).
[0094] IR (D-ATR): ν=2985, 2944, 1782, 1717, 1637, 1452, 1386, 1328, 1302, 1208, 1167, 1135, 1096, 1072, 1052, 1012, 944, 888, 814, 663 cm −1
[0095] 1 H-NMR (600 MHz in DMSO-d 6 , only major isomer):
[0096] δ=1.13 (3H, d), 1.30 (3H, d), 1.57 (3H, s), 1.83 (1H, m), 3.09 (1H, q), 4.96 (1H, q), 5.68 (1H, m), 5.95 (1H, m) ppm
Example 3-2
Synthesis of Monomer 5 Via Another Route
[0097]
Example 3-2-1
Synthesis of Hydroxyester 2
[0098] 16.4 g of 1,2-dibromoethane was added to a suspension of 250.6 g of zinc in 2,900 mL of THF, which was stirred under reflux conditions for 1 hour. The reactor was cooled to an internal temperature of 40° C., after which 7.6 g of chlorotrimethylsilane was added to the suspension, which was stirred for 10 minutes. To the suspension at 30° C., a solution of 2.653 g of Ketone 2, 728.5 g of t-butyl 2-bromopropionate, and 16.4 g of 1,2-dibromoethane in 750 mL of THF was added dropwise. Until the end of dropwise addition, the temperature was kept below 40° C. by optional cooling. This was followed by stirring at 35° C. for 1 hour and cooling. With the temperature kept below 20° C., 1,050 g of 20% aqueous hydrochloric acid was added dropwise to quench the reaction. Stirring was continued at room temperature for some time until zinc was dissolved. The reaction mixture was extracted with 2,000 mL of toluene, followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by distillation, obtaining 716.3 g of Hydroxyester 2 (yield 69%, isomer ratio 40:39:18:3).
[0099] boiling point: 80° C./10 Pa
[0100] 1 H-NMR (600 MHz in DMSO-d 6 , only major isomer):
[0101] δ=1.05 (3H, d), 1.09 (3H, s), 1.17 (3H, d), 1.33 (9H, s), 1.87 (3H, s), 2.46 (1H, q), 4.58 (1H, s), 4.87 (1H, m), 5.61 (1H, s), 6.08 (1H, s) ppm
Example 3-2-2
Synthesis of Monomer 5
[0102] At room temperature, 80 g of methanesulfonic acid was added dropwise to a mixture of 800 g of Hydroxyester 2 and 800 g of toluene. The mixture was heated at an internal temperature of 50° C. and stirred for 12 hours. The reaction solution was cooled after the completion of reaction was confirmed. 880 g of 10% aqueous solution of sodium hydrogencarbonate was added dropwise to quench the reaction. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by distillation, obtaining 466.8 g of Monomer 5 (yield 77%, isomer ratio 40:28:18:14).
[0103] boiling point: 73° C./5 Pa
Example 4
Synthesis of Monomer 6
[0104]
Example 4-1
Synthesis of Ketone 3
[0105] Chloroketone 1, 339 g, was added to a suspension of 300 g of sodium methacrylate in 3,000 mL of toluene, which was aged at 90° C. for 40 hours. The reaction solution was cooled, to which 1,000 mL of water was added to quench the reaction. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. Vacuum distillation gave 409 g of Ketone 3 (yield 90%).
Example 4-2
Synthesis of Hydroxyester 1
[0106] In a nitrogen atmosphere, 28.8 g of zinc powder was dissolved in 280 mL of THF. Then 1.8 g of 1,2-dibromoethane and 0.7 g of trimethylsilyl chloride were added to the solution, which was heated and stirred for activating zinc. To the activated zinc-THF solution, a mixture of 92.0 g of Ketone 3, 76.8 g of tert-butyl 2-bromopropionate, and 140 mL of THF was added dropwise at 60° C., followed by heating and stirring at 60° C. for 1.0 hour. Under ice cooling, 400 g of a saturated aqueous solution of ammonium chloride was added. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. As crude product, 134.9 g of Hydroxyester 1 was obtained (yield 73%, isomer ratio 55:45).
Example 4-3
Synthesis of Monomer 6
[0107] Methanesulfonic acid, 10 g, was added to a mixture of 100.2 g of crude Hydroxyester 1 and 100 g of toluene, which was heated and stirred at 50° C. for 10 hours. The reaction solution was cooled, after which 100 g of a saturated aqueous solution of sodium hydrogencarbonate was added. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. Vacuum distillation gave 40.3 g of Monomer 6 (yield 78%, isomer ratio 55:45).
Example 5
Synthesis of Monomer 7
[0108]
[0109] A THF solution (78 mL) of 1.3M lithium hexamethyldisilazide was cooled at −50° C., to which 14.8 g of Ester 1 was added dropwise. Stirring was continued at the temperature for 10 minutes. To the resulting enolate solution kept at −40° C., a solution of 16.3 g of Ketone 1 in 15 mL of THF was added dropwise. Stirring was continued at −40° C. for 30 minutes. With cooling interrupted, the solution was warmed up to room temperature over 1 hour. It was heated at 40° C. and stirred for 1 hour. The solution was cooled again, after which 40 g of 10 wt % aqueous hydrochloric acid was added to quench the reaction. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by silica gel column chromatography, obtaining 10.2 g of Monomer 7. Yield 40%.
Example 6
Synthesis of Monomer 8
[0110]
[0111] By following the same procedure as in Example 2 aside from using Ketone 2 instead of Ketone 1, there was obtained 33.7 g of Monomer 8. Yield 51%.
Example 7
Synthesis of Monomer 9
[0112]
Example 7-1
Synthesis of Ketone 4
[0113] In a nitrogen atmosphere, 20 g of hydroxyacetone, 48.1 g of Esterifying agent 1, and 0.5 g of 4-dimethylaminopyridine were dissolved in 100 mL of acetonitrile. At room temperature, 35.5 g of triethylamine was added dropwise to the solution, which was stirred at room temperature for 12 hours. This was followed by standard aqueous workup and solvent distillation. The product was purified by distillation, obtaining 44.5 g of Ketone 4 (yield 85%).
Example 7-2
Synthesis of Monomer 9
[0114] By following the same procedure as in Example 1-1 aside from using Ketone 4 instead of Ketone 1, there was obtained 28.4 g of Monomer 9. Yield 46%.
Example 8
Synthesis of Monomer 10
[0115]
[0116] By following the same procedure as in Example 7 aside from using Esterifying agent 2 instead of Esterifying agent 1, there was obtained 20.3 g of Monomer 10. Yield 41%.
Example 9
Synthesis of Monomer 11
[0117]
[0118] The same procedure as in Example 3 was repeated aside from using hydroxyacetone, acrylic anhydride and ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate. There was obtained 17.4 g of Monomer 11 in a two-step yield of 37%.
Example 10
Synthesis of Monomer 12
[0119]
[0120] The same procedure as in Example 3 was repeated aside from using hydroxyacetone, α-trifluoromethylacrylic anhydride and ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate. There was obtained 13.8 g of Monomer 12 in a two-step yield of 35%.
[0121] A list of Monomers 1 to 12 obtained in Examples are shown by the structural formula.
[0000]
Reference Example
Synthesis of Polymers
[0122] A series of polymers for use in resist compositions were synthesized by dissolving selected monomers in propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA), copolymerization reaction, crystallizing from methanol, repeatedly washing with methanol, isolation and drying. The composition of a polymer was analyzed by 1 H-NMR spectroscopy, and the Mw and Mw/Mn determined by GPC. The polymers are designated Polymers 1 to 13 and Comparative Polymers 1 to 6.
Polymer 1
[0123] Mw=9,600
[0124] Mw/Mn=1.67
[0125] (a=0.50, b=0.20, c=0.20, d=0.10)
[0000]
Polymer 2
[0126] Mw=10,100
[0127] Mw/Mn=1.70
[0128] (a=0.50, b=0.40, c=0.10)
[0000]
Polymer 3
[0129] Mw=8,900
[0130] Mw/Mn=1.72
[0131] (a=0.50, b=0.20, c=0.20, d=0.10)
[0000]
Polymer 4
[0132] Mw=9,900
[0133] Mw/Mn=1.66
[0134] (a=0.30, b=0.50, c=0.20)
[0000]
Polymer 5
[0135] Mw=9,300
[0136] Mw/Mn=1.55
[0137] (a=0.30, b=0.40, c=0.10, d=0.20)
[0000]
Polymer 6
[0138] Mw=9,400
[0139] Mw/Mn=1.57
[0140] (a=0.35, b=0.30, c=0.20, d=0.15)
[0000]
Polymer 7
[0141] Mw=9,100
[0142] Mw/Mn=1.67
[0143] (a=0.35, b=0.35, c=0.15, d=0.15)
[0000]
Polymer 8
[0144] Mw=7,900
[0145] Mw/Mn=1.73
[0146] (a=0.35, b=0.50, c=0.10, d=0.05)
[0000]
Polymer 9
[0147] Mw=8,500
[0148] Mw/Mn=1.63
[0149] (a=0.25, b=0.45, c=0.20, d=0.05, e=0.05)
[0000]
Polymer 10
[0150] Mw=8,800
[0151] Mw/Mn=1.54
[0152] (a=0.20, b=0.50, c=0.30)
[0000]
Polymer 11
[0153] Mw=8,800
[0154] Mw/Mn=1.61
[0155] (a=0.55, b=0.35, c=0.10)
[0000]
Polymer 12
[0156] Mw=8,500
[0157] Mw/Mn=1.52
[0158] (a=0.55, b=0.35, c=0.10)
[0000]
Polymer 13
[0159] Mw=8,700
[0160] Mw/Mn=1.59
[0161] (a=0.55, b=0.35, c=0.10)
[0000]
Comparative Polymer 1
[0162] Mw=9,300
[0163] Mw/Mn=1.53
[0164] (a=0.50, b=0.20, c=0.20, d=0.10)
[0000]
Comparative Polymer 2
[0165] Mw=7,900
[0166] Mw/Mn=1.60
[0167] (a=0.45, b=0.25, c=0.20, d=0.10)
[0000]
Comparative Polymer 3
[0168] Mw=8,800
[0169] Mw/Mn=1.66
[0170] (a=0.30, b=0.30, c=0.20, d=0.20)
[0000]
Comparative Polymer 4
[0171] Mw=7,600
[0172] Mw/Mn=1.59
[0173] (a=0.40, b=0.50, c=0.10)
[0000]
Comparative Polymer 5
[0174] Mw=7,800
[0175] Mw/Mn=1.54
[0176] (a=0.55, b=0.35, c=0.10)
[0000]
Comparative Polymer 6
[0177] Mw=8,000
[0178] Mw/Mn=1.57
[0179] (a=0.55, b=0.35, c=0.10)
[0000]
Reference Examples 1-1 to 1-13 and Comparative Examples 1-1 to 1-6
Preparation of Resist Composition
[0180] Resist compositions R-1 to R-19 in solution form were prepared by dissolving a polymer (Polymers 1 to 13 or Comparative Polymers 1 to 6) as base resin, photoacid generator, water-repellent polymer, and quencher in a solvent in accordance with the formulation of Tables 1 and 2 and filtering through a Teflon® filter with a pore size of 0.2 m. The photoacid generator (PAG-1 to 3), water-repellent polymer (SF-1, 2), quencher (Q-1 to 6), and solvent used herein are identified below.
[0000] Photoacid generator: PAG-1 to 3 shown below
[0000]
[0000] Water-repellent polymer: SF-1 and 2 shown below
[0000]
[0000] Quencher: Q-1 to 6 shown below
[0000]
[0000] Organic solvent:
[0181] PGMEA (propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate)
[0182] GBL (γ-butyrolactone)
[0183] PGME (propylene glycol monomethyl ether)
[0000]
TABLE 1
Water-
repellent
Resin
PAG
Quencher
polymer
Solvent
Resist
(pbw)
(pbw)
(pbw)
(pbw)
(pbw)
Reference Example
1-1
R-1
Polymer 1
PAG1
Q-1
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-2
R-2
Polymer 2
PAG1
Q-2
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-3
R-3
Polymer 3
PAG3
Q-2
SF-2
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(8.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-4
R-4
Polymer 4
PAG2
Q-1
SF-2
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(12.5)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-5
R-5
Polymer 5
PAG2
Q-2
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(12.5)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-6
R-6
Polymer 6
PAG3
Q-1
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(8.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-7
R-7
Polymer 7
PAG1
Q-3
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-8
R-8
Polymer 8
PAG2
Q-1
—
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(12.5)
(1.0)
GBL(500)
Q-4
(1.0)
1-9
R-9
Polymer 9
—
Q-3
—
PGMEA(500)
(100)
(1.5)
GBL(1,450)
PGME(50)
1-10
R-10
Polymer 10
PAG1
Q-5
SF-2
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(12.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-11
R-11
Polymer 11
PAG1
Q-6
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-12
R-12
Polymer 12
PAG1
Q-6
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
1-13
R-13
Polymer 13
PAG1
Q-6
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
(100)
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
[0000]
TABLE 2
Water-
repellent
Resin
PAG
Quencher
polymer
Solvent
Resist
(pbw)
(pbw)
(pbw)
(pbw)
(pbw)
Comparative Example
1-1
R-14
Comparative
PAG1
Q-1
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
Polymer 1
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
(100)
1-2
R-15
Comparative
PAG1
Q-1
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
Polymer 2
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
(100)
1-3
R-16
Comparative
PAG2
Q-2
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
Polymer 3
(12.5)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
(100)
1-4
R-17
Comparative
PAG3
Q-4
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
Polymer 4
(8.0)
(1.0)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
(100)
1-5
R-18
Comparative
PAG1
Q-6
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
Polymer 5
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
(100)
1-6
R-19
Comparative
PAG1
Q-6
SF-1
PGMEA(2,000)
Polymer 6
(10.0)
(1.5)
(6.0)
GBL(500)
(100)
Reference Examples 2-1 to 2-10 and Comparative Examples 2-1 to 2-4
ArF Lithography Patterning Test: Evaluation of L/S Pattern
[0184] On a substrate, a spin-on carbon film ODL-50 (Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) having a carbon content of 80 wt % was deposited to a thickness of 200 nm and a silicon-containing spin-on hard mask SHB-A940 having a silicon content of 43 wt % was deposited thereon to a thickness of 35 nm. On this substrate for trilayer process, the resist composition (R-1 to R-10) or comparative resist composition (R-14 to R-17) shown in Tables 1 and 2 was spin coated, then baked on a hot plate at 100° C. for 60 seconds to form a resist film of 100 nm thick. Using an ArF excimer laser immersion lithography scanner NSR-610C (Nikon Corp., NA 1.30, σ 0.98/0.78, 4/5 annular illumination), exposure was performed through Mask A. Mask A was a 6% halftone phase shift mask bearing a line pattern having a pitch of 100 nm and a line width of 50 nm (on-wafer size). After the exposure, the wafer was baked (PEB) at the temperature shown in Table 3 for 60 seconds and developed. Specifically, butyl acetate was injected from a development nozzle while the wafer was spun at 30 rpm for 3 seconds, which was followed by stationary puddle development for 27 seconds. The wafer was rinsed with 4-methyl-2-pentanol, spin dried, and baked at 100° C. for 20 seconds to evaporate off the rinse liquid. On solvent development, the unexposed region of resist film shielded by the mask was dissolved in the developer. This image reversal formed a line-and-space (L/S) pattern having a space width of 50 nm and a pitch of 100 nm.
Evaluation of Sensitivity
[0185] As an index of sensitivity, the optimum dose (Eop, mJ/cm 2 ) which provided an L/S pattern with a space width of 50 nm and a pitch of 100 nm was determined. A smaller dose value indicates a higher sensitivity.
Evaluation of Exposure Latitude (EL)
[0186] In L/S pattern formation through mask A, the exposure dose which provided an L/S pattern with a space width of 50 nm±10% (i.e., 45 nm to 55 nm) was determined. EL (%) is calculated from the exposure doses according to the following equation:
[0000] EL (%)=(| E 1- E 2 |/Eop )×100
[0000] wherein E1 is an exposure dose which provides an L/S pattern with a space width of 45 nm and a pitch of 100 nm, E2 is an exposure dose which provides an L/S pattern with a space width of 55 nm and a pitch of 100 nm, and Eop is the optimum exposure dose which provides an L/S pattern with a space width of 50 nm and a pitch of 100 nm. A greater value of EL indicates better performance.
Evaluation of Line Width Roughness (LWR)
[0187] The L/S pattern formed by exposure in the optimum dose (determined in the sensitivity evaluation) was observed under TDSEM S-9380 (Hitachi Hitechnologies, Ltd.). The space width was measured at longitudinally spaced apart 10 points, from which a 3-fold value (3σ) of standard deviation (σ) was determined and reported as LWR. A smaller value of 3σ indicates a pattern having a lower roughness and more uniform space width.
[0188] The results are shown in Table 3.
[0000]
TABLE 3
PEB temp.
Eop
EL
LWR
Resist
(° C.)
(mJ/cm 2 )
(%)
(nm)
Reference
2-1
R-1
85
25
17.4
3.4
Example
2-2
R-2
100
29
19
3.1
2-3
R-3
95
26
18
3.2
2-4
R-4
90
28
16.5
3.2
2-5
R-5
105
29
18.5
3.3
2-6
R-6
95
27
15.9
3.4
2-7
R-7
95
25
18.3
3.4
2-8
R-8
85
26
16.6
3.4
2-9
R-9
90
28
18.2
3.3
2-10
R-10
90
26
20.5
3.4
Comparative
2-1
R-14
85
31
13.2
4.5
Example
2-2
R-15
85
28
8.3
5.1
2-3
R-16
90
33
11.5
4.4
2-4
R-17
90
38
12.1
5.8
Reference Examples 3-1 to 3-3 and Comparative Examples 3-1 to 3-2
ArF Lithography Test: Evaluation of Resist Storage Stability
[0189] The storage stability of the resist composition was examined by comparing the fresh Eop of a resist composition as freshly prepared and the aged Eop of the resist composition which was aged at 20° C. for 1 month. A percent sensitivity change (ΔS) is calculated according to the equation:
[0000] Δ S (%)=[(aged Eop −fresh Eop )]/(fresh Eop )×100
[0000] A negative value of ΔS indicates an increase of sensitivity during aging. A smaller magnitude of ΔS indicates that the resist composition experiences a less change during shelf storage, that is, higher storage stability.
[0190] The results are shown in Table 4.
[0000]
TABLE 4
Fresh Eop
ΔS
Resist
(mJ/cm 2 )
(%)
Reference Example
3-1
R-11
38
−1
3-2
R-12
40
0
3-3
R-13
43
0
Comparative Example
3-1
R-18
39
−9
3-2
R-19
42
−3
[0191] As is evident from Table 3, the resist compositions of Reference Examples are effective for forming negative patterns having improved LWR and EL via organic solvent development. As is evident from Table 4, the resist compositions of Reference Examples are fully shelf stable even when they contain a basic compound.
[0192] Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-097364 is incorporated herein by reference.
[0193] Although some preferred embodiments have been described, many modifications and variations may be made thereto in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described without departing from the scope of the appended claims. | A monomer (1) is prepared by reacting a compound (9) with a base or metal to form a metal enolate reagent, and reacting the metal enolate reagent with an acyloxyketone compound (8). A polymer derived from the monomer is used as base resin to formulate a resist composition, which is shelf stable and displays a high dissolution contrast, controlled acid diffusion and low roughness in forming positive pattern via alkaline development and in forming negative pattern via organic solvent development. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of, and priority from, U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/537,232, filed Sep. 21, 2011, and entitled “PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS FROM NATURAL GAS,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates, in some aspects, to processes and systems for aromatization of low hydrocarbons, including production of aromatic hydrocarbons from natural gas.
BACKGROUND
[0003] It is known that dehydroaromatization of methane (CH 4 ) under non-oxidative conditions is thermodynamically more favorable to aromatics than to olefins, and molybdenum-modified zeolites or aluminosilicates such as Mo/ZSM-5 and Mo/MCM-22 are found to be effective catalysts for such reactions. Extensive research on the performance of such catalysts has been conducted and reported, and it has been found that the production performance depends on the structure and composition of the catalyst tested and how the catalyst is activated. Thus, research reported to date has focused on identifying a catalyst that can be activated to provide improved aromatization performance such as benzene yield from methane aromatization.
[0004] Representative publications of such research results include:
[0005] Smieskova et al. “Aromatization of methane on Mo modified zeolites: Influence of the surface and structural properties of the carriers,” Applied Catalysis A: General, 2010, vol. 377, pp. 83-91;
[0006] Skutil et al., “Some technological aspects of methane aromatization (direct and via oxidative coupling),” Fuel Processing Technology, 2006, vol. 87, pp. 511-51;
[0007] Liu et al., “Methane dehydroaromatization under nonoxidative conditions over Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts: Identification and preparation of the Mo active species,” Journal of Catalysis, 2006, vol. 239, pp. 441-450;
[0008] Ha et al., “Aromatization of methane over zeolite supported molybdenum: active sites and reaction mechanism,” Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 2002, vol. 181, pp. 283-290;
[0009] Shu et al., “Methane dehydro-aromatization over Mo/MCM-22 catalysts: highly selective catalyst for the formation of benzene,” Catalysis Letters, 2000, vol. 70, pp. 67-73;
[0010] Xu et al., “Recent advances in methane dehydro-aromatization over transition metal ion-modified zeolite catalysts under non-oxidative conditions,” Applied Catalysis A: General, 1999, vol. 188, pp. 53-67;
[0011] Huang et al., “Structure and acidity of Mo/H-MCM-22 catalysts studied by NMR spectroscopy,” Catalysis Today, 204, vol. 97, pp. 25-34;
[0012] Chu et al., “A feasible way to enhance effectively the catalytic performance of methane dehydroaromatization,” Catalysis Communications, 2010, vol. 11, pp. 513-517; and
[0013] Chu et al., “Dehydroaromatization of methane with a small amount of ethane for higher yield of benzene,” Chinese Chemical Letters, 2004, vol. 15, pp. 591-593.
SUMMARY
[0014] It has been surprisingly discovered that heating simulated natural gas in the presence of a combination of different catalysts can produce aromatics with improved yield when the combination of catalysts includes a first catalyst that is more active for catalyzing aromatization of methane and a second catalyst that is more active for catalyzing aromatization of ethane. For example, the first catalyst may be a Mo/MCM-22 catalyst, and the second catalyst may be a Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst.
[0015] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method in which a heated reaction gas comprising methane is contacted with a first catalyst and a second catalyst to catalyze production of an aromatic hydrocarbon. The first catalyst is more active than the second catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of methane, and the second catalyst is more active than the first catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of ethane. At least one of the first and second catalysts may be an aluminosilicate zeolite modified by a transition metal. The first catalyst may be a MCM-22 zeolite modified by a first transition metal. The second catalyst may be a ZSM-5 zeolite modified by a second transition metal. The first transition metal and second transition metal may be molybdenum. Each catalyst may comprise about 3 to about 12 wt % of molybdenum. Each catalyst may have a Si/2Al ratio of from 25 to 45. The heated reaction gas may be heated to a temperature of about 600 to about 700° C. Prior to contacting the reaction gas, the first and second catalysts may be heated to at least 300° C. in the presence of propane. The weight ratio of the first and second catalysts may be about 1:1.
[0016] In another aspect, there is provided a reactor for producing aromatic hydrocarbons from a reaction gas comprising methane. The reactor comprises a conduit defining a reaction zone for the reaction gas to react therein; and a first catalyst and a second catalyst in the reaction zone. The first catalyst is more active than the second catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of methane, and the second catalyst is more active than the first catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of ethane. At least one of the first and second catalysts may be an aluminosilicate zeolite modified by a transition metal. The first catalyst may be a MCM-22 zeolite modified by a first transition metal. The second catalyst may be a ZSM-5 zeolite modified by a second transition metal. The first transition metal and second transition metal may be molybdenum. Each catalyst may comprise about 3 to about 12 wt % of molybdenum. Each catalyst may have a Si/2Al ratio of from 25 to 45. The weight ratio of the first and second catalysts may be about 1:1.
[0017] Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] In the figures, which illustrate, by way of example only, embodiments of the present invention,
[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an aromatization process using a reactor, exemplary of an embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a reaction zone of the reactor of FIG. 1 ; and
[0021] FIG. 3 is a data graph showing representative production results in example aromatization processes with different configurations of catalysts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] A process for producing aromatic hydrocarbons from a reaction gas containing methane according to selected embodiments of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 . As shown, the reaction gas is fed to a reactor 10 , in which the reaction gas may be heated under non-oxidative conditions to produce aromatic hydrocarbons and other products such as hydrogen.
[0023] The reaction gas may be a natural gas. Typical natural gases may include, e.g. 75 to 99 mol % of methane (CH 4 ), 0.01 to 15 mol % of ethane (C 2 H 6 ), 0.01 to 10 mol % of propane (C 3 H 8 ), up to 0.30 mol % of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and other minor components. The reaction gas may also be any other synthesized or naturally existing gases or mixtures of gases that contain low carbon alkanes, or other low carbon aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as C 1 -C 4 hydrocarbons.
[0024] The actual reactions occurring in reactor 10 may be complicated and may vary in different embodiments depending on various factors as can be understood by those skilled in the art. In many instances, the complete reaction mechanisms may not be completely understood. However, the overall reactions may include a reaction result that can be described as:
[0000] 6CH 4 =9H 2 +C 6 H 6 . (1)
[0025] In selected embodiments, ethane is also expected to be present in reactor 10 . Ethane may be included in the input gases such as the reaction gas, or may be formed in reactor 10 . As such, the overall performance of the aromatization process can be enhanced by including in reactor 10 a combination of catalysts where a first catalyst is more active for catalyzing aromatization of methane and a second catalyst is more active for catalyzing aromatization of ethane. A catalyst is more active if it provides a higher yield of the desired product, or if it has a longer lifetime as an active catalyst for the desired reaction without reactivation, or both.
[0026] The catalysts may be placed in a catalyst bed 12 as illustrated in FIG. 2 (not separately shown in FIG. 1 ). As depicted in FIG. 2 , catalyst bed 12 is in a conduit 14 in reactor 10 , in which the reaction gas passes through and the aromatization reactions take place. The space in conduit 14 where the reaction gas contacts the catalysts and reacts is referred to as the reaction zone.
[0027] In selected embodiments, conduit 14 may be arranged vertically and the reaction gas may be flown downward as depicted in FIG. 2 . Other arrangements are also possible.
[0028] At least two different types of catalysts are placed in catalyst bed 12 . As depicted in FIG. 2 , a first catalyst 16 is placed upstream (on top as depicted in FIG. 2 ) in catalyst bed 12 , and a second catalyst 18 is placed downstream (at the bottom as depicted in FIG. 2 ) in catalyst bed 12 . In selected embodiments, catalyst 16 is a Mo/MCM-22 catalyst, and catalyst 18 is a Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst. MCM-22 and ZSM-5 are each well-known aluminosilicate zeolites, and those of ordinary skill in the art will be aware of such compounds, their physical structures, and techniques for producing such structures. Other possible catalysts that can be used, their selection and preparation will be described further below. In different embodiments, the catalysts may also be arranged differently as discussed elsewhere herein.
[0029] Reactor 10 , catalyst bed 12 and conduit 14 may be designed and constructed according to any suitable conventional techniques with the exception of the catalysts in catalyst bed 12 and with any possible or necessary modification in view of, or to accommodate, the combination of catalysts described herein. For example, reactor 10 may be a continuous flow reactor, and catalyst bed 12 may a fixed catalyst bed. The sizes and shapes of reactor 10 , catalyst bed 12 and conduit 14 may be selected by those skilled in the art according to known techniques for designing gas phase reactors. The different components in the reactor may also be constructed using suitable materials known to those skilled in the art with the additional requirement that they be compatible with the combination of catalysts described herein
[0030] Some optional and necessary components of reactor 10 , and optional or necessary equipments and devices for operating reactor 10 , are not depicted in the figures, but these can be readily understood and provided by those skilled in the art in view of the present disclosure.
[0031] During operation, the reaction gas is passed through catalyst bed 12 in conduit 14 at selected temperature, pressure and flow rate. The temperature, pressure, flow rate, and other operating conditions in conduit 14 , are selected and controlled to provide non-oxidative dehydroaromatization conditions. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, to avoid oxidative reactions, the reactants used for the production process should be non-oxidative, and the reaction gas should not contain or contact oxidative substances such as oxidative gases.
[0032] In selected embodiments, the reaction temperature in the reaction zone may be about 650° C. and the pressure in conduit 14 may be about 0.1 MPa or about 1 atm. In some embodiments, the reaction temperature may be selected from the range of about 500 to about 900° C., such as from about 600 to about 700° C.; and the reaction pressure may be selected from the range of 0.1 to about 1 MPa, such as from about 0.1 to about 0.5 MPa.
[0033] In selected embodiments, the space velocity of the reaction gas in conduit 14 may be about 10 h −1 . In some embodiments, the space velocity of the reaction gas may be in the range of about 5 to about 15 h −1 , such as from about 7 to about 12 h −1 .
[0034] The space velocity, reaction temperature, and reaction pressure can affect the reaction results and process performance, and thus may be selected to optimize certain aspects of the reaction process for a given application.
[0035] As a result of the reactions that occur in reactor 10 , aromatic hydrocarbons and other products such as hydrogen gas are produced. Possible aromatic hydrocarbons produced in reactor 10 include benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene, ethylbenzene, styrene, or mixtures thereof. In particular, the reaction conditions may be optimized to produce one or more of benzene, toluene, and xylene in selected embodiments.
[0036] Conveniently, when a combination of different catalysts as described herein is provided and present in reactor 10 , improved processing performance may be obtained, as compared to a process using only one of the catalysts.
[0037] For example, it has been found that Mo/ZSM-5 is very efficient for catalyzing ethane aromatization reaction. Tests show that when only Mo/ZSM-5 was used, 100% ethane conversion could be obtained for a long time with stable benzene yield. However, the benzene yield decreased quickly when the catalyst was becoming deactivated. By comparison, Mo/MCM-22 has been found to be more efficient for methane aromatization reaction. When only Mo/MCM-22 was used, the benzene yield could be maintained at a relatively high level for a certain period of time, but this catalyst exhibited low activity for ethane aromatization reaction.
[0038] Tests have shown that when the combination of a Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst and a Mo/MCM-22 catalyst was used for natural gas aromatization reaction, the conversion performance from both ethane and methane to benzene, toluene and xylene products could be improved or maximized, as compared to using any one of these catalysts.
[0039] Without being limited to any specific theory, it is believed that Mo/MCM-22 can efficiently convert methane to aromatics. During this conversion, some ethane may be produced. The produced or unreacted (if present in the input reaction gas) ethane can be efficiently converted to aromatics when it is in contact with Mo/ZSM-5. As a result, the overall performance of the process can be enhanced. Test results indicated that both benzene yield and catalytic stability could be increased when both Mo/ZSM-5 and Mo/MCM-22 were used.
[0040] With an embodiment of the present invention, the benzene yield can be expected to increase by 30% over a 150 h processing period, as compared to a conventional process for non-oxidative dehydroaromatization of methane using one type of catalyst.
[0041] As can be understood, similar results or improvement could be expected if Mo/MCM-22 is replaced with another catalyst that is more efficient or active for catalyzing methane aromatization, and Mo/ZSM-5 is replaced with another catalyst that is more efficient or active for catalyzing ethane aromatization. For example, other catalysts that have a zeolite structure with pore channel sizes similar to those of MCM-22 or ZSM-5 may be suitable catalysts in selected embodiments. Suitable catalysts may have different pore structures that are similar to those of MCM-22 or ZSM-5 respectively. Different pore structures may be selected based on their effects on catalytic activity. In some embodiments, the catalysts may have Mo-loading of about 1% to about 15%, and Si/2Al ratio of 25 to 45.
[0042] In view of the discussion above, the catalysts in catalyst bed 12 may be arranged to optimize the performance, such as by arranging the catalysts in a way that the reaction gas first comes into contact with catalyst 16 and then comes into contact with catalyst 18 .
[0043] However, in some embodiments, improved performance could still be obtained if the reaction gas, such as natural gas, first comes into contact with catalyst 18 and then comes into contact with catalyst 16 .
[0044] In selected embodiments, catalysts 16 and 18 may be pre-mixed and the mixture may be placed in catalyst bed 12 , without a separation section for each catalyst.
[0045] In any of the aforementioned arrangements, the weight ratio of catalyst 16 and catalyst 18 may be about 1:1, or may be of another value such as from 1:10 to 10:1. The ratio may be selected to optimize certain aspects of the reaction performance or for other considerations for a given application.
[0046] To activate the catalysts and improve performance, the catalysts may be subjected to pre-treatment before passing the reaction gas through conduit 14 . For example, in some embodiments, the catalysts may be heated in the presence of propane at a temperature of at least 300° C., such as from 450° C. to 650° C., or from 475° C. to 525° C. The pre-treatment may last from about 10 to 100 minutes, such as about 20 to 40 minutes. The catalysts may be prepared and pre-treated as described in WO 2009/091336 to Liu et al., published Jul. 23, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A Mo/MCM-22 catalyst may also be prepared as described in the Examples below.
[0047] The catalysts may be regenerated after deactivation, such as by an oxidation process to remove coke deposits. Regeneration of deactivated catalysts may be useful and can reduce costs in some commercial applications.
[0048] As now can be understood, in different embodiments each of catalysts 16 and 18 may be an aluminosilicate zeolite modified by a transition metal. The zeolite for the first catalyst (catalyst 16 ) may be based on MCM-22 zeolite. The zeolite for the second catalyst (catalyst 18 ) may be based on ZSM-5 zeolite. It is noted that in the literature MCM-22 is sometimes referred to as HMCM-22 or H-MCM-22, and ZSM-5 is sometimes referred to as H-ZSM-5 or HZSM-5. The zeolite for the first catalyst may also be another zeolite that has an MWW type framework, and the zeolite for the second catalyst may be another zeolite that has an MFI type framework. For example, the catalysts, aluminosilicates, zeolites and metal modifiers described in WO 2009/091336 may be suitable candidates for selection. Particular combinations of the different components described therein may be selected and used depending on the particular application
[0049] In particular, a suitable transition metal may be molybdenum. In some embodiments, molybdenum may provide better performance than other metals. In some embodiments, tungsten or rhenium may be used. Other non-limiting examples of transition metals include, but are not limited to Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Tc, Ru Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, a lanthanide, or an actinide,
[0050] The loading of the metal in the zeolite may be selected to optimize production performance. For example, when Mo is used, its loading may be from about 1 wt % to 15%, such as about 3 wt % to about 12 wt %.
[0051] One or both of the catalysts may have a Si/2Al ratio of from 10 to 100, such as 25 to 45. In some embodiments, this ratio may be about 30 or about 35. The ratio may be selected to provide the desired acidity.
[0052] Conventional techniques for preparation of different zeolites and catalysts, and for dehydroaromatization of methane and other alkanes, may be modified or adapted by those skilled in the art in view of the present disclosure for use in some embodiments of the present disclosure. Some of such techniques are disclosed in the references listed in the
[0053] Background section, and in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,600 to Rollman et al., published Feb. 13, 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,325 to Rubin et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,057 to Ichikawa et al., issued May 29, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,552,243 to Allison et al., issued Apr. 22, 2003; and U.S. 2011/0038789 to Lai et al., published Feb. 17, 2011, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0054] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for illustration purposes. Various modifications to these embodiments are possible and may be apparent to those skilled in the art.
[0055] Some embodiments of the invention are further illustrated with the following non-limiting examples.
EXAMPLES
[0056] For the following examples, Mo/ZSM-5 and Mo/MCM-22 were prepared by impregnating ZSM-5 and MCM-22 zeolites respectively, according to conventional impregnation techniques.
[0057] ZSM-5 was obtained commercially from Zeolyst, with Si/2Al ratio of about 30.
[0058] MCM-22 with Si/2Al ratio of about 35 was prepared as follows. Sodium hydroxide (0.18 g), sodium aluminate anhydrous (0.20 g), and distilled water (27.60 g) were mixed in a mixture until dissolution. Hexamethyleneimine (HMI, 1.73 g) was added to the mixture and the resulting mixture was stirred for about 10 min. Ludox HS-40 colloidal silica (5.25 g) and MCM-22 seed (0.04 g) were added and the final mixture (35 ml) was stirred for 4 h at room temperature. Gel was formed from the mixture and was moved to an autoclave, and was heated in a Parr-Reactor (oven) at 150° C. (30 rpm) for 14 days. The product was filtered and dispersed in water until the pH of the filtrate was no greater than 9.
[0059] The catalysts were pre-treated (activated) according to the processes described in WO 2009/091336 to Liu et al., the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0060] In the natural gas used, the main component was methane. The natural gas also contained small amounts of C 2 , C 3 , and C 4 hydrocarbons and CO 2 , and trace amount of C 5 and C 6 hydrocarbons.
Example I
[0061] Natural gas was used as the reaction gas and was passed through a catalyst bed as illustrated in FIG. 2 . Mo/ZSM-5 was placed at the bottom of the catalyst bed (i.e. downstream in the gas flow path) and an equal amount of Mo/MCM-22 was placed on top of Mo/ZSM-5 in the catalyst bed (i.e. upstream in the gas flow path).
[0062] The reaction conditions were maintained at a temperature of about 650° C., a pressure of about 0.1 MPa, and a flow rate of the natural gas of about 7.5 ml/min. No oxidative gases were included in the reaction gases to provide non-oxidative conditions.
[0063] Representative production results are shown in FIG. 3 (marked as “Example I”).
Example II
[0064] In this example, the reaction gas, catalysts used and reaction conditions were the same as in Example I, except that in the catalyst bed, Mo/ZSM-5 was placed on top (upstream) and Mo/MCM-22 was placed at the bottom (downstream).
[0065] Representative production results are shown in FIG. 3 (marked as “Example II”).
Example III
[0066] In this example, the reaction gas, catalysts used and reaction conditions were the same as in Example I, except that in the catalyst bed, Mo/ZSM-5 and Mo/MCM-22 were mixed with one another. Thus, the reaction gas came into contact with the two catalysts at about the same location in the flow path.
[0067] Representative production results are shown in FIG. 3 (marked as “Example III”).
Example IV (Comparative)
[0068] In this example, the reaction gas and reaction conditions were the same as in Example I. However, only Mo/ZSM-5 was placed in the catalyst bed and used as the catalyst.
[0069] Representative production results are shown in FIG. 3 (marked as “Example IV”).
Example V (Comparative)
[0070] In this example, the reaction gas and reaction conditions were the same as in Example I. However, only Mo/MCM-22 was placed in the catalyst bed and used as the catalyst.
[0071] Representative production results are shown in FIG. 3 (marked as “Example I”).
[0072] As can be seen from FIG. 3 , the benzene yield and catalyst life were both higher when a combination of Mo/MCM-22 and Mo/ZSM-5 was used as the catalysts. Example I (Mo/MCM-22 upstream and Mo/ZSM-5 downstream) provided the highest benzene yield and catalytic life (see data points represented by triangles in FIG. 3 ). It was expected that at 650° C., Mo/MCM-22 initially efficiently converted methane in the natural gas to benzene and ethane; and the produced ethane and the unconverted ethane in the natural gas are then efficiently converted to benzene by the Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst downstream. While performance was also improved in Examples II and III as compared to Examples IV and V, the improvement was not as pronounced as in Example I.
[0073] It will be understood that any range of values herein is intended to specifically include any intermediate value or sub-range within the given range, and all such intermediate values and sub-ranges are individually and specifically disclosed.
[0074] It will also be understood that the word “a” or “an” is intended to mean “one or more” or “at least one”, and any singular form is intended to include plurals herein.
[0075] It will be further understood that the term “comprise”, including any variation thereof, is intended to be open-ended and means “include, but not limited to,” unless otherwise specifically indicated to the contrary.
[0076] When a list of items is given herein with an “or” before the last item, any one of the listed items or any suitable combination of two or more of the listed items may be selected and used.
[0077] Of course, the above described embodiments are intended to be illustrative only and in no way limiting. The described embodiments are susceptible to many modifications of form, arrangement of parts, details and order of operation. The invention, rather, is intended to encompass all such modification within its scope, as defined by the claims. | A heated reaction gas comprising methane is contacted with first and second catalysts to catalyze production of an aromatic hydrocarbon. The first catalyst is more active than the second catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of methane, and the second catalyst is more active than the first catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of ethane. A reactor for producing aromatic hydrocarbons from the reaction gas may have a conduit defining a reaction zone for the reaction gas to react therein, and the first and second catalysts may be disposed in the reaction zone. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and improved method of dispersing a material containing waste paper, wherein a dewatering machine is connected upstream or ahead of a dispersion apparatus or disperger.
When paper products are manufactured in modern papermaking machines, high requirements are placed upon the constancy or consistency of the quality, for instance, optical and technological constancy or regularity, of the material or stock supplied to the papermaking machine. While the constancy of quality of the material delivered to the papermaking machine is generally governable or controllable when primary raw materials or stock, such as fresh cellulose and mechanical wood pulp are used, quality fluctuations are a serious problem when waste paper is processed.
One of the objectives of the stock preparation process is to compensate as far as possible for the quality fluctuations emanating from the use of waste paper as the raw material. In no event can there be tolerated an increase of the quality fluctuations by virtue of the stock preparation process.
In modern installations for the preparation of waste paper, it is common to homogenize the waste paper stock subsequent to the stock preparation process. The equipment or installations used for this purpose are generally referred to as homogenizing or dispersion installations or machines. A measure of the degree of the dispersing effect or action is the energy density with which the material is processed or treated in the homogenizing or dispersion machine. At the same time, the paper-technological qualities of the finished stock are also determined by this treatment.
It is often necessary for operation reasons to operate the waste paper installation with different throughput quantities. This is associated with the adverse effect that during the dispersion process it is necessary to operate with continuously varying specific work, i.e. dispersion work, related to the actual material or stock throughput. The reason for this adverse effect is the non-linear relationship between the dispersion power or performance and the throughput of material through the dispersion apparatus or disperger. The specific dispersion work, in case of a throughput change of the material which is to dispersed, therefore only can be maintained constant when the dispersion power or performance is re-corrected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore with the foregoing in mind it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of dispersing a material containing waste paper, which does not suffer from the aforementioned drawbacks and shortcomings of the prior art methods.
Another and more specific object of the present invention aims at providing a new and improved method for dispersing a material containing waste paper by employing a regulating technique with the aid of a regulating or control system which renders possible maintaining essentially constant the specific dispersion work in the event of throughput variations of the material which is to be dispersed.
Yet a further significant object of the present invention aims at the provision of a new and improved method of regulating the specific dispersion work for the preparation of stock for use in a papermaking machine, which method can be effectively realized with relatively simple and economical means to provide continuous or continual essentially constant specific dispersion work and thus exceedingly good constancy or consistency in the processed material undergoing the dispersion operation or process.
Now in order to implement these and still further objects of the present invention which will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, the method for dispersing a material containing waste paper --also sometimes simply referred to as a waste paper containing material--, among other things, is manifested by the features of dewatering in the dewatering machine the material to be dispersed to an extent greater than the method or process requires, then adding diluting water as a function of the specific dispersion work of the dispersion apparatus so as to adjust the stock density of the material upstream or ahead of the dispersion apparatus, in order to maintain essentially constant the specific dispersion work of the dispersion apparatus dictated by the composition of the material to be dispersed and for obtaining the desired quality of the material to be dispersed.
If the stock density of the material to be treated or processed is adjusted in accordance with the inventive method, then the desired constancy of the specific dispersion work is maintained in the event of material throughput variations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings:
FIG. 1 schematically shows an installation for practicing the inventive method; and
FIG. 2 is a graph depicting in graphical representation the operation of the dispersion apparatus according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Describing now the drawings, it is to be understood that to simplify the showing thereof, only enough of the structure of the installation for realizing the inventive method or process of regulating the specific dispersion work--sometimes simply referred to as specific work--for stock preparation has been illustrated therein as is needed to enable one skilled in the art to readily understand the underlying principles and concepts of this invention. Turning now specifically to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the installation or plant illustrated therein by way of example and not limitation, will be seen to comprise a dewatering machine or apparatus 2 and a dispersion apparatus or disperger 5 arranged downstream or after the dewatering machine or apparatus 2 considered with respect to the material throughflow or flow direction. The dispersion apparatus or disperger 5 is in flow communication with a container or vat 24 for receiving the processed material.
When carrying out the inventive method, the material or stock to be dispersed or processed is guided or delivered through a line or conduit 1 into the dewatering machine 2. In this dewatering machine 2 the material is dewatered to a greater extent than would be necessary for the subsequent process or operation. The dewatered material is then fed to a suitable shredder, here in the form of a shredding worm 3, and arrives through a suitable heating device, here in the form of a heating worm 4, at the dispersion apparatus or disperger 5.
The adjustment or setting of the stock density can be accomplished by the addition of diluting water W through an adjustable valve 7 or equivalent inflow control means, for example, into the shredding worm 3 or, in accordance with a still more advantageous technique, at a location situated directly downstream of an infeed device or worm 6 or at a location of the housing or casing thereof near its outlet end and which infeed device or worm 6 is arranged upstream of the dispersion apparatus or disperger 5, as such has been generally schematically represented by the dotted line 20 in FIG. 1. In this regard it is advantageous if the diluting water W is added through an adjustable valve, as schematically indicated by reference numeral 22, directly upstream of the operating region or zone of the dispersion apparatus 5 as has been denoted by the line 20.
In order to avoid an unfavorable and uncontrolled temperature change or variation of the material to be dispersed, the diluting water W is raised in temperature or heated by means of, for example, a suitable heating device 8 to approximately the temperature at which the material is fed into the location where there is added the diluting water W.
The addition of the diluting water W is controlled or regulated after determining the dispersion power or performance at a measuring location 9 and the throughput of the material through the installation or plant. A suitable location for measuring the material throughput is upstream of the dewatering machine 2, i.e. at a measuring location or locations where the volume flow and the stock density of the material guided through the line or conduit 1 into the dewatering machine 2 are measured. The material throughput is calculated from these values. In the embodiment of Figure 1 these measuring locations or sites are designated by reference characters 10 and 11, wherein, for instance, location 10 measures such volume flow and location 11 stock density.
The adjustment or setting of the stock density of the material to be dispersed is carried out with a time lag which is dependent upon the distance between the measuring locations 10 and 11 arranged upstream of the dewatering machine 2 and the particular location contemplated for adding the diluting water W. Additionally, the stock transport or feed time between the location provided for the addition of the diluting water W and the dispersion apparatus or disperger 5 also must be considered in the regulating operation. Advantageously the described compensation of this dead-time lag is accomplished by means of a regulating system or loop 12 which is controlled by a suitable microprocessor. In the event the diluting water W is added directly upstream of the operating or work zone of the dispersion apparatus or disperger 5, then the above-mentioned time lag results only from the distance between the measuring locations 10 and 11 of the material throughput and the dispersion apparatus 5. It will be seen that the regulating system 12 acts via the control line 14 on the adjustable valve 7 controlling the addition of the dilution water and via the line 16 with the measuring location 9 associated with the drive motor M for the dispersion apparatus or disperger 5 and at which there is determined the dispersion power.
In FIG. 2, the operational behavior of the dispersion apparatus 5 is illustrated with the aid of a graph which, by way of an example, indicates the relationship between the throughput quantity (tons per day), the stock density and the specific work (specific dispersion work). By means of such graph, an example of the inventive method also can be explained, in which for an assumed throughput of 30 tons per day, a specific work of 135 kWh/1,000 kg absolute dry (abs. dry) should be accomplished. Under those circumstances there thus results a dispersion operating or working point A on the graph of FIG. 2. Above this dispersion operating or working point A, there is another point B likewise marked in the graph of FIG. 2. This point B indicates the extent to which more dewatering is carried out than would be necessary in the process, and this point B is the starting point for the dilution operation. From this illustration there results a correction path or route along which the diluting water W is added to the material to be treated or processed, whereby the stock density decreases to the value of the dispersion operating or working point A. Now in the event of a material throughput variation there is adjusted in accordance with the inventive method a stock density which differs from the heretofore prevailing dispersion operating or working point A, but lies below the starting point B for the dilution operation. At this adjusted or set stock density the dispersion is carried out with the same specific work, whereby naturally the limits of the installation, for instance maximum dispersion power, heating up and material transport, have to be considered. A thus located and new dispersion operating or working point is designated in FIG. 2 by reference character A'.
The inventive method also then can be utilized when there are fluctuations of other variables or values which influence the dispersion process. For example, it can be observed in practice that also when the material throughput is maintained constant, the dispersion power varies because of quality fluctuations of the employed waste paper. This would also lead to a change or variation of the specific dispersion work. By means of the inventive method, there is also ensured in this case a procedure or method which allows the operation to be accomplished with constant specific dispersion work. In this case, the specific dispersion work is the regulating or control magnitude, in other words, the specific dispersion work is maintained constant within the operating range of the regulating or control circuit irrespective of which influencing magnitudes caused the fluctuations to originate.
While there are shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, | The method of dispersing a material containing waste paper by means of a dispersion apparatus and a dewatering machine, renders possible performing the material dispersion operation at essentially constant specific dispersion work even when encountering fluctuations of the raw material to be dispersed and of the dispersing process itself. For this purpose there is provided a regulating system which, with the aid of measured values or magnitudes derived from the dispersing process and predeterminate processing relationships, controls the addition of diluting water to the material to be dispersed at a location upstream of the dispersion apparatus. | 3 |
The present invention relates to a press roll and, more particularly, to a.
A press roll which comprises a flexible rotating mantle of a liquid-impervious blanket material, two disc-shaped roll heads and a clamp element with a locking element for engaging the lateral rims of the endless-loop blanket to the respective roll heads. In addition to the above-mentioned components, a press roll according to the invention includes at least one rigidly mounted nonrotating roll support beam that extends axially through the interior of the endless-loop blanket and has a stub shaft mounted at its both ends, at least one press shoe resting on the roll support beam and having a concave top face, and means for compressing the concave top face of the shoe against the flexible blanket so as to form a nip zone in cooperation with the backing roll.
In as much the inner surface of the blanket must be lubricated to reduce wear of the blanket on its interior side, the gap between the blanket and the roll heads must be made liquid-tight. Without this precaution, a risk of web contamination at the press roll could arise. Hence, it is also extremely important that the lateral rims of the blanket are connected to the roll heads in a liquid-tight fashion. Moreover, it is important that this connection can be engaged and disengaged quickly, because normal wear of the blanket necessitates blanket replacement at regular intervals, whereby the time consumed in replacing the blanket should be made maximally short.
For instance in patent application U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,152 is disclosed an arrangement for engaging an endless-loop blanket in a liquid-tight sealed fashion to the press roll heads. According to the teaching of the publication, the lateral edge of the endless-loop blanket is secured to the head of the press roll by means of a hose-like inflatable annular seal element made from a flexible material. The head comprises a head body wherein the securing element is mounted, complemented with a two-part securing sector member which is pivotally mounted so as to be rotatable into a position facing the exterior side of the securing element. The interior of the securing element is pressurizable so as to expand the securing element, whereby the endless-loop blanket adapted between the securing element and the securing sector member is compressed therebetween thus establishing a liquid-tight joint. According to the teaching of the publication, the securing sector member may include barbs directed radially inwardly toward the endless-loop blanket in order to improve the clamping of the blanket. The arrangement disclosed in the publication, however, is problematic under disturbance situations in as much the pressure applied to the interior of the securing element may then fall or even disappear entirely, whereby the endless-loop blanket may detach from the heads thus causing the production to halt. Also the barbs may damage the endless-loop blanket. If a damage to the blanket occurs, the lubricating oil can soil the machinery and its surroundings in a problematic manner.
In patent publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,357 is disclosed an arrangement aiming to overcome the above kind of detachment of the endless-loop blanket during a disturbance situation. According to the teaching of the publication, the blanket is secured using an annular hose-like seal element filled with pressurized air in combination with an array of mechanically-driven wedged clamp segments by means of which the blanket is pressed against a circumferential clamp ring and barbs directed therefrom radially inwardly toward the rim of the blanket.
Nevertheless, the arrangements taught by patent publications U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,152 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,357 still remain problematic in regard to the accuracy of blanket alignment at the ends of the press roll, that is, at the roll heads. Such inaccuracies in the blanket alignment may cause uneven and unstable run of the press roll blanket and increase its wear.
In patent publication Fl 87094 is disclosed an alternative arrangement for clamping the blanket to the roll heads. Herein, the edge portion of the blanket is bent radially inward and clamped by means of a clamp ring against a seal surface of the roll head end wall. The publication also teaches that bending of the blanket edge portion is made easier by way of providing the blanket edge with a plurality of indents that thus form tongues therebetween. Each one of the tongues has in the tongue area a hole that can be aligned with a clamp element, whereby the tongue under a tensional stress will stay clamped at a given distance from the center axis of the roll. However, this kind of blanket clamping arrangement is handicapped by the large number of tongues to be clamped that makes blanket replacement a time-consuming operation. Furthermore, the blanket is subjected to an extremely high stress at the bending point of the tongues in a manner that may shorten its service life. Also the blanket clamping holes and indents are subjected to stresses that may cause damage to the blanket and induce uneven tension along the circumferential rim of the blanket.
From patent publication Fl 96525 is further known an arrangement, wherein an annularly wedged member is used for clamping the blanket by way of tensioning the blanket against a clamp surface. This kind of clamping arrangement is problematic in as much the wedged member imposes a shearing stress on the blanket material in a manner that may shorten the blanket service life. Furthermore, the blanket may crimple problematically during its replacement.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate or at least reduce the problems hampering the above-described prior-art arrangements.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a press roll having its endless-loop blanket clamped to the roll heads in a liquid-tight and reliable fashion. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a press roll offering a rapid and easy replacement of the endless-loop blanket. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a press roll, wherein a malfunction of its clamp element cannot invoke a major disturbance situation due to defective clamping of the endless-loop blanket by allowing the blanket to detach from the roll heads.
In order to realize the above-mentioned goals, a press roll according to the invention is principally characterized by having between the pressurized-medium-filled clamp element and the endless-loop blanket adapted an elastic annular element that during the pressurization of the clamp element presses the blanket against the inner rim surface of the sector plates and, at the decompression or reduction of the pressure of the clamp element, keeps the clamp element under external compression. The roll head construction comprising a plurality of adjacent sector plates reduces the manufacturing cost of the roll head.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the sector plate incorporates one or move grooves against which the blanket is arranged to be compressively sealed/clamped to the roll head.
Another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the pressurized-medium-filled clamp element is an annular clamp means fillable with a pressurized liquid medium.
A still another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the sector plates are locked to the roll head body in the radial direction of the inner wall thereof by means of an annularly wedged tongue-and-groove joint.
A further another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the roll head includes a clamp means adapted movable in the radial direction of the roll head so as to cooperate with the endless-loop blanket for clamping the rim of the blanket to the roll head, said clamp means comprising a gearwheel rotatable from the exterior side of the roll head and a toothed locking pin cooperating with the teeth of the gearwheel so as to be movable in the radial direction of the roll head by means of said gearwheel for engaging the pin into a locking hole and disengaging the pin from said locking hole.
One of the major advantages of a press roll according to the invention is the highly reliable clamping of the blanket to the roll head. The clamp means that clamp the endless-loop blanket to the roll head retain the blanket in place also during a malfunction of the pressurized-medium-filled clamp element, whereby costly situations caused by an entirely detached blanket cannot arise. Moreover, the press roll according to the invention offers a blanket-clamping system free from sharp points causing wear of the endless-loop blanket and no unevenly distributed forces are imposed on the blanket in as much the blanket is primarily clamped by a pressurized-medium-driven clamp means, whereby the locking elements serve as securing members of blanket clamping only.
Furthermore, the press roll according to the invention offers the benefits of easy and quick replacement of the blanket. The locking elements used in the press roll according to the invention secure that the blanket will be aligned in a correct position resting in a balanced manner on both roll heads.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following, the invention is described in more detail by making reference to the appended drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a press roll according to the invention cooperating with a backing roll;
FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view of the press roll of FIG. 1 taken along plane A—A;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along plane B—B;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along plane C—C;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail view of a locking element;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an endless-loop blanket used in a press roll according to the invention; and
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an arrangement for pressurizing the pressurized-medium-filled blanket clamp element.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In FIG. 1 is shown an exemplary embodiment according to the invention of a press roll 1 with its backing roll 2 as seen in the machine direction, whereby said rolls in a paper- or boardmaking machine form an extended-nip press wherein the web is passed into a nip between the press roll 1 rotating under its backing roll 2 in order to press water away from the web. The backing roll may be a heated or nonheated roll. The press roll 1 comprises a tubular endless-loop blanket 3 made from an flexible and liquid-impervious material that is clamped in an air- and liquid-tight fashion to the roll heads 4 and 5 by means of a clamp element as will be described later in the text. The roll heads are rotatably journaled in bearings on support members 6 that have a circular cross section and are fitted in an air- and liquid-tight fashion into the center holes of the roll heads. The roll heads are adapted axially movable relative to the support members.
Obviously, an extended-nip press and its press roll also include other members and elements omitted from the diagrams for greater clarity. For instance, the press roll incorporates a shoe adapted to coincide with the center axis of the backing roll so that the shoe can be loaded by actuators against the backing roll to form a nip. The shoe and its actuators are supported by an internal frame that typically is mounted stationary on support beams 6 . Other ancillary equipment not shown in the diagrams are, e.g., a lift assembly for the backing roll, means for feeding a coolant and lubricant onto the top face of the shoe, etc. Furthermore, the extended-nip press may be constructed to have an inverted configuration wherein the press roll located above the backing roll.
In FIG. 2 is shown a roll head 4 of the press roll of FIG. 1 . In the fashion illustrated in the diagram, the outer rim of the roll head comprises a plurality of sector plates 7 that are mounted on the body 8 of the roll head by screws (not shown in the diagram). The sector plates include a locking hole 9 passing through the sector plate for locking the lateral rim of the blanket to the sector plate. Each pair of the locking holes is adapted to accommodate two pin-shaped locking elements 10 shown by a dashed line in the diagram. In a rack-and-pinion fashion, the toothed locking elements 10 are adapted movable from the exterior side of the roll head in the radial direction of the roll head by way of rotating a gearwheel 11 functionally cooperating with the locking element.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a roll head taken along plane B—B. The roll head 4 is rotatably mounted on a support member 6 by an annular bearing element 13 . In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, the bearing element is a ball bearing. Alternative bearing arrangements include, e.g., some other type of rolling bearing or, optionally, a sliding bearing with sleeve or spherical journal surfaces can be used.
The roll head comprises a body 8 and sector plates 7 connected to the body by screws. The body 8 is assembled from plural roll head rim parts by joints secured by screws. The rim parts forming the body 8 as well as the sector plates 7 are made from a suitable material such as steel, for instance. The blanket 3 is fixed to the roll head 4 by a clamp element 14 that supported by the body 8 compresses the lateral rim of the blanket against the inner rim surface 15 of sector plate 7 . Into a locking slot of sector plate 7 is inserted a tongue 16 made to the lateral rim of the blanket, whereupon the blanket is locked to the sector plate by means of a pin-like locking element 10 inserted through the hole of the tongue 16 . The locking element cooperates functionally with a gearwheel 11 by means of which the locking element can be moved in the radial direction of the roll head.
FIG. 4 shows a partially sectional view of a roll head 4 with a clamp element 14 fitted in its interior space. The clamp element 14 comprises an annular hose-like, flexible element fillable with a pressurized medium. For pressurization and depressurization of the clamp element thereto are connected valve means 17 such that the end of the valve means extending exterior to the roll head is suited to accommodate a pressurization valve 12 . The number of pressurization valves per roll head may be two, for example. Advantageously, the pressurization of the clamp element 14 is performed using a liquid medium. In the exemplary embodiment discussed herein, the number of pressurization valves 12 is two, whereby one of the valves can be used for purging air out from the interior of the clamp element during its pressurization while the pressurizing medium is being introduced into the clamp element via the other valve.
On the clamp element 14 is inserted an elastic ring 18 made from a suitable material such as hard rubber. During the pressurization of the clamp element 14 , the clamp element 14 is compressed against clamp ring 18 that presses the blanket 3 against the inner rim surface 15 of sector plate 7 . On the inner rim surface 15 of the sector plate 7 are machined annular grooves, whereby the lateral rim of the blanket will partially become compressed into the grooves thus undergoing axial clamping. At the depressurization of the clamp element, the elastic ring 18 constricts the clamp element, whereupon the blanket can be detached.
From FIG. 4 is also evident the locking of the sector plate radially to the roll end by means of an annularly wedged tongue-and-groove joint 19 .
In FIG. 5 is shown a partially sectional enlarged view of a locking element 10 with a gearwheel 11 functionally cooperating therewith. The shaft of the locking element is transversely toothed at a pitch mating with that of the gearwheel teeth. Then, rotation of the gearwheel, e.g., by means of an Allen key, allows the locking element to be moved in the radial direction of the roll head so that the locking element is withdrawn from the locking hole 9 or, as shown in the diagram, the tip of locking element 10 is driven via locking hole 9 as far as to enter a cavity 20 made to the opposite side of the locking hole.
In FIG. 6 is shown in an exemplary fashion one lateral rim of the endless-loop blanket 3 used in a press roll according to the present invention. The lateral rim of the blanket comprises an edge portion 21 having tongues 22 extending axially from the blanket edge. The tongues include holes machined thereto so that the distal hole 23 can be used in the mounting of the blanket while the two proximal holes 24 located adjacent to each other serve for the locking of the blanket.
In FIG. 7 is shown diagrammatically an exemplary embodiment of an arrangement for pressurizing a hose-like clamp member by a pressurized liquid medium. As described earlier in the text, the clamp element has connected thereto a pressurization valve 12 via which air contained in the interior of the clamp element can be removed while a liquid pressurizing medium is simultaneously introduced therein. As shown in the diagram, the pressurizing system comprises a union 31 for connecting the system to the pressurization valve 12 , conduits 32 for passing the liquid pressurizing medium to the clamp element and air out therefrom, the conduits being connected to a manually operated pump 33 suited for carrying out the clamp element pressurizing and depressurizing steps. The pump is provided with bypass valves via which air possibly entrained in the conduits can be removed. The conduits that are connected to each other by a T-union 34 have cutout valves 35 by means of which the system can be operated so as to depressurize the clamp element and pressurize the same again in a controlled manner. The conduits are additionally provided with a manometer 36 for monitoring the pressurizing line pressure and a pressure-regulating valve 37 for limiting the line pressure to a desired maximum level if so required. Obviously, the pressurization and depressurization of the clamp element may also be carried out using other kind of pressurizing system such as an automatic pump connected to the clamp element.
Blanket replacement on the press roll according to the present invention is carried out as follows. The pressurizing system is first connected to the pressurization valve of the clamp element and the cutout valve at the roll head is opened. Next, the clamp element is depressurized, e.g., by means of the manual pressurization system described above. The toothed locking pins of the sector plates at the roll heads are released, whereupon the worn blanket can be removed. During the mounting of the new blanket, the most distal holes in the tongues of the blanket edge serve as tensioning points of the blanket. The tongues are inserted into the locking slots of the sector plates, whereupon the sector plates are locked again to the body of the roll head. The tongues are locked to the locking slots by the locking elements. Tongue portions overextending the locking slots are removed by cutting away the portion of the tongue material containing the most distal hole. The clamp element is pressurized by pumping the liquid pressurizing medium therein via the pressurization valve, whereby the elastic ring surrounding the clamp element presses the lateral rim of the blanket against the grooves made to the inner rim surface of the roll head so as to secure the blanket in a liquid-and air-tight fashion to the roll head.
It must be understood that the invention is not limited by the exemplary embodiment described above, but rather may be varied within the inventive spirit and scope of the appended claims. | The invention relates to a press roll ( 1 ) comprising a flexible rotating endless-loop blanket ( 3 ) of a liquid-impervious material, two disc-shaped roll heads ( 4, 5 ), and a clamp element ( 14 ) filled with a pressurized medium for clamping the lateral rims ( 21 ) of the blanket ( 3 ) to the respective ones ( 4, 5 ) of the roll heads. The invention is implemented by adapting between the pressurized-medium-filled clamp element ( 14 ) and the blanket ( 3 ) an annular ring ( 18 ) serving to press the rim of the blanket ( 3 ) during the pressurization of said clamp element against the inner rim surface ( 15 ) of a sector plate ( 7 ) and, respectively, serving to contract the clamp element ( 14 ) when the pressure of the clamp element ( 14 ) is removed or lowered. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention:
This invention, about marine transportation of containers embodying the dual performance to haul and handle containers, more specifically applies to the exchange of containers to and from two floating carrier vessels disposed to opposite sides of a floating crane (third vessel). These three floating vessels are in mutual arrangement, being independent of tidal changes at alike offshore terminals, disposed globally. Offshore terminals, with one strategically located adjacent to each of many trade areas, establish a circuitous route for Cellers (subsequently defined) to ply. A preferred site, established in a protective cove, is selected remote to habitation and shipping lanes with indifference to land ruggedness or large bay characteristics. The offshore arrangement of transferring cargo between vessels avoids principal difficulties encountered during a voyage.
Vessels utilized herewith are identified to comply with names used in prior cross-references (subsequently listed). Similar to the concept of mammoth vessels with tanks being called "Tankers," so are super-ships with cells for containers more simply called "Cellers" herein. The term "barge" (as a towed vessel) is replaced by the symbol "LT" to be consistent with the disclosure of said cross-reference. Tugs also are as distinguishable in said cross-references. Tugs in tow of an LT as a combination defines the meaning of a "Feeder" as used herein. Floating cranes have an elevated craneway for a trolley with a hoisting means to exchange containers.
Feeders provide the direct exchange of containers (import and export cargo) at ports. With brief stops at each serviced port of trade area, the fleet size (more LTs than tugs) depends on the time lapse to provide a lay-to LT at an offshore terminal to await a Caller arrival. Feeders are the economical subordinate and supportive system for a fleet of Cellers repeating calls at many alike terminals (avoiding ports).
A Feeder bears export containerized cargo to a terminal and returns to port bearing import containerized cargo having had containers exchanged in the lay-to practice of the LT at a terminal. Cellers exchange certain of its (import) containerized cargo intended for that trade area for all export containerized cargo borne by the awaiting LT. The cyclical means effected between floating vessels for container exchanges to or from either vessel and ramifications therewith is the crux of this invention.
Cellers and Feeders, having specific functions, optimally serve to fulfill said dual performance cooperatively. This invention distinguishes in the mode of container handling as effected at offshore terminals. A facsimile system prescribes cell loading for a terminal by which the crane is disposed to handle containers.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Standardized containers are uniformly eight feet wide and vary in length from 20 to 40 feet. They are constructed to be stacked one on top of another in a hull honeycombed with cells or on deck of vessels. Containers are lightly constructed to conserve weight and arranged with near corner devices to integrate a stack in regular coincidence. They are treated as fragile and sensitive to handle.
Supercontainerships serve their purpose at sea to transport vast tonnages at high speed, but just as with Tankers, are hard to maneuver particularly repective port consequentials of: comparative shallow water, tortuous passages, two way traffic, congestion and ramifications associated with shoreside facilities, marshalling areas and intermodal services.
Such shoreside consequences and capital intensive sites necessarily dictate supercontainership (noting Cellers are not so involved) be selective in ports of call. Thus some more near port of a trading area may be shunted for rail or truck intermodal means to more long distance haul containers to a port of call. Supercontainerships bear cargo handling gear, distinguishable from Cellers without such gear. Equipment to handle containers, most alike the present invention, are classified as double cantilever, through-leg gantry cranes of several variations. More commonly, these cranes are mounted on shoreside rails paralleling moored vessels for mobility fore and aft of the vessel and have craneways with hoist means to serve a vessel thwartwise.
When floating cranes serve to unload a vessel moored at its side, various supplementary dead-weight means are employed to counteract list tendency of the floating crane, when said hoist means is disposed on the craneway outboard of its hull.
NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention distinguishes in having developed a mode of operation providing for: moored engagement of floating vessels, accommodating selective thwartwise travel of a trolley (and consequences therewith), and a controlled fore and aft straight course locating the crane selectively, for the sequential cyclical exchange of containers.
Of prime importance is the provision accommodating elevational change with loading of floating vessels, important in "landing" fragile containers. A corresponding draft accommodation, managed by floating stations is featured. They serve to limit travel by a multiple arranged wire system contributing to the need for said straight course.
SUMMARY
Offshore terminals, accommodating repeating ease of arrival and departure of vessels, provide alike effective equipment for direct exchange of containers between floating vessels disposed to opposite sides of a floating gantry crane. Said floating three vessels are uniformly unaffected by tidal differences in the global range to serve numerous trade areas.
Cooperation exists in the lay-to practice of an LT, having containers of export cargo acquired from many ports in the exchange for import cargo as the traffic for the trade area served. Lts assuming port consequences which hastens Cellers' global voyage.
The LT, as the lay-to first vessel, awaits at a terminal the arrival of the Celler as the second vessel, which is fixedly positioned during its stay at the terminal. Said crane, as disposed between the two vessels, is controlled to a straight course in its tow to selected cell postitions respective the second vessel. The first vessel is then controlled to a straight course to dispose its selected cell with said crane. A craneway with trolley and hoist means extends over a bridge having a second outer bridge portion disposed above the second vessel and a first outer bridge portion disposed above the first vessel. Controlled tow includes means establishing the bridge thwartwise of said straight course. Vessels have several cells abreast in separate holds.
Other features are the antiskew means for the trolley in its tow between the bridge starboard second end and the port first end which houses all power means for the trolley. An antilist means copes with moments developed with the trolley disposed to either said bridge outer portions. A stabilizing means serves to contain the idle crane against storm disruptive tendencies.
LIST OF FIGURES ON 20 PLATES:
FIG. 1 Plan view of three floating vessels at a terminal arranged to exchange containers.
FIG. 2 A starboard side, elevational view of the crane disposed between "distant" primary floating stations serving the crane towing means. To avoid having a cluttered figure, base embedded supporting structure, arranged to slidingly accommodate constant freeboard of station with tidal changes, are shown removed to simplify viewing.
FIG. 3 A plan view diagram of the antiskew means beneath and for the floating crane.
FIG. 4 An end elevational view from forward stations of the aft ends of three floating vessels in moored engagement.
FIG. 5 A starboard side elevational view of the floating crane.
FIG. 6 A plan view diagram of the antiskew means beneath and for the trolley.
FIG. 7 An end elevational diagram of the guy system support of cantilevered bridge ends.
FIG. 8 Elevational arrangement of an LT (first vessel) fixing means to its tow system between distant secondary floating stations.
FIG. 9 A side elevational view looking towards the aft floating station adapted to serve the deeper draft LT.
FIG. 10 A diagram of the equalizer system for the trolley hoist means.
FIG. 11 A starboard side elevational view of the crane disposed between "distant" end floating stations serving (featuring) the crane antiskew means.
FIG. 12 A side elevational view looking forward to the forward floating station serving the floating crane.
FIG. 13a Antiskew mechanism of FIG. 12.
FIG. 13b View a--a of FIG. 13a.
FIG. 14 An aft side elevational view of the trolley with a container.
FIG. 15 A diagram of the trolley hoist mechanism contained in a house disposed to the port end of the bridge.
FIG. 16a Stabilizing means serving pendants fixed to bridge outer portions (partial assembly).
FIG. 16b An elevational view of a water bed fixed cylindrical structure providing an elevationally adjusted fulcrum for the stabilizing system of FIG. 16a.
FIG. 16c A plan view of members with the structure of FIG. 16b.
FIG. 16d A cross section assembly (view a--a of FIG. 16a) of the slide means for said fulcrum.
FIG. 16e An end sectional view (a--a) of FIG. 16d.
FIG. 17 Plan view diagram atop the bridge of the antilist mechanism.
FIG. 18 Elevational side view of the crane with the antilist means.
FIG. 19a Clamp detail for the antilist means of FIG. 18.
FIG. 19b View a--a of FIG. 19a antilist means member.
FIG. 20a Antilist engagement means to a floating vessel pipe rail.
FIG. 20b Side view in part of FIG. 20a showing stays.
FIG. 21 Tension means for trolley towlines.
FIG. 22 Conventional wire rope socket end with eye bolt adjusting means.
FIG. 23 Erected structure having a Selsyn transmitter monitoring tidal changes.
Note: Marine orientation is expressed clockwise as forward (f), starboard (s), aft (a), port (p), and herewith applied as needed in figures to in general consider (f) located with the top of a plate. Part identifying numerals may have above letters as subscripts to aid its location or distinguish positioning of nearby alike members from each other.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Prior art references
Ref A: U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,677 dated: June 30, 1981.
Ref B: U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,333 dated: Aug. 2, 1983.
Ref C: U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,497 Nov. 19, 1985.
(A) General Arrangement.
(FIG. 1) An offshore terminal is an areal portion of a sheltered cove (distant from the shore and often abetted by a break-water) having been dredged and provided with embedded fenders; establishing a fore and aft directional straight course for floating vessels therewith. Terminals provide the means to effect the direct exchange of containers, involving three floating vessels to obviate therewith the need of marshalling areas and consequentials of ports, which are relegated for servicing by economically operated and effectively maneuvered convenient sized Feeders (defined).
Numerous (some lighted) fenders 2,4 as arranged, present a repeating alike means (among all terminals) for arrival and departure of vessels which themselves have a commonness from production building. A crane 6, as the intermediary one of three floating vessels, effecting container exchanges between two floating carrier vessels (5,7), is seen to be double extended and constrained by wire controlling means (10,14) and fenders to a straight course between a first 8s and second 12 floating primary stations. With the crane 6 forward travel directed toward said first floating station 8s, the terminal becomes identifiable, as do members therewith (respectively) to have fore (f), aft (a), port (p), and starboard (s) designations.
An LT 5 as the first arrival of floating carrier vessels is seen stern-to forward secondary station 8p (having a most effective sternwise maneuverability) seen as LT 5a. Consequently, the LT and crane are port-to the other. Assigning the Celler 7 to the most convenient means of approach to and departure from a terminal forward (f) end, establishes the Celler 7 port side to the crane 6 starboard side. Celler 7, most seawardly, is fixed during its stay at the terminal.
LT 5 is constrained by wire towing means 18 and fenders to a straight course between first floating secondary station 8p and second aft floating secondary station 16. LT 5b depicts the first vessel in awaiting position, whereas LT 5d depicts the first vessel position having had containers exchanged and moored to be clear of the berth for the subsequent arrival LT 5a. LT 5c represents its most aft position.
Fenders 2 are conventional pylons for mooring to or bearing against. Fenders 4 are more substantial structures with floating torus formed bumpers (marketed). Sides of crane 6 have torus formed reel mounted fenders 24,, to space three floating vessels apart as grouped between fenders 2,4. Extreme travel forward of LT 5b disposes most forward cells thwartwise of the two carrier vessels, also locates the most forwardly operative position of crane 6a; disposing most aft cells thwartwise of the two carrier vessels also locates the most aft position of LT 5c and crane 6b. Crane 6c is in its idle position. Observable, too, is the parallel vessel arrangement advantageously disposing the (largest) second vessel most seawardly, suiting the seabed slope towards deeper water (lessening dredging). Suitably powerful "inflatable" boats serve to maneuver LTs; and, as taxis to and from the nearby settlement, transport labor and some supplies. Said straight course is relied on to maintain a consistent abreast (spaced apart) location between the first and second vessel for a thwartwise automated disposition of the trolley above a selected cell.
The foregoing disclosed a selected arrangement of vessel and structures for reference.
(B) Constructional Features.
(1) Floating crane 6 (FIG. 4,5) comprising:
(a) hull 20 having longitudinal and thwartwise watertight bulkheads for a selected arrangement of ballast chambers served by a centrally and longitudinally disposed ballast distribution system (conventional with vessels);
(b) displacement of crane 6 is dominantly established by ballast. Consequently, any added load likely to be imposed on the crane insignificantly effects its draft;
(c) (FIG. 4) Towers 26 fixed to deck 30 are erected to elevationally support bridge 32, having a port end 34p, identifying a first shorter outer bridge portion above the first smaller vessel (LT5), comprising a first moored engagement; and, having a starboard end 36s identifying a second longer outer bridge portion above the larger second vessel (Celler 7), comprising a second moored engagement. The bridge aft side correspondingly is identified as (a) and so the forward side (f);
(d) FIG. 4 shows towers 26 to (thwartwise) sides of hull 20 with container 38 disposed endwise, whereas FIG. 5 shows said towers (thus four towers) disposed to clear (said through-legs) the fore and aft length of container 38. Bridge 32 is representative of a rigid structure of any proper construction to the need to contain a craneway 40, typically of portal arrangement. FIG. 14 shows rails 42 as part of bridge 32 to represent a conventional detail suitable for the application. Rails extend between said ends (34,36) with flanged wheels 44, providing automatic tracking, as pivotal trunk assemblies 46;
(e) house 48 attached to bridge end 34p (the shorter bridge first outer portion) contains motive power means and mechanisms pertaining a trolley travel and hoist (lift) means. Aside from the weight of spreader 50 (the engagement means arranged to contend with container 38 length variation), the aggregate weight on rails 42 approximates 48 l.t. (long tons).
House 48 and its contents balance the weight difference of said outer bridge portions. Thus, the moment with the trolley 22 outboard is lessened to ease provisions for antilist of the crane;
(f) hinge means 54 (incidental to the application) reveal how the bridge is sectioned at assembly for the outer bridge portions to suspend erect as folded between towers 26 and clear of the hull sides in transit from their building to a site. The significance for ballast is apparent;
(g) (FIG. 4) a pair of superimposed "A" frames 56 above said bridge, as a braced structure, establishes an apex 58 with a connecting simple truss 60 therebetween. Guy wire members 62 also serve to lessen the slenderness ratio of legs of the "A" frame 56;
(FIG. 7) the outboard ends 34,36 of the bridge (truss structure 32) incorporates legs 64 for a strongback 66 and its interconnecting beam 68 which are set to the angle established from bridge ends 34,36 to said apex 58. An equalizing guy system 70 (FIG. 7) comprises 3 wires 70 a,b,c with socketed ends for an upper reach to levers of an equalizing mechanism 72 (subsequently described). The middle wire 70b extends down for central connection to the strongback 66. The outer two wires 70a,c extend down to the bridge side legs 64 with the three socketed ends connected to turnbuckles 74 set with the strongback. The guy system 70 establishes distributed and equal side support of the bridge to offset twist in the bridge structure; and
(h) two similar structures 76 above deck 30 near to both ends of hull 20, providing: at forward end 76f housing, quarters, offices and clean store needs of the crew (in rotating employment from a neighboring port of call), while the aft end 76a houses the power plant, shop facilities and replacement parts to service Cellers 7, and LT 5. (Tugs are serviced in suitable ports.) Central end said chambers forward contain a replaceable supply of fresh water conveyed thereto bt LTs 5 for need of the crew on both the crane 6 and Celler 7. Central end said chambers aft contain a replaceable supply of fuel oil conveyed thereto by those LTs serving ports exporting fuel. Ends of hull 20 contain means of fluid transfer. Cellers convey stores between terminals as needed.
2. Floating stations 8, 12, 16 (FIG. 1, 2, 8, 9, 11, 12)
(a) stations are constructed of fiberglass reinforced plastic (F.R.P.) to conventional practice. A station measurement fore and aft (narrow) may be limited to that required of station 8 having mechanism for crane tow means 10, with pendant wire 9,11 of its towline disposed outward of and established clear of station 8 by sheave and drums employed therewith;
(b) immersed depth (draft) of primary stations (8s,12) are commensurate with that of crane 6 which has insignificant draft changes; thus ballasting is manually monitored for stations (8s,12). In order to alter the depth (draft) of stations (8p,16) to suite LT 5 draft changes, means of Ref. B is adapted to monitor ballasting of stations (8p,16), relying on conventional ballast distribution means. Incorporated, is a pair of main conduits 78 FIG. 2 (as a manifold means for suitable branching), extending (ballast) water pipes and electrical conductors embedded in the sea floor 80, between stations with looped members 82 effecting the connection to vertically changed position of stations. Isolated end chambers 84 FIG. 9 contain equilibrium ballast means to establish the station level; and,
(c) all port (p) and starboard (s) station ends, bear alike upper and lower flanged wheel means 90, to engage with (channel type) rails 92 forming the erect member of a tower structure 94, fixed to sea floor 80 (best seen in FIG. 12). The plan views in FIGS. 1, 3 show a triangular formed base for structure 94, reflecting the base construction of one of four legs of tower system 26. Stations are thus stayed to rise and fall with the tide; and, are represented to be supported by structure 94 with occurence of wheels 90 therefor.
Stations 8p,s have an intermediate single leg structure 94c which depends upon an (eye beam) rail 92b for wheel 90 of both stations to engage with (FIG. 1). A platform 98 extends between end structures 94 for station 12 to support house 100 containing mechanisms including an auxiliary diesel generator set 108 and ballast water motor pump 104. Remotely located house 100 to said quarters aboard the crane 6 minimizes acoustical distraction. (Generator set 108 is the source of energy for port lights and domestic need with the crane 6 idle.)
(c) The following disclosure of operational means reveals essential elements in combination to effect numerous arbitrary longitudinal positions, for repeating thwartwise cyclical exchange of containers between said first and second floating vessels. The arrangement to select cells for export containerized cargo (furnished by a trade area) and import containerized cargo for a trade area is a computerized process to cyclically exchange containers between vessels.
(1) Members therewith are identified by numerals and with subscript distinguishing alikeness of duplicating parts. A thorough disclosure for one of two or more alike systems is deemed inclusive of all as clarified for minor changes not effecting the principle established. Disclosures for the trolley tow and antiskew systems, being above water, are the simplest, serving for the complete disclosure.
There are three similar towing systems: a first towing system 10 for crane 6, a second towing system 18 for LT 5, both in part depending on immersed wires beneath its vessel; and, differing in being entirely above water, a third towing system 28 for trolley 22.
(a) FIG. 4,6 towing means 28 for the thwartwise controlled movement of trolley 22 between bridge ends 34,36 relies on sheave 106 with adjustable means 110 (FIG. 21) established at bridge end 36 to loop wire 27,29 with the lower leg fixed 120 (FIG. 22) to trolley starboard side and the upper leg extended through the trolley to be the upper leg wrapped around double drum 108 which is powered by a conventional gear motor 188. Said gear motor and drum mechanism at bridge end 34, effecting the two-directional travel of trolley 22, provides a lower wire 27 for connection 120 to the port end of trolley 22. Details of tension adjusting means 110 (FIG. 21) are conventional arrangements of a padeye means to pivot as bracket 112 to which sheave 106 is mounted. A bracket arm extends to a screw means understood serving to move sheave 106 directionally as required.
(FIG. 16c) a drum may be made "dual" by a central ring fixed to the drum periphery to which wires are connected for wrapping, with one wire paid-off from the top and the other wire (tensioned) hauled-in with turning of the drum, for a common directional disposition as wires loop to a sheave. Rotational powering of drums provides for the fore or aft tow of trolley 22.
(b) Crane towing system 10 (FIGS. 1, 2, 12).
(FIGS. 1, 2) crane 6 towing system 10 comrises wires 9, 11, as powered by crane tow mechanism 96s, and reeved by an arrangement of sheaves mounted to stations 8s,12, with wires immersed in part beneath crane 6. FIG. 2 discloses the side view of mechanism 96s atop station 8s, with double drum 114ps sized with a tread diameter for wire 9 off the drum to suspend clear of station 8s, to reeve with swivel sheave 116 as a fairlead of wire 9 to connect by means 120f to forward end of crane 6; and, drum 114ps therewith, accommodating suspending wire 11 clear of station 8s for reeving with swivel sheave 118, to dispose wire 11 beneath hull 20 as supported by sheaves 122a fixed to the bottom of hull 20 (FIG. 5), for reach to sheave 124 to effect a loop of wire 11 to connect at 120a with the aft end of hull 20.
FIG. 12 discloses the baseplate mounted assembly 96s, comprised of: double drums 114p,s as coupled to gear motor 126 and brake means 128. Seen also is the fleet angle φ resulting with the drum face sized to accommodate turns of wires, with inadequate wire 11 lead between swivel sheave 118 and drum 114s. Wire rope layering to drums needed to stow the length of wire extended to tow the crane is accommodated by wire coiling, quick reversing mechanism 130 (commonly marketed product) providing uniform layering of wires.
Structural towers 94 are understood to position stations and shown clear (FIG. 2, 8, 9, 11, 12), for uncluttered particulars of the towing system 10. Appurtenances proper to a station may be omitted from (not drawn in, then immaterial to) certain figures addressed to a particular element. Tension adjusting means 120 (FIG. 22) connecting wires to ends of the crane is seen dfisposed below water level. These occasional adjustments are manually attended to by members of the crew provided with suitable apparel. Means 120 is extensively used in this application.
(c) LT towing system 18 (FIGS. 1, 8, 9).
Tow of an LT 5 distinguishes from the tow of crane 6 in: the LT 5 has a deeper hull than crane 6; an LT 5 draft changes with loading versus the constant draft of crane 6; and, the temporary integration of an LT 5 to towing system 18 versus the continuous engagement of the crane 6 to its towing means;
(1) all stations 8s,p 12,16 are taken dimensionally the same, but secondary stations 8p and 16 now have a framework 132 to lower its swivel sheaves 136,138 with station 8p, and sheave 140 with station 16 for fairleads of wires 17,19 off them to suit the increased depth of LT 5 hull;
(2) as noted for hull 20, having ballast chambers, so do stations. Isolated end chambers 84p,s have permanently contained ballast to establish a level trim of the station seen in FIG. 9. Intermediate baffles 84 a-d avoid surging while maintaining a uniform ballast water level during ballast changes. Station draft changes are effected to maintain a fixed spacing of wire 19 beneath an LT 5. Provisions covered by Ref 2, serve as adapted therefrom, to monitor freeboard relationship, thus controlling the station changed draft to suit the LT 5 change. Ballast water transfer involves use of pump 104 as associated with embedded conduit 78;
(3) particulars of FIG. 8, providing means to effect the engagement of an LT 5 with the towing system 18, are deferred pending essentially a repeating disclosure for the crane towing means, comprising:
(4) LT 5 towing system 18 (FIG. 1, 8) comprises wires 17,19 as powered by LT towing mechanism 96p and reeved by an arrangement of sheaves mounted to stations 8p,16 with wires immersed in part beneath the LT 5. FIG. 9 discloses the end view of station 8p, understood to have an LT 5 towing mechanism 96p (FIG. 1), as displayed in FIG. 12, its equivalent. Wire 19 is indicated extending down the forward side portion of a dual drum again at a fleet angle φ to depend upon swivel sheave 136 as explained for wire 11 of FIG. 12. Companion wire 17 leading from the aft side of the dual drum engages with swivel sheave 138 for lead to leverage stern mechanism 142 (FIG. 8) associated with the LT 5 rudder.
FIG. 8 includes the aft station 16 without a towing mechanism to include a sheave 140 lowermost disposed by framework 132a. Sheave 140 effects the aft station 16 loop of wire 19 extended from station 8p. The said loop of wire 19 provides for its extension forward to engage with leverage mechanism 146 of FIG. 8.
(2) There are two similar antiskew wire systems: a first antiskew system 14 for crane 6 disposed in part immersed beneath the crane; and a second antiskew system 52 for trolley 22 disposed entirely above water, a redundancy.
An antiskew system depends on statically fixed tensioned wires which are selected for maximum flexibility and made of stainless steel. Sheave groove diameters, effecting a crossover of wires arranged to extend parallel and spaced apart, exceed manufacturer's recommendations for stiffer wires, to ease said crossover effected by the moving body with sheaves in engagement with the wires. Wire terminal arrangement 120 (FIG. 22) are conventional socket end 366 for pin engagement with conventional eye bolts 368;
(a) FIG. 6, 14 trolley 22 antiskew system 52 comprises, fixed wires 51,53 as reeved around an arrangement of sheaves, and augments flanged wheels 44 bearing on rails 42, for repeating traverse of the trolley between bridge extremities. At installation, trolley 22 is squared to rails 42 with wheels 44 bearing against rail stops adjacent to a bridge extremity;
(1) said sheave arrangement comprising: a pair of double sheaves 176 mounted (sheave grooves horizontal, axis vertical) to the bottom of, and midway the length of trolley 22 and spaced apart fore (f) and aft (a) approximating the span between rails 42, designating bridge side (f) having sheaves 176 a, b and side (a) having sheaves 176 c,d; lesser diameter guide sheaves 178 are mounted to corners of the trolley 22 having horizontal axes and positioned to center their grooves with those of sheaves 176;
(2) parallel disposed wires 51,53 have terminal ends 120 providing screw adjusting means to taut wires at bridge ends 34,36. As crossed-over in "S" fashion by said sheaves 176, wires 51,53 appear as extensions of the other. Said arrangement results in wire 51 with terminals 120 p,f and 120 a,f being in engagement with sheaves 176a,c and wire 53 with terminals 120 a,p and 120f,s being in engagement with sheaves 176 d,b. The horizontal plane of wire 53 is above that of wire 51;
(3) peripheries of sheaves 176 a-d are said spanned apart to be tangent to and contained between said taut parallel wires. The "S" pattern of a wire, having extended legs parallel and spaced apart, develops with two sheaves each to the opposite sides of the kwire (conceived straight), e.g. sheaves 176 a,c are opposite sides of wire 51. Consequently, tension in the wire exerts a force against both its sheaves, disclosed as vectors Va-d. The vectors (with a wire) are parallel and directed oppositely to the other. Conventionally, these vectors have components parallel with the trolley travel:
(4) trolley directional and straight travel is unaffected with the two wires serving simultaneously, experiencing minor bearing frictional drag, with one wire automatically made active to oppose impediments to trolley travel.
Assume an obstruction occurs near to the trolley aft side (a), opposing a port-to travel. If sufficiently most resistant with towing persistent, the component of vector by wire 51 is negated (wire 51 made passive). The consequential skew of the trolley side (f), to advance more than side (a), establishes a tension in wire 53 by sheave 176b, with said tension transmitting a component of vector force exerted to sheave 176d, directed against said obstruction, The statically and tension fixed wires, in arrangement with sheaves disclosed, provides an antiskew means;
(5) sheaves 178 provide tangential bearing support of wires, sheaves 176 provide little more than a 90° wire departure. Sheaves 178a,f serve to eliminate wire sag immediate to sheave 176, to negate a fleet angle therewith. Sheave 178c eliminates chafing between wires 51, 53. As the trolley is towed by wires 27,29, connected to the trolley from midway between rails, the trolley cannot be drawn along more to one side (f) or (a) than the other because of the oppositely arranged and crossover wires;
(b) Crane antiskew means 14 (FIGS. 1, 3, 11, 12, 13, 22).
(FIG. 3) crane 6 antiskew system 14 comprises wires 13,15 as reeved around an arrangement of sheaves and extended between primary stations 8s,12, in part submerged below the crane, to provide a thwartwise disposition of bridge 32 respective the straight course tow of the crane;
(1) said sheave arrangement comprising: a pair of double sheaves 180, mounted with grooves horizontal to the bottom of and midway the length of crane 6, and spaced apart approximately the crane width; designating sheaves 180ab adjacent to crane side (s), and sheaves 180c,d adjacent to crane side (p). Lesser diameter guide sheaves 182 are mounted to the bottom of the crane for their grooves to effect wire tangencies avoiding wire fleet angles (φ) with sheaves 180;
(2) parallel disposed wires 13,15 have thier one ends, joined by composite turnbuckle 184a (FIG. 13a), below water level at aft station 12 and their other wire ends joined by composite turnbuckle 184f, atop station 8s. An immersed wire arrangement is effected by sheaves 188 with vertical axis connected to station 12 and by sheaves 186 with horizontal axis connected to station 8s for wires to be directed upwardly above water.
In that arrangement, wire 13 has been reeved by sheave 186p,f for a horizontal leg to reeve (slightly more than 90°) with sheave 180c to extend its leg tangent with sheave 180a for a leg to extend to sheave 188a,s for fairlead to composite turnbuckle 184a. In alike manner wire 15 from sheave 186s,f engages with sheaves 180b,d and 188a,p for fair lead to composite turnbuckle 184a. Said wire arrangements have been to each one's horizontal plane, with wire 15 below wire 13 observed in FIG. 11; and,
(3) (FIG. 12) sheaves 187 are seen mounted to station 8s for fairlead of wire legs toward composite turnbuckle 184f detailed in FIG. 13.
(4) crane directional and straight travel is unaffected with the two wires serving simultaneously experiencing minor bearing frictional drag, with one wire automatically made active to oppose impediments to crane travel.
Assume an obstruction occurs near to the crane starboard side (s), opposing an aft travel. If sufficiently most resistant with towing persistent, the component of vector by wire 15 is negated (wire 15 made passive). The consequential skew of the crane side (p) to advance more than side (s) establishes a tension in wire 13 by sheave 180c with said tension transmitting a component of vector force exerted to sheave 180a, directed against said obstruction. The statically and tension fixed wires in arrangement with sheaves disclosed provides an antiskew means;
(5) The discussion for use of sheaves 182p,s,c is understood a repeat of sheaves 178a,f,c in (5) for the trolley antiskew means.
(3) LT 5 connection with system 18.
(a) FIG. 8, Stern mounting connection 142. With LT 5 stern towards the terminal forward secondary station 8p, wire rope lead 17 is directed to a hole 148 drilled in rudder 150 to effect connection 142. Chain shackle 152 pin connected to hole 148f has two lengthened bars 154f welded parallel with and to the legs of said shackle 152f. Closed socket 156 (wire 17 terminal fitting and engaged with shackle 152f) has a padeye 158f welded to it for connection of a pendant 160f extended from a float 162f. Pads 164f, welded to bars 154f (said two), provide pin connection means 166 for mounting conventional closed socketed end fitting 168f or tie-wire 170f to a prescribed measurement from bars 172f disposed vertically. The lower end of bars provide for the mounting of sheave support means of wire 19 extending between secondary stations 8p, 16;
(b) FIG. 8, Prow mounting connection 146.
Stem post 174, a heavy round bar, bracket-mounted to extend from the LT 5 prow, has its lower end forged for pin mounting chain shackle 152a. (Repeating discussion a) shackle 152a has two lengthened bars 154a welded parallel with and to the legs of shackle 152a. Closed socket 156a (wire 19 terminal fitting and engaged with shackle 152a) has a padeye 158a welded to it for connection of a pendant 160a extended from a second float 162a. Pads 164a, welded to bars 154a (said two), provide pin means 166a for mounting closed socketed other end 168a fitting of tie-wire 170 to a prescribed measurement with both bars 172 disposed vertically. The lower end of bars 154a provide for mounting of a second sheave 172a;
(c) Combined assemblies FIG. 8.
With legs 154 both said vertical, thus parallel together, wire 170, said pin connected 166a,f, is taut to assume a static essentially passive presence during the LT 5 tow process involving wires 17,19. To effect trade-off of the LT 5 from the towing system 18, a diver with suitable apparel applies sufficient force means (optionally muscular) against bars 154a, with said force directed toward station 16, and with an opposing obstruction against bars 154f, utilizing pin means 166a as a fulcrum. A retaining means is employed to sustain said force. Now the pin means with hole 148a may be removed. As said retaining means is released, tension in wire 19 separates shackle 152a from stem 174, for the assembly 146 to assume a phantom open position. The bond remains between wire 19 and 170, (connected by the weldment of shackle 152a, bars 154a, padeye 164a and pin 148a reset to shackle 152a);
(d) a resulting slack with assembly 146 open enables pin means to be removed, which connects shackle 152f to the hole 148f in the rudder 150. The disengaged shackle 152f allows assembly 142 to take the position of assembly 146 as freed. Wires 17,19 with fittings remain connected together by tie-wire 170. LT 5b is moved to position LT 5d by said inflatable power boat effecting said trade-off of LTs;
(e) to engage an LT 5 to the towing system 18.
Shackle 152f is first engaged to rudder hole 148f. Thereupon, again utilizing said obstructing and retaining means, shackle 152a is pin means engaged to the stem part 174.
During these maneuvers to said engage and disengage, the pendants 160 from said floats 162 provide weight support of members involved. Said means for obstruction and retaining forces may be arrangements of embedments with wired fittings for the repeating spotted position of the LT 5.
(4) Antilist system by composite assemblies 190. FIG. 17
This compensating means serves the intermediary floating vessel (crane 6), with movement of trolley 22 on bridge 32 through the intermediate bridge portion between column assemblies (tower 26), to or from a first (shorter, with end 34p) and second (longer, with end 36) counter end bridge portions, when the trolley is outboard of sides of hull 20.
Exchange of containers by trolley movement, between a first floating smaller vessel (LT 5) beneath the first outer end bridge portion comprising a first moored engagement, and a second larger floating vessel (Celler 7) beneath the second outer end bridge portion comprising a second moored engagement, relies on two composite assemblies 190 with a vertical portion of each having adjustably connected (lift) hooks (FIG. 20a) to engage with a pipe rail fixed to the deck of vessels.
A recall of the towing means for the straight course controlled tow of vessels comprises: the floating crane 6 disposition of its bridge 32 respective a selected cell of the fixed position second floating vessel (Celler 7), and the subsequent disposition of the first floating vessel (LT 5) for its selected cell to be thwartwise of the selected cell of the second vessel, whereby the bridge of the crane is aligned gned above said cells, for a trolley travel over the bridge to exchange containers to and from both vessels, a two-way cyclical exchange of containers.
This mode of exchanging containers with repeating movements, in an apparent irregular but arbitrary pattern, exacts a mooring engagement in contention with individual vessel draft changes from changes in loading, thwartwise trolley travel, and fore and aft travel of floating vessels.
(a) the following discussing relates to the conditions with the loaded trolley disposed on the more demanding second outboard bridge portion (s), and to be representative of conditions with the trolley on the first outboard bridge portion;
(1) (FIG. 17, 18) a single length braided rope 192 (preferably nylon rope having exceptional elastic characteristics) has conventional thimble ends for shackle engagement to pins 194 with car 196 to fix the two ends of the one rope 192. (FIG. 17) From the car 196, located atop bridge 32 outer end portion with said second moored engagement (s), the rope segments 192a,f diagonally reach to sheaves 198, mounted atop the bridge to effect vertical rope segments 192a,f as a pair FIG. 18 to the port outboard side of towers 26 and spaced apart, maintaining said through-leg concept;
(2) the vertical rope segments 192a,f depend upon a pair of sheaves 200 to effect its "U" formation having said sheaves 200 spanned apart by spreader means 202. Midway between sheaves 200 the rope is contained by a clamp means 204 (FIG. 19) with extended bolt screw assembly 205. Screw means 206 is contained by brackets 208 fixed to spreader 202. Rotationally turning said screw means 206 disposes said clamp means 204 to one and from the other said sheave 200;
(b) FIG. 20a,b details the mode to engage antilist means 190 to a vessel, a repeating engagement effected with trade-off of LT 5. Longitudinally disposed pipe rail 210 is extended by serrated plate 212 by continuous weld to deck 214 and near the port side of the first vessel. A hook 216, arranged to engage at the pipe aft end for slideable fit along pipe 210, is connected by a stub wire length 218, having terminal socket ends 220, connected by means 120 to spreader 202.
FIG. 20b Padeyes 222 welded as detailed, to socketed 220 end serve to pin connect socketed 224 ended wire 226 having its other wire end pear-lined to a post 228 fixed between the deck 30 and tower structure 26. A conventional counterweight means (not shown) with said post 228 is wire arranged for fastening to said pear link to keep wire 226 level as deck 214 changes elevation. Wire 226 serves to maintain pendants 192 vertical against the drag of hooks 216 over pipe rail 210 moving longitudinally (subsequently disclosed);
(c) car 196, conventionally guided, sliding atop bridge 32 for a thwartwise travel respective the vessel beneath, provides the anchorage control 230 of rope 192 system therewith. Monitored changing of car 196 distance toward or away from column assemblies (tower 26) correspondingly alters configuration of constant single length pendant assembly 192 equally for lengthened or shortened suspended pendant suiting vessel draft changes. Pendants are altered with trolley 22 disposed between towers 26, adapting mechanism of Ref B for said monitoring;
(1) baseplate 232 fixed atop bridge 32 provides for the mounting and bolted fix thereto of gear motor 234 powering drum means 236, as (drive) connected together by belt means 238. Multi-sheave head block 240 is also securely mounted to baseplate 232, while multi-sheave tail block 242 is fixed to car 196. Multiwrap storage capacity of wire rope 244 to drum 236 accomodates spacing apart of head and tail blocks 240,242 to comply with said suspended pendant length change required with draft variation of vessels.
A fore or aft move of crane 6 or an LT 5 occurs when trolley 22 is disposed between towers 26. Then, tension in pendants 192 is released to allow hooks 216 to tow freely along pipe rails 210 which extend to accommodate all cells; and,
(2) the rope controlling means 230 comprising wire 244, multisheave blocks 240,242, drum 236, belt means 238 and motor 234, also is comprised of a conventional brake and lock means fitted with drum 236. The mode to adjust suspended lengths of pendant assemblies relies on said means to draw blocks 240,242 together thereby shortening said suspended length. A conventional brake means control the mass effect to lengthen said suspended length and conventional lock means fixes the adjusted said suspended length. Also not shown is a shear pin with the locking means (commonly understood to fail when overloaded) as a safety feature of said fixed pendants when floating vessels are subject to untoward forces by seas.
(3) Massiveness of vessels is pertinent to the disclosure of the antilist means, serving with the modulating means of the equalizer system, (contending with non-distributed loading of containers as stacked in guide fitted cells). Crane 6, sized to pass through the Panama Canal, in transit from building yards to its site, has a five foot freeboard when displacing 8700 lt. Thus the 48 lt trolley wheel load imperceptibly affects said freeboard.
The Lt 5 displacement is projected between 13,000 and 25,000 lt, depending on the traffic of a trade area. Celler 7, exceeding Panamax size, displaces some 100,000 lt. Lengthened synthetic ropes effecting the connection to a side of a vessel, and monitored to adjust with vessel draft change, provide suitable elastic stretch.
With the trolley upon said second outboard bridge portion, the moment thus developed is offset by the product of rope tension and lever arm approximately 55'. Such rope tension causes some list to the LT 5; and, inconsequential to the deposit of a container with Celler 7. The antilist means, serving repeating exchanges of vessels, effects useful integration of massive vessels as a balance means with the travel of a loaded trolley, and accommodates draft changes with exchange of containers. Concern about upsetting forces to the crane 6 is relied on a stabilizing system (subsequently disclosed).
(5) Hoisting means seen in FIG. 14 show container 38 having end section facing fore and aft as handled by the floating crane 6 and inferred so stowed in cells and on deck.
(a) Features and general arrangement (FIG. 14, 15).
Drums 256 of FIG. 14 represents controlled hoisting power means 248 (shown in FIG. 15 as contained in house 48, and comprises: a brake 250a, a motor 250b connected to a centrally located gear unit 252 having double extended slow speed shafts 254, dual drums 256 (bolted together pairs) are supported by shaft 258 between two roller bearings 260 fixed to a baseplate. Like drum assemblies are spaced from gear unit 252 by extended floating shafts 262 with flexible couplings 264 as misalignment compensators between units. Drums, with single row wire wrap, are centered to respective double sheave head blocks 266 pivotally mounted to the underside of the trolley 22 (FIG. 14).
Single sheave tail blocks 268 are pivotally mounted to spreader frame 50 (the adjustable means remotely operated to engage with container 38, a separate classification). Tail block 268 centers are spaced apart about a sixth of head block 266 centers, to provide the angular setting needed for the horizontal component of half the dead weight to dampen swing caused with changed motion of trolley 22 (a conventional and preferred practice);
(b) Wire trace between their terminals, FIG. 14.
Four conventional socket fitted distal ended wires 270-273, off four drums 256 are separately reeved: through one sheave of each one's head blocks 266, down to single sheave tail blocks 268, up through the second sheave of head block 266, there towards bridge second outboard end 36, without reverse bending of wires, thus establishing four independent sets of blocks and falls as said traced with each pair of sets having blocks to a common plane, angularly suiting the spreader end section disposition, said sets being variously loaded commensurate with the non-distributing loading of containers;
(c) Dual equalizer systems.
FIG. 10 discloses a combination of two equalizer systems 272 disposed as a vertical arrangement of links and levers at bridge end 36. However, sheaves 274 are shown (for better visualization) oriented 90° from true position, then to have its grooves aligned with lead of said four wires to be diverted upward for connection to links a-d by said socketed ends;
(1) each (duplicate) equalizer system is comprised of two alike levers e,f drilled for three pin connections. The intermediate pin serves as a fulcrum of the lever with end pins spaced one twice the distance from the fulcrum than the other (the shorter arm). Thus the notion of a 2:1 mechanical advantage. A lowermost third lever g has equidistantly spaced end pins from its fulcrum.
Links h-i connect ends of lever g to levers e,f. Intermediate links a-b serve to connect said socketed ended wires to a said shorter arm of lever e,f. All links, each of two bars, pin connect to thereby provide clearance for all levers disposed through a linkage;
(2) linkage k also for three pin mountings is suspended from upper pad eye 276, a bracket with bridge end 36s. Link k provides for the pivotal support of the levers e,f as fulcrums. Links l connects the fulcrum of levers g to a "third" wire 278, establishing the equalizer system of balancing three wires. In this case the "third" wire is the means to link two equalizer systems as one. Each equalizing system serving two wires; and as combined, four wires 270-273 are equalized together;
(3) sheaves 280 provide alignment of the two sided wire 278a,f oppositely wound off dual drum 282 under power by a self-locking worm gear and torque motor unit 284. Fractional turn of drum 282 by turns of motor 284 is monitored by a conventional level indicating instrument mounted to the spreader 50 for actuating with differences in end elevation (nonlevel container). Typically a mercoid switch (known to the art) at each end would serve to electrically monitor motor 284; and,
(4) change in load in a wire with elastic stretch and minor differences with constructional stretch are modulated by the dual equalizer system. A trace of arrows, shown if FIG. 10, indicate the directional change to wires with tilt of levers. Elastic stretch of overloaded wire 271, taken as the upward directed arrow with link `b`, is automatically modulated with adjusting the pair of falls to proportionally share the non-distributed load. Wire 271 elongation with elastic stretch is sensibly shortened with link `b` rise to CCW displace levers e,f. Commensurately, the sensible lengthening of wire 270, measured respective lever `f` indicated by the downward directed arrow with link `a`, establishes tail blocks of the pair of sets to be horizontally disposed, variously loaded.
The description of the single equalizer in principle applies to the arrangement of FIG. 7 as a constituent of guy wire system having a structure (Sec B)g) disclosed.
(d) Hoist system adjustment:
(1) the hoisting wire system is adjusted at installation by means of turnbuckles 286 to establish equal spans and equal tension load in wires 270-273 with the system balanced level. Two wires 270,271 for one end of the trolley and spreader are made equal by a barring means to orient drilled flanges 290 bolting the dual drum 256 together. An alike adjustment is made for wires 272-273. (Note Fast couplings, gear type, provide vernier adjustment.);
(2) FIG. 25, said barring means depends on a through shaft 258 as supported by bearings 260. Inboard drums for wires 271,273 are constructed with keyed hubs 292 to the said through shaft 258; whereas the drums for wires 270,272 (outboard two) are constructed with bushed hubs 294 to freewheel said outboard drums when flanges 290 are not bolted together; and,
(3) a temporary lever (said bar) suitably engages to a said outboard drum before flanges are completely unbolted. With said drum free wheeling the "barred" drum is rotated directionally to suit a wire adjustment by an arc of turn provided by the multiple hole drilled flange. With said flanges rebolted said bar serves the other dual drum.
(6) Stabilzer means (FIGS. 1,4,16a,b,c,d,e).
(FIG. 16a) The stabilizing means 296 provides automatic monitoring of crane 6 when idle, particularly applicable in heavy weather affecting the stucture's exposure to winds. FIG. 1 shows idle crane 6c bridge portions with ends 34,36 connecting to stabilizing systems 296, with one disclosed in FIG. 16 comprised of: pipe 298, maintained erect by embedment with the seafloor 80, a truss type lever 300 having a fulcrum 302, a housed mechanism 304 (FIG. 16b) atop said pipe 298, and a float 308 linked 310 to lever 300;
(a) a steel wire pendant 306 imposing an upward pull to the shorter arm length of lever 300 is opposed by a float 308 connected by linkage means 310 to the longer (arm) length of lever 300;
(b) the following disclosure for stabilizer system 296s connected to bridge outer end 36s (is under stood typical also for stabilizer system 296p connected to bridge outer end 34p), comprises:
(1) stabilizer means 296s for the second outer bridge portion (with end 36s) comprises: a pendant 306 fixed, (reeled off a hand-operated winch means with brake, not shown), to said end 36, suspends with socketed end to pin connect with said shorter arm of lever 300 having an elevationally adjustable fulcrum 302 to cope with tidal change, and the longer arm of lever 300 having linkage 310 connects to float 308, contained to elevational motion only by pylons 312;
(2) (FIG. 16a) steel piping 298, with its center distantly established by said fulcrum 302 from vertical pendant 306, extends appeciably above extreme high tide. Internal ring flange 314 provides bolting means to fix house 316 (FIG. 16b) atop the pipe 298 to contain mechanisms; and,
(3) (FIG. 16b) opposite external sides of pipe 298 have vertical guide means for slides 320 (FIG. 16d,e) having horizontally extending pins 322 effecting the fulcrum axis 302 for the lever 300. Lever 300 straddles pipe 298.
Slides 320 are contained by guide means 318, having had its pins 322 engaged with lever 300 prior to said straddling pipe 298, whereupon house 316 is mojnted with its contained mechanism;
(c) said house 316 contained mechanism comprising: a shaft 324, bearings 326, dual drum 334 having a centrally disposed sprocket 328, a chain drive 332, and gear motor 330 mounted to housing 316 (FIG. 16b). Dual drum assembly 334 (typically described) is bearing bush mounted to shaft 324 with sprocket 328 as the ring means effecting the dual drum concept. Drum 334 is larger than the diameter of pipe 298 for wire vertical extensions 336,338 off drums 334 to be centrally contained with slide means 320 so as to connect by screw adjusting means 120 (FIG. 22) to slides 320;
(1) disposed within pipe 298, to clear said water bed 80, is a pair of sheaves 340 bushing bearing mounted to shaft 342 fixed to pipe 298 (as disposed directly beneath and duplicating shaft 324 of FIG. 16b); and, diameters of sheaves 340 equaling the said diameter of drums 334. Disposed within said pipe 298 is a third shaft 344 between shafts 324,342 similarly mounted (FIG. 16b), having a pair of bearing bush mounted sheaves 346 in effect duplicating the lower assembly of sheaves 340;
(2) to disclose wire ropes 336,338 reeving with said sheaves, the orientation of members in FIG. 1 has been transposed to FIG. 16c, seen to have (f), (a), (p) and (s) designations assigned to respective members. Dual drum portions 334f,a sheaves 346f,a and lowermost sheaves 340f,a are aligned vertically;
(3) a directional arrow (CW) with drum 334 indicates a required raising of fulcrum 302 (pin 322). Wire ropes 336,338 each are of a single length with conventional socketed ends pin connected to an eye bolt (connection 120, FIG. 22). With suitable number of wraps to drum 334f and fixing thereto, wire pendant 336f has its uppermost end 336p said connected to slide 320p (FIG. 16b) and is hauled on to drum 334f for payout as wire 336s for a pendant extending to lowermost sheave 340f and reeving therewith, (having shunted sheaves 346 and slide 320s), its other end is connected 120 to the bottom of slide 320p. Wire 336 without reverse bending (possible without sheaves 346) raises fulcrum 320p with said CW rotated drum 334;
(4) to raise slide 320s (to the opposite side of pipe 298 with drum 344 rotated said CW) requires the use of sheaves 346 to effect a crossover of the single length wire 338 somewhat longer, otherwise identical to wire 336; and,
(5) a trace of wire 338p diagonally up from sheave 346a for haul onto drum 334a also multiwrap fixed therewith, effecting a reverse wire bending, produces a payoff as 338s with diagonal approach to sheave 346g (available) for reeving as a vertical pendant down to sheave 340a (shunting slide 320p). From sheave 340a wire 338s by connection 120 joins to the bottom of slide 320s. The wire 338s other end connection (deferred to consider now) is connected 120 to the top os slide 320s thus raising fulcrum 302.
(7) Tidal monitoring means 348 (FIG. 23).
Selsyn devices (G.E. Co. CR 9890) serves the offshore terminal depending on certain sea floor embedments. A sender 340 (transmitter) is represented in FIG. 23 to serve various receivers associated with its motor to controlled turns, e.g. turns of sprocket 328 of FIG. 16b;
(a) transmitter 350 is mounted above highest tide in casing 352 secured to an embedment in sea floor 80. A small hole 354 in casing 352 affords dampened seawater circulation, avoiding surges, for the contained water level being a true reflection of the immediate tide level.
A float 356 disposed to said water level is connected to a counterweight 358 by a chain 360 looped over sprocket 362 key mounted to shaft 364 of transmitter 350; and
(b) said water level changes alters the suspended length of chain connected to the float to turn sprocket 362 for electrical transmission to turn the receiver connected in the electrical circuitry for a motor.
(8) Miscellaneous.
(a) FIG. 18. Often enough vessels do not trim level fore and aft by certain amounts; practically insignificant in the 42' span between hooks 216. To contend with whatever the difference, clamp means 205 provides the means to establish uniformly loaded rope pendants. Rotating screw 206 will make uneven pendant lengths from the normal; to elevate the sheave 200 bearing to the shorter pendant; thus raise that pendant 218 and lower the other, suiting the trim of the vessel;
(b) FIG. 22. Wire rope screw adjusting anchorage 120 comprises open end wire rope socket 366, eyebolts 368, adjusting nut 372, jamb nut 374, to selectively locate the wire terminal to bracket 370, which is representative of any practical more suitable means of anchorage; e.g., representative of body 370 for composite turnbuckle 184 of FIG. 13. As seen FIG. 22 bracket 370 may extend to bolt 380 to wall 376 of an FRP station 8,12,16, requiring backing plate 378;
(c) FIG. 13 composite turnbuckle 184 serves in the crane antiskew means. With the bridge 32 approximately thwartwise of the crane said straight course and wires 13,15 tensioned, turnbuckle 184 serves to vernier set the needed thwartwise orientation. Socket 366s, having a lug 382 to engage in slot 384 provided in nut 386 in engagement with bolt screw means 388 which is fixed laterally by clips 390 to station 8s,12, is repositioned by turning bolt screw 388 draws wires 13,15 interacting with sheaves 180 which are fixed to the bottom of crane hull 20;
(D) Precedents, establishing a commonly known double cantilevered, through-leg, floating (gantry) crane 6, are comprised of:
(1) a hull 20 with conventional ballast means;
(2) a suitable tower arrangement 26, said through-leg, having a base fixed to the deck 30 of said hull 20 and a top portion connected to the intermediate section of a through bridge 32, (said double cantilevered) thwartwise of said hull, with a (trackage) rails 42 extending between the first 34 and second 36 ends of the bridge 32;
(3) a moveable trolley 22, disposed on said rails 42, including a (vertically moveable and powered) hoist means 248 with a (container 38 engaging) spreader frame 50, serves for withdrawal and placement of containers;
(4) said cantilevered bridge having a second outer bridge portion extended above a second floating vessel 7 located alongside the crane 6 comprising a second moored engagement, and having a first outer bridge portion extending above a first floating vessel LT 5 along the other of the two-sided crane 6, comprising a first moored engagement;
the inprovement embodying: an offshore terminal existing in a sheltered cove, having limited embedded fenders for controlled straight course disposition of three floating vessel (5-7) in moored relationship, being uniformly unaffected by tidal range in said cove, and contending with control of four motion directional differences among said vessels having a first and second moored engagement means, comprising:
(a) holding the second vessel 7 stationary with fenders 4;
(b) a first 8s and second 12 distantly spaced apart primary floating stations, stayed to rise and fall with the tide, establishing limited connection of a wire system 10 having a motor drive towing means 96s for crane 6 disposition along a straight course to selected positions with the second vessel 7, in motion contention with said second moored engagement;
(c) a first 8p and second 16 distantly spaced apart secondary floating stations, stayed to rise and fall with the tide, establishing limited connection of a wire system 18 with motor drive towing means 96p for the LT 5 disposition along a straight course to selected positions with crane 6, including an integrating means of the LT 5 with said wire system 18 suiting the trade-off repetition effecting a first moored engagement;
(d) a wire system 28, with motor drive means, established between said bridge ends for a trolley 22 towing means effecting the trolley travel to selected thwartwise positions between said first 34 and second 36 bridge ends;
(e) a dual guy system 70 to provide additional support for said ends of bridge 32, including "A" frame 56 with apes 58 and wire means which connect the bridge outer end portions to the apes;
(f) a dual wire system 14 established and in tensioned arrangement between said primary floating stations, interacting wires with sheaves having mounting means to the bottom of said hull 20, with said wire being passive during said straight course unimpeded travel, and containing said wires with said sheaves to oppose impediments to travelling of said crane as an antiskew means to further comprise the first and second moored engagement;
(g) a dual wire system 52 established in tensioned arrangement between said bridge ends, interacting wires with sheaves having mounting means to the bottom of said trolley, with said wire being passive during said straight course unimpeded travel, and containing said wires to oppose impediments to travelling of said trolley for an antiskew means;
(h) a composite system of ropes with said vessels comprising:
(1) a second rope system 190s, having a motor driven mechanism 230s centrally disposed atop the second outer bridge portion, providing horizontal rope second portions 192f,a reeved to sheaves 198f,a for a pair of parallel selectively lengthened fixed pendants 192pa, 192pf, unencumbering to said through-leg for engaging means with said first vessel LT 5, still further comprising the first moored engagement; and,
(2) a first rope system 190p, having a motor drive mechanism 230p centrally disposed atop the first outer bridge portion, providing horizontal rope first portions 192f,a reeved to sheaves 198f,a for a pair of parallel selected lengthened fixed first pendants 192as, 192af unencumbering to said through-legs for engaging means with said second vessel 7, still further comprising the second moored engagement;
(i) a stabilizing system for crane 6 comprising:
(1) a wire 306s, fixed to suspend from the second outer bridge portion, connects to the shorter arm of a second lever means 300s, having linkage 310p means 310s with a second float 308s and the fulcrum 302s of said lever having automatic elevational adjustment commensurate with tidal changes encountered at said terminals and the crane idle;
(2) a wire 306p, fixed to suspend from the first outer bridge portion, connects to the shorter arm of a first lever means 300p having linkage means with a first float 308p and the fulcrum 302p of said lever having automatic elevational adjustment commensurate with tidal changes encountered at said terminal; and,
(3) said floats in lever arrangement with pendants stabilize the idle crane from being overturned by heavy weather.
(j) a hoist system 248, comprising four separate sets of blocks and falls, with each set variously tensioned (for elastic strech difference) commensurate with the non-distributed loading of a container 38, relies on a compositer of two equalizer means 272 for dead-end pin connection of their wires 270-273 single row wrapped off four drums 256. With a first pair of said sets connectedly associated with the container aft end for its two wires to said dead-end pin connect to two of three levers comprising the first equalizer and a second pair of said sets connectedly associated with the container forward end for its two wires to said dead-end pin connect to two of three levers comprising the second equalizer, and having said two levers linked to the third of said three levers with the third lever of the two equalizers connected together by a common wire 278 wrapped to a motor powered drum 282 to effect two leads to pay one lead off the drum commensurate with haul-on of the other (second) lead with fractional turn of the drum; whereby with monitoring of a non-level container (said non-distributed loaded) said composite equalizer system serves to modulate said stretch differences of falls for a level container.
(k) novelty of the trolley composite arrangement comprising:
(1) least weight imposed on trolley rails, having powered mechanisms for trolley tow and hoist means disposed as counterwieght means to offset unequal length outer bridge portions;
(2) automatically established level tail block position, having a composite equalizer system modulating elastic stretch differences of four falls bearing a container non-distributed loaded;
(3) dampens swing of a load with change in trolley motion; and,
(4) single tier winding of wires on drums, limiting fleet angle to a half degree, and avoids reverse wire bending. | A system to transport containers for ports of call by Feeders serving a trade area with each area having an associated terminal located intermittently along a specific route as stops for a fleet of superships (Cellers); there to directly exchange its import cargo containers for export cargo containers borne by a lay-to (LT) left to await a Celler arrival. All terminals are similarly arranged for approach and mooring of vessels and have a floating crane devised for cyclical exchange of containers between vessels with accommodation and control features suiting worldwide utility. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The application is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/605,316 filed Sep. 14, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,150 in the name of the same inventor, Brian Havens, and entitled A DEVICE TO ASSIST P-TRAP DRAINAGE, and claims the priority and benefit of that earlier application.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to plumbing systems and specifically to bathroom, kitchen and utility sink drainage.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
This invention was not made under contract with an agency of the US Government, nor by any agency of the US Government.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Plumbing of a sanitary and hygienic sink or other fixture having a drain necessitates employing a trap, to act as a vapor barrier, against noxious or even unsanitary odors, vermin, bacteria and the like passing to an open drain hole in a sink, for example, and the conduit to a sewer system or septic holding tank. Even a kitchen sink requires such a trap. Such traps are configured so as to retain a small amount of water in a U-shaped bend, this water then acts to prevent any reflux of undesirable gases, particles and pests from entering into bathroom, kitchen, laundry room or other space through an otherwise open drain. The use of such traps has been known for hundreds of years, and more recently has become a matter of code or building regulations. Without the use of such traps, the typical drain to a sewer system would become an open pathway for foul odors and disease carrying pathogens.
The U or P bend is normally disposed underneath a fixture to be drained, whether that is a floor drain, a laundry drain, or a sink. The space under an exemplary bathroom or kitchen sink is very limited, however, which means that the system of piping must not take up excessive space. On a practical basis, just getting the various types of fixture drains to run to the trap and thence to the outlet from the space is hard enough without adding large or bulky additional devices to the system. Repair of such systems is an even greater challenge: old parts must be removed within the small space, parts which have rusted together must be separated, and so on. The P-trap has the benefits of being relatively small and easy to manufacture at low cost, and it would not be desirable to attempt to use large or expensive systems in conjunction with such P-traps.
The actual U-shaped bend may be called a U-bend or U-trap, and forms one portion of the larger P-trap. For use in this application, the term P-trap will be used, but the term should be understood to apply to the U portion and other terms for or types of vapor barrier traps. More specifically, a conventional trap is typically made using the U bend to which the plumber or builder attaches, a J bend at the outlet leg of the U, thus defining a generally horizontal outlet and making the signature “P” shape from the “U” and the straight outlet. The outlet of course is then be connected to conduits connected to the sewer or septic system for the disposal of liquid wastes.
Thus a conventional P-trap is formed from generally tubular drain fittings, which may be fabricated from either metal or plastic. For plastic fitting P-traps the inlet leg of the U is frictionally coupled in physical engagement using a nut and either a rubber gasket or beveled compression washer collar fitting so as to firmly grip a vertical drain pipe which extends down from the fixture to be drained. Typically the various joints of the system (for example between the J bend and the U bend) are joints which are detachable joints held together by a threaded connector.
It is worth noting at this point that assembly of the system depends on getting lengths of the various components correct. This would be relatively easy if part sizes and lengths were standardized to meet standard drain locations, standard sink and bath sizes and so on, but in reality, the installation process is made harder because all lengths of the pipes must meet to make a complete system which does not suffer from an excessive amount of tension, torsion or other stress or strain: such forces may eventually cause leaks or damage to parts. Thus, in addition to the need to avoid large or bulky additions to the system, it is desirable to avoid adding any elements which are of substantial length.
Such a P-trap may be installed as follows. First the drain pipe from the sink and the drain conduit connecting the sink to the septic or sewer system are roughed in to an approximate location. The ends of these pipes will be generally in the same area, but not attached. Then the P-trap is installed between the free ends of the two pipes. The P-trap, comprising the J-bend and the U bend are loosely threaded together, then the threaded joint can be adjusted for further manipulation of the pipes.
Turning to consideration of drainage of such P-traps, it will be understood that the P-trap dramatically alters the fluid flow within the system of pipes beneath the fixture drain. A straight vertical pipe has certain flow characteristics (fast flow or fall of water), a steeply angled pipe slightly different ones (ability to carry a substantial amount of matter), a flat pipe may have different flow patterns (no flow unless water is flowing into it at to provide pressure to cause flow to occur), an angled bend has other characteristics (a sharp flow disruption which may cause material to settle out) and so on. The complexity of flow within a P-trap may be understood if it is considered that the typical P-trap actually has a vertical drop, a curved section at various angles, a sharp elbow and a nearly horizontal run afterwards.
The natural result is well known to all homeowners. P-traps get clogged. The typical household has at least one individual who lets their hair or whiskers go down at least one drain, greasy materials may be put down the drain (for example, from washing of greasy hands), and without thinking, individuals continuously place obviously flow impeding materials into drains: all types of dirt, greases and oils of all types and so on. Eventually the P-trap clogs, the drained fixture becomes unusable and it becomes necessary to remove it or replace it at considerable expense and trouble. It is obviously desirable to make P-traps as difficult to clog as possible.
In addition, the typical P-trap flow disruption also alters the fluid flow within the pipe. For example, laminar fluid flow (in which the water flows in generally smooth or even layered patterns straight along the pipe) may give way to turbulent fluid flow (in which the water flows in less organized ways and with a greater degree of motion in three dimensions).
It would be advantageous to provide a device which alters the fluid flow within a trap so as to increase the efficiency of flow through the trap, in terms of flow rate, reduced chance of clogging or the like.
It would be advantageous to provide a device which is short in length in terms of the system of pipes of a P-trap drain, so as to allow easy installation in diverse plumbing traps despite the space and length limitations of such systems.
It would be advantageous to provide a device which is low in cost, easy to manufacture and easy to install in a typical P-trap drain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
General Summary
A P-trap drainage device having a tubular body and a plurality of internal angled vanes which direct water flow in a circular or whirlpool pattern has a short coupling portion or vestibule having a coupling thereon, and an insertion portion dimensioned and configured to fit within standard plumbing system pipes. In use the insertion portion is inserted into the open upper end of the P-trap and the coupling portion is attached to the vertical run of pipe from the sink drain.
Water flowing through the device will be urged to rotate in the device, so as to impart a different flow pattern on the flow through the P-trap and into the weir, increasing the efficiency of flow of the P-trap. A second coupling may be provided at the lower end: couplings may advantageously be standard ring connector nut trapped on the device or plumbing, a gasket or washer, or may be the matching exterior threading which the ring connector nut physically engages to.
The device may advantageously have four vanes which grow thicker as the vanes progress down the device, and the vanes may start with a gentle curvature but progress to a straight section, or vice-versa or other shapes. An axial support may be provided or omitted in alternative embodiments.
The device may be a molded unibody construction of PVC material or other durable polymer, or it may be metal.
The device, in preferred embodiments, may be constructed to standard plumbing internal and external diameters.
Summary in Reference to Claims
It is therefore a first aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device for use in a plumbing system having standard plumbing couplers and having plumbing pipes having a plumbing outer diameter and a plumbing inner diameter, the plumbing device comprising:
a tubular body having an interior, an interior surface, an exterior and an exterior surface, and having a first open end and a second open end connected by the passage, and having an axis; the tubular body having a coupling section having a standard plumbing coupling thereon, the coupling section having an inner diameter approximately equal to such plumbing outer diameter; the tubular body having an insertion section having an outer diameter approximately equal to such plumbing inner diameter, whereby the tubular body insertion section may be at least partially inserted into such plumbing pipes; and at least one vane in the interior of the tubular body, the vane set at an angle to the axis of the plumbing device, whereby water passing through the plumbing device is urged to rotate as it passes down the length of the interior of the plumbing device.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the standard plumbing coupling further comprises:
external threads located on the exterior of the tubular body at one end.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device further comprising:
a second coupler disposed at the insertion section of the device.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device further comprising:
at least a second vane in the interior of the tubular body, the vane set at an angle to the axis of the plumbing device.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the first and second vanes further comprise:
a vane first end, a vane second end, and a vane thickness, the vane thickness varying from the vane first end to the vane second end.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the variation of the vane thickness from the vane first end to the vane second end further comprises:
gradually increasing thickness from the vane first end to the vane second end.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device further comprising:
a vane cross section perpendicular to the axis of the tubular body, the vane cross section varying from the vane first end to the vane second end.
It is therefore yet another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the variation in the vane cross section from the vane first end to the vane second end further comprises:
a curved cross section at the vane first end and a straight cross section a the vane second end.
It is therefore yet another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device further comprising:
a molded unibody construction of polyvinylchloride material.
It is therefore yet another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the tubular body further comprises:
a polymer pipe.
It is therefore yet another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the tubular body further comprises:
a metal pipe.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the coupling section inner diameter further comprises:
a diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of a standard plumbing drain pipe.
It is therefore another aspect, advantage, objective and embodiment of the invention to provide a plumbing device wherein the insertion section outer diameter further comprises:
a diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of a standard plumbing drain pipe.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the device having no side.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the alternative embodiment of the device.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the alternative embodiment of the device.
FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the alternative embodiment of the device.
FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the device in use.
FIG. 6 is a side view of a first embodiment of the device.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of the first embodiment of the device, showing internal features.
FIG. 7 a is a partial cross-sectional view rotated in view in order to show one complete vane.
FIG. 8 is an isometric top view of a second embodiment of the device, showing configuration of the vanes at the top end of the vanes, the middle of the device.
FIG. 9 is an isometric bottom view of the second embodiment of the device, showing configuration of the vanes at the bottom end.
FIG. 10 is a side view of a third embodiment of the device in use in a P-trap drainage system.
FIG. 11 is a side view of the device transparent so as to show hidden internal features.
INDEX TO THE REFERENCE NUMERALS
Fixture cylinder
10
Top rail
11
Bottom rail
12
Side bar
13
Vertical pipe
14
Nut
16
First vane
21
Second vane
22
Third vane
23
Fourth vane
24
U-bend
25
Water
26
J-bend
28
Tubular body
100
Interior
102
Interior surface
104
Exterior
106
Exterior surface
108
First open end
110
Second open end
112
Passage
114
Open axial space
116
Vestibule/coupling section
118
Threaded collar
120
Insertion section
122
First vane
124
Coupling
126
Beveled washer
128
Second vane
130
Vane first end
132
Vane second end
134
First vane thickness
136
Second vane thickness
138
First step
140
Second step
142
Fixture
210
Fixture drain
212
Substantially horizontal run to outlet
230
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 is a side isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the device having no sides: this version was used in early testing but is not presently favored. FIG. 2 is a side view of the alternative embodiment of the device. Fixture 10 is generally tubular in outline but lacks a tubular body as such, comprising a lattice work supported by a ring-shaped top end 11 and bottom end 12 connected by support struts 13 .
Supported within the cylindrical lattice are four vanes, first vane 21 , second vane 22 , third vane 23 and fourth vane 24 which curve as they pass from the top end 11 to the bottom end 12 , so as to direct the flow of water into a swirled or vortex. These vanes twist helicoidally as they pass down the length of the interior of the device.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the alternative embodiment of the device, while FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the alternative embodiment of the device. It may be seen that the vanes may be sharp edged at the top end but have bottom surfaces at the bottom end, thus getting wider as they pass down the length of the device.
FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the device in use. Device 10 fits substantially or wholly within bend 30 , and bend 30 is otherwise connected normally to other plumbing fixtures in the plumbing system.
FIG. 6 is a side view of a first embodiment of the device. Tubular body 100 has a generally circular cross section shown in later diagrams and is hollow, with a passageway from end to end. Exterior 106 and exterior surface 108 may be divided by steps into several sections between first open end 110 and second open end 112 . Coupling section 118 closest to the first open end 110 has thereon the threaded collar 120 , which in this diagram is an external thread allowing the device to be fastened on to any standard drain pipe to allow a physical engagement. The coupling may instead be the matching coupling ring or any of a wide variety of other devices. The coupling section 118 may have the same internal diameter as the overall plumbing system outer/exterior diameter, that is, the outer diameter of the U-bend/P-trap, drains, pipes and the like.
Insertion or vestibule section 122 has outer/exterior diameters dimensioned and configured to the diameters of the P-trap, so that insertion section 122 may be inserted into a substantial portion of the P-trap. By this means, at least a portion of the device will be inside of the plumbing system, thus shortening the overall exterior length of the device when installed and allowing better and easier installation.
Reductions in outer diameter of the device may be accomplished by a shrinking of thickness of the cylindrical walls of the tubular body, or by making both interior and exterior diameters smaller. Such reductions may occur in a single gentle angle or in the preferred embodiment presently contemplated may occur at multiple sharper angles. The reductions in size may be accomplished in other ways as well. First step 140 and second step 142 are examples of such reductions, and in the embodiment of FIG. 1 , define three different sections of the device.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of the first embodiment of the device, showing internal features, while FIG. 11 is a side view of the device transparent so as to show hidden internal features for additional clarity. FIG. 7 a is a partial cross-sectional view rotated in view in order to show one complete vane: the vane 130 may be considered to be “straightened” in this view, provided in order to show more clearly a single vane, however, it is important to remember that the vanes are helical as they progress down the interior. These additional views are provided for clarity, as the internal features of the device are a carefully selected and configured. Interior 102 has interior surface 104 on the inner side of the walls of tubular body 100 , which defines passage 114 passing from end to end. Passage 114 may in the best mode now contemplated and the presently preferred embodiments be generally cylindrical (having a round cross section) for improved fluid flow therethrough.
First vane 124 and second vane 130 (along with two more vanes shown in FIGS. 2 , 3 and 4 ) may project from the interior surface 104 into passage 114 and thus into the fluid flow through the passage 114 . Vane first end 132 , the end closer to the first end 110 , is the “leading edge” of the vane and may grow gradually from the interior surface 104 , projecting further into the passage 114 and fluid flow as it progresses down the passage 114 towards the second end 112 , as seen in FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 a . It may have a straight section lower down. While the topmost point of vane first end 132 is located lower than the first end 110 , it may be located at the first end 110 or even may project beyond first end 110 , thus requiring insertion into the drain pipe above first end 110 before the coupling 120 may be engaged. First vane end 132 may have a first vane thickness 136 , since this is the leading edge of the vane 124 as the fluid flow hits it, this first thickness may be fairly thin. The leading edge of the vane 124 may also have curvature rather than being straight when viewed from above, or it may be straight or of irregular shape.
Vane second end 134 may have a second vane thickness 138 which may be thicker than the first thickness 136 . The trailing edge of the vane 124 may also be straight rather than curved as shown in FIG. 7 a , but it may also be curved or irregular in shape when viewed from below. The trailing edge of the vane 124 may meet the second end 112 , may project beyond the second end 112 (thus requiring insertion into the mouth of the P-trap prior to insertion of the second end 112 ) or may be terminated above end 112 .
FIG. 8 is an isometric top view of a second embodiment of the device, showing configuration of the vanes at the top end of the vanes, the middle of the device. FIG. 9 is an isometric bottom view of the second embodiment of the device, showing configuration of the vanes at the bottom end. First open end 110 and second open end 112 may be seen (respectively in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 ). For clarity, the entire depth of the device is not shown in these views.
Axial support 116 may be used in this embodiment to provide better control of fluid flow or simply to reinforce the vanes 124 and 130 . Axial support 116 may be a regular body such as a thin round shape located at the axis of the tubular body 100 . Axial support may also assist in manufacturing of the device.
Coupling 120 may be seen in end view, and in this embodiment is also an external threading on the exterior surface of tubular body 100 .
First vane 124 and first vane thickness 136 may be compared to second vane thickness 138 and the difference easily seen, as may the difference in shape between the straight trailing edge and the curved leading edge. However, in other alternative embodiments different shapes and thicknesses of vanes may be used.
FIG. 10 is a side view of a third embodiment of the device in use in a P-trap drainage system. Fixture 210 may be a sink, shower, tub, floor drain, toilet, bidet or any other type of fixture. Drain 212 may be located at the bottom of the fixture 210 so as to easily allow drainage of water or other liquids from the fixture 210 into the sewer or septic system via the plumbing shown.
The vertical pipe may be connected via standard plumbing connectors or other means from fixture 210 to the next item in the plumbing system, which may be U-bend 25 or the invention or another device. Nut 16 may be attached by a gasket or beveled washer 128 to the vertical pipe 14 and so being “trapped” on the plumbing. When mated to an external thread coupling such as that shown or coupling 120 shown previously, the coupling ring 16 may be rotated to bring the two portions of the plumbing system into tight physical engagement.
Plumbing insertion section 122 may be of a size and configuration allowing it to pass into the next part of the plumbing system, allowing a ring coupling trapped on one item to engage an external thread on the other. However, standard plumbing connectors now known or later developed are not so limited.
Plumbing outer/exterior diameter 20 and plumbing inner/interior diameter 22 may be seen on U-bend 25 , which is the actual mechanism forming the vapor trap of the invention. Water 26 prevents many vermin and all vapors from passing backwards up the drain from the sewer or septic system to the fixture 10 . Elbow 28 connects to substantially horizontal run to outlet 30 , completing the portion of the system typically found under a residential sink, although the system is not limited to residential use or sinks.
Nut 16 may be a nut as actually shown in the figures or equivalent, and fits loosely upon a narrower section of tubular body 100 but is trapped thereon by gasket/washer 128 , but remains free to rotate so as to engage another device.
Installation of the device may be accomplished as follows. A section of the vertical run 14 may be removed or shortened so as to make distance for the device of the invention to be put into the system, however, since a short portion of the device (which may be longer or the entire length of the device in alternative embodiments) may project into the U-bend below or the vertical pipe above, the distance required is not excessive.
The device may then be inserted into the plumbing device below it, with any vanes which project beyond the bottom end (in alternative embodiments) inserted, then the bottom end inserted into the lower plumbing device. The top end may accept any device from above which may require insertion, and then ring couplers at either end may be tightened to provide physical engagement to the device above and below.
The device may be installed by means other than physical engagement. Any melt welding substances or adhesives may be used, as may sealing materials of any type.
The disclosure is provided to allow practice of the invention by those skilled in the art without undue experimentation, including the best mode presently contemplated and the presently preferred embodiment. Nothing in this disclosure is to be taken to limit the scope of the invention, which is susceptible to numerous alterations, equivalents and substitutions without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is to be understood from the appended claims. | A P-trap drainage device having a tubular body and a plurality of internal angled vanes which direct water flow in a circular or whirlpool pattern has a short coupling portion having a coupling thereon, and an extension portion dimensioned and configured to fit within standard sizes of plumbing pipes. In use, the device causes vertically flowing water coming from the drain to the P-trap to “swirl”, increasing the efficiency of flow. The shortness of the coupling portion allows easier use of the device in typically cramped conditions. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to the planarization of semiconductor devices by Chemical-Mechanical-Polishing (CMP) techniques and, more particularly, to the formulation of polishing slurries for metals and oxides where the rate of polishing allows both metal and oxide to be removed simultaneously. By use of the slurry of the invention process costs can be reduced and semiconductor wafers can be successfully reclaimed and re-processed.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Chemical-Mechanical-Polishing techniques are used in the semiconductor processing industry to enable interconnect metallurgy of the highest density to be fabricated. Based on the teachings in U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,648 to Chow et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,836 to Beyer et al., CMP has enabled the continued shrinking of semiconductor device dimensions by the practical and manufacturable introduction of planarization of metals or interlevel dielectrics to semiconductor processing. By maintaining the surface of a semiconductor device as flat as possible, the rendering of optical images of ever smaller size continues to be possible.
[0005] CMP technology used for planarization of inter-level dielectric (ILD) is usually performed in a strong basic solution having a high pH and relies heavily on the abrasive effects of silica particles. Technology for metals generally is based on the principles that most hard materials are reactive with oxidants to form oxides and other softer compounds which, in turn, can be polished away. As such the slurries used are usually strongly acidic and have low pH. If the process of reacting and polishing can be controlled sufficiently, semiconductor metallurgy will continue to lead the path to miniaturization.
[0006] In most CMP processes great effort is expended to increase the selectivity of a slurry between two materials present in the polishing environment. For example, if one is attempting to remove tungsten from an oxide layer, the preferred slurry would polish tungsten many times faster than oxide. The reverse is usually true when polishing oxides over metal layers.
[0007] It is known to planarize tungsten metallurgy by polishing with an aqueous slurry comprising alumina in ferric nitrate. See “PROCESS OPTIMIZATION OF TUNGSTEN CMP.” V. Blaschke and K. Holland, Chemical Mechanical Polishing—Metals Seminar (CMP), SEMICON/Southwest '95; Austin, Tex.; October 23, 1995. This slurry, when used in an IPEC-Westech Systems wafer polisher at a feedrate of about 125 ml per minute, has the capability of polishing tungsten at 3,000 Angstroms per minute. The slurry, however, has the following disadvantages:
[0008] 1. The alumina colloidal suspension is unstable and the ferric nitrate solution must be agitated constantly to keep the suspension in solution. If left alone, the suspension collapses within a few hours rendering it impossible to formulate batches of slurry in advance. The settling of the alumina particles indicates that the particles are not well dispersed at all, a condition which could easily lead to scratching and cause other polishing irregularities since the slurry actually contains particulates and aggomerates large enough to settle out of suspension. This also can cause Foreign Material (FM) problems and loss of product yield.
[0009] 2. The polishing slurry leaves rust residue on items throughout the CMP tool area. Whenever some slurry is spilled or sprayed, orange rust is left behind when the slurry dries. The stains are an indication that the ferric ion is prone to polymerizing to oxo-bridged species, leading to ferric-bearing oxide residues. These residues are a source of FM. The polymerization can also account for agglomeration of the alumina, as the polymerized ferric species likely promotes adhesion of alumina particles to each other. This condition often causes tools to be shut down for cleaning and removal of slurry cakes by the use of a hammer.
[0010] 3. The heterogenity of the slurry also prohibits the bulk feeding of the slurry to the tools. Because the particulates in the slurry have a tendency to settle out, the particulates will precipitate out within any delivery system clogging tubing and valves.
[0011] 4. The tendency of the ferric components to form rust residue causes corrosion wherever the slurry lands and dries on stainless steel parts of the polishing tools. This is a cause of FM problems and eventually destroys polisher components.
[0012] Other ferric-based salts have been proposed and include potassium ferricyanide as an oxidizer, combined with an acetate buffer and acetic acid using a silica abrasive as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,526 to Danielson et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,346 to Cadien etal.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,423 to Neville et al. describes a polishing slurry for selectively polishing metals. The slurry includes ferric nitride nonahydrate and deionized water in which a special fumed alumina or silica is used to provide stability of particles in suspension. The disclosure also suggests other additives and stabilizers which may be added immediately prior to use. The differences in polish rates obtained are attributed to the high surface area fumed silica or alumina of the invention and the resulting slurry suitable for most metals.
[0014] Oxide slurries, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,836 to Beyer et al., are usually basic and may contain a bout 1 to 10% by weight silica in potassium hydroxide, for example. Recently acid stabilized silica slurries have become available, but these still exhibit instability when additional reagents are added to the slurry as surfactants or other surface controlling agents.
[0015] A typical planarized Back-End-Of-the-Line (BEOL) Field Effect Transistor (FET) process includes the following steps, as an example.
[0016] A semiconductor wafer is process up through the gate electrode and a first dielectric passivation layer. Via holes are formed and a contact metal is provided in the holes. Processing to this point in the process may or may not provide a planarized surface.
[0017] Following the initial process steps, an ILD layer, usually a phosphorous or boron containing glass is deposited. The ILD layer is planarized bu CMP technology selective to the deposited ILD layer. The planarization is followed by the etching of via holes or both via holes and lines in the ILD layer.
[0018] A metal, including any desired contact enhancing or barrier providing layer, is blanket deposited. The metal layer is then planarized by a CMP process selective to the metal with respect to the ILD. This step leaves either exposed metal studs coplanar with the top of the ILD or, in the case of dual Damascene processing, metal lines coplanar with the top of the ILD layer.
[0019] If dual Damascene is not practiced, a metal layer for the lateral interconnects between studs is deposited and etched to define the level of metal, usually designated Mn where n is the number of the level above the substrate. In the case of dual Damascene, the Mn level is part of the deposited and planarized metal already deposited.
[0020] U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,313 to Cote et al. teaches a process in which the planarization following the first ILD layer may be omitted and a slurry comprising 40 grams of alumina in 10 liters of deionized water to which strong oxidizing agent, hydrogen peroxide, and a strong base, potassium hydroxide, is added adjusting the pH to 8.4. Selectivity of oxide to tungsten was about 200/300 Angstroms per minute and produced coplanar polished layers.
[0021] M. A. Jaso, in his published European application EP 0 773 580 A1 published Oct. 21, 1996, teaches a post tungsten slurry comprising fumed colloidal silica, 8% wt, and 20 g/l ammonium persulfate which is said to be non-selective between tungsten and oxide.
[0022] A major problem presented to manufacturers is that of reworking of product because some aspect of a process has been unacceptably performed. Reworking of BEOL processes are quite well known are may be represented by the following references.
[0023] U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,606 to Cynkar et al. teaches a rework process for metallurgy in which portions of deposited and etched metal are selectively etched from a substrate.
[0024] The article, “Rework Process for Integrated Circuit Chip Pads,” Annon., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 37, No.01, January 1994, p 333, teaches rework process in which each added layer is removed in turn by a process selective to that material.
[0025] The article, “ALUMINUM METALLURGY REWORK PROCESS,” Annon., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 33, No.4, September, 1990, p.240, teaches that rework can be accomplished by first selectively etching away an aluminum line and then using CMP to remove the ILD layer.
[0026] The article, “MULTIPLE LEVEL INTEGRATED CIRCUIT REWORK USING CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISH AND REACTIVE ION ETCHING,” Annon., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 35, No.1 B, June 1992, pp 254-5, which teaches the use of an reaction ion etching (RIE) tool to remove oxide followed by CMP or RIE to selectively remove the metal.
[0027] U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,257 to Patrick teaches a method of coplanarizing metal, photoresist and ILD layers simultaneously using RIE or plasma etching.
[0028] U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,828 to Curry, II teaches the reworking of a BEOL processed wafer where the ILD is a polyimide polymer and the metal is copper by polishing with a slurry including only silica in water.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0029] There is a need for a slurry capable of coplanarizing metal and dielectric which does not include problems found in prior art slurries such as stability of suspension of abrasive, stability of activity of reagents and avoid the FM problems with current ferric containing slurries.
[0030] Thus, an improved slurry must avoid all of the above problems and also be capable of polishing both metal and dielectric at a substantially equal rate.
[0031] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an effective slurry for polishing tungsten and oxides that maintains a high polish rate while reducing the quantity of chemicals used.
[0032] It is another object of the invention to provide a polishing slurry in which the abrasive particulates are truly dispersed in solution and do not separate out of solution.
[0033] It is yet another object of the invention to provide a polishing slurry in which metal contaminates are maintained in solution and do not precipitate out of solution.
[0034] Another object of the invention is to provide more efficient polishing slurries in which scratching is reduced because particles do not agglomerate.
[0035] It is another object of the invention to provide a slurry which will reduce the number of process steps necessary to fabricate BEOL technology.
[0036] It is yet another object of the invention to provide a slurry which will simplify the reworking of semiconductor wafers.
[0037] These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a slurry for CMP polishing comprising an silica abrasive, an oxidizer having an anion which forms soluble salts with metals having atomic numbers less than 83, water and an acid having the same anion as the oxidizer. More specifically, a CMP polishing slurry comprising ferric nonahydrate, an acid stabilized silica, acid and water. More specifically the slurry comprises 800 ml of 40% aqueous ferric nonahydrate added to about 3.75 liters of acid stabilized 30% by weight fumed silica and pH balanced with nitric acid to a range of 1.2 to 1.4.
[0038] These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent when viewed in the light of the following description of the preferred embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0039] In fabricating semiconductor devices using tungsten metal/insulator thin layers, the following steps are currently necessary:
[0040] 1. About 11,500 Angstroms of phosphorus doped glass (PSG) is deposited as an insulator layer over polysilicon gate stack structures.
[0041] 2. The PSG layer must be planarized by CMP polishing. Current slurries have included silica slurries comprising about 12% silica and water in a strong basic at a ph of about 10.
[0042] 3. The polished surface must then be cleaned, preferably by brush cleaning and then washed with 500:1 solution of buffered hydrofluoric acid.
[0043] 4. Via holes are then etched in the PSG layer.
[0044] 5. The via holes are filled using a barrier layer liner and blanket tungsten.
[0045] 6. The tungsten is polished off using a CMP slurry of alumina/ferric nitrate followed by a touch up polish using a silica based slurry leaving the top surface of the PSG coplanar with the tungsten in the via holes.
[0046] The disadvantages of this method are:
[0047] separate polish/slurry steps are necessary for planarizing the oxide and tungsten and a third polish step is needed for touch up after the tungsten polish.
[0048] the brush clean station is notorious for leaving all sorts of Foreign Material (FM) on the product.
[0049] the primary tungsten polish causes various degrees of scratching in the metal and PSG due to the agglomeration of alumina in the slurry. These defects are transmitted into subsequent layers applied to the semiconductor device due to the scratch patterns left in the surfaces of the PSG/tungsten. Because alumina is relatively hard (high on the Moh's hardness scale (alpha alumina=9 and gamma alumina=8) compared with a hardness of 6 or 7 for silica, it scratches PSG and other glass oxides severely.
[0050] A practical method for planarizing tungsten and insulator in one step has been sought for many years. Such a method would eliminate: two polish steps per ILD level of metallurgy, one clean up step, and a rinse step.
[0051] Requirement for such a slurry are the capability to polish tungsten and the oxide at nearly the same rate. The difference in rates should not exceed the other by more that about three times and is preferable to be as close to 1:1 as possible.
[0052] Also desirable is the elimination of abrasive caused scratching which when filled with subsequently deposited tungsten or other metal capable of shorting out adjacent lines and causing devices to fail.
[0053] The single step slurry should also be chemically stable, it should be capable of remaining dispersed for long periods of time, preferably indefinitely, without agglomerating or precipitating out of solution.
[0054] Any oxidizer should not decompose upon standing. Oxidizers previously proposed including those with peroxo bonds such as hydrogen peroxide and persulfates are unsuitable because they decompose on standing, especially when in the presence of abrasives. Metal contamination and raised temperatures both contribute to early decomposition of these oxidizers. Slurries using these oxidizers have been found to produce unpredictable results.
[0055] Any replacement slurry should also be capable of bulk handling such that more precise control over quantities used can be made.
[0056] The following describes the reactions believed to be important in a slurry for etching tungsten.
[0057] CMP technology has been practiced for many years and is based on the principle that relatively hard materials can be polished, or more properly planarized, by a combination of a chemical conversion of the material to a softer compound and the physical removal of that softer material with an abrasive process. The basis of CMP of many metals is the surface oxidation of the metal followed by the abrasive removal of the oxide. In the case of tungsten the preferred oxidant is the ferric ion and the following reaction.
W+6Fe 3+ +3H 2 O→WO 3 +6Fe 2+ +6H +
E 0 =0.86 v (1)
[0058] The ferrous ion is oxidized back to ferric by the nitrate ion by the following reaction.
3Fe 2+ +4H + +NO 3 − →3Fe 3+ +2H 2 O+NO
E 0 =0.19 v (2)
[0059] thus sustaining the reaction rate.
[0060] The oxide, WO 3 , is then removed by the alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) abrasive exposing additional unoxidized tungsten which undergoes more oxidation, etc. until the process is terminated.
[0061] The problem of providing a true dispersion of a solid oxide in aqueous suspension is best considered by knowing the electrical charge on the oxide particles. All oxides suspended in water exhibit a characteristic pH. Oxide particulates will cause a solution to exhibit a pH at which their surfaces will exhibit no net charge, the iso-electric point (IEP). In order for particles of an oxide to repel each other in suspension, the pH must be set either several unit more basic than the IEP (imparting negative charge) or several units more acidic (imparting positive charge). When the pH is thus set, the like-charged particles mutually repel and the suspension remains dispersed. If the ionic strength is raised too high, the surface charge around the particles is disrupted and the suspension collapses.
[0062] The addition of ferric nitrate to the suspension swings the pH down to the vicinity of about 1.5 and the suspension turns a yellow-brown color. The chemistry of the ferric ion in aqueous solution accounts for this result. Ferric ions in aqueous solution is actually a moderate strength acid:
Fe ( H 2 O ) 6 3 + ⇔ Fe ( H 2 O ) 5 ( OH ) 2 + + H + ⇕ ( H 2 O ) 5 FeOFe ( H 2 O ) 5 4 + + H 2 O ⇕ ⋮ several steps ⇕ FE ( OH ) 3 , FeOOH , Fe 2 O 3 ( 3 )
[0063] Ferric ion thus tends to dissociate protons and to polymerize. The polymer species imparts the characteristic brown color to solutions containing ferric ions. The Fe(H 2 O) 6 3+ ion is actually pale violet.
[0064] These polymers also can bridge alumina particles inducing agglomeration. This phenomenon is exactly what occurs in the slurry mix if allowed to sit for any period of time. It therefore becomes necessary to constantly agitate the ferric nitrate/alumina slurry with a nitrogen gas bubbler. Because of the tendency to agglomerate, the slurry cannot be pumped any great distance from the polishing tool.
[0065] It has been found that:
[0066] 1. The amount of ferric nitrate in the previous slurry was excessive and resulted in making the alumina more difficult to disperse. For a 1:1 oxide/tungsten slurry we prefer about 800 ml of 40% aqueous ferric nitrate nonahydrate (Fe(NO 3 ) 3 .9H2O) in about 3.75 liters of aqueous feed solution.
[0067] 2. Nitric acid (HNO 3 ) is added to the slurry to shift the equilibrium of the oxo-bridged ferric species back toward the Fe(H 2 O) 6 3+ ion. This combination yields a suspension of far superior stability. The breakup of the ferric ion polymers suppresses agglomeration of the alumina particles. The amount of nitric acid found to be optimum was about 25 ml of 70% nitric acid per liter of Fe(NO 3 ) 3 feedstock solution or to 4.5 liters of slurry. Significantly higher amounts of nitric acid, say 100 ml, will cause the suspension to collapse. The color of the acidified, ferric nitrate/alumina is white and upon drying does not precipitate out a rust-colored stain.
[0068] The improvement of the slurry of the invention over the previously used slurry is evident from the following comparison. When old and new slurries are allowed to stand, it was observed that the old slurry began to settle almost immediately and would be completely settled, the solution clear, after about four hours. The slurry of the invention was not observed to settle after a 24 hours except for some fines which were observed on the bottom of the sample.
[0069] The superior stability of the slurry offers the opportunity of providing a bulk feed system for delivering slurry to polishing tools. Previously, slurry had to be mixed just prior to use at the polishing tool.
[0070] The choice of nitric acid for the acidification step is not trivial to adjust the pH to the required level to prevent agglomeration. Nitric acid places additional nitrate anion in the slurry.
[0071] This is the same anion already in the slurry as the oxidizer, ferric nitrate. An additional advantage is gained as all metal nitrates, where the metal has an Atomic number less than 83, are soluble and the addition of nitric acid cannot cause the formation of any non-soluble metal nitrate to precipitate our of solution. Other ferric salts and conjugate acids are not as forgiving. For example, ferric sulfate or ferric ammonium sulfate, with sulfuric acid, lacks the nitrate reoxidation feature (Equation 2) of the slurry of the invention and also raises the risk that metal sulfates, such as magnesium and calcium, will precipitate out of solution.
[0072] The reduction in the amount of ferric nitrate used in a previous slurry also has the additional benefit of providing a like reduction in the cost of chemicals used for slurry. In a large wafer fab upwards of $250,000 a year might be saved.
[0073] The slurry of the invention provides nearly equal polish rates for PSG oxide and tungsten.
[0074] Attempts to use slurries designed to be selective will for tungsten slurries over etch the tungsten studs leaving them recessed. Use of a PSG slurry will cause the PSG to be recessed below the tungsten.
[0075] The slurry comprises a mixture of acid -stabilized colloidal silica including about 30% by weight fumed silica obtainable as Klebosol from Hoechst AG, ferric nitrate as an oxidized, nitric acid to prevent the ferric nitrate from polymerizing or agglomerating. Other acid stabilized silica sols should also work in this environment.
[0076] The slurry is mixed by placing 3,785 liters of Klebosol (30% by weight in water, pH=about 2.3. Particle size should be about 25 to 50 Angstroms). To which enough 70% nitric acid is added to drop the pH down to a pH of 1.7 This should not require more than 5-20 ml of nitric acid., then about 800 ml of 40% aqueous ferric nonahydrate. The final ph of the slurry should be about 1.2 to 1.4.
[0077] In a Westech polishing tool using a standard tungsten polishing pad, 60 rpm platen, 60 rpm quill motor and a slurry feed rate of about 100 ml per minute, composite polishing rate in Angstroms per minute for tungsten and PSG of 2,850/1,625 to 2,475/1.050 were achieved as a good coplanar surface was achieved.
[0078] In contrast, When SCE silica slurry was mixed in the same proportions was mixed with the same chemicals, it was found that the polishing rate for tungsten was 3,650 Angstroms per minute while the PSG polished at a mere 300 Angstroms per minute causing the tungsten studs to be recessed considerably below the top of the PSG layer.
[0079] It is believed that other oxidizers can also be used in the slurries of the invention so long as they do not decompose on standing. Thus, one could use ferricyanide in place of ferric nitrate.
[0080] In addition other types of stabilized silica colloids could also be used.
[0081] With the slurry of the invention, a single step and slurry are needed to planarize a level of intermetallic layer as both ILD and metal can be polished simultaneously. The slurry is stable chemically, and resists settling or precipitation of the abrasive.
[0082] Because the slurry of the invention allows the polishing of both oxide and metal, semiconductor wafers exhibiting defects following the deposition and polishing as described above can be salvaged by using the slurry of the invention to partially or completely polish away the entire level of metallurgy.
[0083] Should one wish to rework a particular level, polishing and monitoring the PSG and stud level will allow complete removal of interconnection layers. Wafers can then be returned to the PSG process tool and then to the tungsten tool.
[0084] In some instances it may be desirable to leave portions of the stud level on the substrate and to reinitiate the process by retaining a half-level of studs.
[0085] While the invention has been described in terms of limited embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of the invention without straying from the spirit and claims of the invention. | A ferric nitrate-alumina based slurry useful for Chemical-Mechanical-Polishing of tungsten metallurgy and silica based oxides on semiconductor substrates in which the suspension and stability of abrasive material in the slurry is essentially stable. The slurry formulation is balanced to provide low residue of foreign material after polishing and due to its reduced ferric nitrate concentration will be less corrosive than prior art slurries. The recipe for the slurry includes of a 30% wt silica suspension, about 800 ml of 40% by wt ferric nonahydrate, liters and enough 70% wt nitric acid to adjust the pH of the slurry to about 1.2 to 1.4. | 7 |
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